"God damn, these snails finally made it!"

Saliva flecked High Fighting Spirits’ lips as he raised his warhammer in the air. Hope shone in his eyes as he looked at the distant army and laughed. "Now that these twenty million players have finally arrived, we’ll be the anvil to their hammer! We’ll definitely be able to kill all of these Northern Alliance bastards within the next ten hours! Heh heh, the time for our counterattack has finally arrived!"

I nodded my head as my heart filled up with relief and joy. "Yeah, they’ve finally come!

Hot and Sour Noodles let out a hearty laugh as well. "Alright, what happens next is going to be simple! The Northern Alliance only has about thirty million troops left. If we act as the anvil to their hammer, we’ll definitely be able to win this Nation War with no problems at all! Hahaha, it really hasn’t been easy, but we actually managed to hold our ground against this alliance of eight cities!"

……

Dainty snowflakes landed on He Yi’s equally dainty shoulders as she stood at the edge of the wall. Her beautiful eyes stared at the distant army before she swiveled toward me. She blinked away the snow that had fallen on her long eyelashes before she said, "I’ve discovered a problem."

"What problem?"

"The Avengers have finally arrived from Wind City and Vanished God City, but… haven’t you guys realized something? Ever since they assembled at the entrance to Dawn Valley, they haven’t moved an inch. It’s as if they have no intention of reinforcing Dawn City at all."

"They haven’t moved an inch?" Hot and Sour Noodles and I both gasped in shock. We immediately turned to look at the army and we realized that He Yi was right. They hadn’t moved a single inch and it seemed as if they were waiting for something. As for what they were waiting for? No one knew.

"What’s going on, uncle?" I said as I looked toward Hot and Sour Noodles. "Didn’t you and Candlelight Shadow set up the Avengers together? Why does it seem like they’re not planning to aid Dawn City?"

Hot and Sour Noodles frowned. "I don’t know why this is happening either. Let me send a few messages to the guild leaders of the bigger guilds in Avengers to get a read on things."

"Okay."

It was at this time a group of cavalrymen galloped in from the other side of the inner city. Every single one of them bore the emblem of Candle Dragon on their shoulders. The person who was leading the group was Candlelight Shadow himself and his lieutenants were trailing along right behind him!

After a few minutes, Candlelight Shadow rode up the city walls with a few thousand Candle Dragon players. As he leapt off his horse, he shouted at us from the distance, "Zhang Chun, something is wrong."

"What’s happening?" Hot and Sour Noodles asked.

Candlelight Shadow ground his teeth together and replied, "Something unexpected has happened! Fucking hell, The guild leaders of Wind City’s Thunder, Wings of Awakening, and Silver Soul asked me to leave the city and discuss something with them. I have no idea what they’re up to!"

"Leave the city?" Hot and Sour Noodles’ face went cold. "Fuck, are these guys idiots? We’re already completely surrounded! Even a group of ten thousand cavalrymen might not be able to break through this siege, but they actually want Candle Dragon to leave the city and talk to them? Isn’t charging the Northern Alliance army’s rear the best possible move right now?"

"I have no idea what they’re thinking either…" Candlelight Dragon replied as his hands balled into fists. "Something must have happened. I think that the three main guild leaders must still be harboring some doubts and that's why they asked me to leave the city. However… we do need to rely on their strength right now. Thunder has 12000 Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen, Wings of Awakening has 18000 Fire Lizard Cavalrymen, and Silver Soul has 20000 Ice Leopard Cavalrymen. These guilds have always been our allies, so this move of theirs is extremely bizarre..."

Hot and Sour Noodles sucked in a deep breath and cursed. "Fuck!"

Blue Sky Scar said, "What do we do now? We can’t let Candlelight Shadow leave the city by himself. Those three guild leaders are definitely up to no good and the moment Candlelight Shadow leaves the city, Candle Dragon will become a rudderless ship. How will we be able to defend the city then?"

Candlelight Shadow sighed before replying, "There’s nothing we can do. We really do need their strength right now. This is especially true in regards to Thunder, Wings of Awakening and Silver Soul. The moment they enter the battle, the whole situation will immediately be reversed."

Hot and Sour Noodles said, "Okay, then Candlelight Shadow will leave the city and link up with Thunderbolt, Bloody War God and Wind Slayer. Let’s see what those three scumbags have to say for themselves. Fucking hell, I don’t believe that they can pull any tricks at this stage of the game!"

Candlelight Shadow nodded his head. "Yeah, but I don’t have many riders left and the people that I have with me right now won’t be enough to break out of this siege."

After that, he looked toward me and said, "However, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ cavalry can pave open a road for us."

"Ptooey!"

Chaos Moon waved a fist at Candlelight Shadow and said, "You can wipe that notion from your head! You want our Dragonlight Cavalry to act as cannon fodder so that you can escape the city!? Who the hell do you think you are!?"

A look of embarrassment appeared on Candlelight Shadow’s face.

Hot and Sour Noodles cleared his throat and said, "Forget it, I still have 1500 Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen left. I’m not sure if they’ll be able to accomplish the task, but we can give it a try. They’ll act as your vanguard and escort as you try to break out of the city."

Candlelight Shadow nodded his head.

At this time, I raised my hand and said, "Forget it. There’s no way that uncle’s 1500 Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen will be able to break out of this siege. Vienna’s Sorrow has been eyeing us like a hawk, so he’ll definitely be on guard for anything like that. Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls still has around 400 Dragonlight Cavalrymen left. We’ll be the ones to escort Candlelight Shadow out of the city. But remember this! We aren’t doing this for Candle Dragon! We’re doing this for Dawn City!"

Candle Dragon nodded his head. "Understood!"

Hot and Sour Noodles grinned. "Okay, let’s help Candle Dragon break out of this siege. The moment Candlelight Shadow reaches the entrance of the valley and meets with three main guild leaders representing Avengers, you are to immediately lead that army toward Dawn City. The inner city won’t be able to hold out for much longer."

Candlelight Shadow chuckled. "I got it. Candle Dragon definitely won’t let you guys down!"

As he said this, Candlelight Shadow put his fist against his palm and thrust it out toward us. His expression was resolute and determined as he said, "Candle Dragon definitely won’t do anything to dishonor China’s fight in this Nation War, even if we have to squeeze out every last drop of our blood. We won’t let down Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Snowy Cathaya, The Monarch Descends, Blazing Hot Lips, Warsky Alliance and every other guild who has sacrificed themselves during this Nation War. I, Candlelight Shadow, thank everyone right now! It’s time to set off!"

Candlelight Shadow still had several thousand riders under his command, but they were a haphazard unit slapped together from other cavalry units. Hot and Sour Noodles’ 1500 Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen wouldn’t be enough to help them break out of the city, so our Dragonlight Cavalry had to lead the way.

I turned toward everyone and said, "Okay, I want all the Dragonlight Cavalrymen to gather together and join Gui Guzi’s party and receive the buff from his Knight God. After that, we’ll set out and help Candlelight Shadow break out from this siege!"

"Okay!"

Every Dragonlight Cavalryman got off the walls and summoned their Dragonlight Armored Horses. After Pure Love and the other bards buffed them, they got on their mounts and charged along with the Greedy Wolf Cavalry. Candlelight Shadow, Blue Sky Scar, and Tempest Shadow swiftly rode out behind them.

……

The metal gates swung up and Hot and Sour Noodles was leading his Greedy Wolf Cavalry from the front. He brandished his sword and yelled, "Charge! It’s time for vengeance!"

The Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen braved a storm of wind blades, fireballs, and arrows as they rushed out the gates. Nearly a hundred of them had been killed by that initial salvo! The Northern Alliance had completely taken over the area outside the inner city, so the firepower they could dish out was simply overwhelming. The air was still filled with flying boulders and even us riders were helpless against these things.

"Charge! Don’t look back!" Hot and Sour Noodles roared as he started hacking at the Northern Alliance players to his left and right.

He Yi, Chaos Moon, Gui Guzi, High Fighting Spirits and I charged straight out. Knight God had raised our Attack and Defense by 150%, so every single one of us was like an iron wall as we charged out together with the Greedy Wolf riders.

Thunk, thunk, thunk...

Arrows rattled off our armor but none of them could land a telling blow. Unfortunately, the Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen had started dying in droves, and it seemed as if all of them were charging across a literal sea of flames as their health bars rapidly plummeted. We didn’t have access to any priests on this mad dash out of the city, and it was clear that drinking potions wouldn’t cut it against this high and consistent damage.

All of the riders had dashed out of the inner city within the span of a few minutes. However, we had all the thrust and power of a rusty blade. We barely managed to cut into the sea of Northern Alliance players in front of us, but we refused to yield or retreat.

Hot and Sour Noodles let out a desperate roar as he used up the last of his strength to hack down the enemy players around him. His Greedy Wolf Cavalrymen were rapidly dying around him, and there were now only a few hundred of them left even though the battle had just been joined.

"Uncle ain’t gonna live for much longer…" He Yi said as she looked toward me.

I swiftly waved my sword in the air and shouted, "Dragonlight Cavalry, to me! We will take the point and finish the mission that the Greedy Wolf Cavalry started!"

The Dragonlight Cavalry picked up speed as they dashed to the head of the pack. Blades flashed up and down as we cut down any enemy players who stood in our way. We scythed through the enemy like a cutting wind as we maintained top speed, but the baptism of spells had cost us more than a few riders as well. The strong Dragonlight Cavalrymen couldn’t endure such a constant barrage of spells. After all, Gui Guzi’s Knight God buffed only physical Defense and not Magic Resist, so our fatal weakness was still magic attacks.

Blue Sky Scar urged his mount forward as he yelled, "Comrades of Candle Dragon, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is paving the way for us. We need to hurry up and break through and fight side by side with them! We can’t let them look down on Candle Dragon!"

A group of Candle Dragon riders swiftly blazed forward to ride shoulder to shoulder with us, but they were quickly killed by the hail of spells and arrows which hit them.

Boom!

A fan-shaped burst of sword energy exploded into the enemy as Candlelight Shadow slaughtered the Northern Alliance players with a cold look on his face. He immediately followed that up with Rock Thrust that flung a bunch of Northern Alliance riders high into the air.

Blood flowed like rivers as this chaotic battle grew exceptionally intense. The sea of Northern Alliance players was like a meat grinder that was chewing up the surviving elites defending the Dawn City. But they were also paying for that in blood.

……

"Someone’s coming!"

A general riding on a goat charged to the head of the Northern Alliance army. It was Vienna’s Sorrow himself. He pointed his sword toward us as he let out a loud roar of laughter. "It looks like the current Martial God of China, Candlelight Shadow, and the God of Death who has been wreaking havoc and destruction in our ranks, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, have both graced us with their presence. Now that these two mighty CGL Hall of Famers have decided to show their face, there’s only one way for us to respond. Let’s charge forward, shatter their formation and devour them whole! Archers, serve up some Shock Arrows and Mountain Stagger Arrows! Let’s drag these arrogant Chinese riders off their high horses!"

"Fuck you, you bastard!"

Candlelight Shadow flew into a rage. He dashed forward and thrust a hand toward Vienna’s Sorrow. Just as he was about to activate Ghost God Prophecy, Vienna’s Sorrow very agilely slipped into the crowd of Northern Alliance players. After crossing swords with Candlelight Shadow once, he knew just how powerful Ghost God Prophecy was, so there was no way in hell that he would face Candlelight Shadow head-on. Once he had safely retreated to the backlines, he waved his sword forward and a large crowd of elite Northern Alliance riders charged toward us.

"Maintain your formations and keep pushing ahead!" I yelled as I rushed forward with the Dragonlight Cavalry at my back.

Blue Sky Scar clenched his teeth before he resolutely shouted, "Candlelight Shadow, Lu Chen, continue your breakout. I will protect you. First squad, follow me!"

A thousand riders immediately peeled off together with Blue Sky Scar as they charged toward the Northern Alliance forces. They were swiftly encircled by the enemy cavalry and even Vienna’s Sorrow joined in the fight. Soon, we heard the sound of the system announcement ring in the air.

Ding~!

System Announcement: Attention all players, please be informed that CGL Hall of Famer Blue Sky Scar (China), has been killed by Vienna’s Sorrow (USA)!