Chapter 210

Su Xiao lay in the bedroom, and outside came the noisy sounds of running, horn blasts, and so on. The Imperial army was assembling.

The outcome of this war was already determined before it even began; the Empire was bound to win.

Not to mention that the leader of the Jibei army was already dead, Esdeath's Teigu 'Demon's Extract' alone was not something the Jibei army could block.

Teigu are magical items that can help users control ice, water currents, etc., while some Teigu are simply weapons with special abilities, such as one-hit kills, extreme sharpness, etc.

A Teigu can be a ring, a knife, a sword, armor, etc.

Not everyone can use a Teigu; a Teigu will choose a master with compatible affinity. After the master dies, the Teigu's ability still exists, waiting for the next master.

Teigu can generally be divided into several major categories.

The first type is Teigu like Demon's Extract, which are consumed or drunk and can only be used once. The abilities of this type of Teigu are generally very strong.

The second type is weapon-based; this type of Teigu is diverse, including knives, spears, swords, and halberds, with all kinds of abilities.

The third type is more magical: biological Teigu. This type of Teigu might be a humanoid creature, or it could be a dog, a bear, etc.

The three types of Teigu each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Overall, one-time Teigu are more powerful.

Su Xiao recalled the appearance and abilities of various Teigu in his mind; he would have to face Teigu users in the future.

While he was thinking about the Teigu information, the assembly horn sounded outside the fortress.

"Finally marching out, huh? What is the situation in the Imperial Capital now?"

Thinking about these things was still too early; rest was most important. Less than five minutes later, Su Xiao fell into a deep sleep. It wouldn't be this peaceful after returning to the Imperial Capital; he was essentially deep in enemy territory.

The next morning, the cold wind whistled by.

Inside the Dongdongta Fortress.

At this moment, the 'Dongdongta Fortress' was completely different from last night. Large areas of ice appeared inside the fortress, houses were frozen, and frozen Jibei people could be seen everywhere on the ground. The entire fortress had turned into a world of ice.

An Imperial soldier ran quickly out of the fortress, and his heart skipped a beat when he passed a snowfield.

The scene on the snowfield could only be described as horrific; a large number of prisoners of war were impaled on wooden stakes, which were planted in the snow.

Looking around, there were at least several thousand such stakes with humans on them, and the scene behind the stakes was even more cruel.

After the battle began last night, the Jibei army collapsed at the first touch. Without a leader to command them, and with Esdeath's powerful ice-type abilities, the battlefield turned into a slaughterhouse.

The battle started at 2:30 AM, and the Jibei army surrendered at 5:00 AM.

Dongdongta Fortress had 30,000 troops and 70,000 to 80,000 civilians stationed there. Don't underestimate these 70,000 to 80,000 civilians; at critical moments, they were also soldiers.

After all these people surrendered, Esdeath issued an order.

Kill them all, leave none alive! And kill them in a cruel way, using the blood of the Jibei army to deter other restless alien tribes around the Empire.

The massacre began at 6:00 and ended before 7:00.

Nearly 100,000 people were slaughtered in less than an hour. Some of their corpses were piled into a heap, some were made into 'snowmen', and some were impaled on wooden stakes.

The news reached other small Jibei army units scattered around at 9:00 AM, and the various units of the Jibei army began to flee, escaping into the colder depths of the Jibei.

At 11:00 AM that day, not a single Jibei person could be seen within a few kilometers of the Jibei fortress; these people had been scared out of their wits.

The Imperial army retreated back to the Jibei fortress around 12:00, and around 1:00 PM, more than 300,000 sick soldiers were the first to return to the Empire.

Around 2:00 PM, more than 100,000 healthy Imperial soldiers also began to withdraw, leaving less than 50,000 people in the Jibei fortress.

The reason for such a hasty retreat was that marching and fighting required a large amount of money. The military rations consumed by 500,000 troops every day were a terrifying number, and these rations had to be transported, which cost even more. Moreover, there were other expenses: medical care, medicine, weapon wear and tear, pensions for casualties, etc.

If 500,000 people were left to guard the fortress, given the Empire's current treasury savings, they would face unpaid military wages within half a year, and the Empire's economy would decline significantly within a year.

50,000 people were enough to guard the fortress; previously, there were only a few thousand people in the Jibei fortress.

It was too difficult to transport supplies to the Jibei, and the Empire had been reducing the number of border defense troops.

No wonder the Empire would eventually perish; reducing the number of border defense troops was just a fancy way of courting death.

The current Empire was like a tree rotten to the core, just waiting for someone with the courage to kick it.

On the way back for the Imperial army, most of the soldiers were walking, which resulted in a slow overall marching speed.

Su Xiao sat on a bumpy horse, he had never ridden a horse, and he didn't expect this four-legged means of transport to be so difficult to master.

But how could a Black Ops member not know how to ride a horse? So even if he didn't know how, he had to learn.

Su Xiao relied on his waist and lower body strength to forcibly ride the horse. The first horse he rode collapsed after marching for thirty minutes, foaming at the mouth and twitching in the abdomen; that was because he had clamped it with brute force, and the horse had suffered.

The fate of the second horse was much better, and so far, there were no signs of foaming at the mouth.

This horse was fine, but Su Xiao himself was not feeling well. Forcibly riding a horse was a very tiring thing; his butt was very sore now, and everything below his chest was aching.

"General, how much longer until we return to the Imperial Capital?"

Su Xiao rarely took the initiative to speak to Esdeath.

"Hmm?"

Esdeath was quite surprised.

"About two days."

Su Xiao's expression was not very good.

"You don't know how to ride a horse, do you?"

He had been seen through; Su Xiao was also helpless about this.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I hate this furry beast; it makes me very uncomfortable."

Esdeath was surprised; she probably didn't expect the 'cold-faced' Su Xiao to hate something.

"Didn't your previous organization teach you how to ride a horse?"

"They did, but I killed the horse."

This time, Esdeath was not calm.

"You killed the horse? What were the consequences?"

"I was hung up and whipped two hundred times, almost died."

Esdeath chuckled and looked at Su Xiao with amazement.

"How was this matter handled in the end?"

"I practiced running, and in the end, I ran faster than the horse, and my endurance was no worse than a horse's."

Esdeath chuckled again, and other officers nearby also laughed.

"Running faster than a horse? What kind of subordinate have I recruited? Since you dislike riding a horse so much, why are you riding one now?"

Su Xiao knew he couldn't avoid this question, so he gave an unexpected answer.

"If an assassination unit member doesn't know how to ride a horse, they will be suspected."

If ten sentences were all lies, they would be seen through sooner or later, but if there were a few truths among the ten sentences, then the lies would also be taken as truth.

"Don't force yourself anymore. Go sit on the supply cart in the back; your horse is foaming at the mouth again."

The warhorse under Su Xiao turned its head, its innocent gaze seeming to accuse Su Xiao.

"Thank you, General."

Jumping off the warhorse, Su Xiao limped toward the supply cart; he was finally relieved and had successfully bluffed his way through.