Boom!

The cold light of Ice Flame Slash erupted amid a group of low-health Beast King Cavalrymen and killed them all. The ring of the Moonchaser Tiger surrounding her feet, Lin Yixin reversed her grip on her Seven Star Veluriyam Sword, dashed backward like a butterfly, and caught He Yi’s wrist. "Almost all of our men are dead, and Little Cheat’s hidden cavalry has shown up. It’s time for us to withdraw, Sister Eve. Also, I have Purple Marquis and Lexi’s equipment, and I don’t want to die and lose it..."

He Yi nodded and knocked back a bunch of pursuing shielders with her Godslaying Blade. Then, she downed a health potion and withdrew with Lin Yixin.

The Fruit Knife Goddess wasn’t the only one who was carrying a ton of dropped equipment. He Yi was currently carrying Chaos Moon’s sword and Li Chengfeng’s helmet in her bag too. Someone had to look after them after all.

……

I bent down and pressed my left palm to the ground, paying 1000 gold to cast the powerful Rise of the Guardian Dragon and killing a group of pursuing Beast King Cavalrymen. Rise of the Guardian Dragon was so powerful that even I, a miser, couldn’t stop myself from using it again and again. After all, one Rise of the Guardian Dragon for thousands, if not ten thousand Nation War contribution points was absolutely worth it!

A chorus of battle cries erupted from the other side of White Horse Plains. I had no doubt that they belonged to Protective Umbrella. It took them some time and a lot of effort, but they were finally able to break through the enemy’s defenses and enter the hinterland of Sky City. It was commendable. Speaking of which, Gui Guzi, Heaven’s Rain and Diamond Dust had reached them and shared their Famous General Skills with them. With 1 Knight God and 3 Knight Generals—Warscar himself was a Knight General after all—there was practically no defense line the Berserk Zephyr Cavalry couldn’t break.

On the hills, a trace of anger crossed Breeze and Rain’s lips. "God of War, intercept the unaffiliated players of Protective Umbrella while I pursue the remnants of the Chinese army. If I don’t kill Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, Wind Fantasy and From Water today, I will not be able to face the millions of brothers and sisters who died fighting here at White Horse Highland!"

God of War nodded a little. "Take care! First and second Beast King Cavalry legions, follow me!"

Hooves thudded against the ground as God of War took off with several ten thousand Beast King Cavalry. Breeze and Rain himself mustered almost ten thousand Beast King Cavalry before raising his sword and shouting, "Ride with me to kill the stubborn fools of China!"

……

I pulled back to cover Lin Yixin and He Yi’s withdrawal. At the same time, around 500 mounted archers led by Beiming Xue appeared at the foot of the hills. They were our last remaining troops. Right now Beiming Xue’s Ice Soul Feather’s was covered in blade marks. Her leather armor was cut here and there, and her cloak was dyed red in blood. She shouted to me, "Over here, big brother and sisters! I’ll cover you!"

I clenched my teeth. "The Dragonlight Archers don’t even have enough MP to use Shock Arrow, right Beiming? How can you cover for us like this?"

Beiming Xue smiled confidently. "It’s fine. Just because we’re stuck to basic attacks doesn’t mean we cannot hit-and-run the enemy as per usual. Breeze and Rain himself is running out of men anyway. Also, all Dragonlight Archers have high Intelligence, so we’ll regenerate enough MP to use a Shock Arrow every 15 seconds or so."

"Okay!"

The importance of equipment was shown at this moment. Take me for example. The Purple Ying Sword’s 20% lifesteal gave me the power to fight without health potions, and the several thousand Intelligence my equipment added meant that I would never have to worry about running out of MP and being unable to cast a skill. Most importantly, as players grew higher in levels, and more mages learned OP skills like God Devil Break, a skill that dealt pure damage based on Intelligence difference, having high enough Intelligence as a melee class player was the difference between life or death.

According to Heavenblessed’s rules, it took the Heaven grade or higher for an item to boost three attributes, and most metal-armor equipment only boosted Strength, Stamina and Agility. Only a Divine Armament would boost all four attributes, which was why everyone should always strive to own a full set of Divine Armaments. Also, 5000 Intelligence was the minimum amount one must have to survive the bombardment of a group of high-level mages. In other words, future cavalrymen must have both Strength and Intelligence to qualify as god-tier. Funnily enough, the same rule applied to mages as well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to survive the fighter classes’ Ultimate Strength Break.

……

I abruptly turned around and placed my index and middle finger in front of my forehead. A surge of energy surrounded me as I shouted, "Myriad Swords Obliteration!"

Countless swords rained from the sky, injured and killed a ton of Beast King Cavalrymen. At the same time, Beiming Xue ordered, "Focus-fire enemies who are low health and make sure to keep your distance! There are only 500 of us left. If we die, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls will truly be out of this war!"

The Bow God–buffed Dragonlight Archers notched their arrows and loosed them at high speed. There were multiple reasons why these people were able to survive this hellish war until now. Obviously, them being able to attack from range was a reason, but their individual skills were nothing to scoff at either. Every single one of them were capable of swift and unpredictable shots that absolutely fucked up the pursuing Beast King Cavalry.

Breeze and Rain clenched his teeth and ordered his troops to split into three. Then, he charge the Dragonlight Archers from the front and the wings while tossing Trapping Nets. Dozens of Dragonlight Archers were caught in just the blink of an eye.

Panicking, Lin Yixin and I immediately skidded to a stop and spent every last drop of our Divine Energy Points to fire our God’s Tears and Ancient Seals. We were able to kill hundreds in an instant and intimidate the pursuers for a bit. Besides that, I had Summon the Storm and an apparition who could go all-out without having to worry about survival. Lin Yixin’s Ice Dragon Kris was also spitting fire here and there and giving Cyan Beast even bigger of a headache.

Unfortunately, the numbers disparity was still too huge, not to mention that Breeze and Rain was alive and well. Every time he attacked, he could always kill at least 1 Dragonlight Archers. In less than 5 minutes, our 500 mounted archers had dwindled to just 300, while the Beast King Cavalry were still 7000+ strong.

"Shit! We can’t hold them back!"

I hurriedly ordered, "Beiming, take Eve and Yiyi into the forest and use the bramble terrain to kill off Breeze and Rain’s last troop of ace cavalry!"

Beiming Xue blinked before asking urgently, "What about you, big brother?"

I glanced at White Horse Highland and said, "I need to go to the highland and protect Princess Karinshan. Also, I’m the guild leader of Protective Umbrella. It’s my responsibility to fight together with Warscar and Hickey, not to mention that their morale will be higher with me around."

Lin Yixin pursed her lips, but He Yi nodded without hesitation. "Take care. We’ll handle Breeze and Rain and the Beast King Cavalry!"

"Yeah!"

I raised my arm, dissolved into rays of bloody light and slipped underground to avoid the Beast King Cavalry’s pursuit. After I had circled to their rear, I emerged from the ground once more and ran toward White Horse Highland at top speed. Behind me, Beiming Xue, Lin Yixin and He Yi led the Dragonlight Archers and the last thousand or so Chinese players deeper into the forest. With the terrain on their side, I didn’t think they would be wiped out by just 7000 Beast King Cavalry. Breeze and Rain was a threat, but Lin Yixin should be able to deal with him.

……

The wind blowing across White Horse Highland was strong and thick with the stench of blood. Cyan Earth City, Elephant City and Purple Grape City corpses were strewn all over the place. They had incurred massive losses to kill off the NPC legion, and right at the center of their torment was the beautiful Princess Karinshan. Gripping the Guardian Blade and standing tall amid the sea of corpses, she challenged, "Come kill me if you dare! You will not succeed!"

Thud thud thud!

A hail of arrows pierced Karinshan’s chest and caused a small shower of blood. Cyan Beast’s players had wisely chosen to rely on the Lightning Archers to whittle down Karinshan from afar instead of challenging her directly. It was why the princess only had 25% HP left. Also, the greatest generals of the empire—Commander Ziyan, Stark, the five Dragon Knights and more—were lying motionlessly on the ground behind Princess Karinshan. They were alive, but they were so heavily injured that they were barely breathing at all. They were only alive because Princess Karinshan was protecting them with her life.

Somewhere beneath the rocks, the Zephyr Cavalry was also killing the enemy under Gui Guzi, Warscar, Hickey and more generals’ command. Their powerful stats allowed them to fight as if the enemy’s shield formation didn’t exist. Countless shielders had been cut in half together with their shields. Even a player of God of War’s caliber quickly found himself dropping below 20% HP and was forced to withdraw temporarily.

……

I clenched my teeth and fired Thousand Ice Slash into a group of Beast King Cavalry, freezing most of them. Summon the Storm later, they all dropped to the ground and died. At the same time, I stepped on a magic knight’s shield, jumped ten meters into the air, and executed War Crush the second I landed back on the ground. All the Beast King Cavalrymen close to me fell from their mounts at the same time.

When Gui Guzi spotted me, he raised his spear and guffawed in excitement. "Boss Broken Halberd is here! Haha! Let’s go let’s go! Kill these Cyan Earth City bastards to the last!"

I glanced around once and figured out Protective Umbrella’s situation immediately. After the prolonged fighting, there were only 7000 Berserk Zephyr Cavalrymen left on the battlefield. The good news was that all of them were either buffed by Knight God or Knight General. The bad news was that the united army of Cyan Earth City, Purple Grape City and Elephant City still numbered almost 3 million. It was one hundred percent impossible for us to kill them all.

After I joined up with the Zephyr Cavalry, I fought with them for 30 minutes only to discover that, paradoxically, the number of enemies was growing despite all the killing. Moreover, God of War was smart enough to stay far, far away from us and attack using ranged skills only, knowing that I would try to kill him and demoralize his army. As long as he remained cautious, my chance of landing God Binding Art was infinitely close to zero.

……

As our numbers decreased more and more, Hickey frowned and said to me, "Boss, you know there’s no way we’ll be able to wipe out the enemy, right? Go and save your beautiful regent!"

I looked up and noted that Karinshan’s HP had dropped to just 7% now. So I said, "I’m sorry, Hickey, everyone. I dragged you all into a war that has nothing to do with you…"

However, Hickey wiped the blood on her face and beamed at me. "What are you talking about, boss? Before you showed up, everyone in Protective Umbrella was bullied by Elephant City practically everyday. However, all that changed after you arrived. We may be unaffiliated players, but we wish to live with dignity as well. We were supposed to defend our territory at Black Cavalry Scout Camp, and yet it was the Dragonlight Cavalry who protected us every time. With that in mind, why shouldn’t we return the favor and protect the Dragonlight Cavalry’s home at least once? Plus, you’re the guy who loved saying dying won’t get you pregnant. Don’t tell me you’ve gone cold turkey after all this time."

I smiled back. "If you put it that way, I suppose that I have no choice but to accept your kind offer. Don’t stop fighting, you all. If we must die, we will die without regrets and with a mountain of enemies to keep us warm!"