Savage Divinity – Chapter 703

 

Despite having yet to take part in the battle itself, three days of constant Defiled aggression left Hongji mentally exhausted like never before.

 

Fighting was often the easiest part of a soldier’s lot, because swords were drawn and spears brandished, all that was left to do was swing your weapon and stay alive. The prelude to open combat was usually where ultimate victory or defeat was decided, so it was here where officers and commanders poured most of their efforts into, and Hongji was no different. Having been appointed to command the Bulwark, the Central Citadel’s last bastion of defence, he spent his days readying the inner fortress to take in as many wounded and civilians as possible, on top of reinforcing the already considerable fortifications. What pained him the most was knowing that there was no way the Bulwark could physically house every soldier and civilian currently living in the Citadel. Thus, if the Defiled were to breach the outer defences, he would have no choice but to close the gates to non-vital personnel and watch from behind his walls as they were slaughtered wholesale by the Enemy. The only way to avoid this was to hope the Citadel defences held firm, but with Commander General Shuai Jiao and Colonel General Ryo Dae Jung taking personal command of the outer defences, there was nothing the lowly Brigadier Chen Hongji could do to affect his own fate.

 

There was nothing he liked less than being powerless to act, but all he could do was hope for the best and prepare for the worst, the latter of which seemed all the likelier with each passing minute.

 

Today marked the fourth consecutive day of non-stop attacks, and while they were still three hours shy of noon, it felt like the early hours of the morning had stretched on for thrice as long as they should have. Having faced him across the battlefield once before, Bai Qi had already proven himself to be a canny and relentless commander, one who excelled at applying constant pressure across the line and seizing any and all opportunities which presented themselves. This was not a man who made a plan with contingencies, but rather one who understood the flow of battle and moved according to the situation. This wasn’t to say Bai Qi had made no preparations, but rather that he had accounted for a vast array of variables beforehand and was now proceeding as necessity dictated. This was the mark of an experienced commander, one who’d been through countless battles before, and while Commander General Shuai Jiao might well be one of the foremost strategists alive, it was clear from the offset that he was outmatched in terms of raw experience alone.

 

This disadvantage was most evident in the minor, almost imperceptible difference in speed of reaction, for every time Bai Qi moved in an unexpected manner, Commander General Shuai Jiao took just that much longer to respond, whereas Bai Qi’s strategic movements and tactical transitions arrived so quickly it seemed as if his prepared troops had been waiting in place for hours beforehand. A difference so minor it could be measured in seconds when it came to relaying orders, but as those orders were passed down the line, those precious seconds translated into real-world consequences such as lost initiative when orders arrived too late or countermanded however the on-site Officer had reacted. Most might not notice this watching the battle unfold in real time, and perhaps even a good number of historians might overlook this seemingly minor and inconsequential detail, but to Hongji’s eyes, it felt as if Commander General Shuai Jiao had been on the back foot since Bai Qi arrived.

 

To be fair, even as the most active Colonel General of peaceful Central, Shuai Jiao’s battle records paled in comparison to Bai Qi’s service in the West, a resource rich and food scarce province rife with rebellions and internecine conflicts on top of constant Defiled incursions and outbreaks. Before Bai Qi’s rise to prominence, famine and rebellion had been all but common place, and he made a career of breaking the backs of insurrections and uprisings with ruthless efficiency, many of which were led by local Magistrates who used their control over food and resources to become hegemons of their largely isolated cities. With more experience in siege warfare than any other man alive, it was obvious Bai Qi was a foe to be reckoned with, and Hongji couldn’t imagine anyone faring as well as Commander General Shuai Jiao had over the previous three days, but now matters were coming to a head and the differences could no longer be ignored. Finally finished testing the Citadel’s defences, Bai Qi had launched an all-out offensive on the third day, utilizing everything he’d learned thus far to assail the walls with the full force of his considerable army, and it was clear the Commander General was struggling to keep up. Already, bot he and Colonel General Ryo Dae Jung had been forced to commit themselves to the fight, never a good sign when the Enemy Commander had yet to take the field himself. Between the Wraith assassins, Demon attacks, and coordinated groups of Peak Experts all aiming to take their heads, there was no way either of the highest ranking officers present were in top-condition, yet the formidable Bai Qi was fully rested and ready to fight.

 

And this time, there was no Lieutenant General Akanai of the Bekhai to keep him in check.

 

No man is an island. This was the thought Hongji used to reassure himself, but he knew full well that the highest ranking officers were the pillars holding up the roof which kept the Heavens from crashing down on the rank-and-file soldiers underneath. While no prominent Peak Experts had fallen in battle just yet, it was only a matter of time before word of some famed Warrior’s death arrived to shake the morale of every soldier present, which might well signal the beginning of the end for the Central Citadel, and in turn, the outer provinces themselves. It took five days for an army to travel from Citadel to Citadel, meaning they would have to hold out for the rest of today and all of tomorrow before there was even the slightest chance of reinforcements arriving to save the day. Bai Qi knew this as well as any, and it appeared he’d committed to taking the Citadel before an army from North or South appeared on the horizon, a goal Hongji was not entirely sure they could keep him from achieving. Aside from the Bulwark’s dedicated forces, the rest of the Citadel’s Peak Experts had already been committed to battle, but the Defiled still had plenty more in reserve, as several Officers had already noted based on the arrangement of Enemy forces. Not only were there Demons who had yet to join the battle proper, it was clear Bai Qi had at least a few thousand Warriors cloaked in Concealment, but whether they were true elites or merely a ruse to keep the Imperials on their toes, it was impossible to say until they moved out.

 

For this reason, Hongji kept a close eye on where the Concealed Enemy forces were stationed while Scrying upon the battle itself, and thus was among the first to notice when they revealed their presence. Having seen them once before, Hongji immediately Sent a warning directly to the Commander General, who was currently holding back a concentrated push along the centre alongside some of the most powerful Peak Experts Central had to offer. “Bai Qi’s reserves are in play,” Hongji Sent, desperately trying to keep the panic out of his voice. “Armoured Demons as suspected, similar to the ones encountered in JiangHu. Caution advised, may possess advanced Aural attacks that bypass our known defences.”

 

“Acknowledged,” the Commander General replied. “I will hold the second wall, while overall command of the Citadel is yours.”

 

And then there was no more time for Shuai Jiao to Send, for his foes were upon him.

 

An ear-splitting crash heralded the start of this epic contest of champions as Bai Qi made his grand entrance upon the battlefield here in the Citadel, but Hongji saw only the aftermath. Stood atop the crenellated walls, the Lord of Martial Peace held his signature Green Dragon Crescent Blade overhead and readied to strike, a sight which seemed almost comical when seen without context. The massive weapon measured in at just over three metres in height, with a full third of that taken up by the nine-ringed sabre blade up top. The weapon dwarfed the slender, willowy Bai Qi’s two-metre height, but there was not a Warrior alive who would dare look down upon the Prince of Barbarity, especially not after witnessing the power of his attacks. In contrast, the empty-handed and plainly dressed Shaui Jiao made for a sorry sight, even to those familiar with the ascetic Commander General. A Martial Warrior who stood at the Peak of Strength, he was famed for rising to such lofty heights without having ever bound a Spiritual Weapon, a feat which led many to wonder what he would be like with a weapon in hand. Now, for the first time in his storied history, it seemed as if his decision to do without would spell his doom.

 

A modest and unpretentious man, Shuai Jiao’s plain brown robes were now stained with crimson blood, but the bright white bone jutting out was far more alarming a sight. Broken and made useless in a single exchange, he cradled his right arm with the left and gaze up at his foe with wary trepidation in his tired, half-lidded eyes, a sight which made Hongji’s heart skip several beats before resuming its life-sustaining work once again. Flowing Sword Ishin Shingen, Steel Fury Yari Hagane, and Earthshaker Eccentric Gam moved to support the Commander General, but they in turn were intercepted by those strange, armoured Demons with their all-too-human eyes and indecipherable Aural attacks for which the Empire had no defence against. The survivors spoke of having been overcome with indescribable terror, which was hardly out of the ordinary when fighting powerful Demons, but also crippling despair, so poignant and overwhelming it threatened to break the very spirits of all who felt it. Hongji himself had not experienced it then, and he was too far removed from the battle to feel it now, but he could see the impact it had on these most powerful of Peak Experts, as well as the toll it took on the soldiers all around them.

 

Panic and desperation visibly spread down the lines, rippling outwards from the source as soldiers and officers alike threw down their weapons and fled for safety, but the Enemy was not so kind as to allow them safe retreat. One moment, the Imperial soldiers held firm atop the second walls, beating back the Defiled tide threatening to surge up onto the battlements, and the next, the floodgates broke open as the Enemy deluge surged through to overwhelm the terrified defenders. Wholesale slaughter ensued as dark-armoured forms swarmed the battlements and left none alive, not even those desperate souls who dared to leap off the walls in a frantic gambit to survive. Axes and javelins thrown by Defiled tribesmen flew true and pinned those poor unfortunates to the stone, their dying screams unheard over the cacophony of terror and bloodshed taking place overhead, the tides of battle flipping in an instant as the Enemy took root atop the centre of the second wall.

 

One bright note to keep in mind was that even though this Aural attack was formidable to the extreme, the range was strictly limited to a paltry handful of metres from the armoured Demons, unlike standard Aura which could cover dozens, if not hundreds of metres at a time. Thus, even though most of the centre fell almost immediately, the left and right flanks still held strong, if only for the time being. Having already anticipated this outcome, Hongji watched with bated breath as long seconds passed before he finally saw signs of Imperial soldiers moving in to reinforce, a timely delay which made him rethink his criticism of Commander General Shuai Jiao’s lacking abilities. Worst of all, Hongji wasn’t even sure if sending in reinforcements was the right call since he had no forces to match those formidable armoured Demons.

 

Or so he thought, right up until a friendly force emerged from Concealment to support the Commander General.

 

The next five seconds were an incomprehensible blur as Hongji struggled to make sense of what he witnessed, with hundreds of Peak Experts Cloud-Stepping onto the battlements and unleashing their devastating attacks in concert. Swords flashed, spears thrust, hammers swung, and more, but to put it so simply did not do the scene justice. A single blade scythed through an offending Demon and injured the three behind it. A spear lanced out to impale its target until the cross-guard sent it flying. A descending hammer pulped its target and directed the spray of Ichor out and away. Each and every attack contained countless vicissitudes of Chi manipulation, most of which were above and beyond Hongji’s meagre understanding, attacks he would have previously expected from a Warrior on the level of a Major General at the very least. An Expert like that should have been instantly recognizable anywhere in the Empire, if not at least familiar to someone in Hongji’s position, but he didn’t recognize a single face in the crowd of unexpected reinforcements.

 

Which only made sense, as these were no common Peak Experts, but Warriors hailing from the Imperial Clan itself.

 

Clad in their distinctive and resplendent red and gold armour, the Royal Guardians made an unforgettable entrance upon the field of battle, their weapons raising sprays of blood and clouds of dust as they moved to support the Commander General. A single, dark-armoured form stood out amidst the crowd, one Hongji recognized as Legate Falling Rain’s Death Corps Guard Kuang Biao, the former Royal Guardian who’d been reduced to a lowly slave. Even then, the man’s prowess was undeniable as he fought with fury unmatched, his sword a blur as he fended off three Demons at a time. The man’s presence also explained where these Royal Guardians had come from, dispatched here by the cunning Imperial Consort Zheng Luo to support the Commander General in secret. The girl was a brilliant politician, but lacking in tactical acumen, so Hongji could only imagine that these powerful Peak Experts had been requested by the Commander General in exchange for some sort of political concession, a move which might well prove pivotal in the defence of the Central.

 

For whatever unholy Aura those Demons had at their disposal, the Royal Guardians appeared wholly unaffected as they drove back their fiendish and unrelenting foes.

 

Even this wasn’t enough to save the second wall however, for despite their formidable prowess, none of the Royal Guardians were strong enough to affect the battle between Bai Qi and Commander General Shuai Jiao. In the blink of an eye, the two pinnacle existences traded dozens of blows and the traitor general emerged victorious, with injured Shuai Jiao only escaping with his life intact thanks to Ryo Dae Jung and Jeong Hyo-Lynn’s appearance upon the battlefield. Only after the arrival of this formidable husband wife pair did Hongji notice Bai Qi was not fighting alone either, flanked by two armoured Demons who stood out from the rest. One bore a pair of penetrating amber eyes, an attribute he’d never seen in anyone outside of the Bekhai, while the other bore a startlingly familiar face behind the Demonic headpiece, one Hongji would not have been able to identify if not for the banner flying behind his back, a purple banner embroidered in golden thread to display the name and crest of the Mataram Clan.

 

So this was Mataram YuGan, Patriarch of the traitor Clan and father to Mataram YuChun. Was he human or Demon now? Or some strange mixture in between, like the Herald Gen had become? Were all these armoured forms the same, half-Demon monstrosities who retained their human intellect? How terrifying a prospect, for the greatest weakness of Demons had always been their near bestial thought process, but now, it appeared that the Enemy had found a means to mitigate this weakness in thousands of Demons, a force Hongji feared would stand unmatched against any one province.

 

Carrying a spear twin to the one his son and clan soldiers used, the Mataram Patriarch moved to engage Ryo Dae Jung, seemingly to make up for his son’s failures. The amber-eyed Demon, who Hongji now wasn’t sure was a Demon at all, matched up against Jeong Hyo-Lynn, leaving the injured Shuai Jiao to face Bai Qi on his own, and as far as Hongji could tell, the Commander General was faring far worse than Lieutenant General Akanai had. Granted, she’d had the freedom of an entire battlefield to traverse about in her exchange, striking and retreating wherever necessary, while Shuai Jiao was forced to stand and face his opponent head-on, but it was clear there were few alive who could match the Prince of Barbarity in sheer physical might. Even Shuai Jiao, who possessed the Auxiliary Blessing of Wood and therefore had access to the body strengthening properties of the Blessing of Earth, was unable to muster a defence against Bai Qi’s overwhelming attacks, and Hongji feared no one short of a Half-Step Divinity could match this traitor general. The problem was, Half-Step Divinities were so rare they might well be a myth, for Hongji had never met one in person or even the names of any possible contenders, until seeing how Bai Qi’s strength measured against Shuai Jiao himself.

 

Sure, Lieutenant General Akanai had proven herself strong enough to match Bai Qi, but she was an unknown individual. At most, Hongji thought she might be a match for Shuai Jiao as well, but seeing how mismatched this battle between Colonel Generals had proven to be, Hongji couldn’t help but wonder if Akanai and Bai Qi were Half-Step Divinities themselves…

 

Brandishing his ponderous weapon with inconceivable ease, the traitor general’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade repeatedly crashed against the Commander General’s Deflection defenses, but while he was at a distinct disadvantage, Grasping Vine Shuai Jiao would not sell his life cheaply. Growing before their very eyes, a tangle of viridian vines sprouted from the stones around the Commander General’s feet, a shimmering tangle of grappling greenery that wrapped around ankles, wrists, and throats alike, hindering his Demonic foes while leaving allies untouched and unimpeded. More than unimpeded in fact, as Hongji spotted a plethora of Shuai Jiao’s personal guards and allies use the vines to their advantage, riding the growths and coordinating alongside them to dispatch their foes with unbelievable alacrity. Mixed within the verdant vegetation were russet protrusions, thorny creepers that pierced through the armoured Demons and left them naught but withered husks, while ‘feeding’ the grasping vines around them and further fuelling their rampant growth.

 

Soon enough, the vines covered the section upon which Shuai Jiao stood, but they proved no obstacle to the Prince of Barbarity. Any vine that drew too close was severed and destroyed as he whipped his polearm about, a combined whirlwind of offence and defence in one. This more than anything delineated the difference between these two Peak existences, for while Bai Qi’s specialties lay in sieges and single combat, Shuai Jiao had spent his career honing his ability to enable those Warriors around him, driving them to success as a whole while embodying the concept that no man is an island alone.

 

No man, but it was entirely possible that Bai Qi was no longer strictly a mortal, and might well have embarked upon his journey to Divinity.

 

Valiant as their efforts were, the Enemy forces were too numerous for the Imperial defenders to overcome. The Royal Guardians alone were not enough, their meagre hundreds unable to hold back the thousands of dark-armoured Demons arranged against them. In similar vein, the Peak Experts of Central were unable to carry the day, not with the likes of Bai Qi and Mataram YuGan on the field, the latter of which was so formidable their strengths might well be comparable. Where before, the Sword King dominated every one of his opponents, it was now his turn to be dominated as YuGan’s spear flashed and blurred until it seemed like every thrust contained ten-thousand illusory spears attacking alongside it, resulting in countless variations the Sword King was unable to defend against. Two hands cannot block four, so how can a single sword stop ten-thousand spears? Previously, Hongji had been under the illusion that YuChun had chosen his nickname for the retinue of soldiers who stood behind him, but now it was clear it was a declaration of intent, that he would one day match his father in strength.

 

The Amber-Eyed Demon was also a force to be reckoned with, fending off Jeong Hyo-Lynn, Eccentric Gam, and two more Ryo Family Peak Experts with longsword and glaive. Holding the advantage despite being outnumbered, he switched between his weapons with unmatched grace as the Sword Queen’s trio of blades repeatedly glanced off his armour in a symphony of discordant chimes and Eccentric Gam’s ground-shattering blows bounced off without effect. The other Peak Experts fared even worse, sporting a number of grievous injuries from their opponent’s wicked blades that would have incapacitated lesser men. These were not men however, but women, ones Hongji belatedly recognized as young Seoyoon’s sword maidens, who judging by their fighting styles and Ryo Family armours were also Hyo-Lynn’s personal Disciples. How the Sword King’s beautiful queen had gone unnoticed for so long was a baffling mystery to be sure, but even their unexpected contributions were not enough to sway this most momentous of battles.

 

To think that there would come a day when the finest Warriors of Central pitted themselves against the Enemy and were found lacking. Were Hongji not in command, he feared he would have broken down crying on the spot.

 

There was no turning point or pivotal moment which spelled defeat, merely a slow and unstoppable procession towards inevitable collapse, but Commander General Shuai Jiao was too ingenious to allow matters to progress so far. What Hongji had previously believed was an unwise push turned out to be a clever ruse, one which bought time for the Imperial defenders to slip away from the second line of defences and man the third line behind them. This minor victory came at no small cost as Ishin Shigen was the first famed Peak Expert to fall as he found his twin swords trapped in his opponent’s body and unable to block the death blow coming in from another foe at his side. Yari Hagane fell next, his face pulped into an unrecognizable mess after receiving a headbutt from his Demonic foe, and matters did not end there. Peak Experts of prominent families died one after the other, rising dragons of multiple generations falling before the Enemy’s blades, only for their earthly remains to be drained and absorbed into the Demonic armour’s unholy flesh, their lives given over only to strengthen their foes even more.

 

Time froze for an instant and the world came into crystalline clarity as Hongji’s eyes were drawn to the event without even knowing it. A keening wail erupted from Hyo-Lynn’s throat, her lovely features twisted in inconsolable grief and rage as one of Mataram YuGan’s ten-thousand spears pierced through Dae Jung’s chest and erupted from his back. So close to her husband that his blood sprayed across her cheek, this minor moment of distraction cost the Sword Queen dearly as her Amber-Eyed foe took full advantage and drove his sword deep into her abdomen. Only Eccentric Gam’s quick thinking saved the woman from instant death, using his staff to divert the sword down and away from the intended target of her heart, but though he managed to preserve her life, it would be some time before the Sword Queen could fight again, assuming she could disengage and get to a Healer in time. As for Ryo Dae Jung, Hongji could do naught but watch as the Sword King’s corpse was drained to a husk by Mataram YuGan’s Demonic armour, the black-steel material glimmering with a liquid crimson hue that made it shimmer and writhe in the sunlight.

 

And so fell the youngest Colonel General of the past thousand years, a man who might well have one day reached the pinnacle of human might, only for his Path to be short by the trying trials and tribulations of these calamitous times.

 

Despite the devastating loss of a Colonel General and the grievous injury of his equally talented wife, there was no lull in the battle or moment to mourn a fallen hero. The battle continued unabated as soldiers of the Empire gave everything they had to hold the Enemy back, if even for a single minute more, time Hongji used to maximum effect. Word of converging Defiled cavalry made him do away with all his plans to withdraw the Citadel’s forces into the Central Bulwark Command, because they would never make it in time if the enemy cavalry were given free rein within the Citadel proper. Not an issue however, because even though he lacked Bai Qi’s ability to naturally know what route to take next, Hongji was a man who made plans for every possible contingency no matter how unlikely it might be, a trait he discovered he shared with Legate Falling Rain long before the boy became Legate.

 

An endearing similarity which was one reason why Hongji supported him so loyally, because he saw Falling Rain’s underlying talent and knew the heights he might one day soar to…

 

Dispatching soldiers to man the eastern walls, Hongji left them express orders to focus on keeping the Defiled cavalry out and nothing else, because he could not spare his cavalry to match them, not if he wanted to keep the Enemy from overrunning the Citadel proper. The second wall would soon be lost, but the third walls were still intact, and while he had no solution to the cadre of Demonic Warriors the Enemy had unleashed, they alone would not be enough to take the Citadel before reinforcements arrived. Even if those fearsome elites proceeded to slaughter without rest, they would still need Chosen and tribesmen to secure the gates and man the defences against the oncoming Imperial reinforcements. So with this in mind, Hongji ignored the threat he could not deal with and instead focused all his attention on ensuring the Enemy would bleed for every square centimetre of the Citadel they dared profane with their unholy presence.

 

Thankfully, the Heavens were merciful and Commander General Shuai Jiao managed to withdraw with his life intact, though not in good enough condition to take back command. While he sought out Taiyi ZhuShen for Healing and rested for the next conflict, Hongji ordered the Royal Guardians and remaining Peak Experts to withdraw as well. Once everyone was safely away, he gave orders to set the lost precincts ablaze, and Bai Qi responded by withdrawing his own forces in turn. This bought Hongji precious time for his soldiers to rest, reorganize, and move into place along the third wall, as well as other reasons which would soon become evident. Even more fortunate was the fact that Bai Qi did not send his Demonic Warriors in alone to press the advantage, an outcome Hongji expected, but was glad to see nonetheless. Peak Experts were powerful to be sure, but they were not invincible, not to the point where they could stride into battle without support. Once bogged down by rank-and-file chaff, any Peak Expert would then become vulnerable to a surprise attack from an equally skilled foe, and even the strongest, toughest, and fastest Warriors were unable to defend against an unseen dagger.

 

Or perhaps more suitably, an unseen arrow, a lesson Bai Qi was sure to have at the forefront of his mind after his last encounter with the Bekhai.

 

Of course, those phenomenal northern archers were not present, and the cost to deliver a hidden dagger would be heavy indeed, perhaps even enough to secure a Defiled victory, but Bai Qi would have to pay a similar cost, one he was unwilling to bear unless absolutely necessary. The traitor general was confident of victory and was now moving to minimize his losses and prepare for the next battle against the reinforcing Northern and Southern armies, giving Hongji the barest of chances to eke out a possible victory here, or at least stave off overwhelming defeat. Of course, the Enemy was not idle while Hongji prepared his defences, mustering their forces along the still-intact second wall after ensuring there were no traps left in place, and readying to sally forth once the fires died down, but again, this was entirely expected. For almost two hours, the smouldering flames left the ground between the second and third walls utterly impassable, save for a handful of stone-paved avenues that even the Defiled were not crazy enough to brave whilst surrounded by smoke and fire. The Enemy cavalry gave it their all however, and Hongji had no choice but to dispatch Lieutenant General Du Min Gyu to help out, a task the Sanguine Tempest was clearly unhappy to accept. It was clear he saw Ryo Dae Jung’s death as his own personal failing, but much like Shuai Jiao’s strength lay in enabling his allies, Du Min Gyu’s strength lay in slaughtering weaker foes wholesale, a talent which was best put to use against the comparatively limited numbers of Enemy cavalry.

 

Besides, the harsh truth of the matter was that if even Ryo Dae Jung could not kill Mataram YuGan, then Du Min Gyu would likely fare no better, and the Imperial Defenders could not afford to lost yet another Living Legend just yet.

 

Once the conflagration began to sputter out, Hongji moved onto the next step of his plan and mentally prepared for the ensuing bloodshed. All across the Citadel, his hidden catapults rolled out of their warehouses or had their coverings torn away, at which point Bai Qi was already moving to react, but not quickly enough. Having been drilled to perfection by the Imperial Scion Liu Xuande, the Irregulars unleashed their payloads in a concentrated barrage mere seconds after Hongji gave the order to reveal themselves, one-hundred and twenty-four engines of war here to deliver death from afar. Each catapult had been loaded with a pair of chained concrete spheres, weighted with leaden cores to make them even deadlier than their already considerable weight would allow. Having long since taken measure of their targets, their payloads flew true, rotating furiously about as the spheres separated as far as their bindings would allow before smashing into the second wall.

 

To say the second wall crumbled apart would be more than a minor exaggeration, but it wasn’t too far from the truth. Though the outer walls were built to withstand repeated Defiled attacks, the inward facing sections were only there to keep the walls from falling over, and the heavy, leaden projectiles smashed through them with shocking ease. With so many bodies packed in and atop them, what remained was left teetering in place, with large sections simply collapsing under their own unsupported weight, killing hundreds, if not thousands of Defiled and wounding many more in the process. Rather than the Demonic Warriors, Bai Qi dispatched regular, run of the mill Demons to attack the catapults, knowing Hongji would have defenders waiting in place to protect them, and so began the race to see if the catapults could take down the entire second wall before the Demons destroyed every last one of them.

 

It didn’t matter even if they did, for Hongji’s statement had been made, and Bai Qi was sure to be listening. How many more catapults might be lurking in wait? What other tricks did he have up his sleeve? Though one Colonel General had fallen here today and their Commander General grievously injured, Hongji had bared his fangs and shown the traitor general that there were still Warriors to be wary of here in the Citadel, which was sure to slow Bai Qi in his tracks. Defiled died in droves as Demons and Peak Experts clashed in the streets, but Hongji had given express orders to err on the side of caution. It didn’t matter if his catapults were destroyed, because his Peak Experts and Irregulars were more valuable than those inanimate engines of destruction, which had more or less already served their purpose and anything extra would just be a bonus. Even then, he managed to eke out several more volleys as his Irregulars targeted the largest crowds with frightening accuracy, having long since taken the measure of the Citadel and worked out the angles of attack. A few enterprising souls even launched several payloads at the Demonic Warriors, but they were easily able to move out of the way, at which point Hongji had to step in and order them to target the slower, more vulnerable Defiled instead.

 

One by one, the Demons hunted down his catapults until none remained, but not without losing a fair number of their own. Thirty-eight Demons in total would not live to fight another day, while not a single Demon Slayer died in the process, a result of Hongji’s orders to cherish their lives and the advantage of knowing where their enemies would strike. Close to two-hundred Irregulars also lost their lives in the exchange, but over five-hundred escaped intact, and after factoring in the countless rank and file Enemy troops they killed along the way, it was a trade Hongji would make every day of the week. As the fires had finally died out, Bai Qi gave the orders to march out and his Chosen rushed over the rubble in a frenzied fervour to engage their foes and pay back what was owed, only for the entire charging army to falter and stop in place as crossbowmen revealed themselves from every window and opening along the entire third wall, whereupon they unleashed a volley of bolts that turned mid-day into midnight for the span of a second.

 

And then, less than two seconds later, they did so again, and again, and again as the Irregulars worked in coordinated teams to ensure the shooter always had a loaded crossbow in hand.

 

The screams of wounded and dying Defiled filled the air, music to Hongji’s ears, especially with no Imperial voices intermingled within to mar his contentment. The Irregulars had enough bolts to kill every single last Defiled if given the opportunity, but Bai Qi was not so kind as to sit still and wait. Spurred on by their commanders, the Defiled infantry found their courage and charged headlong into the storm of bolts, stumbling over the corpses of their comrades in a desperate rush to take the third wall over. Only a few hundred metres separated the two inner walls, perhaps a fifteen second sprint for a Martial Warrior in full armour, but Hongji would wager his Irregulars managed to double the Defiled casualties taken during this battle in that short amount of time. He owed his successes to the element of surprise, since thus far, Commander General Shuai Jiao had yet to utilize catapults or crossbows at all, simply so they could inflict the maximum number of casualties upon an unprepared foe.

 

All of this had been built upon a groundwork laid in place by Hongji, Shuai Jiao, Liu Xuande, and several other brilliant tactical minds working together over a period of weeks, but now, he had no choice but to deviate from their initial plans. Originally, the third wall was only meant to delay the Enemy while the Imperial forces moved into the Bulwark, which was so well fortified that even if Bai Qi committed his Demonic Warriors into the fray, they would have to do so with minimal support due to the Bulwark’s sectioned layout giving it an abundance of choke-points and killing grounds. With the Defiled cavalry assaulting the outer walls however, this was no longer an option, so Hongji did what no commander in their right mind would care to do; he readied to take the fight to the Enemy in the Citadel streets.

 

Legate Falling Rain once likened the Central Citadel to an indecipherable rat’s maze of back alleys and dead ends, and having been here for some time now, Hongji wholeheartedly agreed. No thought or reason had gone into the city planning, with nobles and peasants alike allowed to build however they pleased so long as access to the main thoroughfares were left clear and accessible. This resulted in a sprawling, mishmash of architecture that clashed jarringly in the skyline, dotted with the odd jumbled marketplace that was usually even more difficult to navigate. That being said, once he knew he’d be stationed here in the Citadel, Hongji made it his mission to commit the Citadel’s entire layout to memory within his Natal Palace and planned accordingly should he ever have need to defend it. Just because they weren’t planning to fight in the Citadel streets did not mean this would never come to pass, so Hongji treated it as a thought exercise which he grew more and more obsessed with each passing day. Now his efforts might well pay off, for the Enemy was here in the Citadel and he was obligated to defend it to his dying breath, for as the commanding officer of the Citadel, he was responsible for safeguarding these walls, these streets, these buildings, and most importantly the lives of the soldiers within.

 

This was his Domain, where he held ultimate authority. Not authority granted by the Heavens, nor by the Emperor, or even commander Shuai Jiao, but authority he took on of his own free will.

 

And with this thought, something snapped into place in Hongji’s mind and the comings and goings of the Citadel became clear as day. Every street, every corner, every rooftop, and balcony, he saw them in his mind’s eye as if Cloud Stepping from on high. A form of Scrying, but a working more detailed and comprehensive than anything he’d ever managed before, with information flowing through his mind at an unprecedented rate. He knew where his soldiers were lying in wait, knew where the Enemy was moving, not just by merely seeing them from on high, but also feeling their boots upon the stones and hearing the sounds of their clanking armour. It wasn’t limited to any one section either, for the entirety of the Citadel was laid bare before him, a thousand different threads of thought all coming together in a tapestry of information that told him everything he needed to know and more.

 

Though unsure how he managed such a feat, he was willing to act now and ask questions later. Sending his entire command cadre to the battlefield and leaving only Du Min Yan’s retinue in place to guard him, Hongji devoted himself wholly to Scrying and did the work of dozens of officers working in tandem. There was no need to wait on Sendings to report Enemy movements, for Hongji could see them himself and immediately knew who to pass orders to. Having stationed them in favourable positions himself, he used his troops to full advantage against Bai Qi’s advancing soldiers, guiding his troops to strike at the most vulnerable parts of the Enemy army while avoiding the powerhouses as often as he could. The main thrust moved along the various thoroughfares, but even those grand avenues didn’t lead directly to the Bulwark, but rather were arranged in a roundabout manner some architect likely thought was aesthetically pleasing. To be fair, it was, but few would care to view it from a bird’s eye perspective as Hongji currently was, and in the end, it worked to his advantage.

 

For there were hundreds of routes that fed into the various thoroughfares, some large enough for six wagons abreast, while others too narrow for even a simple hand cart. A rat’s maze indeed, and Hongji utilized them to harass the Enemy and delay them wherever possible. Whenever a force was dispatched to meet him, he either arranged for an ambush or navigated his nearby soldiers safely away, where they would then strike at another unaware target. Defiled soldiers were lured into dead ends and left to find their way out, while less than fifty metres away Hongji’s cavalry ran roughshod over another unit of Defiled before melting away into the winding side-streets. A mixed force of Irregulars and soldiers lay in way as Defiled troops passed by, and when the time was ripe, he gave word to his waiting troops to launch their attack, cutting off a significant portion of Chosen from their reinforcements who were then peppered to oblivion by waiting Irregulars. Having only to hold a single direction along the thoroughfare, the Enemy advantage of numbers was not so pronounced, and Hongji’s soldiers were able to hold the Enemy off and escape largely intact thanks to his guidance from above, leading them through the rat’s warren to lose their Enemy pursuers.

 

All across the Citadel, various retinues struck at vulnerable targets and killed without being killed, a widespread guerrilla effort that paid off in spades. Hongji didn’t just target the rank-and-file either, for he arranged his Peak Experts to move in groups and directed them to pick off Demons, Peak Experts, and more with near impunity. Having recovered just enough to rejoin the battle, Shuai Jiao displayed the full extent of his strength with Hongji’s assistance, slaughtering Defiled in droves time and time again with the help of his elite cadre of Peak Experts and slowing the Enemy advance more than even a thousand cavalry could. Most important of all was Hongji’s ability to detect the Wraiths Bai Qi sent out to scout in force, resulting in a one-sided slaughter of the Defiled assassins as they sought out unsuspecting prey and found battle-readied soldiers awaiting their arrival. He even pulled a trick to target the traitor general himself, revealing the last three remaining catapults to deliver a payload of burning pitch and oil unerringly into Bai Qi’s newly erected command tent, mere seconds after the Enemy commander stepped foot inside. Hope flourished as he watched Bai Qi go up in flames, but the Prince of Barbarity emerged burned and injured, but alive thanks to the intervention of a Water-Blessed Demon, his charred, smoking figure a sight to behold as he glared at the offending war machines. Three Irregulars had stayed behind to launch the devastating attack while the others left well in advance, but it was to Hongji’s great regret that he was unable to guide those heroes out safely before they were slaughtered and consumed by Demons. That being said, he watched them all die with smiles upon their faces, for they died knowing they’d almost killed Bai Qi, which was more than even Commander General Shuai Jiao could say.

 

Minute by minute and hour by hour, Hongji commanded his troops and sold their lives dearly while holding out for as long as he could, but neither bolt, blade, or flame could stop the Enemy’s relentless push. With so many Demons and Demonic Warriors at his beck and call, Bai Qi only needed to have them move out in force and Hongji could do nothing besides give ground and take the fight elsewhere. Eventually, he would run out of room to retreat however, but he saw the writing on the wall once the Defiled cavalry gave up on their assault on the outer walls and circled around to enter the Citadel from the already conquered western front, where the only obstacle were their allied troops blocking access into the thoroughfares.

 

At the very least, this provided Hongji’s troops with a brief reprieve which he used to gather all forces inside the Bulwark before the inevitable, final assault, one that would cost the Enemy dearly, but would ultimately end in an Imperial defeat. Given this lull in the battle, he sat back with a sigh and released his Scrying, only to regret it as his throbbing temples signalled the onset of an oncoming migraine, a sign he’d overexerted himself by using too much Chi. Glancing at the sun which sat high in the sky, he closed his eyes when he saw there were still several hours before it would set, doing his best to stifle his regret and wonder if he could’ve done better. If he could have bought more time for Imperial reinforcements to arrive, then the Bulwark might well have stood a fighting chance, but alas, even if they’d moved with all haste, the reinforcing armies were at least twelve hours away, and twelve hours might as well be twelve years as far as the Central Citadel was concerned. The Imperial reinforcements would arrive to find the defenders slaughtered and the Citadel in Bai Qi’s hands, but at least the traitor general would not hold it for long.

 

No matter. Hongji waved away his internal regrets and prepared for the final battle ahead. He’d done his best and made the Enemy bleed today, but that was all he could do, so what came next was merely a matter of fate. Make no mistake. He would not surrender, would never give in, not until after he drew his last breath, for though he was but a mere mortal, he knew to persevere until the very end.

 

An end that would come sooner rather than later, but such is life.

 

Chapter Meme 1

 

Chapter Meme 2

 

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