The fierce battle lasted for almost an hour. Olympus was already demoralized from the death of their guild leader, Titan God, and Ancient Sword’s ambush did them no favors whatsoever. Of all of us, Gui Guzi’s party was the one that struck the most terror into the hearts of our enemies. A 225% boost to Attack and Defense was already monstrous, but Killer God Formation also boosted everything by another 25%. It turned the 2000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen he commanded into indestructible, unstoppable fortresses of war. As per my command, Gui Guzi stayed at the frontline and ensured that the Dragonlight Cavalry’s losses were kept to a minimum.

The fertile land of Wind Canyon was covered in bodies, and over 95% of them belonged to the Fire Rhinoceros Cavalry. That was how stunned they were by our ambush, not to mention that they were no match for us even in a direct battle. I stared at the floor of equipment, potions and items for a moment before ordering, "Sweep the battlefield for loot and be sure to pick up a set of Magic Consumables for yourselves. Destroy the rest so that our enemies will starve to death in Sky Forest!"

……

The clouds at the canyon entrance shook to the sounds of combat. Olympus had lost far more cavalry players than they expected to, so their ranged parties had no choice but to trade blows with our players at the canyon entrance. Beiming Xue and her Dragonlight Archers were shooting from the cliffside in order to provide cover fire for our shielders.

An incredible amount of arrows and spells were traded by the second. Both sides lost a not insignificant amount of troops. Our players weren’t gods of war, they could die in droves just like anyone else, especially since the subguilds were far weaker than the main guild of Bloody Mercenaries. Currently, we were relying on their flesh and blood to become the barrier that blocked the enemies’ passage to our main city.

On the frontline, Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun was killing a ton of enemies with his longblade. The enemies’ arrows rocked his shoulders and deleted his HP quickly, but he remained standing thanks to his dedicated party of priests. At the same time, he executed Do or Die + Rock Smash combo that killed a group of foot soldiers.

Our frontline players were growing steadily after almost a year of hard work. High Fighting Spirits, Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun, Heaven’s Rain, Diamond Dust, Lu Buyi, Pure Love, Moon Dew and more had also transformed from generic elites to first-rate experts as well. Almost every one of them could be trusted to bear a certain amount of responsibility. One of the advantages of being in a super guild was that the battles that you would be fighting in could push you past your limits and transform you into an extraordinary expert.

……

Dressed in white and wearing a traditional headcloth, Lu Buyi waved his feather fan behind a group of Cyan Tiger shielders and buffed all their stats by 100% using Purple Dragon. Not only that, his Dragon Vein Art dealt as much damage as a mage spell, if not more. In fact, he could almost delete a metal armor player from existence with just two casts of the spell. Considering his class, his combat prowess was anything but normal.

Another charge later, Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun looked at me and shouted, "Vice leader, we’re losing players a bit too quickly. What do we do?"

I gritted my teeth and said, "Gui Guzi, head up there with your party and hold the line for half an hour. Then, come back to us and lure new prey into our cage!"

"Yessir!"

Gui Guzi waved his Spear of the Knight God once and laughed. "It’s showtime, brothers and sisters! We’re gonna kick the Northern Alliance in the nuts and halt their assault for a bit!"

Like a giant bolt of lightning, the Dragonlight Cavalrymen rode to the frontline, unsheathed their weapons and cleared out a whole line of enemies. Then, they stood there and blocked the enemy’s arrows, spells and even payloads with their bodies. The bards’ buffs turned them as tough as steel walls, so they refused to fall no matter how much damage they took.

……

Xu Yang stood beside me and said, "We already lost nearly 50k brothers and sisters in less than two hours. At this rate, we’re going to lose everyone in less than ten hours. We absolutely need to come up with something. There are 7 entrances from Dawn City to Sky City, and yet over 50% of the enemy’s full might is on us. There’s no way we can hold this entrance alone."

The terrifying truth hadn’t escaped my notice. So much of the Northern Alliance and Cyan Earth City’s forces were concentrated at this entrance that Snowy Cathaya, The Monarch Descends, Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon and everyone else were barely breaking a sweat at all. There was also the fact that the path we were guarding was the main path into Wind Canyon and nothing like the mountain trails the other guilds were guarding. The Northern Alliance’s morale was high after conquering Wind City, and I bet they were plotting to ride on that momentum and crush the strongest guild of China as well!

He Yi suggested, "Let’s contact Zhang Chun. This is just too much for one guild to hold!"

However, I rejected the idea after a moment of consideration. "Forget it. We need cannon fodder right now, and there is no guarantee that the guilds he sent to help us will be willing to perform this shitty task. Not everyone’s a selfless hero after all. Also, what if he decides to dispatch those motherfucking Dragons Run Wild to us? It would truly be GG for everyone…"

He Yi blinked. "What should we do then?"

"Please contact Dominating Heaven Blade of Gods of Destruction and Wei-Jin North-South Dynasties of Hunting Moon Dynasty and tell them to send us some reinforcements. These two may be unreliable allies at best in a civil war, but they’ve proven again and again to be the opposite in Nation Wars. This is the safest, most surefire plan I can think of right now!"

"Okay!"

……

Half an hour later, Gods of Destruction and Hunting Moon Dynasty appeared from the direction of Sky Forest just like I expected they would. Indirectly, their appearance also proved that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was reputable enough that we didn’t need to beg the higher command to mobilize another army. Of course, if this was the olden days, this act would be enough to land me in military punishment.

Carrying a broad blade on his shoulder, Dominating Heaven Blade greeted me with a laugh, "Tsk tsk, to think that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls would call upon Gods of Destruction to be their helpers one day! I think we’re going places, people!"

I curled my lips. "Enough bragging. How much effective strength does the Gods of Destruction guild have left, Dominating Heaven Blade?"

"We are more or less fine. We have 300k cavalry and 400k ranged attackers and supports. That’s 700k troops in total. What do you require of us, Lu Chen?"

I licked my lips before starting, "Currently, our strategy is to remove as much effective strength from the enemy as possible. In fact, we’ve just taken out more than half of Olympus’ best cavalry in the past hour. You can check the bodies on the floor if you don’t believe me. Unfortunately, we are losing defenders much faster than we would like. At this rate, we won’t be able to hold out until our strategy succeeds. Therefore, I want you and Gods of Destruction to plug the hole and let in the enemy’s elites from time to time under my command. Yes, I know how it sounds. I want to send you and your people to be the fabled cannon fodder. The choice remains yours, and I will understand if you refuse, but I also hope you’ll agree for our server’s sake."

Dominating Knight God sucked in a deep breath. "Cannon fodder. You want our guild to hold off the Northern Alliance and Cyan Earth City for you?"

I nodded. "That’s right!"

Dominating Warrior God said, "This… this is too much! Boss, we’re a Top 10 guild on the China Guild Ranking, we can’t possibly play the role of cannon fodder!"

"Silence!"

Dominating Heaven Blade gripped his fists and growled out, "You still care about that when we’ve lost Wind City, and now Sky City is in danger of being overwhelmed by an army that’s almost a hundred million strong!? Yes, Gods of Destruction is one of the Top 10 guilds of China, but why do you think that is the case? Do you think it’s because we’re as strong as Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Candle Dragon or Snowy Cathaya? Of course not! It’s because we’re willing to do what the others won’t do for the sake of our pride and the China server! If even we won’t become the cannon fodder our server needs, then who will?

“Come! Let’s replace Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and tell these fucking invaders that we are someone to be reckoned with!"

Dominating Heaven Blade’s speech immediately caused the players of Gods of Destruction to roar on top of their lungs. Frankly, I thought that their boiling point was way too low for their own good, but I couldn’t deny that it was why they were stronger than the average guild!

After Gods of Destruction left, Hunting Moon Dynasty’s Wei-Jin North-South Dynasties walked up to me next. The CGL Hall of Fame emblem floated above his head as he asked me, "What do you need us to do, Lu Chen?"

I shot a look at the frontline before saying, "Gods of Destruction can hold out for 5 hours at most, so you and your guild should take this time to log out and rest. Come back in 5 hours."

"What? Gods of Destruction can hold out for 5 hours only?"

"Yes, that’s the most optimistic estimate!"

Wei-Jin North-South Dynasties clenched his fists before uttering, "Alright. Don’t worry, we will do anything to protect the China server and to take revenge for the loss of Wind City. Best-case scenario, we may even be able to wipe out the enemy’s ace legions, launch a counterattack, and retake Wind City in 72 hours…"

I smiled. "Mn."

In reality, I knew just how impossible Wei-Jin North-South Dynasties’ best-case scenario was to achieve. Forget taking back Wind City, we probably won’t even be able to defeat their army of a hundred million players...

……

"Here they come again. This time it’s…" Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun glared at the distance. "It’s Daybreaker and The Storm from Vietnam’s Hot Sand City. They’re dispatching their ranged parties to support their cavalry this time, so I think they’ve figured out our strategy. What should we do?"

I gritted my teeth. "Tell Gods of Destruction to open up a gap and let Daybreaker and The Storm in. So what if they have ranged support? They’re still all going to die. What is their troop size?"

"A million or so!"

"No change to my order then. Once they’re dead, Hot Sand City will more or less be out of the war!"

"Understood!"

A few minutes later, a swarm of Vietnam players started pouring into Wind Canyon like tidewater. After Gui Guzi and his Dragonlight Cavalry had lured the army deeper into Wind Canyon, Li Chengfeng, Chaos Moon and the others cut off their retreat and surrounded them completely. Gods of Destruction was blocking the entrance this time, so every Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls player was able to participate in this battle. We used the same tactics, and achieved the same results. Daybreaker and The Storm knew what we were doing, but they were powerless to stop us nonetheless. The Dragonlight Cavalry was simply powerful beyond the ordinary players’ imagination.

……

The battle lasted two hours, and there was so much blood and death that the stench had spread to the entire canyon. In the end, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was able to wipe out everyone at the cost of 70k of our own, and that was only because Hunting Moon Dynasty helped us midway. There was no ploy involved in this battle whatsoever. It was “kill or be killed” in its purest form.