Chapter Eighty-One: Retreat After the Fight
Ji Ma stood on the high floating disc, gazing at the chaotic army of demons and gods not far away. There she spotted the Grand Knight of the Hell Riders, her long silver hair contrasting starkly with her appearance, very eye-catching.
“So this is the Grand Knight? That hair is way too Mary Sue.”
Ji Ma squinted, contemplating whether to take this opportunity to let the Grand Knight meet a tragic end on the battlefield, all for George’s good. He was still too kind; when confronted with such political enemies, if he didn’t resort to some tactics, wouldn’t that be for nothing?
“Forget it.”
Since George didn’t want her to die, it was better for her to respect his wishes.
Fire demon, fire demon, fire demon, calling fire demon. Ji Ma instinctively raised the commanding magic scepter to her mouth and ordered the bloodsuckers to unleash all their ammunition.
From above, it looked like a force capable of blocking the Grand Knight.
The floating disc carried the godly fire demon, and the magical flames surged downward like a bursting dam, incinerating the bloodsuckers, forcefully carving a path, frightening the group of bloodsuckers, making them furious as they rushed towards Ji Ma.
“King—”
“Hmm?”
“Big, big king.”
The advisor of the blood-sucking demon army said, “Are we retreating?”
In the distance, it was clear. The rest of the annihilation army reacted, cavalry was gathering, and the angry demons were assembling in the air.
Talabek City had no hope left. After Grand Knight Irina broke out of the city gates, the demon army organized another attack. A massive wave of bloodsuckers and marauders surged through the city gates like blood gushing from a severed artery, staining the street red.
If it could hold out for just a bit longer, there might still be hope.
Ji Ma suddenly thought that perhaps she could force the enemy’s demon army to give up the siege. If Talabek City could rest for a day, the variables would increase.
Unfortunately, it seemed the Empire hadn’t done well in terms of loyalty.
“Yes, we need to retreat.” Ji Ma glanced at the bustling battlefield below, where the beastmen were being surrounded and intercepted; only a few remained.
Dozens of lesser horned beasts picked up their bows and shot at Ji Ma. Arrows flew haphazardly, and occasionally a few struck the shallow blue magic pool, falling uselessly to the ground.
Ji Ma surveyed the battlefield again.
It really was time to retreat.
Her small force was like a child wielding a spear attempting to ambush a giant. Of course, she had managed to plant a few flowers for him, but once he reacted, what awaited her was the fist of a millstone man.
The two chosen ones were already wielding shining long spears, marching forward, clearing any obstacle in their path, slowly approaching her.
Ji Ma shouted, “Retreat! All units retreat!”
The vanguard troops, immersed in slaughter, were reluctant to leave, but Ji Ma forcibly commanded them to retreat, and they dared not disobey. Before retreating, the warriors of the blood god’s demon race rushed to behead the beastmen. The heads of the minotaurs were treated like treasures, sparking fierce competition.
They even climbed onto the corpse of a cyclops and took its head. The one-eyed bull riders bound it with rope, fastening it to a bronze bull, which was pulled by four bronze bulls.
If Ji Ma hadn’t lost her temper, they even planned to cut off all the heads of the corpses and take them away.
Ultimately, the blood-sucking cavalry and the warriors of the blood god’s demon race provided cover for the retreat. Ji Ma ordered them to take turns covering, fighting and retreating.
Seeing Ji Ma’s vanguard army retreating into the forest.
The beastmen couldn’t sit still.
With such a huge advantage, they were suddenly attacked, causing heads to fall, yet the enemy could leisurely depart.
At this moment, the chosen ones brandished their fiery bright long spears, their ranks orderly, appearing on a distant slope.
The beast king could no longer sit idly by, seeing several squads of angry demons charge up to hold back the enemy, he also led the horned beasts, disregarding everything, rushing forward in an attempt to catch Ji Ma.
Ji Ma merely glanced, waved her commanding magic scepter, and the winged blood-sucking cavalry charged out, with the bronze bulls leading the way, followed by the blood-sucking beasts in a sandwich formation. As they charged, Ji Ma even cast a curse.
In just a few minutes, hundreds of horned beasts were tragically killed, suffering heavy losses.
The beast king struggled to hold on.
Ji Ma ordered her troops to retreat again; she glanced at the chosen ones’ faces, then turned to escape, leaving behind the corpses of the beastmen.
The beast king looked at the blood-stained horned beasts, raised his head, and saw Ji Ma’s departing figure, under her floating disc hung a string of minotaurs’ heads like banners.
The beast king let out a roar, helplessly watching as Ji Ma and her army disappeared into the forest.
In stark contrast to Ji Ma’s victory, Talabek City fell.
The city defense troops fought desperately in the streets and at the docks for several hours.
Talabek City finally breathed its last, with the demon army pouring in.
Joyful corruption worms and caressers flooded into the barracks, vomiting filth onto their wounds.
They then shoved everyone who had not surrendered into the hospital, locking them in with the dying patients. The hospital had become corroded, its walls thick with disease.
Patients with pus-filled faces crowded at the windows, their hands grasping the bars, crying out in desperation.
Outside, the unclean ones were stirring the green water in the cauldron, full of various pathogens, smiling kindly, saying to Little Green beside him, “This time, there will be so many friends.”
Little Green let out an innocent laugh, “Yay, yay.”
The unclean one splashed warm green liquid into the courtyard.
Fever, lung edema, pus discharge, cyanosis, dehydration, red eyes, and more…
A variety of pathogens spread rampantly in the human body, tormenting the living. They continued to pray to Sigma, but the cries for Sigma were soon drowned out by the sounds of suffering.
Their lives became extraordinarily tenacious; even with all their hair falling out, despite being tormented by hundreds of ailments, they just wouldn’t die.
Gradually, amidst the torment, some heard the voice of the kind father and converted to him, leaving in pain, leaving only a sorrowfully beautiful figure standing, covered in scars, with maggots crawling out, yet without feeling any discomfort.
Suddenly, they felt that the kind father was the truth. They had previously feared the pathogens, being deceived by the wounded gods.
But not everyone could endure the hundreds and thousands of diseases, they turned into mindless plague zombies, only able to laugh foolishly, their bodies becoming mobile virus hotbeds.
In the Sigma church, the doors were tightly shut.
The soldiers pouring in grasped the horns of Sigma’s teacher, kneeling on the ground, praying, “Priest! Pardon us! We don’t want our souls to fall into the hands of demons.”
Sigma’s priest was panic-stricken, asking, “How… how do I pardon you?”
The soldiers looked at each other, began to slash each other’s throats, and in an instant, in front of Sigma, it was nothing but blood.
The Sigma priest was momentarily stunned, and when he came to his senses, the ground was already covered with corpses.
He cried out in despair, “Oh Sigma, please protect your people.”
There was no response.
Bang!
The door shattered.
A monstrous shape crashed through the door, and a group of bloodsuckers surged in, with heads hanging from their waists.
Before the bloodsuckers could behead Sigma’s priest, he was still desperately reciting the pardon prayer.
In the Elector’s residence, the Elector of Talabek glanced at the boat fleeing across the river, bearing his rune sword. He ordered the white swordsman to behead him and then ignited the residence, as flames engulfed the nobles’ corpses soaked in sacred oil.
They held the idols of Sigma, the White Wolf God, and various other deities in their mouths, these were generally the most devout group, yet before dying, they were “the most devout.”
The doors of the residential buildings were kicked open.
The defeated beastmen charged in, throwing out mothers and children who had been healing, shouting loudly.
There were also noblewomen who lifted their skirts to reveal corruption marks on their thighs, smiling at the beastmen, saying, “You finally came.”
She was a member of the corruption underground cult, living among beastmen.
In contrast, the north seemed unremarkable. They liked plundering, raping, burning, deceiving everywhere, promising to lure out the hiding ones, capturing people to extort all their valuables.
As Talabek City turned into a playground for the demon army, the four legion commanders gathered together to discuss tasks; their mission was primarily to besiege the false king Ji Ma, and the fall of Talabek City was credited to the siege forces. Naturally, they also tacitly allowed their legion soldiers to join in the revelry.
The four legion commanders were King Mo, the leader of the Chaos Beast Legion.
His legion suffered the heaviest losses in this attack. A massive number of beastmen died, old shamans were also killed, and even the giant cyclopes were lost, leaving only a significant number of horned infantry.
The leader of the filth legion, the unclean one. He had been chattering about how his unclean spoils generously distributed N hospital captives to him for experiments with the plague.
The leader of the corruption legion, a corruption warrior whose subordinates were either strong corruption creatures or female corruption demons, along with various monsters.
And a leader of the demon legion, whose subordinates were mostly demonic creatures, warlocks, half-white demons, and demonic giants. The so-called demonic creatures referred to those who believed in all four evil gods to a certain extent.
King Mo roared, declaring not to let the false king Ji Ma return to the city comfortably, saying they must pursue her immediately.
The unclean one cheerfully agreed, wanting to chase after.
The corruption warrior lamented that he could not join the celebration party in Talabek City.
In the end, everyone finally reached a consensus. No matter what, it was best to intercept the false king Ji Ma before she escaped back to the vanguard city.
Otherwise, given the power displayed today, conquering the city might take a very long time.
“My dear friends.”
The corruption warrior was a succubus—beautiful and corrupting in nature. “This time, we mustn’t let the false king escape, if she returns to her little nest, after we capture the city, there will be no participation in the revelry of annihilating the imperial army. I quite like the Emperor of the Empire; when he cries out, it must be quite pitiful.”
Hearing this, the demon legion commander was covered in goosebumps.
The next day, under the urging of the four legion commanders, they led a grand army along Ji Ma’s marching path to eliminate her.
