Chapter 284: Chapter 284: Frontal Charge, A Brutal Battle
Before Senior Sister Sky Cliff could ask, Lu Chao pointed at the Fox Flame troops around them and issued another order. "Strip them of their clothes and Battle Armor. We’ll all put on the Fox Flame equipment, and then go... welcome the arrival of the Leopard Flame forces."
Only the Fox Flame and Leopard Flame were coming to reinforce the Lion Flame this time.
These two great Flame Countries were the closest to the Lion Flame.
The Lion Flame King had also felt that reinforcements from these two great Flame Countries would be enough, so he had only sent word to them.
And what Lu Chao intended to do, of course, was deal with the reinforcements from both great Flame Countries.
At Lu Chao’s words, Senior Sister Sky Cliff, the Liyan Commander, and the others instantly understood.
Lu Chao wanted them to disguise themselves as Fox Flame troops and catch the Leopard Flame forces completely off guard.
"At the same time, tie up all the Fox Flame soldiers and officers."
"Then, Dean Sky Cliff and the people of this Small Kingdom will stay behind to guard them."
"When the time comes, we’ll use their lives to demand a hostage exchange with the Fox Flame King. If he doesn’t hand over the hostages, we will execute all the prisoners."
"Let’s see if the Fox Flame King can afford such a loss."
At Lu Chao’s utterly ruthless words, the eyes of Senior Sister Sky Cliff and the others lit up, and they nodded emphatically.
However, as everyone began to change into the new gear, Senior Sister Sky Cliff, the Liyan Commander, and the others couldn’t help but shiver. They subconsciously exchanged glances, and it was only then that they realized...
Their eyes said it all: ’This Fake Lu Chao... he’s truly terrifying.’
That’s right. Only now did it hit them: they had defeated the forces of the Fox Flame, one of the Six Great Flame Countries, with shocking ease—something they wouldn’t have even dared to dream of before.
And next was Leopard Flame, and after that, Lion Flame.
An hour later, everyone had finished changing.
With a single command from Lu Chao, he led his army, now disguised as Fox Flame troops, and set out once more into Lion Flame territory...
Meanwhile, Dean Sky Cliff and the others remained behind to guard the Fox Flame prisoners. This place was also a Small Kingdom, so they had several thousand of its people escort the prisoners into a small city. Everything was settled.
「Meanwhile...」
As Senior Sister Sky Cliff and the others passed the site of Lu Chao’s recent battle, they were all dumbfounded.
They could tell that the deaths of the hundreds of elite Fox Flame soldiers scattered about were all the work of a single person.
And that person could be none other than Lu Chao.
Some of the elite Fox Flame soldiers had died in the water, while others were hanging from trees. It was clear many had tried to flee, but none had escaped.
Lu Chao, all by himself, had slain the Fox Flame Commander and slaughtered hundreds of elite Fox Flame soldiers.
’He’s only at the Second Layer of Transformation, right? How did he manage it?’
"They all had to die," Lu Chao stated nonchalantly, noticing the chill in their eyes. "Otherwise, these elite Fox Flame soldiers have ways of sending messages out. We would have been in danger."
As the saying goes, mercy toward the enemy on the battlefield is cruelty to oneself.
Senior Sister Sky Cliff and the others nodded emphatically.
But in their eyes, this Fake Lu Chao seemed increasingly terrifying. Senior Sister Sky Cliff couldn’t help but remember the first time he plunged the Hundred Countries into chaos.
’Back then, his cultivation was still weak, and he was only fighting for survival.’
’Now... it seems he’s poised to sweep through all the Hundred Countries.’
...
「Two days later.」
Within Lion Flame territory...
At a location on a vast plain, about a two-day journey from the Lion Flame Royal Capital, two armies met.
It was the Fox Flame army and the Leopard Flame army, meeting in a "coincidental" encounter.
The Leopard Flame Commander stepped forward and called out, "Hm? Where is your Fox Flame Commander?"
He felt a flicker of doubt. ’There’s something off about the aura of this Fox Flame army...’ But the Leopard Flame Commander didn’t dwell on it. The possibility of someone impersonating an entire army was just too remote.
It was just that he didn’t see the Fox Flame Commander he knew.
At that moment...
Senior Sister Sky Cliff stepped forward decisively. "Leopard Commander, our commander was called back to Fox Flame on urgent business. I am in command now."
The Leopard Flame Commander nodded, though the strange feeling in his heart intensified.
He felt more and more certain that something was very wrong with this Fox Flame army.
He slowly turned back, a decisive glint in his eyes. His gaze met that of his elite Leopard Flame troops, and he was just about to speak...
"Hear my order! Full volley! Target: the Leopard Flame Commander!"
Abruptly...
...a low shout boomed out from within the so-called Fox Flame army.
In that instant, the Leopard Flame Commander’s eyes widened. He scrambled to retreat into his formation, but a sky-darkening rain of arrows was already roaring out from the so-called Fox Flame army.
WHIRRR...
Vast waves of arrows rained down madly on the Leopard Flame army, converging on the Leopard Flame Commander.
The commander’s True Qi erupted from his body as he desperately dove behind his warhorse. The only thing he heard was a sickening series of THUDS as countless arrows slammed into his mount.
His warhorse was riddled with so many arrows it looked like a porcupine...
The Leopard Flame Commander was beyond furious. Hiding behind his dead mount, he roared, "You bastards! Who are you?! WHO ARE YOU?!"
The next moment, the same male voice that had given the order to fire rang out again, "Charge! Follow me and annihilate the Leopard Flame forces!"
As the words fell...
...the Leopard Flame Commander subconsciously peeked out and saw the so-called Fox Flame army, their battle lust now palpable. Then he saw a young man on a warhorse, spear in hand, at the very forefront of them all...
He was leading the so-called Fox Flame forces in an all-out charge against his own Leopard Flame army.
The Leopard Flame Commander found the young man’s face strangely familiar, but for a moment, he couldn’t recall who it was...
He couldn’t recall, just then, that this was the Fake Lu Chao who had recently been making waves.
In any case, the Leopard Flame Commander scrambled back into his ranks, roaring at his troops, "Meet their charge! Fight back!"
And so, the two sides charged wildly, colliding with frenzied force...
A brutal battle erupted on that plain within Lion Flame territory.
「A full half-day later...」
The sudden battle finally subsided, and Lu Chao’s side had emerged victorious.
But now, Senior Sister Sky Cliff stared blankly at the field of corpses, her face completely drained of color.
’It was too brutal... far, far too brutal...’
’The combined forces of Sky Cliff and Liyan have suffered heavy casualties.’
She instinctively looked toward Lu Chao at the front, his entire body drenched in blood. ’Without his battlefield commands and constant tactical adjustments,’ she thought, ’we would have been the ones to be annihilated.’
’After all, the combined forces of our two Small Kingdoms amounted to less than half of the Leopard Flame army.’
"We won, haha... We won."
The Liyan Commander laughed, his voice trembling. It seemed he, too, had not expected the battle to be so devastatingly brutal.
They had initially thought that simply by disguising themselves as the Fox Flame army, they could secure an easy victory.
Just then, Lu Chao returned, looking like a blood-soaked demon. He glanced at Senior Sister Sky Cliff and the Liyan Commander...
"The word ’easy’ has never applied to the battlefield."
"This battle was inevitably fought on an open plain, so its brutality was a foregone conclusion. Disguising ourselves as the Fox Flame army was never about a simple sneak attack; the enemy isn’t a fool. All we were aiming for was to catch them off guard."
"And now, we’ve won!"
"We were outnumbered, yet we won. We were the weaker force, yet we were victorious..."
As Lu Chao said this, he raised his long spear high, his voice booming across the field.
