The brigadier general said, “That… it’s not a matter of troop strength. The dark races have come prepared, and there are powerful experts defending from behind natural barriers. Thus…”

“What kind of experts are there?”

“Our first scouting team confirmed that there’s a mighty marquis on the first line of defense. Calculating from that, I’m guessing that the commander should be a duke.”

“Duke, I understand.”

The brigadier general said hurriedly, “Your Highness! That’s just my guess, you must not act without further confirmation!”

Haimi said nothing more, so the brigadier general didn’t dare continue. He only remained kneeling in front of the princess.

At this point, the Empire’s vanguard was already deployed, and the two sides were exchanging fierce fire. The dark races had occupied the two sides of the valley up front and secured the high-ground advantage. The Imperial vanguard was repelled several times by the fierce defensive fire, losing hundreds of warriors without making any progress.

An Imperial warship tried to approach from the air and provide suppressive fire, however, a streak of meteoric flames shot out from the Evernight camp and made straight for the incoming vessel. The airship did its utmost to evade, but it was still struck by the projectile, which shattered the hull armor and left a burning hole.

The warship immediately turned to flee, slanting toward the ground as it did so. Fortunately, it managed to land in Empire controlled territory, and it only caught fire but didn’t explode. The people inside were able to escape.

This flaming streak meant that there was a superior expert operating an anti-air ballista. Ordinary corvettes couldn’t take a single blow from it. This meant that the Empire’s warships couldn’t approach the Evernight base from a low altitude.

The battle quickly fell into a deadlock. The Empire performed another desperate charge but were, once again, repelled with heavy casualties.

On the flagship, all the generals were paying attention to both sides of the battlefield. The frontal defensive line was so sturdy that they would need to deploy the entire army, and preparing sufficient firepower for that would take more than just a couple of days. However, there were only endless mountain ranges on either side of this valley, with no path for trucks to travel through. They couldn’t just let the soldiers run to Whitetown, could they?

“I guess it’s here,” said Princess Haimi.

The generals were still trying to figure out her intention when Haimi stretched out her hand, and her attendants passed her a giant bow that was even taller than herself. She walked out to the deck with the bow and slowly took to the air, closely followed by the other generals.

Haimi turned back and said, “Why is everyone following me? You lot come with me. The rest shall return.”

She picked several people to follow her to the Evernight formation. There, she said, “Go and challenge their leader, provoke them into coming out.”

The generals were stunned. “You’re…”

“A duel.”

The shocked generals tried to dissuade the princess, but Haimi said, “If I don’t go, will you people go instead?”

Some of the older generals from the Imperial Guard had seen Princess Haimi in action, but that was many years ago. She had seldom appeared for all these years, let alone engage in combat. At this point, no one knew what her true strength was.

A military order had to be obeyed. After the princess repeated the command, the generals had no choice but to obey. One of them stood forward and roared, “All of you listen! Who is your commander? Report your name and get ready to be slaughtered!”

The Evernight formation remained silent as no one replied. This general repeated his taunt again and even added some profanities. Just as he was getting excited with his shouting, someone appeared beside him all of a sudden. It was actually Princess Haimi.

Haimi grabbed this general and tossed him back into the formation. Then, her clear voice echoed through the entire sky, “Dark race bastards! Have your men all died? If your men don’t dare come out, just send a male dog or bull!”

This voice spewing this curse was incomparably pleasant to the ear, but the contents were simply inexpressible. The generals who hadn’t heard of her style were immediately dumbfounded, and some of the older generals lamented at the disgrace to the Imperial household’s image.

The Evernight side could no longer maintain their previous indifference. A demonkin man slowly flew up into the sky and stood facing Haimi from afar. “I am Mori of the Bluerose family.”

“Never heard of you.” Haimi’s response angered Mori so much that he almost fell off the sky, but she wasn’t about to stop there. “Did you offend the Eternal Flame or some other old fogey? They sent you out here despite knowing that I’m here!”

Mori’s brows arched up so much that they were almost vertical, and the corner of his mouth was twitching slightly. As an expert born of a small family, he attached great importance to his reputation. Suffering such humiliation before an army of ten thousand would result in a lot of rumors if he didn’t respond.

However, this was different from the strategy he had been instructed to follow. The upper echelon’s orders were to defend the pass and stall for as long as possible.

Although, as a duke, Mori had the right to decide on the strategy in the field, he couldn’t help but feel hesitant to attack.

Haimi saw right through his thoughts. “What’s the point of winning the battle if your reputation is a wreck? They won’t remember your accomplishments after you go back, all they’ll talk about is your cowardice.”

Mori finally made up his mind. He slowly drew his sword and said, “Since that’s the case, let me witness Eldest Princess Haimi’s abilities.”

Haimi replied, “Sure, but don’t run away after a while. I will teach you how to be a good demonkin.”

Hearing this, Mori was stunned. “What do you mean by a good demonkin?” He wanted to know what the other party’s definition of a good demonkin was.

“A dead demonkin is a good demonkin!”

These words hadn’t even trailed off when Princess Haimi drew her bow, and a radiant green arrow arrived before Mori!

Mori was shocked out of his wits. He had never imagined that Princess Haimi’s archery would be that fast! A slight distraction and the arrow was already at his forehead!

In his urgency, he unleashed an explosive shout, and his body became somewhat ethereal. The arrow shot through his forehead immediately afterward, blowing his head into a cloud of dark demonic energy.

Mori’s silhouette condensed again afterward, curled up and hugging his knees. It turned out that Princess Haimi’s arrow had grazed past his back and struck a substitute target, seemingly produced by a secret art.

Mori stretched his body with an unsightly expression, but all of a sudden, several parts of his body exploded into clouds of dark mist, revealing the shadow of his trunk and limbs. His aura immediately weakened after the smoke dispersed.

Haimi’s arrow had immediately destroyed one of his life-saving powers.

Even a duke couldn’t help but find his hand trembling after a brush with death. He could be considered one of the younger dukes, and as one born from a small family, it wasn’t easy for him to reach this stage.

Without waiting for him to calm down, Haimi nocked a second arrow—one shrouded in dazzling arcs of lightning. The arrow flew out in complete silence and traveled like a flash of lightning. By the time the duke noticed it, the projectile was already before his eyes!

This time, Mori was on high-alert. He deflected the lightning arrow with a slash of his sword, but the lightning spread to his body and began to react with his black demonic energy. The black mist was at a clear disadvantage in the fierce battle. It was just that the limited amount of lightning couldn’t overcome the constantly replenishing demonic energy.

No one could see Haimi’s expression under her mask, but her body was straight and her movements were calm as she nocked the third arrow. This time, there was a hazy yellow light upon it, and it seemed to be thousands of tons in weight. Even Haimi looked a bit strained in the process.

This arrow was much slower than the other two, but it brought about the pressure of an entire mountain.

Mori had no time to evade since he was still busy dealing with the lightning. Moreover, the other party had already taken the initiative. He would be utterly defeated if he were to keep edging back. Left with no other choice, the demonkin raised his blade, his demonic energy surging as he slashed at the arrow with great ferocity!

A loud, earth-shattering rumble echoed from the exchange. Mori was flung backward from the impact, coughing up blood as his aura declined once more.

The overwhelming shock was visible on his face. Princess Haimi was even stronger than how the legends made her out to be. It felt like she would determine life or death as soon as she took action, injuring the demonkin duke in just three shots. Seeing that Haimi was whipping out the fourth arrow, Mori immediately turned and fled.

However, a figure appeared in front of him and effectively blocked his path.

“What are you running for? The battle is not yet over.” After stopping Mori, that person turned to Haimi with a smile. “Eldest Princess’ skill is known as the seven divine arrows. If you use them up like this, what are you going to fight me with?”

Mori was astonished when he looked up. The Evernight Council had sent word that they would be sending Duke Doer to this strategic point, and it was just about time for him to arrive. But why was this person here, instead? This was a veteran council member!

Haimi put away the fourth arrow, but her voice remained just as cold and calm. Without the slightest bit of surprise, she said, “Ge Situ, has your previous injury healed?”

This problem caused the old man’s face to turn red. Back then, he had descended to the Evernight Continent with great momentum, only to be beaten back by Zhao Ruoxi and her Red Spider Lily. Although it wasn’t a humiliation to be defeated by a Grand Magnum, Ge Situ had to lie in the clan’s blood pond for several years after that.

It just so happened that Princess Haimi sized him up from head to toe. “It looks like the council is out of people. They actually scooped you out of the blood pond. Strange, hasn’t your civil war stopped already? Where are all the people?”

As patient as Ge Situ was, he couldn’t help but feel furious at this point. “Princess, you’ll know in a bit whether or not my injuries have healed. But I am quite curious as to why you seem like you were forewarned. Did someone from the council leak information?”

Princess Haimi said, “With me here, any idiot will know that sending trash like him is suicidal. That is unless he’s so stupid that he wants to tackle this route himself.”

Mori’s face turned red in shame and anger. The council had indeed made corresponding arrangements, but when Princess Haimi challenged him, Mori had felt that he could go all out without waiting for the other duke to join in.

Who would’ve thought he would be pushed to the brink of defeat by just three shots. That fourth arrow of hers was likely for pursuit and killing. If Ge Situ hadn’t appeared when he did, the demonkin would likely have fallen to the fourth shot.

Only those who had faced Haimi would know just how terrifying she was.