Chapter 100: Blazing Ash Guard

To be honest, we have greatly benefited from the strong material support of all factions.

Mu Yi now has five hundred soldiers under his command, all equipped with anything from chainmail to half-body armor, uniformly issued with fine-steel shields, iron helmets, refined weapons, and even double-shot heavy crossbows.

Among them there is even a unit of professional longbow archers, each comparable to divine archers from historical planes, possessing archery expertise, able to pierce stone and wood with a single arrow.

"Defensive formation!" General Mu Yi planted his banner behind him and roared the order.

"Teams one through ten, raise shields to defend!"

"Hold!"

Mu Yi divided the five hundred men into fifty squads, numbered them, so that on the battlefield the soldiers could execute his orders more clearly.

The shield bearers in the front rank raised their large shields, lowered their bodies slightly, shifting their weight downward to dissipate the impact when struck.

Shield blocking and impact dissipation are part of their daily training, so they now handle it with ease.

Especially the front-rank soldiers, all of whom possess shield proficiency and parry expertise.

The berserk demon charged like a tank into the front-rank soldiers, and as it approached, Mu Yi manipulated cloud energy to form an illusory shield before it.

"Boom!"

The shield shattered on contact, smashed by the berserk demon's brutal force, yet the demon's speed and power sharply dropped at that instant.

"Boom!"

The berserk demon, still carrying momentum, crashed into the square formation; several front-rank soldiers were instantly flung away, for transcendent power and ordinary power ultimately differ greatly.

Even though they received a boost from cloud energy while the berserk demon was greatly weakened, they still found it hard to withstand the force of that charge.

However, force is mutual; at the moment those few soldiers were flung back, the berserk demon was forced to pause.

"Shift formation, to a square-circle formation!"

Following Mu Yi's command, the soldiers formed a square-outside, circle-inside formation with the berserk demon at the center.

At this moment, the berserk demon was completely surrounded on all sides by shield-bearing soldiers.

"Teams thirty through thirty-four, spearmen, thrust!"

Accompanying Mu Yi's order, the prepared spearmen surged forward at once, dozens of spears thrusting at the berserk demon's body; the cloud energy infused on the spear tips allowed the spears to easily pierce its skin and penetrate its flesh.

"Teams twenty through twenty-five, shield bearers, charge forward and knock them down!"

"Teams thirty-five through forty, spearmen follow up with thrusts, sword-and-shield men provide cover!"

Urgent orders streamed from Mu Yi's mouth; in this small-scale battle, issuing commands by voice is far easier than by banner.

Moreover, once the cloud energy formed, these soldiers could faintly sense Mu Yi's commands from his mental fluctuations, almost instinctively, and would carry out his orders without hesitation.

Even if Mu Yi ordered them to climb a blade mountain and rush through a sea of fire, they would likely obey immediately.

Hearing the order, these soldiers raised their shields to protect the front and charged straight forward, colliding with the timid demons.

"Bang bang bang!"

The successive thuds echoed; unlike the strong, mighty berserk demon, the timid demons, though demons, lacked the robust physiques of these seasoned warriors.

The soldiers, shields raised, launched a wave of charges; the timid demons were sent flying, overturned.

These soldiers did not linger; only after charging a considerable distance did they turn back, regroup, and move to encircle the timid demons.

These are the tactical arrangements Mu Yi trained them in over the past two days; once carried out, the results exceeded expectations.

Immediately after, a second wave of sword-and-shield troops plus spearmen pressed forward against the timid demons, forming an encircling force with the regrouped sword-and-shield men that completely surrounded the timid demons in the middle.

While coordinating to block the timid demons' attacks, the sword-and-shield men slashed with their longswords at exposed foes; the spearmen behind them kept thrusting, causing the timid demons to fall in swaths like wheat before a scythe.

The frontline shield warriors continued to advance slowly; the sword-and-shield soldiers behind them began to finish off those knocked down by the spears but not yet dead timid demons, which appeared.

"What splendid coordination!" Clay's party found it hard to believe; the battle situation far exceeded their expectations.

"The timid demons are nothing, yet that the berserk demon could be so easily restrained left them utterly astonished."

"Even if we let their squad face the berserk demon head-on, without Kaili'er they could not achieve such ease."

"No matter how poor their command skills, they could see that Mu Yi had already secured victory; slaying the thick-skinned berserk demon was merely a matter of time."

"Hah~" Mu Yi also exhaled in relief, far more easily than he had imagined.

Although these soldiers were not raw recruits and had seen some combat, this being their first battle fought in formation, he himself was actually a bit nervous.

Strictly speaking, this was his first battle relying entirely on command.

In the White Lotus Instance, they bullied only single opponents, and he himself always led the charge personally.

This time, however, he did not move a single step from start to finish.

"Contract the formation! Longbow squad, fix your eyes on the corpses and fire freely!"

Seeing the timid demons all down, Mu Yi immediately ordered the soldiers who had surrounded them to return to the ranks, fearing the demons might feign death; he also had the nearby longbow archers keep watch on those bodies.

The berserk demon's extraordinarily high transcendent physique is indeed formidable; even with a dozen spears driven into its body, it can still wield the force of those spears to attack nearby sword-and-shield men, its vitality having reached the extreme of tenacity.

Mu Yi felt a bit troubled; he did not want to reveal this legion's killing move, but the berserk demon was simply too tough.

Even the spears bolstered by cloud energy could not pierce through, only barely breaking the defense; though it looked like a pincushion, the wounds were merely superficial.

Such uncanny vitality—indeed, it lives up to being an Abyss Demon.

"Huh!?"

Just as Mu Yi pondered how to slay the berserk demon, he suddenly felt a surge of spirit, not from himself but from the soldiers.

The easily attained prospect of victory let the soldiers truly believe in Mu Yi's ability, and when they all inwardly acknowledged him, the flame of spirit began to resonate.

The previously nascent spirit fire began to rise; Mu Yi suddenly had an epiphany, and the blazing fire spread from his body outward, eventually reaching the cloud energy.

The cloud energy began to roll and burn, like a mass of leaping flame.

Mu Yi, blessed by spirit, followed his intuition and raised the banner at hand; all his guards, at that moment, ignited like him.

Flames began to coil around their weapons; this flame entwined upon the weapons is not real, yet to the berserk demon surrounded at the center, it is more terrifying than real fire.

The illusory flame spread from the soldiers' weapons onto the berserk demon's body, and the demon felt overwhelming weakness.

The flame gradually consumed his power; his strength, magic, and life seemed to be devoured bit by bit by the fire.

"Kill it!"

Accompanied by Mu Yi's angry roar, all the soldiers roared as well.

The spear infantry fiercely thrust their weapons into the Berserk Demon's body.

The spear, which had only barely pierced defenses before, now possessed terrifying damage; the soldiers drove it forcefully, and under Klei's party's astonished gazes, they completely thrust the spear into the Berserk Demon's body.

"I remember that before, I couldn't pierce its defense at all…"

The catfolk looked at the dagger in their hand with a puzzled expression, wondering if any ordinary soldier was already stronger than them.

Klei gently patted the catfolk's head, a flash of strange light in their eyes; if Mu Yi could truly grant all the soldiers this power, victory seemed far less illusory than imagined!

Perhaps they could turn the tables and purge the Succubus?

"The battle is over."

"Iron-blooded Slaughter Talent Effect, your skill has improved! …You have learned some techniques from others' battles! …"

"You have a hint of insight into the combat proficiencies 【Parry】 【Block】! …"

"Your troops have grasped 【Scorch】! Gained Elite Talent 【Scorch LV1】"

"Your troops have gained insight in battle, improving coordination!"

"Your troops have been upgraded in battle, increasing current level experience!"

"Based on your combat contribution, killing an Abyss Demon, contribution +500!"

Mu Yi stared dazedly at the refreshed prompt on his retina.

He suddenly realized that the need for real combat seemed to involve not only the trained soldiers but also himself.

He needed real battles to transform the knowledge and experience he had amassed from books into tangible ability.

This round's gains did not appear abundant, yet for Mu Yi they were greater than any previous harvest.

From this moment on, he officially became a military commander, a true commander.

After the military formation, he mastered another essential Military Strategist skill—troop training.

Through chaotic trial, he grasped a stable method to train Elite Talent.

He himself was a beneficiary of Elite Talent, naturally understanding how much a single Elite Talent could boost a soldier.

Moreover, quantitative change yields qualitative change.

The talent effect once dismissed as a trivial Scorch effect has now truly blossomed with its own brilliance.

Previously, Scorch's effect in dispersing enemies was inconspicuous, often merely an add‑on; those truly felled by it were mostly insubstantial, weak undead.

Now, when the will of five hundred people merges as one and burns upon the Berserk Demon, the demon weakens at a visibly rapid pace.

Its body is no longer resilient, its power is no longer Transcendent; in the end it can only watch helplessly as the ants in its eyes hack it to death.

When the Berserk Demon fell, among the annihilated Fear Demons, a few feigning death sprang up, but before they could flee…

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

The longbow twanged lightly, and several sharp arrows sliced through the air, pinning them to the ground; the flames on the arrows were gradually scorching the power within them.

By the next bowstring's vibration, they had completely lost the strength to move, then were pierced through vital points by the arrows, losing their lives.

"We won!" The quiet forest echoed with an excited voice.

Yes, they won, achieving victory with absolute zero casualties.

"Clear the battlefield, drag all these Abyss Demon corpses together!"

A smile appeared on Mu Yi's face; the soldiers initially hurled by the Berserk Demon survived thanks to his timely rescue. Though their injuries were severe, once back at camp, healing would mend them.

All the soldiers' gazes toward Mu Yi held no doubt any longer; they began to fully trust everything Mu Yi had said.

Victory is proven within the army, even if it is only a small triumph.

The lingering illusory flames on their bodies are the best proof of their growing strength.

Sometimes that's how it is; only ability can win others' respect.

"Ellie, this statue is yours!"

Mu Yi smiled and waved at Ellie, indicating that she should break the statue on the altar.

This is a reward for the wanderers; their intel is often very useful, and since the altar was discovered by Avery, a portion of the contribution naturally goes to them.

As for the share for Toronto, Mu Yi has other plans.

Clear rewards and punishments—this is the military governance essence Mu Yi learned from history and Qi Jiguang's military treatises.

The catfolk performed a clean, swift backstab, shattering the statue's head, then danced back triumphantly.

"3000 contribution points!!!"

The catfolk were excited; this was a sizable income.

"Come on, keep it up!" Mu Yi patted the catfolk's head.

He gave the destroyed statue a strangely odd glance.

Strangely enough, they had already destroyed a dozen altars, but only Mu Yi had been cursed by the evil god.

Mu Yi still doesn't know what merit he has to have attracted the attention of the Spider Goddess.

From the current situation, these altars serve the central Succubus; although their purpose is unclear, it's evident that the Succubus and Spider Goddess Rose are not allies.

Even if the Spider Goddess truly has a scheme, it wouldn't warrant such a fuss over a shattered statue.

"Commander, the battlefield has been cleared!" A squad leader appointed by Mu Yi ran over to report to him.

"Take the wounded brothers, let's return to camp!"

Having issued the order, Mu Yi turned his head toward Klei and the others.

"Please take care of these corpses!"

Klei nodded; she knew this was Mu Yi's small compensation for them.

One reason the Mordelos material realm widely hires Zongwang Players is that they can directly dispose of corpses still harboring Abyssal energy.

From a realistic standpoint, this is the most convenient and labor-saving solution they could think of.

From now on, I will steadily update 4,000 characters daily; as for extra chapters, they may have to wait until after New Year's Day.

I have some things at home these couple days, so I can't post extra chapters for now.

The first subscription count just exceeded a thousand, so I owe you an extra chapter.

Thank you for everyone's support; I will try to write better as much as possible!

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