After we returned to the inner area of Wind Canyon, Dragonlight Cavalry, Zephyr Cavalry and Dragonlight Archers began resting and reorganizing themselves. There was a temporary NPC supply camp at this location, and it provided all the services one might need in a war such as potions, equipment repair and more. This was also one of the few advantages the Northern Alliance didn’t have. As the denizens of Sky City, we could resupply almost everywhere we wanted to within the borders of Sky City. Meanwhile, the Northern Alliance was already starting to run out of food, potions, equipment durability and more.

……

Dominating Heaven Blade was looking at the Nation War interface when he walked up to us. He swallowed once before giving us all a thumbs-up. "I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it is that you managed to get out there, do what you did and return mostly in one piece. One look at these numbers is almost enough to make me piss my pants, not to mention the number of all Northern Alliance players in our territory. The only word I can think of that describes your strategy well is overwhelming power!"

He Yi smiled a little. "That’s two words, you know."

The corners of Dominating Heaven Blade’s lips twitched. "Haha, it’s just one word off, right? Anyway, what’s the next step of our plan? Gods of Destruction still going to act as the main defender?"

I asked, "How is your guild doing?"

"It’s been 7 hours since you guys did that insane charge, but only 45% of us are dead, so we’re doing so-so I suppose. We aren’t noobs after all…"

I chuckled. "That’s only because we set out and turned most of the Northern Alliance’s attention away from you. Don’t underestimate their power, understand? In any case, I leave the defense in your care. My brothers and sisters all need some rest."

"Got it. Take your well-deserved rest and leave the next couple of hours to us Gods of Destruction. If we falter, there’s still Hunting Moon Dynasty to replace us!"

"Good!"

……

Next, I turned to Chaos Moon and asked, "What are our casualties, Chaos Moon?"

She nodded at me before reporting, "440k of us set out earlier, and only 270k of us returned in the end. Still, it’s a pretty good outcome considering the level of opposition we were facing. Also, we only lost less than a thousand Dragonlight Archers."

I smiled wider. "Good, good. Tell everyone to log out and rest for 5 hours. After that, everyone must log in and prepare to stay online for the next 24 hours. It’ll be the final effort to protect Sky City!"

"Mn!"

After I repaired my equipment, I send a comm request to Hickey—

"Hickey?"

"Yes boss?"

"How are you guys doing?"

"Not very well, to be honest. Purple Grape City has sent a ton of people to attack Sky Ridge, and Warscar and I are currently doing our best to hold them back."

"Got it. I’m going to log out to rest right now. In five hours, I’ll return for the final battle. What are your casualties, by the way?"

Hickey chuckled. "Pretty high. We lost a bit over 80k players. We still haven’t mobilized 20k Zephyr Cavalrymen though!"

I nodded. "Yes, keep them for later. Don’t worry, they’ll be put to great use. Thank you for your hard work!"

"You’re welcome. Anyway, you should catch some sleep as soon as possible, boss. I just came back from an 8-hour rest because there was nothing much to do earlier."

"Got it!"

……

I also contacted Lin Yixin—

"Yiyi, we’re logging out and taking our rest now. What about you?"

The sounds of war and her heavy breathing came from the other side of the call, "Not yet. Those annoying Purple Grape City players are invading from Black Coast, and I’m fighting against Copper Spear and Era of Strife’s main force right now. You should go to sleep first. I’ll probably rest only after you log back into the game."

"Okay. Thank you for your hard work, but don’t work too hard, okay Yiyi?"

"I know. Go take your rest already!"

"Mn."

……

That was what I said, but I took a moment to check out how the war was going anyway. In summary, Sky City was being attacked on all fronts. We were approaching the final 30 hours of the Nation War, and the Northern Alliance, Purple Grape City, Cyan Earth City, Elephant City and the Chaotic 27 were all starting to ramp up the pressure. It looked like Wind City alone wasn’t enough to satisfy their appetite, and their ultimate goal was the King of Cities, Sky City.

I took out my tent and crawled inside. Then, I logged out of the game.

My entire body felt disgusting when I took off my gaming helmet. Maybe it was because I fought too hard during the Nation War, but my entire body was covered in sweat. I took a bath before putting on a set of vigorous-looking clothes. Then, I went downstairs and bought a couple of fragrant-smelling steamed dumplings and lamb meat soup. After I went upstairs, I entered Lin Yixin’s room using the room card she had given me and ate my meal beside her bed.

Maybe it was because the smell of food was just too tempting, but Lin Yixin twitched and actually logged out of the game after just a short while. She shot me an exhausted but cute look and whined, "Mn, I want some food too…"

I smiled. "Give me a kiss first!"

Lin Yixin pounced on me and gave me a long, wet kiss. After that, she sat down beside me and began chowing down the food. "You are crazy, Little Cheat. I doubt anyone else has the courage to charge out of Wind Canyon and do what you did, and even if they did they most likely would’ve been wiped out completely."

"It’s just an attempt born out of desperation. Had we continued to defend passively, the mounting pressure might’ve exceeded our northern defense line’s ability to endure and cause a total collapse. If the Northern Alliance enters Sky Forest too soon, our hopes of holding Sky City will become even dimmer than before."

"That’s true. In fact, the situation is still super dangerous right now. We’re losing players far too quickly, and last I checked before logging out of the game, the Northern Alliance’s total player count is 7 times ours. Even after all the killing we did, there are still over 300 million players who are invading the China server right now…"

"The Northern Alliance is going all out, Purple Grape City is desperate to occupy a new main city, and Cyan Earth City and Elephant City aren’t satisfied with just conquering the frontiers. This has always been just a matter of time. Sigh, if only we had more time…"

"I know. We wouldn’t have lost Wind City to the wolves otherwise… By the way, did you know that Candlelight Shadow regretted his decision so much that he posted a letter of apology on the forums? He even put the loss of Wind City entirely on himself."

I chuckled. "It was his leniency that resulted in Tear Stain occupying the territory in Soaring Flame Desert and enabling Burning City, Elephant City and more to reach our borders instantly after all. It was one thing to favor a loved one, and another to go so far that you cross your own bottom line. This was definitely one of the biggest mistakes Candlelight Shadow has ever committed. Still, the fact that he possessed the courage to assume full responsibility proves that he’s not as hopeless a man as we thought he was. At the very least, he is way more responsible than these sons of bitches from Dragons Run Wild!"

Lin Yixin looked surprised. "You hate Dragons Run Wild that much, Little Cheat?"

"Of course! If those pathetic excuses for human beings didn’t abandon White Rose Fortress, Purple Grape City wouldn’t have been able to invade us as easily as they did… Oh right, did you have time to find out what the other main cities are doing?"

"In fact, I did. Russia’s Iron Horse City and Frostsword City dispatched at least ten million players to Floating Ice City to intercept Purple Grape City and Elephant City’s players. Without their aid, our southern and eastern defense line would’ve collapsed a long time ago. Also, the two frontier cities, Greedy Wolf City and Earth Tiger City, launched an invasion against Elephant City and forced Natural Flow to turn back and defend, relieving much pressure from our shoulders…"

I sighed. "We have too few allies. This shows that we still aren’t strong enough to make all the servers submit to us naturally. Once this Nation War is over, we should consider changing our overall strategy."

"Yes, I think so too!"

……

After we finished our food and left Chaos Moon’s portion in her room, we returned to our respective rooms and slept. Time was short, and we only had so much time to sleep before we were forced to go back online.

I slept like the dead the second my head hit the pillow. Forget dreaming, I couldn’t even remember my name until my phone alarm woke me from my deep slumber. I immediately put on my gaming helmet after I guzzled down a light meal.

Swhoosh!

The moment I appeared in Wind Canyon and opened my tent flap, I was greeted to a terrifying sight. Mounts of all shapes and sizes were riding right outside my tent, but they belonged to the Northern Alliance, not us. Did the enemy breach into Wind Canyon already?!

Beep!

He Yi sent me a communication request, and I accepted—

"What’s going on, Eve?" I asked while staring at the endless stream of enemy players.

He Yi replied, "Three hours ago, the Northern Alliance launched a full power assault that destroyed almost the entire Gods of Destruction army and overwhelmed even Hunting Moon Dynasty. Luckily, I logged in earlier and was able to rally Wang Xu, Beiming, Lian Xin and around 10000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen outside the canyon. In fact, we were just about to launch a counterattack right now. Since you’re up, please cooperate with us from the inside, okay? We’re going to wipe out these people and withdraw into Sky Forest later. The siege engines we set up on Dragonbone Mountain Range have already been destroyed, so we cannot hold this place any longer. We’re going to have to withdraw to the hinterlands and engage the enemy in a deep operation!"

I looked outside for a bit and noted that He Yi’s judgment was correct. The enemy count had already swelled to a size where we couldn’t possibly hold it, no matter what, not to mention that a large majority of them were elites. The only reason we were even plotting a counterattack was so that our offline players could log back into the game and safely withdraw with us.

……

At the distance, Gui Guzi, He Yi and 10000+ Dragonlight Cavalrymen who were buffed by Knight God and Royal Road officially began their counterattack. Beiming Xue and her Bow God–buffed Dragonlight Archers followed them closely and provided covering fire with Skypiercers and Spiraling Arrow Blades.

Chiang!

It was time. I unsheathed my Purple Ying Sword, summoned the Ancient Divine Dragon and activated the Fusion Armor. Then, I activated Battle Astral Wind, buffed myself with Martial God and the Fire War God Card, summoned my apparition and the Phantom Wolf King. After everything was ready, I burst out of my tent, activated Great Earth Transformation, and summoned a thousand icy blades from above.

Boom!

Thousand Ice Slash froze a whole group of cavalrymen instantly. Then, I slapped the ground and cast Rise of the Guardian Dragon!

……

The enemy shouted through the cloud of death and destruction. "He’s up! Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is up! Get over here and focus-fire him right now!"