Chapter 481: The Overall Situation Is Decided

The Golden Lion Brigade's charge has completely halted.

After Ke Si Te was knocked out and thrown into the portal, only a single legendary Mid-stage Lionheart Knight, the strongest, remained; he guarded Duke Dan Si, shouting repeatedly, reorganizing the Lionheart Knights to close in, contracting the formation around Duke Dan Si in an attempt to reconstitute it and sustain the golden force field.

However, that was almost impossible to achieve.

The spearwing knights in the sky kept sweeping fire, the Wizards hurled fireballs in wave after wave, Lei En's four Mirror Images also went on a killing spree, and the scene completely spiraled out of control.

"Lord Duke, do you still remember what I said?"

Lei En, from dozens of meters away, looked over the corpses of Lionheart Knights and spoke in a very calm tone.

Duke Dan Si's eyelids twitched wildly; of course he remembered.

Besides the legendary Mid-stage Lionheart Knight beside him, his personal guard numbered over twenty, each possessing at least high-level transcendent strength, including two legendary First-stage members.

He himself was also a legendary First-stage, wearing his family's most precious Lion King armor, with a golden force field atop his head that deflected bullets and fireballs, yet he felt no safety facing Lei En.

Even the strongest Ke Si Te was defeated; the remaining few could not possibly match Lei En.

"Speaker," Duke Dan Si forced his panic down, his face regaining composure, and explained: "I did not intend to betray, to break the promise made to the Speaker. It is simply that His Majesty's oppression of the Dan Si family was too severe, leaving me no choice."

Lei En didn't believe it at all.

Ai Mi Li Si indeed intended to suppress the Dan Si family, but not with the purpose of forcing a rebellion; moreover, since the Dan Si family had been subjugated by herself, considering her and Ding Laji's pride, as long as Duke Dan Si obeyed obediently, at most a golden dragon would be extracted later, and she would not truly act.

Duke Dan Si's betrayal did not occur last night; it had already been clandestinely colluding with Marck beforehand.

The Soul Eye saw the other party lying.

"No choice?" Lei En snorted, "This is merely His Majesty's test of the Dan Si family. Based on what you did back then, do you think this is excessive? Only concrete actions can earn trust; I doubt the Lord Duke doesn't understand this principle."

Duke Dan Si was instantly at a loss for words.

Lei En lifted his war hammer and stepped toward him, gunfire crackling continuously; any Lionheart Knight daring to approach was shot by bullets, as if an invisible energy wall repelled enemies.

This scene dramatically increased Duke Dan Si's pressure; as Lei En drew nearer, the guard's Lionheart Knights grew anxious.

"Speaker, the Dan Si family is willing to submit..."

His words were cut off by Lei En: "I said, there is only one chance."

As soon as the words fell, Lei En's figure flashed.

"Retreat quickly!" Duke Dan Si could no longer stay calm, shouting wildly, desperately urging his warhorse to flee the battlefield.

As for his son Ke Si Te and the Lionheart Knights being slaughtered, he could not care about them at all.

The next instant.

Lei En appeared ten steps away, practically within arm's reach, already raising his war hammer.

"Protect the Lord Duke!" the legendary Mid-stage Lionheart Knight shouted, abandoning his warhorse, raising a shield with one hand and a sword with the other, standing before Duke Dan Si.

The surrounding guards also formed a defensive formation, fully channeling their soul energy.

A thick golden force field, as solid as a magical barrier, completely enveloped him and the Duke Dan Si behind him.

The war hammer struck the force field, emitting a deafening blast.

Bang!

Lei En's hammer swing used full force; he did not trigger Thunderous Heavy Strike, but instead activated a "Destruction Critical", the hammerhead unleashing five times the power the instant it hit the force field, concentrating the force into a point for greater devastation.

The force field, as solid as copper walls and iron barriers, quivered, and a crack formed at the hammer's impact point.

The crack spread like a spiderweb in an instant, covering the entire field, and the Lionheart Knights within seemed to hear the sound of porcelain shattering.

Immediately, a tsunami-like backlash surged, and the force field collapsed.

Puff…

Over twenty high-level Lionheart Knights spewed blood simultaneously, their soul energy trembling incessantly, faces paling rapidly, even the large shields in their hands could no longer be raised.

Only that legendary Mid-stage Lionheart Knight withstood the backlash.

But he instantly became Lei En's primary target.

A charge!

Lei En, like a car, rammed the Lionheart Knight ahead, using the momentum of his charge to swing his hammer onto the opponent's shield. With a booming crack, amidst massive lightning, the legendary Mid-stage Lionheart Knight was instantly blown apart, his shield, body, and golden armor all shattered.

Lightning swept the surroundings, the Lionheart Knights and their warhorses shrieking miserably as they fell.

The only two remaining legendary Lionheart Knights, braced against the lightning, attacked from left and right. Lei En let their longswords strike his body, whirled his war hammer in a swift circle, two "Puff! Puff!" sounds like watermelons bursting, easily crushing their heads.

In a few short seconds, Duke Dan Si became the Light Rod Commander.

His warhorse was killed by a thunderous lightning strike, tumbling down in a mess; the priceless Lion King armor on his body deflected the lightning, saving his life, but he missed the chance to escape.

As the ruler of the duchy, Duke Dan Si had lived a life of support and luxury, preferring to act with wit; although he was also a legendary First-stage transcendent, he rarely had the chance to act personally, his true strength among legends being at the very bottom.

At this moment, alone against Lei En, Duke Dan Si felt as if stripped bare, trembling with fear.

"S-Speaker..."

Duke Dan Si's lips quivered, his heart filled with profound remorse, finally grasping a cruel truth: before absolute power, even the loftiest schemes appear pale and futile. Only the power one wields oneself is real; one should not waste energy on scheming.

"If you can spare… spare me a way out, I am willing to offer ten million golden dragons as ransom… no, fifteen million!"

Duke Dan Si spoke through clenched teeth, as if trying to grasp the last straw of salvation.

Lei En wore a mocking expression.

At this point, Duke Dan Si still thought of buying his way out with money; perhaps he understood, for any amount he could seize, yet he had no other options, and his mind was in chaos for survival.

"Yours is mine," Lei En said with a smile.

Duke Dan Si, as if struck by lightning, his face full of despair, let out a helpless grim laugh that abruptly ceased, and, resigned, closed his eyes.

Lei En flashed over, seized Duke Dan Si's golden helm, gave a gentle twist, and removed his head.

The armor on Duke Dan Si's body was clearly valuable equipment; it would be a waste to smash it with a hammer. He tossed the corpse and armor into a dimensional ring, and the screams of Lionheart Knights rang in his ears.

"Lord Duke!"

"He killed Lord Duke..."

"Run!" a Lionheart Knight shouted: "The duke and the commander are dead; staying here is suicide, retreat to the duchy immediately."

All Legendary High‑rank and above in the Golden Lion Corps were killed by Lei En, instantly losing their backbone; comrades kept being slain, and the battle will and morale collapsed across the front. Though they still numbered over a thousand, they had no fighting spirit and turned their warhorses westward to flee.

Lei En did not intend to let them go; the four Mirror Images continued the pursuit.

The Skyborne Gunwing Knights and the Wizards also did not cease.

Some Lionheart Knights realized that if they stayed together everyone would die, so they immediately broke formation, scattered and fled, galloping wildly across the open fields.

Not to mention a thousand people; even a thousand pigs, if spread too far, Lei En and the Gunwing Knights could not quickly capture them all.

After a few minutes, when the Mirror Image technique's duration ended, all four Mirror Images vanished.

The Gunwing Knights' ammunition had also been consumed by more than half.

About two to three hundred Lionheart Knights escaped the battlefield; only their silhouettes could be seen in the distance. Lei En opened a Random Door but could not immediately chase them, so he ordered the Gunwing Knights to halt and not waste more ammunition. After these Lionheart Knights fled, they could no longer become a factor.

The battle had not ended.

The Ice Wolf Knights still resisted stubbornly; these followers of the wolf gods were truly fearless. Even though Duke BranDen was captured, most leaders were dead, and they faced a encirclement by the Centaur army, yet the Ice Wolf Swordsmen showed no sign of fleeing.

Such a strong Willpower even Lei En admired.

Without his order, the Gunwing Knights and Wizards began attacking the Ice Wolf Knights and the remaining cavalry of the BranDen family.

After a quarter hour, the Ice Wolf Knights finally could not hold and began retreating northward.

Yet fewer than one in ten of the Ice Wolf Swordsmen managed to escape.

Lei En did not let the Gunwing Knights pursue them; he organized the Centaurs and turned back to strike the west gate of Goldsilan. There, two thousand vassal troops of the Dans family were surrounding Ding Laji, a half‑unit of Scale‑Riding Guard and the Sturgeon Warriors, launching a fierce assault.

Thousands of Transcendants poured out of the city, all troops under Mark. They had originally made a plan with Duke Dans, coordinating inside and out, then joining forces with the Ice Wolf Knights to form a three‑sided encirclement; after defeating the Centaur army they would strike toward Ai Mili Si, but they failed.

What surprised Lei En was that Dilan*Laobodier had not defected.

If it were not for the more than three thousand Transcendent Army he led, which held back the enemies pouring out of the city and, together with Ding Laji, resisted, the Dragon‑born army would likely have been heavily damaged.

When the Centaurs returned, nearly ten thousand Transcendants tangled in a melee outside Goldsilan's west gate.

Both sides were deadlocked.

Lei En led the Centaurs, the Gunwing Knights, and the Wizards onto the battlefield, instantly breaking the stalemate. The Centaur army charged from the flank, the Gunwing Knights swept fire from the sky, and fireballs and spells rained down, quickly routing Mark's troops.

The sounds of killing thundered, blood flowed like a river.

The battle lasted over an hour; Mark's army suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat from the city gate back into Goldsilan.

Under the threat of the red dragon formation on the city walls, Lei En did not rashly pursue into the city.

The main force halted three hundred meters from the gate, watching the remnants of over a thousand soldiers slip into the city. In the sky, the battle between the Extreme Warriors and the Snow Eagle Guard had long ended; fewer than fifty snow eagles survived, taking shelter in Goldsilan's red dragon formation.

The Extreme Warriors and a giant dragon hovered over the southern gate, supporting the fight there, but they gradually ceased.

"Ding Laji, you clean up the battlefield."

Lei En tossed out a line, opened a portal and stepped through, appearing beside Ai Mili Si, and asked, "How is the situation here?"

He was blocked from view on the western battlefield by Goldsilan's walls; he had heard some movement from the Voice of All Things but could not see it. Ai Mili Si had not used a communicator to contact him, believing she could handle it herself, so she did not come to assist.

The expressions of Ai Mili Si and the others were a mix of joy and worry.

"Sir, we have won!"

Waluogen beamed with joy and reported, "Mark led the Giant Deer Corps out of the south gate, attempting a rear ambush. Fortunately, His Majesty was prepared; Duke Feshe and Prince Morse blocked Mark's forces. After your Extreme Warrior Corps arrived to support, they repelled Mark."

"He escaped back into the city?" Lei En asked, frowning.

"Yes." Ai Mili Si nodded, regretting that they could not kill Mark on the spot, "It's a pity he fled into Goldsilan; otherwise we could have breached the city today!"

She moved closer, smelled the soaring blood scent on Lei En, and suddenly covered her mouth, dry‑vomiting a few times from discomfort.

Lei En looked down himself; the enemy's fresh blood had coagulated into clots, indeed foul to smell.

A magical aura descended, swiftly washing the blood from his body, and Speaker Kelaoaosi said, "Mark's power is immense; even if I intervene, it would be hard to hold him."

"That strong?" Lei En exclaimed in surprise.

It should be noted that Speaker Kelaoaosi is a nineteenth‑level mage with the Red Dragon talent; across the entire Empire, among spellcasters below Holy Soul, he ranks prominently. That he admitted Mark's strength is not inferior to his own is truly astonishing.

Mark is a Giant Deer Warrior; this Transcendent vocation's potential is far below that of a Wizard, yet he can contend with Wizards, leaving Lei En somewhat incredulous.

"He is not an ordinary Legendary High‑rank."

Speaker Kelaoaosi's expression grew solemn, "From my observation, Mark has long been challenging the Saint Rank; though still far away, he has progressed far along the path. If Chairman Kaidejia had not driven away that Legendary Wizard and returned to aid the battle in time, the two Dukes would already have been slain by Mark."

Lei En nodded cautiously.

The two mysterious Legendary High‑rank Wizards, one tangled with Kaidejia for a long time before realizing the tide had turned and left directly; the other was injured by my flying hammer and never returned, yet he also restrained Speaker Kelaoaosi, daring not to leave Ai Mili Si's side.

He looked toward the Dragon‑born army outside the southern city, noting that casualties were heavy for both great families.

The precise losses were still being tallied; Lei En estimated around two thousand dead or wounded, far more than his own casualties at the western battlefield. Duke Feshe, the two princes of the Morse family, and several Legendary Transcendants were all wounded.

Lei En counted carefully and found that three Legendary lords belonging to the two families had perished.

Chairman Kaidejia teleported back, his complexion also somewhat pale.

"Even if Mark is strong, he is only one man; Lei En, if you join forces with the two Speakers, you will surely defeat him," Ai Mili Si said seriously. "Now Mark's forces are few, and they must maintain the red dragon formation. We will clean up the battlefield, reorganize the army, rest half a day, then begin the siege, giving Mark no time to breathe."

Everyone nodded in agreement; after this battle the overall situation was settled, and Mark could hardly turn the tide.

However, shortly thereafter, a handwritten note from Mark arrived among the Dragon‑born troops.

Waluogen opened the letter, glanced at it, his face instantly changing, then passed the letter around for everyone present to read, finally handing it to Lei En.

Lei En, after reading it, also wore a face of surprise.

"Mark is using the lives of all Goldsilan's residents as leverage, demanding a duel with me?"

(End of Chapter)