Chapter 401 - Counterattack

Chapter 401: Chapter 156: CounterattackLu Hong, having drained his Bloodthirst power, was too weak to continue fighting; he had absorbed too much blood energy this time. Though the number of the sea tribe who had died was not extraordinarily high, the power contained in the blood of these sea tribe soldiers was the most substantial he had ever absorbed, nearly twice that of humans and the Snowy Region.

To be honest, the sea tribe indeed had the capital to be arrogant, but initiating war against the Snowy Region was their only mistake. If they had concentrated their forces on attacking the empire, they would have already flattened it.

"Let’s head back."

Upon releasing the "Heavenly God’s descent" state, Lu Hong felt dizzy.

"Why would the Naga Queen strike against us?" Yan Xinghe and Bai Baiwan still couldn’t comprehend.

Nightingale carefully avoided the spatial rifts near Lu Hong and helped him out of the lingering thunder pool.

"Are you alright?" After feeding him a Magic Potion, Nightingale stared intently at Lu Hong. "She was targeting you for assassination, right?"

"Yes." Lu Hong did not deny it.

"What exactly have you done to warrant the Naga Queen’s personal intervention?"

"Before you guys caught up to me, I had already killed no less than eighty thousand from the sea tribe." After a rough estimate, Lu Hong said, "Maybe the Naga Queen perceived my threat and decided to teach me a lesson."

"Eighty thousand from the sea tribe?" Bai Baiwan’s eyes widened. "Why haven’t I seen a single corpse?"

Pointing towards the sea bed, Lu Hong said, "Their blood was assimilated by my energy. As for their weapons and armor, they must have sunk to the bottom of the sea. You can go down to take a look and perhaps pick up something useful to bring back."

While saying this, Lu Hong glanced back in the direction of the Naga Queen and added, "But you better be quick. I counterattacked the Naga Queen, which is the same as telling her I’m still alive. I expect she is now summoning her powerhouses to surround and kill me."

Yan Xinghe dove into the sea and soon resurfaced, exclaiming, "Damn! There really are!? How did you do it?!"

The pile of armors and weapons beneath the sea floor forced him to believe.

"Stop gathering war trophies; we need to escape with our lives." Nightingale decisively chose to abandon the search, knowing that even if there might be some valuable items on the soldiers, having no life to spend them made it pointless.

"Bai Baiwan, carry me for a bit." Lu Hong beckoned. Among them, Bai Baiwan had a robust build, and although Yan Xinghe was a slim handsome man and Nightingale was capable of carrying Lu Hong, having a woman carry him felt somewhat awkward.

"What?" Bai Baiwan clearly was reluctant.

"I am the king of mercenaries." Lu Hong said sternly. "Can’t you comply with such a small matter?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Bai Baiwan wasn’t really planning to refuse, and he hoisted Lu Hong onto his shoulder.

Bai Baiwan’s armor was somewhat uncomfortable, and Lu Hong suggested, "I’m not feeling well, maybe change the position?"

Clearly, this suggestion was ignored.

The trio carrying Lu Hong retraced their steps. This foray into the heart of the sea tribe territory had been an utterly silent ordeal for them.

They hadn’t encountered a single powerhouse from the sea tribe; all had been dealt with by Lu Hong who charged ahead. And to end up severely injured by the residual attack from the Naga Queen—essentially achieving nothing but wounds—what kind of outcome was that?

Lu Hong didn’t know if his all-out strike had injured the Naga Queen, but the attack would definitely instill fear in her. Initially, Lu Hong had planned to destroy the sea tribe’s outpost, forcing the tribe to defend and thus easing the pressure on the empire’s front line.

However, he hadn’t taken into account the abundant life force of the sea tribe. As the 40,000-strong army of Grian was annihilated, Lu Hong felt overwhelmed, and the queen’s strike provided him with a secondary plan. Although the sea tribe’s outpost remained, his objective was likely reached; his combat power had indeed drawn the Naga Queen’s attention, marking him as not likely to leave the sea alive.

Lu Hong’s guess was not wrong. The injured Naga Queen immediately issued an order demanding that all sea tribes must annihilate the fleeing Lu Hong.

Thus, the sea tribe, who hadn’t even had time to celebrate their successful takeover of the imperial city defenses, received orders from their superiors to abandon the city walls and return to their maritime domain to intercept the powerhouse.

The maritime domain was vast, and although the Naga Queen was reluctant to forego the victory of the sea tribe’s invasion, without a massive army, it was impossible to track Lu Hong. The Tide Orb, albeit miraculous, was not an omnipotent detector. It managed to lock onto Lu Hong due to the massive energy fluctuations he caused, but with Lu Hong now concealing his presence, in the vast ocean, the Tide Orb admitted its own limitations.

"We must find a way to kill this human!"

Before the Naga Queen, a giant maritime chart emerged, dense red dots continuously converging toward the location where Grian’s forces had been defeated.

Silver Wind gradually regained his strength, and a team of powerhouses arrived, astonished by the calm city walls.

"It seems you guys are a bit late." Silver Wind evidently knew these powerhouses.

"Didn’t Dogzi say you were under attack by the sea tribe?" asked the leading left general gravely.

"My boss came back and took care of them easily." Pointing to a mercenary group not far away that was reorganizing, Silver Wind added, "These people are also reinforcements brought by my boss."

"Your boss?" General Zuo was startled, "When did you get a boss?"

"Don’t you know my boss?" Yin Feng smacked his lips, "It’s the famously renowned Baron Yitian."

"Holy shit!" General Zuo almost bit his tongue, "Really? You should have told me earlier about such a big deal!"

"Why should I tell you? Could you have come to support me immediately if I had?" Yin Feng curled his lip, expressing extreme dissatisfaction with the late arrival of his support.

General Zuo sighed, "Brother, it’s not that I didn’t want to rush over to help, but look at the brothers behind me, they’re all seriously injured too. The section of the city wall Old Huang defended was much worse off than yours, even if we had rushed over to help, we couldn’t have saved Old Huang."

Hearing the news of Old Huang’s death, Yin Feng’s expression froze, "Old Huang is dead?"

General Zuo mournfully said, "Yes, he was knocked off the city tower by a powerful Sea Clan member and shot to death with arrows."

"Damn it, Sea Clan! I must avenge this!" Yin Feng clenched his fists, his face contorted with rage.

General Zuo didn’t want to continue this topic and instead asked, "Where is Baron?" Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"The boss went deep into the Sea Clan territory, saying he wanted to save the situation by besieging strategically," Yin Feng forcefully suppressed his emotions. "When he left, the boss put these reinforcements under our command. If there’s anywhere else being attacked, you can take them and go help."

Hearing what Yin Feng said, General Zuo looked enlightened, "No wonder the Sea Clan suddenly retreated. It must be because Baron is making big moves in the heartland of the Sea Clan, forcing them to return to aid."

"Really? They retreated?" Although Yin Feng believed in Lu Hong’s strength, war couldn’t be changed by one person alone, and he was no Demigod.

"I guess Baron might have hit the Sea Clan’s home base," General Zuo speculated. "Otherwise, why would the Sea Clan willingly give up this battle victory? Remember, just ten minutes ago, the Sea Clan conquered seventeen sections of the city wall, even forcing Marshal to make a decision to abandon the defenses."

"What should we do now?" Yin Feng asked, "The Sea Clan is returning to defend, should we send someone to support the boss?"

"Don’t rush, let me ask for the Marshal’s opinion." After he finished speaking, General Zuo retreated into the troops behind him, probably looking for a space Mage to contact the Central Army Tent.

After a while, General Zuo came back to Yin Feng’s side, "Marshal told me that a large number of mercenaries are now gathering at the redoubt. Whether or not it’s because Baron caused the Sea Clan to retreat, and regardless of our current condition, the Empire needs a counterattack."

"So..." Yin Feng unconsciously grabbed the long spear next to him.

"So..." General Zuo’s tone also grew excited, "By the Marshal’s command! Immediate action, Imperial soldiers tidy up your equipment, in a quarter of an hour, a space Mage will open the portal, all troops will gather at the redoubt, and we... counterattack!"

"Counterattack!" Yin Feng guessed it, "I knew it," he got up and shouted to the soldiers around, "The Marshal has ordered, we’re counterattacking the Sea Clan!"

Yin Feng’s words left everyone stunned, and after a brief silence, a thunderous cheer erupted.

The Empire’s counterattack was a very irrational act. The command was issued quickly, but behind the scenes, Marshal Xie and Konstantin were nearly at each other’s throats.

"Xie Zhongxing! I appointed you Marshal to stabilize our lines, what kind of reckless orders are you issuing?!"

Konstantin’s roar echoed through the Imperial command center via the magic image.

"Your Majesty." Xie Zhongxing responded solemnly, "Our army’s morale is low; we need this counterattack."

"Counterattack my ass! What if it’s a trap set by the Sea Clan?" Konstantin grabbed the teacup next to him and furiously threw it away, but unfortunately, it couldn’t reach through the screen.

"We have to gamble," Xie Zhongxing sighed. He had considered this possibility, but the Imperial army was exhausted and demoralized. He was holding back his frustration, as were his soldiers.

If we don’t let this out, even with the help of mercenaries, defeat is just postponed, does early or late death matter?

"Gamble! Gamble! Gamble!" Konstantin threw everything at hand, clearly very angry, "You should withdraw the order immediately!"

"Your Majesty, once an order is issued, it cannot be rescinded."

"Then I’m dismissing you!" Konstantin fumed, "Wei Bing, from now on, you are the Marshal."

Wei Bing stepped forward next to Xie Zhongxing, kneeling on one knee, "Your Majesty, I have no talent for commanding troops, please choose another capable general."

"You!" Konstantin gradually calmed down from his rage. By now, the order had long been issued, and recalling it was almost impossible.

Deflated, Konstantin waved his hand, "Forget it, Xie Zhongxing, I hope you’re right," he said, cutting off the connection.

Seeing Konstantin end the communication, Wei Bing turned to Xie Zhongxing, "Marshal, if it is a trap by the Sea Clan, shouldn’t we prepare in advance?"

"If it’s a trap, then let our nation fall," Xie Zhongxing said indifferently, "Now that the Empire’s territory is in shambles, we have nothing to lose but to fight."