Chapter 171

The fox maiden Sister Qing Ling led the army in person this time.

After arriving at the former territory of the Cat Clan, Fox Maiden Sister Qing Ling ordered the entire army to rest.

The entire army rested overnight on the Cat Clan's territory, and early the next morning, they marched steadily toward the Lion Clan's territory.

In the morning, the army passed through Lion Pass.

Lion Pass had originally been the western gateway of the Lion Clan, but after being destroyed by Meng Ying, the Lions did not rebuild it, nor did they station a single soldier there.

"Report, Holy Maiden, according to scouts, most of the Lion Clan should be in the woods near that lake."

After the army advanced further, a scout reported.

"That is the Azure Lake Woods; we once fought the Lion Clan there, and the terrain there is ideal for them."

Tiger Winnie said.

Fox Maiden Sister Qing Ling nodded and asked, "Is the vegetation thick in that woodland?"

Winnie shook her head and said, "The vegetation there is sparse, the terrain is complex, and even fire attacks would struggle to ignite. If we enter the Azure Lake Woods, our forces will be split apart, losing our advantage and turning into small-unit skirmishes with Lion Clan warriors. The Horsemen and Xiong Zu warriors might still hold their own, but the Fox Clan, Cat Clan, and Elk Clan will be crushed by the Lions!"

Fox Maiden Sister Qing Ling understood.

The Azure Lake Woods—though called a woodland—was more like a Stone Forest.

It was an extremely vast expanse of woodland.

Previously, Meng Ying had brought only a thousand troops, and they had no significant impact within the Azure Lake Woods.

But now, there were forty thousand troops here.

Once they entered the Azure Lake Woods, this forty-thousand-strong force would be split into groups of one or two thousand, even smaller units.

Because the terrain offered no room to maneuver.

Once split, the Fox Clan and Cat Clan, who relied primarily on archers, would be easily picked off one by one by Lion Clan warriors.

Remember, in complex terrain, archers cannot easily deploy.

The Lion Clan warriors are not densely packed, so explosive arrows cannot inflict wide-area damage, and they can always find cover.

A 100-energy-point explosive arrow? A Lion Clan warrior only needs to hide behind a large rock!

Winnie said, "This old lion is truly shrewd. This woodland is extremely wide; to the south lies the lake, so we can only detour north, which would take us far out of our way, and the north is the Great Snow Mountains, even less favorable for marching. This old lion has chosen a battlefield that is extremely disadvantageous for us!"

"No, it's advantageous for us!"

At that moment, Meng Ying spoke up.

Fox Maiden Sister Qing Ling turned to look at her.

Meng Ying gazed eastward and said, "The Azure Lake Woods have split us apart, but they've also split them apart. With seventy thousand Lion Clan warriors scattered across such a vast woodland, each sector holds only a few fighters. So let me go force their warriors out to fight!"

"You?"

Winnie blinked in surprise.

Meng Ying nodded and turned to the Horse Clan chieftain: "Interested in another run?"

The Horse Clan chieftain instantly understood, and said happily, "Of course, Master Meng Ying!"

Winnie frowned slightly and said, "I understand—you plan to lead a small force inside to kill enemies? With your strength, you can indeed kill a large number of Lion Clan warriors in a short time, but you're a mage. There's a Sixth-Rank warrior and at least a Sixth-Rank high priest among them, plus seventy thousand Lion Clan warriors. What if you get trapped?"

Meng Ying smiled slightly and said, "Aunt Winnie, don't worry. Please protect the Holy Maiden in case they send a Sixth-Rank warrior to launch a surprise attack."

Then she said, "Chieftain, gather the warriors!"

The Horse Clan chieftain nodded and said, "Alright!"

"Are the other clans' armies nearly here?"

In a tent within the Azure Lake Woods, the Old Lion King asked.

"Your Majesty, they've reached the high ground several kilometers away and have set up camp there."

A subordinate reported.

"Set up camp? Cautious indeed. But we have our territory at our backs, with constant resupply. They're fighting a thousand li away—what will they use to resupply? Hmph, they still haven't escaped the realm of beasts; they don't even understand the most critical factor in warfare."

The Old Lion King snorted, then said, "Send word to the thousand-strong force hidden in the Kobold Ruins—have them cut off these fools' supply lines."

"Yes, Your Majesty is wise!"

Just after this subordinate finished flattering the Old Lion King, an outside messenger shouted:

"Your Majesty, they're attacking!"

"Attacking? Quickly, sound the war horn!"

The Old Lion King leapt to his feet.

"Your Majesty, but their numbers are few—only about a thousand Horsemen. From our observations, these thousand Horsemen might be the same group that was previously in our territory."

The messenger added.

"Suicide!"

The Old Lion King's gaze turned icy. "Bring me my blade—I'll exterminate this Horse Clan!"

On the grasslands, a thousand Horsemen charged toward the Azure Lake Woods.

Within the Azure Lake Woods, the Lion Clan warriors stared at this Horse Clan force, each of them utterly baffled.

Yes, they were confused.

The Azure Lake Woods held seventy thousand Lion Clan troops.

Even if those seventy thousand were scattered, they were still seventy thousand.

Yet these fools dared to attack with so few?

Or were they merely a sacrificial scouting force?

Regardless of how confused the Lion Clan warriors were, since the enemy had come, they must fight.

The thousand Horsemen charged toward the central entrance of the Azure Lake Woods.

That entrance was quite wide, but even a thousand men could barely maneuver inside; if forty thousand entered… they'd be utterly jammed, split into countless fragments.

This was the lion warriors' chance.

Although the old Lion King had many contingencies, its combat experience was extremely rich, and it took full advantage of the terrain and timing.

This was also the reason it could lead the lion tribe to prosperity.

After the thousand centaurs charged into that entrance, a large number of lion warriors appeared all around.

"Kill them."

These lion warriors excitedly hurled their spears at the thousand centaurs.

"Boom!"

At this moment, a large volley of fireballs flew toward these lion warriors, instantly killing over a hundred of the lion warriors that had emerged.

"There's a mage, retreat now!"

These lion warriors dodged away one after another.

The thousand centaurs did not stop at all, nor did they pursue, continuing to push deeper along the Emerald Lake Woodland.

Along the way, they rarely struck; the only one who did was Meng Ying, riding on the centaur chieftain's back.

But Meng Ying's attacks were too terrifying.

She didn't even need any high-powered techniques.

A simple fireball spell could kill over a hundred in one strike.

This was the horror of a Magister.

Those lion warriors were quite clever too—every time Meng Ying struck at most two or three times, these lion warriors would slip into the complex terrain and dodge away.

Meng Ying had no intention of pursuing either; the centaur chieftain carried her on his back, sprinting nonstop toward the depths of the Emerald Lake Woodland.

At this rate, Meng Ying was actually planning to scour the entire Emerald Lake Woodland!

"That mage from the city who killed Oldington has come—such a terror! The moment she struck, we lost over a hundred brothers!"

"And that's not all—the thousand centaurs who ravaged our territory, killed several thousand, and even killed Prince Bert are back again. How brazen! We have seventy thousand, and they actually dare to come in!"

Before long, the news of the mage who killed Oldington and the thousand centaurs arriving had spread throughout the Emerald Lake Woodland.

It brought enormous panic to these lion warriors!

"They're back, they're back!"

Among the lion army, those lion warriors who had personally witnessed Prince Bert being killed said, trembling.

That thousand centaurs and that mage had already become their nightmare!