The next day, the Fire Seed Plan and the Counterattack Plan proceeded simultaneously.
The Fire Seed Plan was entrusted to Long Batian, while Chu Chen followed the main force to implement the Counterattack Plan.
Initially, the Fire Seed Plan was managed by Chu Chen, but there were numerous matters involved, after all, everyone has their own selfish desires and wants their offspring to join the Fire Seed Plan.
Long Batian voluntarily stepped forward to shoulder this burden for Chu Chen.
Chu Chen did not refuse, as he was not adept at handling such matters.
The Counterattack Plan commenced on the third day, with the Five Great Armies converging in one place. This was the first time since the Alliance was formed that the five armies jointly fought an enemy, and the first true counterattack since the emergence of the Star Beast.
The morale of the soldiers was unprecedentedly high, so much so that even the pre-battle mobilization process was omitted.
The Star Beasts had stormed cities for months and were already out of supplies, with only about thirty-odd of the hundred Emperor-level Star Beasts remaining, and only one Late-Stage Emperor-level Star Beast left, with the Mid-Stage ones being countable on one hand.
In contrast, on the Alliance's side, there was only the newly-broken-through Guardian Beast called Town Soul among the Late-Stage Emperor-level beasts, the Mid-Stage Emperor-level Guardians were equal to that of the Star Beasts, but there were as many as forty-five Early-Stage Emperor-level Guardians.
However, the confidence behind the Alliance's counterattack did not lie in the numerical advantage of high-rank fighters, but in overwhelming strength.
Aside from Lei Yao, Nirvana, and the Reincarnation Divine Fox, the remaining five Guardian Beasts boasted unparalleled combat power, capable of fighting beyond their level. Yet, in large-scale battles, the Rat Swarm of Duo Fu was the trump card.
After a period of battle, the individual strength of the rat swarm rose significantly, and with ample blood food, their numbers did not dwindle but exceeded tens of millions.
Duo Fu's rat swarm grew stronger and larger with each fight.
The counterattack naturally started with reclaiming lost territory, which was extremely easy for the Alliance.
Firstly, the Alliance had thorough knowledge of the situation in each city. Whether it was offensive routes or hidden passages within the cities, all were under the Alliance's control.
Secondly, the city's defensive machinery and the Defense Array had been destroyed, even the city walls were crumbling, with the Star Beasts guarding only an abandoned city.
Lastly, the defending forces were scattered, having experienced months of great battles, their numbers dwindled rapidly. With many cities occupied, the number of Star Beasts defending each was naturally fewer.
The first shot of the counterattack was fired in Black Mist City, the closest to Cyan Dragon City.
Dong Hanyang, as the City Lord of Black Mist City, knew it best, and assisted in commanding this battle.
Dong Hanyang was extremely excited, and he discovered a Teleportation Array under the City Lord's Mansion that could still operate.
This meant they could use this Teleportation Array to bypass the Star Beasts defending the city and appear inside Black Mist City.
Being the first battle of the Counterattack Plan, it needed to make a strong impression.
Chu Chen naturally understood the significance of this battle, so he decided to take action personally.
No one opposed this, as there were nearly no Star Beasts that could threaten Chu Chen now.
According to the information provided by Dong Hanyang, Chu Chen quickly found the location of the Teleportation Array.
Without hesitation, he entered Black Mist City via the Teleportation Array.
As expected, he reappeared inside a stone chamber.
Following the intelligence provided by Dong Hanyang, Chu Chen quickly found the mechanism inside the stone chamber.
The stone door slowly opened, revealing a passage just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Chu Chen followed the passage directly to the interior of the City Lord's Mansion.
He unleashed his Soul Power to perceive the surroundings, discovering that in the vast City Lord's Mansion, there were only five Star Beasts, with the strongest being just an Early-Stage Emperor-level Star Beast, while the other four were Emperor-level.
Having assessed the situation, Chu Chen wasted no time and summoned Shadow Kill to begin the assassination.
With Shadow Kill's current strength, it was entirely possible to kill these five Star Beasts noiselessly.
In just a minute, all five Star Beasts were slain.
With no other Star Beasts in the City Lord's Mansion, Chu Chen summoned Cage, Feng Shuang, and other beasts, intending to dismantle the Star Beast's defending forces from within the city.
Raising his hand, Chu Chen commanded in a deep voice, "Fight your way out, and kill all Star Beasts you see."
With Chu Chen's command, several Guardian Beasts immediately charged out.
Just moments later, sounds of battle erupted within the city, as most Star Beasts converged towards the City Lord's Mansion.
Seeing this, Chu Chen couldn't help but smirk coldly. He quickly tapped his Communication Bracelet, signaling Zhang Tianlong and others to commence the siege.
Soon, the sounds of battle escalated outside Black Mist City, but most Star Beasts were on Chu Chen's side, leaving only a few on the city walls, and with their leader slain by Chu Chen, in the absence of a high-rank Star Beast's command, the defending Star Beasts were nothing but a scattered mob.
After just a few minutes of fighting, Zhang Tianlong and others led the Five Great Armies into the city.
Though Black Mist City was a medium-sized city, the Star Beasts defending it were not many.
This was good news for everyone, as the fight didn't last long before the defending Star Beasts were completely annihilated.
They erupted in cheers like tidal waves, celebrating the first victory in the counterattack, a victory executed with exceptional skill, with no casualties and only a handful of injuries, while the Star Beasts were utterly decimated.
Their massive victory was due to three main reasons.
First, Chu Chen had entered Black Mist City earlier and decapitated the Star Beasts' commander immediately, throwing them into chaos during the battle.
Second, Chu Chen's Guardian Beasts absorbed a lot of firepower, greatly reducing the defense forces.
Third, the Five Great Armies had both numerical and qualitative superiority.
Gazing at the jubilant soldiers, Chu Chen's face showed no joy.
Though they reclaimed the city, it was already a ruin; restoring its past prosperity would take unknown years, and as long as the Destruction Dragon Emperor remained, the crisis of human extinction loomed, rebuilding was meaningless; better to take the opportunity to kill more Star Beasts.
The Five Great Armies rested overnight in Black Mist City, and set off for the next city the following day.
Only a few were left in Black Mist City to guard, their role being to alert and prevent a Star Beast counterattack.
The horn of counterattack blared within the Alliance's jurisdiction.
In just a few days, more than a dozen medium-sized cities were reclaimed.
The Star Beast side was severely weakened, their garrison forces thin, and most Star Beasts retreated to the forests to recuperate.
Conversely, the Alliance was victorious in consecutive battles, riding a wave of momentum, everyone seemingly invigorated, planning to recapture all lost cities in one go.
Half a month passed swiftly, with the counterattack forces expanding continuously, reclaiming all the medium-sized cities, and even several dozen small cities casually reclaimed.
Over this half-month of fighting, the Star Beast side finally realized that holding cities was meaningless, as their forces were spread thin and being devoured by the Alliance.
They not only gained nothing, but their strength was further diminished.
The Star Beast side immediately ordered all Star Beasts stationed in cities to retreat, leaving all captured cities as empty shells.
However, what infuriated everyone most was that this group of Star Beasts heavily damaged the cities before leaving, turning already ruined cities into complete wastelands.
They did not do this purely to disgust the Alliance, but to lay early plans for future assaults.
Rebuilding a city is no overnight task, especially as the small cities were numerous and scattered; after the Alliance reclaimed all lost territories, it took a whole month.
