Chapter 163 Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine: Forced March
The army fell into a state of chaos, with most soldiers stopping. Some wanted to turn back to salvage precious supplies. Any supply that could reach this desolate place, even a single potato, was worth more than gold.
More officers were spontaneously stopping soldiers from leaving.
For a moment, over half the army was stuck on the road, unable to advance or retreat.
A distant plume of black smoke could put the expeditionary force in a dilemma.
Ji Ma shook her head.
George said, “You should have said something sooner.”
“And what would that accomplish?” Ji Ma replied. “We’d still have to divide our forces to guard. Since we’re going all out, there’s no room for hesitation.”
I intuitively understood that our rescue team would be sent to guard the rear.
“Even if we win, we won’t have enough supplies to support the army’s retreat,” George calculated. “We can only hope that the Two-Headed Dragon’s lair has enough food.”
Well, isn’t that just perfect? To be placed in a desperate situation to achieve rebirth. Of course, Ji Ma didn’t worry about the logistics after the victory; as long as they could win, she wouldn’t blink an eye if those Kisli women starved in the wasteland.
The two horses stopped, as the long line of troops came to a halt, blocking the road.
Ji Ma said:
“The reason I said it didn’t matter if we forced the march was due to a lack of necessary information; warfare is like that, with too many uncertainties. However, the worst mistake is to do neither a forced march nor start normally.”
“What do you mean?”
“Go tell the general, and advise him not to even glance at the black smoke, but to order the troops to march,” Ji Ma said. “Otherwise, we will surely lose.”
“Okay.”
George immediately dismounted and went over the heads of the crowd to find the general.
The celestial war horse he left behind looked at Ji Ma’s mount the same way, and Ji Ma gazed into his eyes, smiling slightly:
“Old Bai, my little mare is still far away at Malin Fort. How about I find you a female bear instead?”
This intelligent celestial war horse pretended not to understand.
Ji Ma said, “I get it, you mean a male bear. No problem, just pick one; let me know which one you fancy, and I’ll help you charm it.”
Old Bai feigned being an ordinary war horse, turning its head and sneezing.
“Since you’re not speaking, let me pick one for you.” Ji Ma pointed to a bear cavalryman: “If you don’t protest, I’ll take that as your consent.”
The bear, with its glossy fur, was fat and strong. The invisible charm technique hit it like an arrow. It turned its head, its round, plump bear face focusing on the celestial war horse, the flames in its eyes scorching Old Bai.
Old Bai’s flower shrank, letting out a series of cries.
“Ah, you seem quite satisfied…”
The male bear ignored its master pulling on the reins and walked straight over.
The celestial war horse hastily shook its head, making mooing sounds like an old cow.
Considering George might return to see Old Bai’s tragic state of rolling its eyes, I’d probably melt in embarrassment.
Ji Ma could only wave her hand, canceling the charm technique with some regret.
She could already faintly sense the fate of separating from George, and not being able to retaliate against this disgraceful reporting mount was a bit disheartening.
It seemed the first time she got spanked was because of this horse. Back then, she was just a little girl, lying on George’s lap, showing off her round, little bottom; the thin fabric hardly blocked George’s hand.
In her thoughts, the entire army continued to move slowly forward like a massive caterpillar.
Ji Ma caught sight of George among the crowd; his face overlapped with the George in her memories. Two and a half years had passed, yet he hadn’t changed a bit, and neither had she… not at all.
Ji Ma waved her hand and called out to George, “Hello, George.”
George came sprinting over, leaping onto his horse. Ji Ma smiled, carefully examining his face as if trying to imprint it into her mind.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just remembered our first meeting back in Shalin City…”
“Our first meeting was in the Demon King’s Hall,” George interjected, “Shalin City was much later.”
“But for me, it was in Shalin City,” Ji Ma said. “At other times, you were just a stranger to me, outside the realm of my concern.”
George pondered for a moment, trying to understand the strange words of the succubus, and asked, “Stranger, as in ‘stranger who doesn’t give a crap about me’?”
“My dear, you really understand me.”
The march continued.
The soldiers believed in the expeditionary general, trusting he could repeat his previous victories.
In less than half an hour, the line advanced methodically, leaving the black shadow behind, and getting closer to the distant black tower entwined in lightning.
As the saying goes, ‘A horse dies running towards a mountain.’
The lightning-wreathed black tower appeared within reach like a dangling carrot, yet it was still so far away.
The army marched for a whole day and night without resting. Some fell behind, beaten by fatigue and the badly eroded land.
Those who persisted under the cold wind felt their strength wane significantly; their eyes turned red, their skin cracked, struggling to move forward.
The army only stopped to eat, and many sat down, never to rise again.
The march continued for two days and nights until they finally saw the Two-Headed Dragon’s lair, the ring-shaped castle walls. The advance team couldn’t wait and directly sat down on the cracked, hard stone ground.
The semicircular walls surrounded the circular mountain, poorly constructed with many places merely piled with white stones from the ruins. Most of the arrow towers appeared to be haphazardly built out of wood and stone, resembling illegal constructions.
However, on either side of the gate stood elegant elven-style arrow towers, their snowy white tower bodies tall and slender with blue tops. Just looking at the gate and the arrow towers, it resembled an elven city.
Ji Ma felt a slight sense of relief. This likely indicated that the owner of the lair, the Two-Headed Dragon, indeed was the mount of the Dragon Prince in Eve Frostleaf’s ballad.
She looked elsewhere and saw thick, white fog not far away. As the fog drew closer to the Two-Headed Dragon’s lair, it gradually dissipated.
In this war fog, at any moment, the flags of the demon race might appear.
A burst of laughter reached Ji Ma’s ears, and she turned her head towards the sound.
Not far away, the expeditionary general rode his bear, standing at the highest point of a small hill, commanding everyone’s gaze. The rider held a Kisli flag, standing next to the bear, raised high, fluttering in the wind.
The general laughed heartily, pointing at the crumbling city walls, in front of which lay an abandoned camp. The city gate stood wide open, and goblins howled as they poured inside.
He shouted, “We arrived first; victory is in sight!”
The exhausted soldiers all began to shout.
Ji Ma wasn’t very happy; she was more concerned about whether a troop would suddenly emerge from the war fog.
Orders came down: rest for half a day, then prepare to assault the city.
The expeditionary soldiers busied themselves setting up camp like ants.
Ji Ma patted her weary mount, wanting to leave, when a tall figure approached. Eve Frostleaf grabbed hold of Ji Ma’s mount’s reins and said, “Ji Ma, we need to talk.”
“I’ve already given you the music box.”
Ji Ma remained expressionless, too fatigued even to smile; uninterested in flattery, no matter how lovely Eve Frostleaf’s long silver legs were, she thought her own people either would run away soon or be lost.
“It’s about something else.”
“Is there anything worth discussing?”
Ji Ma couldn’t think of what she and Eve Frostleaf could possibly have to talk about.
To her, their relationship, aside from the connection through George, was merely a one-time fling; they weren’t even regular friends.
“There is.” Eve Frostleaf tugged at the horse’s reins, leading Ji Ma’s mount to a less crowded area.
Could it be a pre-battle warm-up?
Ji Ma perked up, leaping off her horse with a smile and asking, “Frostleaf, what is it?”
Eve Frostleaf looked at Ji Ma with her delicate face and asked, “Are you planning to leave us?”
Ji Ma displayed a surprised expression: “Huh?”
“I heard your blessing in the air.”
Damn! She had momentarily forgotten about those long ears, able to hear even what was spoken in the air.
Ji Ma frowned, “You’ve been listening to me the whole time?”
Eve Frostleaf said, “I don’t want you to leave.”
Ji Ma’s heart stirred; was this a confession?
Feeling a bit anxious, she said, “You know I have a weakness for women…”
“Not a flaw.”
Ji Ma’s heart raced faster, a wave of unprecedented emotions surged within her.
Thinking carefully, it seemed that after all these years, only one beautiful girl didn’t want her to leave and had feelings for her. Ordinary beautiful girls didn’t count; their admiration was merely based on superiority in strength.
For a moment, Ji Ma didn’t know what to say, staring at Eve Frostleaf’s beautiful face, and Eve Frostleaf didn’t know what to say either.
Yet, Ji Ma felt it was no longer so cold around her.
After leaving the physical relationship behind, Ji Ma actually didn’t know how to respond.
Finally, she said, “I’m not; I’m just pessimistic about the future. You see, in terms of strength on paper, we are forever far behind the Eternal Chosen One.”
“You seem to…” Eve Frostleaf, with her cerulean eyes, looked at Ji Ma, “it’s not the first time. I feel your intention to leave.”
Damn women and their sixth sense.
“It’s an illusion.”
Eve Frostleaf hugged Ji Ma, gently patting her back while whispering in her ear, “Please don’t leave us, okay?”
Her silver hair brushed against Ji Ma’s shoulder, and the cold tone of her voice carried a plea, her cheeks warm, the scent on her body, and her white, pointed ears peeking out from behind her silver hair made the scene appear tender.
All this made it hard for Ji Ma to maintain her composure, and she blurted out, “Okay.”
After Eve Frostleaf touched her cheek and left, Ji Ma glanced down to see a group of soldiers setting up camp at the bottom of the slope, who immediately moved as if they hadn’t noticed them.
Hmph, poor mortals; go back and enjoy yourselves tonight.
The entire expeditionary army energetically began to prepare for the siege.
At the same time, they counted the numbers and found that nearly a thousand had fallen behind, gone AWOL, or collapsed from exhaustion.
But it was too late; they had to give it their all.
At this moment, within the war fog:
A black army was advancing, dressed in thick black armor, waving banners emblazoned with eight sharp arrows pointing outward.
On either side of the formation, glowing, red-hot blades shone through the mist; those were demon knights guarding both sides, preventing deserters.
They marched without rest, far beyond what mortals could endure.
From time to time, a few Northerners quietly strayed from the ranks, but none could escape the spears of the demon knights.
Those Northerners afraid to flee often succumbed and fell; the demon warriors behind would swiftly behead the fallen with a sword.
Their deaths became sustenance for the demon warriors.
The Eternal Chosen One, Marus, surveyed his troops with satisfaction; their marching speed was quick, far exceeding that of mortals. He moved to the front, sword pointed at the Two-Headed Dragon’s lair.
He could already see the silhouette of the black tower through the fog.
