There was a thundering clash when thousands of pounds of flesh smashed into an interlocked wall of shields. The Hoplites shortened their line to match the size of the cavalry charge while the Fierce Tigers were trapped inside the array. The hundred hoplites in the front line met the charge of fifty horses and beasts. The numbers on both sides were almost even, and the initial array was focused upon reducing the effect of Qi based ranged techniques. It was a battle centered around physical might. A shield wall and long spears was traditionally one of the few ways to foil a cavalry charge, but it was usually done with the advantage of numbers. To meet an equal sized force on such terms was devastating. If it wasn’t for the last second change of terrain, the Hoplites would have been devastated. As it was, fighting from atop a short wall was enough to help even the odds.

Even so, the battle was brutal. The losses for both sides were immense. Sage, Whitestaff, and King couldn’t even spare the time to help in the main battle. They rushed out to battle with the Hundred Spike Tigers. The bald headed leader of the Fierce Tigers, and his second in command, had reached the fifth rank. They teamed up with their mounts, who like the rest of the Hundred Spike Tigers, who had reached maturity and were also at the fifth rank, though just barely. King took them on four against one and after a few exchanges, they were forced to call over eight more of the Hundred Spike Tigers and their riders had to join in. The way King could alter space was just too powerful and he fought them to a standstill, twenty against one.

The other fourteen Hundred Spike Tigers had been ordered to ‘behead the snake’. If the leader was killed, the army would surrender. Whitestaff had already started training her own disciples. There was a group of thirty wielding large white staves. They formed up with her and met the charge of the Hundred Spike Tigers, trying to stop them from reaching Sage. While he wanted to stay and help oversee the battle, Sage was no fool. He immediately took off at a run. After a few steps he seemed to skim across the ground like he was riding on the air. Falling Leaf Steps, 3rd step, Leaf on the Wind. He still hadn’t learned any other movement techniques, but skimming across ethereal leaves worked well enough.

He disappeared from view, falling into the cave entrance they’d dug out for the hidden room. Inside, the Formation Machine had already cracked down the middle, the final clash of the battle had stressed it too much. Not having time to worry about that, Sage threw the whole thing into the Universe Ring and turned around to face the entrance. Barely a second later, the first Hundred Spike Tiger dove into the hole and roared at him. The rider leapt off and brandished a pair of strange weapons. They were like short maces, but instead of having a flanged head, each of them had a golden tiger claw on the ends. A second Hundred Spike Tiger barged into the cave and make it even more cramped. The tunnel was only about eight feet wide, and the two Tigers could barely squeeze through shoulder to shoulder.

Ling Sheng as they saw him, was wearing a similar set of armor as the Hoplites did. Many thick layers of steel silk quilted and sewn into armor reminiscent of a roman legionnaire. Contrary to his first disguise, he still had dark hair and dark eyes, the altered human form he’d adopted had a different face, height, and build. Before he’d been thin and lean, but now he took on a much thicker and muscled appearance. The only things that set him apart from the standard troops was that his bracers were colored green just like the natural coloring of the Hoplites, were clearly enchanted, and he also wore a different helmet. The Jade Horde’s helmets were the opposite of the romans. Instead of getting more elaborate headdresses at higher ranks, they had less of them. The rank and file had large mohawks and brown crests on their helmets. The officers were slightly smaller, while the Seven Stars had short white crests. Sage had only a row of spikes on his helmet, and he hadn’t even drawn a weapon.

The two Fierce Tigers laughed from behind where their Hundred Spike Tigers were advancing on the enemy leader, “Haha, this is the leader of the Jade Horde? What a joke. Hiding in a hole while his men spill their blood.”

The ‘room’ underground was little more than a straight hallway with a single turn that led into a single chamber. Sage stood just outside the turn and watched the two huge Tigers squeezing through the tunnel towards him. The two men took it as cowardice, when he was actually just waiting for them to reach the right distance. Sage lifted his hand and brought out a large object from the Universe Ring. It had four large spear tips protruding from the front. There was a loud hiss, steam rolled forth in the wake of the four projectiles. It was the Net Gun that Sage used to capture Demonic Beasts, being put to a different use. The four small spears, or large arrows, were positioned so that they were fire in a wide arc. As they flew, it would spread the net out between them. Once the net was stretched taut they wouldn’t be able to spread out any further.

In the small hall they were in, the net was larger than the hallway and the four spears sunk into the corners of the tunnel. It was roughly the same height and width so they flew past the tigers and sunk into the walls. The net trailing in their wake didn’t catch anything, but it created a rough fence or tripline. The Hundred Spike Tigers swatted their spiked arms and claws at the net, starting to shred it. The Net Gun disappeared again, serving its purpose to buy some time. There was a loud thud, a wide base smashed into the rocky floor. It was a stationary mount with a large cannon on top of it. Six by Six barrels, 36 spear points swung into line with the Tigers. Behind them, Sage took hold of the handles and leaned his shoulders into a pair of braces. It was a crude, but functional version of the harpoon cannon, without the ropes and turned into a gun emplacement.

Pss! Pss! Pss!

Thirty six, three foot long metal spears launched through the air and turned the pair of Hundred Spike Tigers into 110 Spike Tigers. The riders also got struck by them, one of the falling down dead, struck through the heart. The other only got his leg grazed before he ran out of the tunnel. Sage stored the ‘Six by Six’ and pulled out another one that was fully loaded. Of course, such a weapon was impressive and he would like to distribute it to his troops, but he had only built two of them. One to fire, and one being reloaded by some of the Hoplites still inside the Universe Ring.

He could instantly turn the tides of the battle by releasing the extra hundred or so Hoplites along with a small army of insects… but he couldn’t risk revealing the secret of the Universe Ring, nor could he be seen using insects in his new identity. Back in the Shihu Kingdom he was seen as exotic and unusual. The Chong Clan and its branches were of course from the Dou Kingdom so people here might be able to make the connection. Something he couldn’t risk, now that he’d already been ‘killed’ by the Fu Clan. It was also the reason he didn’t fortify the mine with Sacred Banyans, his moves had been seen before and he couldn’t use them if he wanted to keep his identity a secret.

A moment later, another Fierce Tiger peeked into the hole and Sage fired a few spears at him. A bit after that, another of them appeared carrying a huge shield. Shield was an understatement. It was more of a small wall. It was at least three inches thick, five feet tall, and five feet wide. Two heavily muscled guys were carrying it, slowly inching down the hall. Sage fire a few shots as they moved, grazing one on the ankle and another on the scalp before they learned to duck down and slide the shield along the floor. More came in behind him and Sage heard loud Tiger roars coming from above.

Hopefully, they can hold on outside.

Since they’d figured out a counter to his weapon, he retreated back around the corner. Just in time, as a set of needles smashed into the rock across from where he was standing. Darting back into the small room, he focused and blinked his eyes, activating the Timeless Eyes. Getting a brief glimpse into future possibilities, he tossed a Formation Plate into a depression on the floor and it projected an illusion of himself standing behind the Six by Six cannon. He moved off to the side and prepared his ambush. Cerulean Mist seeped out of his body, hiding him from Spiritual Sense. He had just used his Spirit Sense to strike out at someone else who was probing around the corner with theirs. It was similar to a stink bomb or flashing bright lights. While Spirit Sense was invaluable when looking for an ambush, extending it towards a wary opponent could also put you at risk. He had struck at the enemy’s Spirit Sense to coax them into not using it, which would give his illusion a much better chance at working.