Chapter 48: Fierce Battle

As the demon army’s formation snapped into place, a bloodthirsty aura surged forth, crushing and tearing through everything in its path. The air thickened with a sinister chill, casting a shadow over the entire battlefield. Even before the fight began, the sheer intensity of the murderous intent was enough to terrify the tenant farmers living in the mountain estate, causing some to soil themselves in fear.

Yet, for the true Eagle Squadron soldiers, this was but a moment to press their lips tight, grip their swords, and fix their gaze unwaveringly ahead. Though their hearts raced wildly, battle-hardened experience tempered their fear, compelling them to suppress trembling and maintain the necessary composure and courage.

Standing atop a high vantage with General Tu Zhu, Liu Chou also felt the immense pressure emanating from the demon horde. This was his first encounter with a battle of such scale. Compared to past skirmishes, this battlefield was far more savage and brutal, where individual valor was constrained, dissolved into the collective force.

A series of piercing roars burst forth from the demon ranks, shaking the earth beneath them. From the formation of the demon forest emerged a figure as imposing as a small mountain, towering an exaggerated three zhang high. Even Liu Chou’s heart shrank at the sight of this giant.

It was a Rhinoceros Demon!

Half-human in form, its humanoid upper body bulged with muscles, its skin gleaming with a bronze sheen. Its body was armored with overlapping plates of segmented scale mail, each piece thicker than a sturdy tabletop. Yet despite the weight, the armor seemed almost weightless as it swayed effortlessly with every step.

But each footfall caused the earth to tremble violently, like thunderclaps roaring in the hearts of every human soldier.

The Rhinoceros Demon advanced slowly, until it stood just a hundred paces from the human formation. Then it halted, arching its body backward, chest concave, nostrils flared…

“Cover your ears!” Tu Zhu shouted, leaping down from his perch and clutching his ears. Liu Chou and the others followed suit, dropping to the ground.

Almost immediately, a cataclysmic roar thundered out, the shockwave causing dizziness and ringing in the ears of the front rows. Many soldiers staggered, blood trickling from their noses and mouths, eyes wide as they collapsed unconscious.

Even with ears covered, Liu Chou and company heard the Rhinoceros Demon’s immense bellow, like a mountain collapsing.

For a moment, all were struck with terror…

But then, from the human ranks, a deep, rolling laugh rang out. Strangely, the collision of these two mighty sounds seemed to release a weight from the soldiers’ hearts, dispelling the oppressive gloom. A lightness filled the air.

From the front line stepped a man.

General Lie Gang of the Eagle Squadron.

Lie Gang was clad in refined battle armor, wielding a gleaming long spear forged from refined iron. Nearly three meters in length and as thick as a man’s arm, the spear appeared enormous in his hands, as if borrowed from someone else and ill-fitting.

Yet everyone knew this was Lie Gang’s true weapon—a colossal spear nearly four and a half meters long, as massive as a beam. He wielded it with the ease of swinging a riding crop.

Taking a deep breath, Lie Gang lifted his spear and roared like thunder, his voice overpowering even the Rhinoceros Demon’s bellow, echoing across the battlefield and piercing the ears of humans and demons alike.

“Bihan! Has the arm I wounded you in the last battle healed?” the Rhinoceros Demon Bihan roared furiously. “Lie Gang, your personal guard’s bones still lie within my belly!” He laughed recklessly, slapping his swollen belly in provocation.

Lie Gang’s expression flickered. With a sudden war cry, he charged at Bihan, the tip of his spear beginning to glow softly, coalescing into a shining crescent like a moonlight disc.

Did Bihan fear him? No. He roared back and surged forward, spear flashing like a serpent’s coil, trailing a streak of blue light.

The blue beam clashed heavily against Lie Gang’s orange-yellow aura, detonating with an earth-shaking explosion. Dust and smoke billowed and swirled, sending powerful gusts that made the officers stand firm while tossing the common soldiers about.

This was a brutal clash of raw power between two monstrous warriors.

As the smoke cleared, both Bihan and Lie Gang had retreated dozens of paces, carving deep gouges into the earth. Lie Gang raised his spear high, the tip carrying a large, bloodied chunk of flesh. His face was cold and calm as he stood at the forefront.

That flesh had been torn from Bihan’s shoulder, a mere flesh wound despite its size. The wound twitched slightly but stopped bleeding on its own.

The humans erupted into thunderous cheers at their general’s apparent victory, their morale soaring. The demon roars, though still fierce, diminished in intensity.

Suddenly, a cracking sound split the air—the shaft of Lie Gang’s spear cracked open, splitting rapidly until it broke in two, the bloodied flesh falling to the ground.

The human cheers faltered, and demon roars grew louder.

“Ha! Interesting. You’ve improved a lot. Exciting, exciting!” Lie Gang tossed aside the broken spear shaft carelessly and stretched out his hand. Instantly, someone brought him a new long spear.

“Let’s try again!” Grasping his new weapon, Lie Gang swung it arrogantly toward Bihan, taunting, “Let’s see if you can dodge this time!”

He sought to provoke Bihan’s temper and settle old scores with a fierce duel. Confident in the spiritual weapon gifted by General Huang before departure, Lie Gang intended to kill Bihan and strike down one of the demon leaders.

But unexpectedly, Bihan did not take the bait. He merely smiled broadly, raised his spear, and roared fiercely.

This was a battle cry—not a threat.

Lie Gang’s heart tightened. As expected, the demons erupted into howls and charged en masse toward the human lines.

The demon tide surged, and only now did Bihan leap forward to confront Lie Gang, ready to settle their feud. Still, he led the charge relentlessly, crashing into the human ranks.

With over three hundred paces to go, the human officers shrieked out orders frantically. The archers in the rear volleyed their arrows skyward in a deadly rain.

The arrows whistled through the air, carrying death as they plunged downward, piercing the bodies and heads of demons, scattering blood and flesh upon the ground.

Against humanity’s formidable weaponry, even the strongest demon bodies were merely slightly tougher targets.

At three hundred paces, the archers’ range was stretched thin. Some demons fell dead from arrow wounds to vital spots; most were only grazed on their arms and torsos, knocked down but quickly springing back up, roaring and charging onward.

Liu Chou puzzled over the archers’ range but soon understood: once the demons closed to about a hundred and fifty paces, their bodies shimmered with varying dark blue and black auras as they unleashed their innate demonic arts—whirling sand and stones, swirling mist and poisonous fog—instantly enveloping the battlefield in a grey haze. Beyond the ceaseless screams and roars, no clear sight of the battle remained.

The Wind Cutter scattered the demons’ illusions, pushing the haze toward the human lines.

The archers persisted, firing relentlessly. Though unseen, the Eagle Squadron’s bowmen continued their deadly rain of arrows, unyielding in distance and direction.

Soon, anguished cries from the human ranks rent the air. The demons had reached the wooden palisade. The front-line soldiers stabbed through gaps with spears and swords, but after only a few strikes, the fence was breached. Sharp claws tore into flesh.

A fierce melee erupted at the palisade’s front. Without walls to protect them, humans were utterly overwhelmed. The officers drove the soldiers forward, who fought desperately, piling their bodies in the blood-soaked fray, succumbing helplessly.

Not all soldiers willingly pressed forward; many begged to retreat, only to have their heads struck down by the supervisory squad. Cold-faced officers wielded bloodied swords, shouting mercilessly:

“Brave live! Cowards die! No mercy for deserters! Kill the enemy and live to earn ten thousand gold!”

Two divisions, over ten thousand men, were thrown to the front lines by Lie Gang, their flesh and blood locked in deadly struggle with the demons, desperately buying time. All were forced forward by this brutal rally, only to perish beneath demon claws.

They would never see life again.

Behind them, mechanical beasts stood ready, cold and silent. Only after the front lines were slaughtered and the demons’ morale and strength drained could these machines unleash their devastating power. Ten thousand lives bought this chance to hold the line and counterattack.

This was the prearranged tactic—a death path Lie Gang chose without hesitation.

As the battle raged, demons also launched an assault on Yun Zhan Mountain Estate. The terrain was steep and treacherous, further fortified by a low wall. Lie Gang’s orders to Tu Zhu were to lead the Tianshan Dùn troops in cooperation with the local garrison to repel the enemy, holding out until the main force broke through—then survival.

Lie Gang himself was locked in fierce combat with Bihan. The two fought fiercely in a wide clearing, no one daring to intervene.

The demons had unleashed their full strength, yet the humans still had reserves. Slowly, the scales of victory began to tip—unless…