I passed the party leader to the Fruit Knife Goddess so she could activate her Famous General Skill, Bombshell. It increased every stat by 80% and more than made up for the Zephyr Cavalry’s disadvantage in Defense while their Berserk talent was active. Right now, their stats had surpassed even the Beast King Cavalry and the Divine Elephant Cavalry.

Warscar, Hickey and everyone else except me and Beiming were stunned by the sudden jump in stats. In fact, they looked like they were about to shed tears of joy. They had never enjoyed such a wonderful stratagem in their life until Yiyi showed up. It was like a god had granted them a divine blessing!

……

Swhoosh!

I fired God Binding Art at God of War, which he expertly dodged. However, Lin Yixin was able to catch him by surprise and slash his neck with Extreme Break. After she turned around, she immediately executed a merciless Ice Flame Slash + God’s Tear combo!

God of War ground his teeth in frustration but activated his invincibility skill. He knew he would die otherwise.

Whoosh!

I immediately blocked in front of God of War’s way and parried two of his attacks. I knew that this fucker would try and one-shot Lin Yixin while his invincibility skill was still active. Not on my watch!

All around us, Warscar, Hickey, Bloodthirsty Demon and the rest of the Zephyr Cavalry were running over the Blood Roar Cavalrymen like a truck would run over a person. Both God of War and Breeze and Rain looked like they couldn’t believe that the Zephyr Cavalry had overwhelmed their elites so easily, but that was just the power of Bombshell. Their casualties hit the thousands in just an instant, and their defense line was all but crumbling right now.

"We need to withdraw into Frost Wind City now!" God of War declared.

However, Breeze and Rain replied with an ugly expression on his face, "What’s the point? We barely have any troops left in Frost Wind City, and I just learned that Flowing Cloud still has 200k reserve troops at the foot of the mountain range…"

God of War: "..."

The guild leader of Nation Guardian, Wild King, asked, "What do we do then? I only have less than 1000 Divine Elephant Cavalrymen left! Is this going to turn out the way I think it will?"

God of War shot the Zephyr Cavalry one last glare before roaring, "We lost this time because the main bulk of our forces was destroyed at Howling Plains, and this ambush. I won’t forget this, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! Carve his name into your minds, for he is Cyan Earth City’s greatest enemy!"

Breeze and Rain sighed. "Let us withdraw from Dirge Canyon. I never agreed to occupy this city anyway. Even if we managed to occupy it, it is too close to Elephant City, and Flowing Cloud has countless opportunities to raid it when we’re not looking. In the end, Cyan Earth City is our real domain."

God of War nodded. "Very well, we will abandon this territory and withdraw from Dirge Canyon. Those who are unhappy with this outcome, you may remain on the plains outside Dirge Canyon and hunt down the enemy until you’re satisfied…"

Wild King: "..."

……

And so, the super alliance made up of Cyan Beast, Nation Guardian and a dozen more super guilds withdrew from the city like tidewater and made their escape. Flowing Cloud chose to leave them alone and focused on guiding her troops into Frost Wind City instead, occupying it and replacing Cyan Beast as the new owner of the territory.

No one had expected the light at the end of the tunnel until it happened. Victory should’ve been firmly within Cyan Earth City’s grasp, but one variable was enough to change everything.

Frost Wind City was a lone city set in the middle of a lake, but its geography was absolutely exceptional. It bordered many major leveling maps and almost all the Elephant City instances that were Level 180 or higher. Dirge Canyon itself was also the crossroad between the China server, the India server and the Japan server. Controlling it was the equivalent of controlling the pulse of the southeast side of the continent. Any military commander worth their salt would consider the map a must-have.

Natural Flow didn’t let their guard down just because Cyan Earth City appeared to be retreating. After they entered their new city, the archers and mages immediately ran up the walls and assumed defensive positions immediately.

I led Lin Yixin, Beiming Xue, Warscar, Hickey and the others to the foot of the city. Then, I ordered them to stay where they were before walking up to the city entrance myself.

The gate opened, and Flowing Cloud walked out with her two vice leaders and other guild leaders such as Dark Clouds Sorrow and End of Summer. She shot me a smile and said, "Thank you. Your ambush was exactly what we needed to turn the tides of war. In fact, without the aid of Iron Skull Wilderness, we would never have been able to take this city."

I nodded in acknowledgment. "It’s nothing. I’m no great person, but I at least know what it means to do what I was paid for."

Flowing Cloud looked at the mountain ranges to the east before continuing, "Cyan Beast and Nation Guardian’s main forces have withdrawn from Dirge Canyon. It looks like they’ve truly given up on Frost Wind City."

The guild leader of Records of Awakening said with a smile, "From the beginning, they only had one shot at taking this city, and they missed that shot at least half an hour ago. Also, we can replenish our numbers non-stop because Elephant City is right next to this territory, but they have to mobilize their troops all the way from Cyan Earth City. God of War and Breeze and Rain are both smart people. They won’t make unnecessary sacrifices for something that is already lost."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Had they been able to hold out until the end, this territory would’ve fallen under Cyan Earth City’s control. But they failed, and two guilds cannot fend off an entire city no matter how strong they are."

Flowing Cloud asked, "I’m going to have to guard this territory for the next 17 hours. What about you? What are you planning to do next?"

A small smile sprang to her lips. "If you don’t mind, we welcome you to become a part of Frost Wind City and develop your strength at Dirge Canyon. I can give you a 50% discount on all your purchases, repairs and more, which is the same discount as our main guild enjoys. Do consider my offer."

Hickey pulled my arm from behind before whispering, "I don’t want to be another guild’s guardian dog, and Godkiller isn’t that type of guild."

Warscar also said, "Yeah, we did our job, so it’s time to leave. There’s no point staying here any longer than is necessary."

I smiled. "Don’t worry, I know!"

The discussion done, I turned toward Flowing Cloud and replied, "We are just unaffiliated players, and for now, we have no plans of staying in any territory. Thank you for the offer, but we will be taking our leave in a moment. We promise we won’t bring you any trouble."

Flowing Cloud tried to change our minds, "Are you sure? There are many benefits we—"

Suddenly, Bloodthirsty Demon shuddered like he had a stroke before he plunged his sword to the ground. "Shit! Guild leader, we have a problem!"

"What is it?!" I asked urgently.

The man reported furiously, "Cyan Beast and Nation Guardian formed an encirclement outside the entrance after leaving Dirge Canyon! They’re currently chasing after the players we had camped outside the canyon! The brothers and sisters who died fighting with us are there as well! They’ve already lost a couple thousand players, and they need a decision from you right now!"

I swore, "God of War! That motherfucking shameless son of a bitch!"

Lin Yixin urged me, "No time to swear. How about we order them to enter the canyon? We can use the protection of Frost Wind City."

"That won’t work. Those who died once won’t be able to enter."

"They can escape back to Iron Skull Wilderness?" Hickey suggested.

Bloodthirsty Demon shook his head. "It’s too late. Breeze and Rain had already sealed off the path to Cursed Plains with several tens of thousands Beast King Cavalrymen. Our people will be camped ad infinitum if we do that…"

Warscar panicked. "What should we do then? We can’t just let them slaughter our people as they please!"

Everyone looked at me at the same time.

I clenched my fists and made my decision. "We will ride out of the canyon and meet up with our people first. We will then ride along Thunder Mountain Range, pass through Elephant City, and escape to the Purple Grape City domain!"

Hickey, Warscar and everyone else shivered at the same time. "Are you sure, boss?"

"Mn."

I nodded before explaining my reason, "Purple Grape City is a neutral, undead region right now, so we won’t have an entire nation bearing down on us. Also, while the Japanese no longer control the place, Cyan Earth City can’t chase us past the borders without considering what the Japanese may do. Finally, Purple Grape City borders the China server. My brothers and sisters may be able to lend us a hand there!"

Hickey immediately said, "What are we waiting for then? Let’s head to Purple Grape City now! It’s a neutral region anyway, and anywhere that isn’t a country belongs to us wanderers!"

"Yeah!"

……

After our minds were set, we immediately left Dirge Canyon and exited through a smaller exit. Flowing Cloud personally escorted our almost-120k-strong group to the exit with fifty thousand riders.

The outside of Dirge Canyon was a flat, borderless plain, the kind of terrain a cavalryman loved the most. It was no wonder our people were hunted as they were.

Already, we could see a group of Godkiller players running and fighting about 1000 yards away from us. I pulled out my weapon without hesitation and shouted, "All Zephyr Cavalrymen, follow me to intercept the pursuers and cover our people’s retreat to Thunder Mountain Range. Once everyone is gathered, we will continue to Final Duel Valley!"

Everyone’s blood boiled when they heard the name. Final Duel Valley and its ruthless rules were the equivalent of heaven to those who enjoyed risk-taking, and my seven-day battle at Final Duel Valley made it so famous that stories about the place circulated throughout the forums across the world.

Thanks to Lin Yixin and Beiming Xue’s aid, we were able to crush the pursuers in just a short time. However, the main force of the Beast King Cavalry and Divine Elephant Cavalry caught on quickly and gave chase, forcing us to turn around and herd our players into the forests of Thunder Mountain Range as quickly as we were able to. There, the cavalrymen wouldn’t be able to move faster than even a foot soldier due to the plethora of brambles and bushes.

……

"Hah, hah, hah…"

After we escaped into the forest, a panting Warscar sat down on a nearby rock and asked in a frustrated tone, "We lost another couple thousand people, and they are all trapped near some grinding zones. What do we do?"

I replied with a deep frown, "Tell everyone who died to wait until the Beast King Cavalry and Divine Elephant Cavalry leave before they revive, even if they have to wait half a day or longer. Those chuckleheads have to leave eventually. After they revive, they can move across Thunder Mountain Range themselves and meet up with us at Purple Grape City. As for us, we need to move now. It’s time to go to Final Duel Valley!"

"Okay!"