Volume 6, Chapter 35 – Tianyin’s Battle Plan (Part 1)

Boom boom boom—!

The earth was shaking.

In the distance, a thunderous rumble kept echoing, rolling again and again through the entire sky and land.

On the distant horizon, a pitch-black line appeared. As time went by, that black line grew larger and larger, like a rising tide rolling in from the sea.

Thud thud thud—!

The sound of footsteps rang out, not all that neat or uniform, yet every time those footsteps landed, the ground shuddered once, and with each tremor of the earth, the rumbling sound followed.

It was obvious that the sound reverberating between heaven and earth just now had been triggered by these footsteps.

As time passed, that long dark line slowly pushed forward, and in just a short while, the figures forming that stretched-out line could be seen with the naked eye.

A dense mass of figures, and not a single one among them truly counted as a human in the usual sense.

Strictly speaking, every one of these figures was some kind of bizarre being.

Towering, burly Minotaurs, beautiful Elves with pointed ears, strange creatures made of countless tentacles supporting a single giant eye, and demons wreathed in evil flames from head to toe, their faces twisted with bloodthirst.

An army.

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This was an army.

Without a doubt, anyone who saw this “crowd” would have that reaction first.

And if someone tried to estimate the actual numbers of this army, just looking at that dense sea of bodies alone was already enough to make their scalp crawl…

“Hiss… there are way too many of them. Just going off headcount, we must be looking at at least a million…”

Far away from this army, in a small, hidden grove, a Half-beast stared at the marching troops in the distance and could not help but suck in a sharp breath.

“A million… back when our border defense army was at full capacity, we were only about that many in total… but after the big retreat last time, if you count everything together, we can only muster maybe two thirds of what they have now…”

As he spoke, another Half-beast beside him could not help but sigh along.

“And according to the notice from above, the enemy in front of us right now is only the smallest in number among the three routes. There are still two more armies advancing from two other directions… when you think about it like that, the total enemies we have to deal with must be over three million, right?”

Hearing the Half-beasts muttering back and forth, the Half-beast behind them who looked like their captain frowned in irritation.

“Alright, enough with all the sighing and moaning. Our job is to keep a close eye on where this army is heading. What are you daydreaming about? Besides, our lord has beaten even those high and mighty Beastmen before… this time it is just an Underground World coalition that outnumbers us several times over. Our lord will crush them in no time.”

“Why bother boosting the enemy’s morale and tearing down our own confidence?”

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“Captain’s right. Our lord might look like a human little girl, but she’s actually really strong. Anyone who underestimates her is going to get what’s coming to them!”

As the Half-beast captain spoke, the tone among the nearby Half-beast soldiers flipped in an instant, and they all started praising Tianyin’s wisdom and might.

However, their captain did not seem to care much about his subordinates’ flattery. Instead, in those sharp, keen eyes of his, excitement was flickering faintly.

“Shh. Quiet. The enemy is almost at the ambush zone we set up.”

As the Half-beast captain’s words fell, the Half-beast soldiers around him all shut their mouths at once.

Outside the grove, the vast, overwhelming army like a living tide followed the small road and began to move toward a forest ahead.

It was clear that the “ambush zone” mentioned by the Half-beast captain just now was that very forest.

And in fact, inside that forest there really were quite a number of Half-beast troops lying in wait.

Yes, these were the ambushers Tianyin had specifically arranged.

She had chosen the smallest of the three armies under Seles, then concentrated her forces to launch a surprise attack.

That was the first step of Tianyin’s plan. Of course, this plan was not something Tianyin had come up with all on her own. She had consulted Samael, asking for guidance. On top of that, she had borrowed ideas from the way Xingyu Muxi commanded armies before.

Strike where they least expect it, hit them when they are unprepared.

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That was a principle Sister Xiaomu had often explained to Tianyin.

In the real world right now, that enemy force of over a million really had let down their guard completely.

Of course, the ones commanding the army in person were just some Minotaur generals who were not exactly known for their brains, so when it came to the forest they were about to pass by, they had not even considered the possibility of an ambush.

However…

“Stop.”

At the very front of the army, a demon whose entire body was wrapped in green flames, its face obscured, suddenly halted mid-step.

When that demon stopped, the Minotaur generals around it also came to a halt in confusion.

As their steps stopped, the massive army behind them also halted its march. The shuddering of the earth ceased along with it.

“Huh? Why are we stopping all of a sudden?”

With the demon bringing the procession to an unexpected halt, the Minotaur generals looked baffled, and beneath that confusion their tone carried clear irritation.

“Bagh, haven’t we had no problems the whole way so far? Why are you stopping us for no reason? If you don’t give us an explanation, even if you are a demon under the Abyssal Lord, we still need to give you a proper lesson.”

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“Heh, what a bunch of idiots.”

The demon called Bagh let out a few derisive chuckles. But because his entire body was shrouded in flame, the Minotaur generals could not see his expression at all.

Even so, they knew perfectly well that the look on Bagh’s face right now had to be full of disdain.

“You trash, try using those brains of yours that are barely bigger than a beast’s and think for a second. Isn’t that forest in front of us a little strange?”

“Strange? What’s strange about it?”

“Looks normal to me. Bagh, are you just trying to stir up trouble?”

Hearing Bagh’s words, the Minotaur generals glanced a few times at the forest ahead, then began talking back at him one after another.

“That’s exactly why I said you’re all a bunch of garbage. Brainless. If our sovereign hadn’t ordered us to travel together with you, I, Bagh, wouldn’t even be willing to stay in the same column as you.”

Bagh showed no mercy with his words. Just as the Minotaur generals’ faces darkened and they were about to lose their temper, Bagh pointed toward the distant forest.

“Haven’t you noticed that forest is a little too quiet?”