Chapter Eighty-Two: The Face-Slap Base
That night.
As the doomsday army captured the city of Talabak and celebrated their victory.
The vanguard also celebrated because they had successfully struck and retreated.
The Copper Bull Knights took the initiative to offer the best trophies, one by one the heads of the Wolf Eye Giants, to Jima, to show their respect.
Although Jima’s military laws were strict and often called for executions, she could satisfy the fundamental need of all her followers—killing.
Jima accepted the heads and immediately prohibited any victory celebration activities.
“Without my orders, what celebration of victory? This battle has just begun, so take it seriously. Whip, give it a good lash, ten strokes each.”
The small and weak Shenyao and the ruler of the Deception Kingdom picked up whips, representing Jima in fiercely whipping the tall soldiers. They executed Jima’s orders faithfully.
In the vanguard, they were the absolute minority, relying solely on Jima to maintain their stable status. But they had gained some insights from a certain albino goblin.
All activities celebrating victory were banned, soldiers were holding back their frustration, but dared not speak up.
Jima then ordered them to set up camp and promised to bestow divine grace early the next morning.
After arranging the lonely night people, she crawled into her tent and overnight contacted George to inform him of the bad news: the city of Talabak had fallen, and there were traitors among the Flame Knights.
Upon hearing this news, George furrowed his brows, tapping his fingers on the table, and expressed his concerns to Jima.
Three days earlier, the imperial army had lost the supplies from Talabak. The dock at Talabak was a vital source of supplies for the imperial army. The supply fleet flowed down the Reek River, arriving at the Talabak dock for transfer.
The imperial side had not expected the city of Talabak to fall so quickly.
George said, “In that case, the pressure on the imperial army to retreat has increased. Losing a part of their supply means they have to fight day and night, military morale will be unstable, and they will undoubtedly fail.”
Jima understood very well. She brought a young coconut and asked, “Want to drink?”
“Sure.”
Jima held another young coconut with a complex straw inserted, sipping the sweet coconut water, saying, “Don’t stress too much; you’re the decision-maker after all.”
“I’m worried that the emperor might change his mind. The questions raised by the Grand Knight of the Hell Knights have become arguments for some people. The emperor is under a lot of pressure.”
“Let them be.” Jima nonchalantly took a sip of coconut water, “If they chose wrong, they deserve to die.”
“You can’t blame those opposers. Most of them are loyal to the empire and have firm beliefs,” George said. “The important thing is me; I can’t meet their expectations. I’ve experienced suspicion, and due to confidentiality, I cannot speak openly. I also can’t guarantee success.”
“What is certain at present is that if the imperial army doesn’t retreat in time, they will be doomed. Losing Talabak means the imperial army loses its ability to confront. It’s the strategy of the Eternal Chosen.”
Hearing George praise the Eternal Chosen, Jima became angry: “What’s so good about it? I had him rolling on the ground in pain before you were even born.”
“When was that?”
“Since you asked so sincerely, I compassionately share.” Jima finished the last sip of coconut water and said, “He was forced by me to burn his own troops using a fire vortex. I won’t bother recounting; it was luck that made him an adult.”
“Let me just mention the battle on Chang Song Plain. After I dealt with almost all of his mobile troops, I turned around to see my infantry fleeing, scattering everywhere. Meanwhile, his formation remained virtually undamaged.”
Jima began to boast, propping up one foot on the chair, her knee against her shoulder, her chest pressed down as inspiration flowed through her mind:
“Do you know how I turned defeat into victory?”
George said, “Decapitation?”
“Wrong. I utilized the chaos; they broke formation to chase after the fleeing soldiers.”
As Jima spoke, she used her fingernail to pry open a crack in the coconut shell, then broke off a piece of the shell with her fingers, nibbling on the coconut flesh, “I relied on most of the mobile troops—those flying in the sky and running on the ground—to encircle and beat down his fragmented troops, eating them piece by piece.”
“Throwing the empty coconut shells far away.”
“When his infantry came to rescue me, I either sent a bloodthirsty fanatic or personally charged to block them, holding them back while he could only watch as I devoured all his foolish infantry.”
“In the end, he lost and fled.”
“That sounds easy,” George said, “but there are many details; those details are fundamental to victory.”
“It really is that simple.” Jima leaned forward, using her wet fingertip to poke his nose and said, “I want to tell you that the Eternal Chosen isn’t so terrifying. He achieved today’s success merely because he could command the doomsday army, and the military strength greatly favored him—it’s as simple as that.”
George thought for a moment, then relaxed his brows: “I was too anxious.”
Jima tapped him on the side: “Even if the Order camp loses, you still have a way out—come work for me.”
George routinely shook his head.
Jima licked her lips, suppressing the stirrings of lust within her soul.
“I have a plan.”
“Targeting Grand Knight Irina?”
“You guessed it.”
Jima smiled: “The day she escaped through the city gate, I was curious about her appearance behind the mask. I thought, I can have an in-depth conversation with her, let her understand and support our cause, and maybe even join us.”
Seeing her mouth move continuously, George immediately understood her intentions.
He asked, “What if she doesn’t agree?”
“Then for the sake of justice, I might take some unscrupulous actions,” Jima said, brushing her tail while imprinting righteousness into her mind.
“No need.” George shook his head: “Putting morals aside, Grand Knight Irina is ultimately just one person who can’t change the minds of most people; at most, she is a secondary contradiction of a secondary contradiction.”
“If you use various unethical brainwashing methods, it would be easy to expose, shattering the mutual trust between me and everyone,” George said, biting into the coconut shell fragments: “Doubt is the greatest enemy. Mutual suspicion leads to division, ultimately getting eaten piece by piece.”
“If possible, I hope you let her see that you are indeed eliminating the doomsday army.”
Jima immediately lost interest: “Since a certain virtuous gentleman has said so, I’ll listen to you.”
George said, “Coincidentally, the witch hunter Van Helsing has been ordered to support the city of Talabak and eliminate the chaotic corruption.”
“In that case, he now has to face the entire city of a hundred thousand demons.”
Jima said, “Perhaps the Eternal Chosen can do it.”
“He can. To intimidate, he single-handedly stormed into a small city, regaining control over the thirty city defense forces, slaughtering one sword after another for three days and nights.” George said, “He has become powerful enough to fight alone against armies.”
“Hmph.” Jima remarked, “Having a mighty army but not using it, instead foolishly waving around his sword; my, he must have chased for two days and nights, such stupidity.”
After concluding their discussion.
The two parted ways.
Although Jima scoffed at George’s ideas, essentially summarizing it as trying hard to impress others, since he had insisted, she was too lazy to try harder, opting for a more “effective” method.
That night, she contacted Arkanius, who was still wearing the skin of the witch hunter Van Helsing, his loyalty to the empire was truly astonishing.
After briefly explaining the matter, Jima stood up and left.
After a brief slumber, she began preparing for the ritual.
Victory still had to be celebrated, it was just that the manner of celebration had to be done on her terms.
As dawn broke, Jima gathered her troops to award them based on merit.
Some successfully advanced in magic, while others could not withstand the bestowal and mutated into monstrous forms.
“Third Hundred Captain, step forward and receive the blessing.”
The third captain was a warrior of the Blood God demon race, eagerly gazing at Jima.
His wrist bore the marks of one hundred and twenty lashes because he was shaved bald, having broken Jima’s military discipline three times. Though each time was not serious, he repeated the offense each time.
Unexpectedly, based on his killings, Jima took the initiative to bless him.
After Jima blessed the third captain, he felt his increasingly powerful body and asked, “Is it according to tradition? You must give me a personal blessing, and in the name of the Blood God, I will leave my scars.”
As she spoke, Jima grasped a branch axe spear with both hands and asked, “Do you choose the face or the body?”
“Looks and beauty are useless!” exclaimed this demon, the third captain excitedly, “It’s better to instill fear in the enemy.”
Jima struck the third captain with the axe on the face, causing him to scream and kneel down, clutching his face, sizzling as if red-hot iron met water.
The third captain released his grip, revealing a ferocious face, the scar measuring about three fingers wide, peeling back his skin, firmly squeezing his nose bridge, emanating a supernatural fear.
Jima recalled her own past, trying to preserve her appearance when she was crowned as Jima—though not high, still unfortunate that she later got hit by an axe on her face.
“Very well,” Jima said. “I bestow upon you a chaotic warhorse. You are no longer a hundred captain but a chaos knight, representing me, leading a cavalry that believes in the Blood God. Only…”
“Bitter every day, but I can’t bring sadness to others.”
“My performance yesterday was observed by the Four Dark Gods, especially the Blood God, who was most satisfied. I will make the army stay put, open the rift, recruit mobile troops, temporarily serving as your deputy.”
The third captain was overjoyed, exuberantly striking his newly acquired mount three times, feeling regret for previously being narrow-minded and dissatisfied with the king’s command.
So, after the four demon armies united,
The demon marched through the forest, during which the Beast King was very angry because the army was marching too slowly; based on yesterday’s vanguard performance, they likely already slipped away.
However, when they passed through the forest, the vanguard discovered that between the camps floated a rift leading to the demon realm.
The legion leaders arrived at the front line, and after observation, reached a conclusion.
The pretender Jima actually stationed herself to recruit troops!
It seemed that yesterday’s victory had numbed her senses, causing her to underestimate the demon army; she hadn’t considered that all four demon armies would not join the Talabak festival but would boldly unite and approach the vanguard.
The Beast King was furious, snorting as he shouted that the pretender Jima looked down on him.
The Unclean One advised to proceed cautiously, so the army didn’t rush to cross the river but rested on the opposite bank.
The vanguard sensed the hidden troops and immediately unfolded their forces, both sides confronting along the river.
