Chapter 1096: A Crimson Elegy

Before the command tent, less than a thousand zhang away, stretched a vast plain. This was the Tianfeng Battalion's last stronghold on the Blackwater Plains, their final line of defense.

If this line fell, the demon army would break straight into the command tent and strike at the supreme commander!

At that moment, men and demons clashed in a frenzy of blood and steel.

The roar of battle shook the heavens. The stench of gore was so thick it smothered the air, choking every breath.

Soldiers of both races hacked and clawed at one another, locked in madness. The air trembled with human screams and the shrill laughter of demons, echoing endlessly into the sky.

Jiang Xiaofan gripped his sword, eyes sweeping across the battlefield.

For hundreds of miles the earth was painted red. Ruins stretched as far as he could see.

Corpses floated down the river, already swelling and rotting. Too many lives had been swallowed by this battle!

The sun dipped low, shadows thickening.

Under the crimson light of dusk, a mournful sound drifted through the dust and smoke, as if carried from the very stars. It seeped into the heart, heavy with grief, an elegy for the dead.

Jiang Xiaofan felt that sorrow pierce him to the bone. Rage boiled in his chest, helpless and bitter.

"Kill!"

He raised his sword and bellowed like a madman, leading the last of the Black-Armored Cavalry into the fray!

Deeper in the chaos, a peak demon king had shed his human guise, revealing the beast within. With a single sweep of his massive claws, he shredded a group of soldiers into pulp.

His true form towered thirty zhang high. He was a half-step demon emperor, standing on the brink of ascension.

The battle had dragged on for five days. The Green Bull Demon Emperor had grown impatient, stripped Hai Lingxiang of command, and seized direct control of the army.

Every elite under him had been hurled into the front lines. Wherever the half-step demon emperor raged, devastation followed.

Each strike tore through battalions, flesh and armor flew.

Blood rained from the skies!

"

Heh heh heh...

"

The half-step demon emperor's laughter was thick with mockery as he licked his lips with a scarlet tongue. "Despair! Suffer! Struggle in endless despair! Heh heh heh..."

"Kill!"

A human commander of king-tier rank roared back. He knew he had no chance, but still he charged, staking flesh and blood to block the tide. For his comrades, he would fight without regret.

The battlefield had become cruelty itself.

Jiang Xiaofan's cavalry crashed into the horde, but their valor was swallowed by numbers. The demons were too many, too strong. Victory was already out of reach.

Yet Tianmang Fortress still sent no reinforcements.

Jiang Xiaofan hacked his way forward, his armor soaked red. His arms shook with exhaustion, numb from endless swings.

For five days he had fought without rest. Even with Xuanwu blood flowing within him, his body had nearly reached its limit.

But until Ling Feng returned, he could not stop.

"Protect Commander Huo! He is wounded!"

The cry tore from the right flank.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jiang Xiaofan turned. Over a hundred demons had surrounded a dozen human soldiers. At their center stood Huo Yuanyi, commander of the Black-Armored Cavalry.

Huo Yuanyi leaned on his spear, barely upright. His chestplate had been smashed open, and black miasma poured from the wound. Dark blood dripped down in rivulets. The strike had been poisoned.

A dozen Black-Armored Cavalry soilders closed ranks around him, shields of flesh and steel. Demon claws pierced their bodies, yet not one of them stepped back. None would let the enemy touch their commander.

Still, Huo Yuanyi's face had turned a lifeless black. The poison had eaten into his heart. Even king-tier cultivation could not suppress it.

"

Heh heh heh...

so this is the Black-Armored Cavalry's commander. He has killed plenty of us these past days!"

"If he dies, their will breaks. These humans will fall into despair."

"Kill him! Slay the commander!"

With a roar, the demon leader waved his hand. A hundred demons charged like a flood.

"Form up! Protect Commander Huo!"

The soldiers shouted, tightening their circle around their poisoned commander.

Boom!

The clash shook the plain. Scores of demons fell, but seven of the thirteen Black-Armored Cavalry soilders were torn apart in an instant.

The second wave came immediately.

Three more fell!

Only four remained, yet still they held the line, bodies shielding their commander.

"No... no!"

Huo Yuanyi's voice trembled. These men had been his personal guards, brothers who had fought beside him for years. Watching them die one by one, he wished he could take their place.

"

Heh heh heh,

only four left. Human commander, blame your weakness for their deaths!"

The demon leader sneered and raised his hand for another charge.

"Giant Spirit Hammer Smash!"

Jiang Xiaofan roared, unleashing the power of the Giant Spirit War-God Bone. His fist slammed into the earth, cracking it open. In a blur, he was already before Huo Yuanyi.

"Vice-General Jiang..."

Cold sweat poured down Huo Yuanyi's face. The poison had already numbed him. Forcing out each word nearly drained the last of his strength.

"Kill!"

Jiang Xiaofan clenched his fists and roared toward the dying sky, a cry that shook heaven and earth.

The four remaining cavalrymen felt his killing intent surge. They wiped the blood from their blades and stood ready to fight to the end.

"

Uh...

"

Even the early-tier demon king leading the charge shivered at his aura.

Jiang Xiaofan's Xuanwu blood was that of a divine beast, and divine beast blood carried an innate suppression against lesser demons.

That suppression was carved into bloodlines, impossible to resist.

Soon, Jiang Xiaofan's guards rushed in to reinforce him. Seeing the tide turn, the demons surrounding Huo Yuanyi fell back. The commander barely escaped with his life.

Yet until the poison in his body was purged, his life remained suspended by the thinnest of threads.