Chapter 748: A Morale-Crushing Blow

The rapid growth of humanity caused the alien races in the nearby worlds to be on high alert. Eventually, the races decided to launch a pre-emptive strike and kill the threat in the cradle.

However, these races didn't expect that the humans would have grown so strong as to be able to repel their combined assault. Even the Mengtai had lost quite a few fighters, but the Mengtai champion wasn't upset at all—instead, he was relieved.

It took the combined forces of all the aliens in neighboring worlds to suppress the humans and draconians.

If the humans had had a little more time, they might even have won the conflict and destroyed all the nearby races instead.

Although the king of the realm had the authority to seal off the wormholes leading from one world to the others, that authority wasn't completely impenetrable. A warlord-class alien would be able to do so at great expense: not only would it require immense strength, breaking such a seal would unleash an immense spatial rift, one that would immediately wreak havoc on the wormhole itself. Only under exceptional circumstances would it be sensible to take such risks.

The invading aliens had snuck into the draconian world before launching a sneak attack on the humans and draconians.

Meanwhile, the Mengtai champion had personally broken through the seal between his world and the draconian world. Because of how close the two worlds were, the spatial rift didn't persist for long.

The Mengtai champion shouted, "Draconians, heed my words! There's no need for you to die just because of the humans in your midst. You're all indigenous to this realm, unlike those human invaders! We only intend on killing the humans. We'll let you go if you kill one of your comrades around."

The Mengtai beside him all began to heckle at the draconians. "Right, right, we'll let you go as long as you do as our champion says!"

"None of us will attack you if you have a human head."

"Go on, kill the humans around you! We Mengtai will happily accept you as our slaves!"

The humans glanced warily at the draconians all around them. Although they had been close allies, so close they trusted each other with their backs, who knew whether the draconians would be tempted by this offer immediately after their king had perished and their wall had fallen?

One of the humans called out, "Ignore their words! They're despicable trash who want to turn us against each other!"

One of the draconians stood forward. "I'm an indigenous member of this world. I have a family, brothers, parents—I really don't want to die here. My wife just gave birth to a son, and they're waiting for me to go home."

The humans' faces fell. It was only natural: no one wanted to die a pointless death. It would be foolish to refuse the Mengtai's offer; the draconian fighters couldn't live just for themselves, but also for their families and relatives. It was a regretful act of betrayal, but the humans understood their decision.

The Mengtai champion smiled. He would allow the draconians and humans to clash against each other and whittle each other down, reducing the casualties that his side would have to take. More importantly, he and his warriors would be treated to a good show.

Once the draconians got rid of the humans, they would kill the draconians to the last, leaving not a single one behind.

Now that they were enemies of the draconians in truth, they had to eradicate them all. Otherwise, there was always the possibility that the draconians would one day grow strong enough to contend against them.

However, the draconians' subsequent actions were completely antithetical to the Mengtai champion's plan.

The draconian who had just spoken sucked in a deep breath and continued, "But if I betray my ally, my family and relatives would surely look down on me. Even if I do survive, shame will forever be my cloak and shroud, and my conscience would burn in hell."

The draconian shouted in a rally, "Betrayal or death—I choose betrayal! If you want to kill the humans, you'll have to kill us all! You Mengtai trash—you're the ones fit to be our slaves, not the other way around! Come at us if you dare: I'll see how many of you I can drag down with me!"

The draconians' fighting spirit burned.

Somehow, they hadn't been overtaken by despair. Their morale soared. Indeed, if their choices were betrayal or death, who among them would choose betrayal? And if they were about to die, then there was nothing to fear.

The humans cheered.

Zhang Lie very much liked the draconians because of their backbone.

The Mengtai champion didn't want to face such a group of draconians, and neither did his kin. "Your king is dead! What strength could you hope to bring to bear against us?" one of the Mengtai warriors shouted back, hoping to dissuade the draconians with words alone.

However, the draconians retorted, "If our king died here, it would be honorable to accompany him in death!"

"We live together, and we die together!"

"None of us draconians would be afraid of death!"

The human fighters were likewise emboldened by the draconians' resolve. "Brothers, we humans will fight with you to the last!"

"We humans will fight with you to the last!" the other human hunters chorused.

The Mengtai champion frowned.

Rather than turn on each other, the humans and draconians seemed to have derived some ridiculous camaraderie from his words.

"And if you die, what of your children? What of your parents and families? Have you ever considered who lies beyond the walls you guard? You might want to die with your friends, but can you afford to forsake your families? When you all perish, we'll trample on your kin, we'll rape your wives and daughters! Draconian blood shall stain the land, now and forevermore!

"The humans, on the other hand, aren't even from this world. Only these human hunters will suffer; their families will be completely safe, realms apart from you and us."

The draconians' eyes all turned red with anger as the Mengtai champion continued to threaten them. "Think of your family. Even if we don't strike, our allies very well might."

Some of the Mengtai began to shout, "Even if none of you attack the humans, your families will all become our slaves, never to rise beyond their station!"

.

The draconians did start to hesitate now. They weren't afraid of death, but what of their families?

Seeing that the threat had been effective, the Mengtai champion continued, "From the moment your king died, draconians, you've lost this fight! There's no chance you and the humans can win! There are only two options in front of you: kill the humans ?beside you and live, or perish with your families."

One of the Mengtai echoed, "Go on! Choose: your comrades-in-arms, or your family? I would surely choose my own family—blood is thicker than water! If you kill those around you, you and your family will live!"