Zhan Long
chapter-826

“Dragon… Dragon Calamity….”

Shock was written all over Crown Prince Theodore’s face. His entire body was trembling and the Marshall’s Sword shook violently. He could barely even bring himself to look at the dragons in the sky. In a shaky voice he said, “The prophet’s words were real… the Dragon Calamity is here. A tribe of dragons will descend from the skies, upon the earth where no light can reach. That marks the beginning for which the empire’s fate will come to an end. We’re done for… the Tian Ling Empire is really done for. The Dragon Calamity is real….”

One of the majors walked up to him and roared, “Your Highness, come to reason. You’re the marshall of three great armies. All of the soldiers are awaiting your orders. Are we going to battle, or will we retreat? What should we do?”

Theodore looked up at the mass of dragons and clenched his teeth before muttering, “How are we supposed to fight? Have we not lost enough people? Retreat. All men retreat. We aren’t on par with the Hybrid Demons. Give up. Save a few lives. Think of it as a favor given by the empire to the military. Retreat….”

The major was stunned, “Two of the armies are too far into the battle. Are we really retreating?”

Theodore suddenly pulled out his Marshall’s Sword and roared, “I am the marshall of the three armies. I am the crown prince, heir to the throne, my words are military orders. Are you questioning my authority?”

The major’s jaw dropped and he immediately knelt to the ground with his head bowed, “I was wrong Your Highness, please forgive your general! Your Highness, I ask for your forgiveness, I’ll immediately send the order for a retreat!”

The Flame Dragon Army was completely emasculated now and had no will to fight. The Royal Army on the other hand was full of courage and willpower. With the Flame Dragon Cannons and the Dragon Crystal Cannons aimed at the dragons in the sky, along with the assistance from the player groups, we overpowered the dragons one by one. Soon, over half of the thousand dragons were forced to the ground. Any close combat with them resulted in casualties. The city had at least 200,000 players left in battle. With a thousand people killing each dragon, that would already take care of 200 of them. The only issue was… that calculation was only in theory. The reality was that the player numbers were dropping at an incredibly fast rate!

“Charge with me!”

On the ground, a group of Hybrid Demons charged out. Luo Lin raised his blade and personally led the charge. The Imperial Guard quickly broke through our first lines of defense. In the next moment, Luo Lin’s army had reached the frontlines of the Flame Dragon Army. All of the nearby soldiers stood their ground. One of them roared, “Luo Lin, you traitor, die!”

Luo Lin coldly smiled and flames began to rise from his palm. Suddenly, he dashed forward and swept past the enemy. A sea of fire swallowed up the soldiers. The gap in their strengths was just too great!

A few of the soldiers immediately ran away and shouted, “Oh no, Luo Lin is advancing against our central army!”

Theodore looked up and leaped onto his horse. With his Marshall’s Sword raised, he rushed out of the central army and shouted, “Do not panic! Left and right flanks, draw close to the central army. Horsemen, hold off the enemy. Archers, do not let up on your attacks. Kill!”

As he said that, Theodore suddenly looked into the distance and shouted, “Where’s the Royal Army? Why haven’t they come to protect their marshall?”

Unfortunately, there were a dozen dragons raging in the center of the Royal Army lines. How would we have the time to provide support? Even so, I looked over to Xia Ye and said, “Take a division of troops to reinforce the Flame Dragon Army. Hurry, we can’t expose Theodore to any danger or else our Royal Army will be done for!”

Xia Ye understood the deeper meaning behind my words and gave a strong nod, “Yes sir!”

Before Xia Ye’s troop even arrived, Luo Lin’s army had already broken through the front lines of the human army. In one-on-one fights, the Hybrid Demon soldiers’ battle power far exceeded that of the Flame Dragon Army soldiers. The two sides were interlocked in an intense battle. Without the cover from the cannons, the Flame Dragon Army’s weakness was exposed and Luo Lin heavily exploited this fact.

“Boom!”

Flames unfurled in the crowd of humans and Luo Lin threaded his way through the human army. With a single punch, he dealt a powerful blow that turned the people into mush. He then spun around and threw a slash, cutting down a major.

“You b*st*rd!”

Theodore growled and swung his Marshall’s Sword. Luo Lin cackled and dashed forward. “Peng!” He punched the sword’s hilt, sending it straight back into its sheath. At the same time, he raised his boot and landed a kick right in Theodore’s abdomen. Theodore was just a spoiled young prince. His battle power was barely comparable with the Royal Army’s Han Yuan or Xiao Lie, how could he possibly stand up against this Hybrid Demon King tier attack? After retreating several steps, he vomited blood.

Luo Lin suddenly grabbed the Marshall’s Sword from Theodore’s hand and picked Theodore up by his neck to lift him up, “Is this the crown prince of Tian Ling City? Looks like you’re not even on par with the prince of Ba Huang City?”

Theodore roared, “Luo Lin, mar me or kill me, what’s the point of this humiliation?”

“Alright!”

Luo Lin smiled and pulled the Marshall’s Sword out with a “Keng!” All of the NPCs from Tian Ling City stopped dead in their tracks. A bloody head flew into the air and rolled along the ground.

Theodore died in battle!

My heart froze. Luo Lin had killed the marshall of our three armies with the Marshall’s Sword. The ridicule was too much!

“Shua!”

I leapt to my feet, sending away my Flying Scythe Horse. I cast [Frost Wing]s and rushed right at Luo Lin with my Zhen Yue Blade in hand. I shouted, “Odelia, help me out!”

I moved like lightning and rammed into Luo Lin’s back. “Peng!” Sparks flew from the impact of our armor. Even though I had used all my strength, Luo Lin didn’t even stumble. He walked forward a few steps and turned to look at me with a cold smile on his lips, “You little b*st*rd, if it wasn’t for you, would Frost have left my side? You will die today!”

I growled, “Frost left you because of your own actions. Take a step back, did you really think that human trash like you was worthy of Frost’s loyalty?!”

As I said that, I pulled out my blade and angrily threw a slash. In that moment, ten slashes flew out. Luo Lin’s flame shield blocked my combo. Unfortunately, my attack power wasn’t enough to break through his Flame Shield. After all, he did have his status as a Hybrid Demon King tier along with its power-ups.

“Die!”

Luo Lin roared and stabbed the Marshall’s Sword at me.

I raised my Zhen Yue Blade to parry the blow. Sparks flew in front of my eyes. The Marshall’s Sword was just too strong. That one blow pushed away the Zhen Yue Blade and cut into my shoulder!

　　“37,181!”

I only received that much damage? I felt my confidence strengthen. Luo Lin was only strong in the past because of Despair. Without it, he was a toothless tiger. How could he handle me?

“Shua!”

　　“+23,275!”

With one [Cleansing Rain], I recovered quite a bit of my health. Darling Duck and some other healers were getting close to us, thus giving me another boost. Maybe there was still some hope in this solo duel with Luo Lin!

After casting my support skills like [Wall of Dou Qi] and [Frost Armor], Luo Lin and I exchanged a dozen blows. Finally, I managed to break through his Flame Shield. Right then, Odelia burst through the crowd of people with the Purple Wind Sword in hand. She pulled out the blade and hacked at Luo Lin’s right arm.

“Eh!?”

Luo Lin immediately pulled his arm back, but it was too late. Odelia’s blade rammed against the Marshall’s Sword. At the same time, she used her sheath to trap Luo Lin’s wrist. With a strong tug, she pulled the Marshall’s Sword out of Luo Lin’s hand.

“B*tch!”

Luo Lin roared and threw a punch. Odelia immediately raised her arm to defend and was thrown back a dozen meters. Strands of her hair fell out of place and it looked like she had taken some light damage. Yet she smiled and threw the Marshall’s Sword at me, “Take it!”

I dashed forward and grabbed the hilt of the Marshall’s Sword. With one glance at the stats, it told me that it had no attack power and was just a prop. However, it did symbolize the authority over the three armies. I faced the collapsed Flame Dragon Army and flew into the air. With the Marshall’s Sword raised high above my head, I shouted, “The Marshall’s Sword is in my hand now. Flame Dragon Army, hear my command. Defend your positions. Point the crossbow carts and the flame cannons at the sky and blast those d*mn*d dragons out of the sky. Archers, use your chain arrows and drag them out of the sky. You are military men of the empire. Defending the country against enemies with your lives is your mission, so fight! All officers, take out your swords. Kill any deserters!”

All the old noblemen NPCs of Tian Ling City called me a merciful general, but I had never once felt that way. If pressured, I would use any means possible, especially against an army with all bark and no bite like the Flame Dragon Army. The Royal Army had yet to retreat and was dying on the front lines while the Flame Dragon Army fell first. It was truly a joke.

Clustered arrows flew out into the sky. Luo Lin even took one in the shoulder. He turned to run. He wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t fight with his life like Gawain did. Besides, now that he lost Despair, his strength had greatly decreased. He actually wasn’t much stronger than a high-level Demon Harvest tier BOSS. Besides, he was down to 40% health right now. As long as we held off the pressure from the Wild Dragon Tribe, killing Luo Lin wouldn’t be an issue.

In the sky, dragon blood fell like rain. Ignaus had appeared and was battling Frost. Furthermore, three of the Dragon Tribe Elders were supporting Ignaus. Otherwise, he would’ve taken damage long ago. Queen Zi Shu roared in the sky and I could see patches of missing scales. This seemed to only add oil to her anger. She spat out ribbons of crimson flames. This was a type of Dragon Flame that none of the other dragons could defend against. In the end, the one who killed the most number of dragons was herself, who was also a dragon.

On the ground, the players from different guilds continued their fierce fights, killing the dragons one after another. Even the players were dying in droves, and there were fewer and fewer of them. In the blink of an eye, only 100,000 players were left and we had killed half of the dragons. Ignaus roared in frustration and desperation; he finally realized that if he continued this fight, they would all be annihilated.

“Grrrrr…..”

At the heed of Ignaus’ roar, the dragons all turned and flew into the cover of the clouds. Frost and Zi Shu charged after them. Frost's shoulder was bloodied, but it was nothing critical. Even so, the two of them weren't going to let Ignaus retreat like this. At the same time however, she noticed another person and her aggression instantly grew, “Luo Lin….”

“Keng!”

She slid her Severing Beauty Sword out of its sheath and dove for the ground. “Peng.” Her sword split the earth. At that moment, Luo Lin had been leading a group of royal guards towards the northern gate of the city to escape. That strike threw Luo Lin back a dozen steps. Despair filled his face. He looked up at Frost and roared, “Frost, do you really want me dead that much?”

Frost pursed her lips and said, “The living man is already dead, so what use is there in keeping a dead man alive.”