Zhao Jundu returned the Zangxin to Qian Ye, patted his shoulder, and said faintly, “Qian Ye, when you grow up, remember to avenge me. There are no fools in our Zhao family, so you should know what grudges and grievances I speak of. Well, now I’m tired and need to rest.”
With that, he walked over to a broken wall, sat down, and closed his eyes. At that moment, the thick clouds in the sky parted, and a beam of sunlight like a golden waterfall fell upon him. A smile appeared on Zhao Jundu’s lips as he sat there, basking in the sun.
Qian Ye stepped forward, but before his foot touched the ground, he drew it back. Zhao Jundu’s chest was still rising and falling slightly, and Qian Ye was afraid that any disturbance might cause this last bit of life to fade away with the wind.
Song Zining and Bai Ao Tuo quietly appeared and stood silently. Bai Ao Tuo turned her head slightly, as if listening to Zhao Jundu’s heartbeat and breathing. One by one, mercenaries and the Zhao family’s private army gathered, and the entire White City was left with only a few hundred warriors, all wounded, with nearly half needing to be supported by their comrades to stand.
The Evernight warriors outside had been intimidated by the previous battle and had scattered in retreat. The ones who remained were mostly nobles, also in a daze and had stopped attacking. They all looked in one direction, at the seemingly sleeping Zhao Jundu. Just a moment ago, he had been a nightmare for each of them, but now, in his slumber, they felt utterly unable to disrupt the peace.
“Qian Ye…”
Qian Ye made a gesture for silence, signaling Song Zining to stop talking, and then pointed to Zhao Jundu. Song Zining sighed and did not try to persuade him further. Zhao Jundu was still breathing, his heart still beating, but everyone knew it was like the night jasmine blooming, destined to wither.
Song Zining looked at himself, then at the surroundings, and smiled bitterly as he threw down the twisted battle rifle in his hand. But the rifle suddenly returned to Song Zining’s grasp. He was surprised to find that Qian Ye had picked it up and shoved it back into his hands.
“This battle isn’t over yet!” Qian Ye said emphatically.
The dark elites who had just fought, either dead or fleeing, had lost their will to fight. It was unlikely they would rejoin the battlefield. However, there were still reserve forces and a vampiric Viscount overseeing the battle outside. And with so many high-ranking sword wielders from the Black Sun here, there must be even higher-ranking members of the Council.
“You want to…” Song Zining suddenly saw an ancient, thick, black book in Qian Ye’s hand, too old to discern its era, but undoubtedly very ancient.
The Book of Darkness opened itself, and each formed page burned, turning to nothingness. As each page burned, the vast amount of blood energy condensed within it flowed through the large gemstone on the cover, forming a pillar and surging into Qian Ye, being fully absorbed.
A dark golden blood energy shot up from Qian Ye’s head, soaring into the sky, with countless golden light particles floating within it, like a dream.
As the blood energy appeared, Qian Ye’s aura began to rise, from deep and obscure to massive and terrifying. In a blink, the Duke-level terror spread over the entire battlefield like an abyssal depth and a deep sea.
Song Zining’s expression changed from confusion to shock, exclaiming, “What are you doing?! Losing balance will lead to death!”
The foundation of the Song Clan’s ancient scrolls is the balance between darkness and dawn. If one side becomes too powerful, the balance will tilt irreversibly, devouring the other until the host body can no longer bear the strain and collapses.
Qian Ye, however, was calm. “At least, I can get you out alive before that happens.”
“Qian Ye!”
Qian Ye interrupted, “There won’t be any reinforcements.”
Song Zining was at a loss for words. Even if there were reinforcements, they would be ambushed, and the White City had no more defenses. The other Imperial armies, even if they didn’t face as many dark creatures as the White City, wouldn’t have an easy time.
The remaining Evernight warriors on the battlefield, intimidated by Qian Ye’s aura, trembled and retreated, only daring to turn and run after retreating a considerable distance.
Tiger watched with great anxiety, his heart pounding. The strange behavior of the noble warriors was clearly due to Qian Ye’s blood energy.
However, when Doel fled heavily wounded, and the swordsmen were slaughtered, the Evernight army’s morale had already crumbled. The allied werewolf tribes had almost all fled, leaving the remaining vampires with no resistance against Qian Ye’s unprecedented blood energy. Even Tiger himself instinctively felt a chill, let alone the front-line soldiers.
“Damn it! What are those senior councilors doing? Why haven’t they arrived yet?” Tiger looked up at the sky, full of anxiety.
Whenever swordsmen appear, there are always true powerhouses behind them, and senior councilors are the minimum requirement. But the swordsmen had almost all been killed by Zhao Jundu, and the top-tier powerhouses who should have shown up were nowhere to be seen.
In fact, Tiger knew that the battle was already lost, regardless of the final outcome. The losses suffered by the Evernight far outweighed any gains. If Qian Ye and Song Zining managed to escape, the responsibility would be unbearable.
The outer void was still filled with battles, with the Evernight and Imperial fleets engaging and disengaging, and then charging again. The only solace was that the deployment of Evernight reinforcements might have ended, as there were almost no more large transport ships breaching the defense line.
Not far from the White City, near the junction of the central and western routes, the atmosphere was tense and grim.
A large Imperial fleet was waiting in formation. Anyone familiar with the Imperial fleet would recognize that most of the First Guard Fleet was present.
At this point, even the strongest Imperial Guard Fleet was not at full strength. To pull all the ships from the intense void battles for regrouping, it was clear how much pressure the other Imperial fleets in other regions were under.
But the greatest pressure was still ahead.
A small but elite Evernight fleet, composed entirely of top-tier warships, slowly revealed itself.
At the center was a massive ship, entirely black, with beautiful and elegant engravings on its metal surface, and retracted ramming spikes that appeared fiercely bloodthirsty. The entire upper deck, including the command cabin, was a translucent, blood-red color, and from afar, the light of the force arrays flickered like a sea of fire.
This giant ship was unfamiliar to the Imperial Guard, but from its style and size, it was a vampiric Prince’s warship! Compared to this behemoth, the Duke’s flagship on either side and the fast-moving warships behind it seemed insignificant.
The generals on the Imperial flagship all had grim expressions, facing the impending enemy, as the ominous shadow gradually spread across the area. The clan emblem on the giant ship came into view, the Crown of Fire, the symbol of the Spurk family, one of the twelve ancient vampiric clans.
This was the worst news—here was Harbs, a major figure of the Evernight Council and a Blood Prince!
The captain slammed his fist on the tactical table and roared at the adjutant, “Send the fast boats! Relay the message that Harbs is in action!” The adjutant, understanding the gravity of the situation, immediately rushed out.
At this moment, the air and ground of the floating land were embroiled in battle. The messengers sent out might not reach many strategic points, but this news had to be relayed to other fleets and ground forces, or else anyone unprepared would surely face total annihilation if they encountered the Blood Prince.
The captain, knowing that victory was impossible, could only consider how much time he could buy and how many of the enemy fleet’s warships he could take down.
As the Imperial flagship was in the midst of tense pre-battle preparations, the captain occasionally looked up, only to be astonished. A drop of sweat fell from his forehead into his eye, and he roughly wiped it away, blinking and looking out the window again.
He hadn’t been mistaken!
The Evernight fleet was turning!
At that moment, the lookout on the flagship reported the same. Harbs’ flagship was turning to the port side, and the Duke’s flagship and others followed, turning approximately 120 degrees and then departing. The entire Evernight fleet adjusted its formation and left together.
What should have been a decisive battle in outer space had ended in such an unexpected way.
On the giant ship, a vampiric Duke, with a grave expression, said to Harbs, “Your Highness, if we leave now, the swordsmen will have no support.”
Harbs held a cup of blood-red wine, standing by the window, gazing at the desolate void, as if there were countless wonders to see. Hearing this, he replied calmly, “I am leaving now because there is something more important to do. What, are you questioning me?”
The Duke, slightly apprehensive, quickly bowed, “Not at all, Your Highness!”
After a moment of silence, Harbs said, “There are always some people whose final moments of life shine brighter than the midday sun of many.”
Harbs, with his back to everyone, left his expression unseen, and no one understood the reason behind his cryptic words. Despite their bewildered looks, no one dared to ask further.
The room was filled with vampiric Dukes and higher, most of whom had heard about the recent unpleasantness between Harbs and Mendax, which had only been settled by the mediation of the Azure King Renos. No one wanted to cross the path of a clearly disgruntled Blood Prince.
Harbs, apparently, had no intention of explaining, lost in his own thoughts, muttering, “There are always some people…”
The wine in his cup was a stark, blood-red, blinding to the eye.
The sky above the White City was eerily quiet, giving a sense of deathly stillness. Inside the city, Qian Ye had made three assaults in different directions, each time causing the dark warriors to flee before the terrible pressure reached them.
Would Qian Ye stop at the center of the original dark army’s battle line and then turn back? Or would he return at all?
Tiger suddenly realized that someone had to make the decision, issue the order, and bear the responsibility. Clearly, that role now belonged to him. Between taking the blame for defeat and dying valiantly, the choice wasn’t difficult.
He took a deep breath and, with a hoarse voice, said, “Order… all troops to retreat.”
His subordinates carried out the order, and Tiger turned, then looked back, taking one last look at the White City. He knew that once he retreated, he would never return.
The Battle of the White City was over.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage