The First Order

Chapter 1200: Leader

The night continued.

Bloodline spells were the specialty magic of all first-rate sorcerer clans, such as the Winston family’s Substitute spell. Ren Xiaosu had made several attempts on the lives of the Winston family’s archmages, but they all used the Flame Substitute spell to deflect the attacks, leaving their sons to die in their place instead.

In the past, in the Kingdom of Sorcerers, everyone’s criteria for whether a sorcerer clan could be considered first-rate was whether they had any bloodline spells.

For example, during Archmage Kayle’s battle in Sun City, although the House of Winston had surrounded and killed Kayle, his death still caused great damage to the entirety of Sun City.

It was as though every sorcerer in the House of Tudor were doubly effective in battles.

All these years, the Tudor family’s status had remained firmly established in Ghent City. No one dared to conspire against their sorcerers even during their out-of-city trips.

Why was that? Because they were worried about triggering their Bloodline Summoning spell.

Back then, Ren Xiaosu had controlled Old Xu to kill a bounty hunter of the House of Tudor. Disregarding how powerful the Tudor family’s patriarch was when he descended on the scene with this spell, just being able to see and remember the enemy’s appearance with it was enough to make many enemies tremble in fear.

No one had any good ways to deal with this bloodline spell, so the Tudor family’s status as a top clan became even more entrenched.

The House of Tudor once said, “Don’t provoke the Tudors. Otherwise, we will surely find you sooner or later.”

These words shocked many people over the years.

However, someone finally found a flaw in the Tudor family’s bloodline spell. ‘As long as they’re not your biological sons, it will be easy to deal with…’

The Knights of Tudor retreated like the tide and set up a defensive shield wall 800 meters back to reorganize their formation.

The Knights of Tudor had suddenly fallen into a leaderless state. The commander-in-chief had fainted, while the second-in-command was killed in action. As such, everyone did not know what to do.

On the other hand, the House of Norman was suddenly confused by the situation. As such, they did not dare make a move while hoping to quietly observe the situation.

Luo Lan, Zhou Qi, and the others took this opportunity to get off the walls and join up with Ren Xiaosu. Only Yang Xiaojin took advantage of the chaos to leave the group and quietly make her way into Ghent City.

She was like a lone wolf hiding in the shadows, ready to deal the enemy a fatal blow at any moment.

Yang Xiaojin was acting alone not because she was confident or arrogant, but because she was able to remain calm. She knew what to do and where to be as the sniper of the group.

For a sniper, wandering alone at the edge of the battlefield was the wisest choice.

A sniper who could not be seen was the most threatening sniper.

Before she got together with Ren Xiaosu, Yang Xiaojin already had her own mindset. She had an independent and complete personality, and she was also capable of taking care of herself.

This had never changed.

Ren Xiaosu was not surprised by this, nor did he intend to interfere with Yang Xiaojin’s decision. He turned around and asked Zhou Qi, “Were you the one who controlled the blood flow and blocked the bloodline spell from taking effect?”

Zhou Qi was puzzled. “What? What’s a bloodline spell?”

Ren Xiaosu explained to everyone what a bloodline spell was, but Zhou Qi was still confused.

“Looks like it wasn’t you.” Ren Xiaosu sighed as he looked at the Tudor family’s patriarch with a hint of sympathy in his eyes. “He must’ve been cuckolded then.”

Who could have expected that while everyone was thinking about how to neutralize the threat of this bloodline spell from the perspective of sorcery, the way to do it actually had more to do with morals?

“I guess no one expected something like that to happen.” The Great Hoodwinker said, “How tragic.”

Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Yeah, it’s way too tragic.”

However, the Great Hoodwinker was actually wrong about one thing. Someone had actually predicted this outcome.

The identity of the second-in-command of the House of Tudor was much more complex than they could have expected.

Sixty years ago, the father of the Berkeley family’s patriarch, after planning for many years, sent more than 20 trained female spies to the patriarch of the House of Tudor.

All the women were peerless beauties and seemingly from noble backgrounds.

Furthermore, several days before these women were sent to the House of Tudor, they slept with the Berkeley family’s male spies who had infiltrated Ghent City.

The previous patriarch of the House of Berkeley had done all this to lay a trap for the House of Tudor.

How could the Berkeleys, who had been planning for their northern expedition since 60 years ago, possibly only plan for a military campaign? It would have to be a subversive plan that was all-encompassing and unscrupulous.

This was the kind of struggle that went on between sorcerer clans, and it was a 100 times or even a 1,000 times worse than what was recorded in history.

However, even the previous patriarch of the House of Berkeley could not have expected that one of the babies would end up not being discovered and also became the favorite son of the Tudor family’s patriarch.

This was one of the contingency schemes that gave the current patriarch of the House of Berkeley the confidence to begin the northern expedition!

As a matter of fact, this contingency scheme was indeed very effective. Without even needing to wield 10% of his combat strength, the Berkeley family’s patriarch successfully angered the Tudor family’s patriarch to the point he fainted!

The Tudor family’s patriarch alone had several hundred sons.

It was definitely not possible for one wife to bear him so many sons.

Therefore, there would naturally be loopholes to exploit since he took so many wives. Ren Xiaosu realized there should be many more illegitimate offspring in the House of Tudor.

However, there was no way to verify such matters in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. Surely he wouldn’t kill his sons just to verify their relationship, right? If he killed them, the bloodline spell would no longer be useful.

Next to him, Zhou Yingxue asked in a low voice, “Do you think we can provide a science-based medical procedure for these sorcerers once we’ve unified this place? I think they should need it, right? It’ll definitely be a very profitable venture.”

Everyone looked at Zhou Yingxue in surprise. Ren Xiaosu sighed and said, “You’re such a business whiz!”

Everyone’s thoughts and standpoints were completely different from one another.

For example, P5092 was thinking about their attack and defense strategy while he stood atop the city walls. As for Wang Yun, he sought to memorize the map of Ghent City first while the Great Hoodwinker was thinking about how to flatter the future commander.

Meanwhile, the moneygrubbing Zhou Yingxue was thinking about how to make the citizens here willingly spend their gold coins.

“What do we do now?” P5092 asked, “Do we occupy the city or should we kill them all? Future Commander, you have to set an objective first before I can formulate a battle plan.”

Ren Xiaosu gave it some thought and replied, “How can I force the Norman family’s patriarch to show himself? Only by getting rid of him first can we occupy the city without incurring too many casualties.”

“Should we force him to make a move?” P5092 thought for a moment and said, “We’ll have to force him to come out and save the Tudor family then.”

“These sorcerer clans are always scheming against each other, and the Norman family has been at odds with the Tudor family for more than a 100 years already. He couldn’t be happier if we wiped out the Tudor family at this moment, so why would he appear and save them?” Ren Xiaosu asked humbly.

P5092 calmly explained, “Since he’s unwilling to help them, we’ll just have to hurt him first. We’ll do so until he understands their interdependence with the Tudor family.”

When Wang Yun and the others heard this, they gasped. “That sounds really ruthless, yet you said it in the most civil of tones.”

However, P5092’s suggestion was indeed simple to comprehend. Ren Xiaosu understood what he meant.

Zhou Yingxue stood next to Ren Xiaosu and said eagerly, “Master, why don’t you leave it to me instead?”

This woman had been kept in check by Yang Xiaojin for too long. Now that Yang Xiaojin was off acting alone, Zhou Yingxue finally felt like she could showcase her powers.

“No, wait for a little while more.” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “You have a more important mission to handle now. P5092, can you do it if I hand command of the 6th Field Division over to you?”

P5092’s eyes lit up. Although he was not aware of the enchanted doorway yet, he trusted everything Ren Xiaosu said.

If Ren Xiaosu promised to let him take command of the 6th Field Division, he would definitely deliver on it.

There were no such things as humility or arrogance in P5092’s dictionary. All he cared about was war and victory. “Future Commander, if you let me take command of the 6th Field Division, I’ll definitely help you capture Ghent City.”

“Deal.”

…

Not far behind the Knights of Tudor and Knights of Radiance, Chen Jiu was still standing on the sorcery-constructed observation deck in a daze as he watched the entire performance play out.

In the dark of the night, he saw the Tudor family’s patriarch passing out while the tens of thousands of knights retreated 800 meters into Ghent City like a receding tide. He also witnessed those knights forming a defensive formation.

When Chen Jiu first saw Midnight, he thought the strange, fiery red “dragon” would be Ren Xiaosu’s greatest weapon. But before he could react, Ren Xiaosu sent Midnight south to intercept the House of Berkeley.

This confused Chen Jiu a little. “With your greatest reliance gone, what makes you think you can take on tens of thousands of knights with just a few of you? What’s more, the archmages of the Houses of Tudor and Norman have not even taken any serious damage yet.”

Chen Jiu couldn’t be blamed for doubting Ren Xiaosu. After all, Ren Xiaosu’s backup seemed too few in number.

From his vantage point, the humans on the ground of Ghent City looked like ants. On one side, there were tens of thousands of troops, and on the other side stood about eight or nine individuals.

Without Midnight, this contrast was simply too stark.

Chen Jiu did not know much about the Central Plains, so he did not even have a vague idea of how Ren Xiaosu and company could emerge victorious.

Previously, Chen Jingshu and Xu Anqing raised an objection. Ren Xiaosu might be very strong, but he might not necessarily have the ability and wisdom a leader should have. That was because the Ren Xiaosu they saw was basically always fighting alone.

Currently, Chen Jiu was thinking that even if Ren Xiaosu and the other individuals were powerful, even more powerful than the Houses of Tudor and Norman, they would still get exhausted to death if they were to go up against tens of thousands of opponents.

And most importantly, how were eight or nine people going to occupy Ghent City? If they were unable to quickly wipe out the Tudors and the Normans, the old aristocrats could go into hiding and rise up again someday.

After the Central Plains people left, the Kingdom of Sorcerers would still remain as the Kingdom of Sorcerers of the old aristocracy.

Normally, that should be the case. However, Chen Jiu somehow felt that something did not click. He felt that Chen Jingshu and Xu Anqing’s judgment was wrong!

How could someone who could face the pursuit of tens of thousands of troops and summon an evil dragon calmly, and who had inherited the legacy of that Rider, possibly not have thought of this before charging out recklessly?

How could the future commander of Fortress 178 always be fighting alone?

In that case, where were Ren Xiaosu’s people? Chen Jiu raised his binoculars and scanned the surroundings, but he saw nothing.

A moment later, Chen Jiu suddenly saw through the binoculars that Ren Xiaosu had taken out a large metal door from somewhere and wedged it into the ground.

Chen Jiu was stunned. The two sorcerer clans and their knights were also stunned. No one knew why Ren Xiaosu had suddenly taken out a door.

Right after, everyone saw soldiers, three per rank, starting to rush out of the door.

Black, multifunctional tactical helmets, multipurpose tactical bulletproof vests, automatic rifles with attached grenade launchers, and dark menacing heavy machine guns, all of which seemed out of place in the Kingdom of Sorcerers.

But it was also an extremely valiant sight.

Everyone finally realized this was the enchanted doorway the Magi specialized in. And the Central Plains forces had opened a doorway that linked to the Central Plains with a favorite spell of the Magi!

When some of the sorcerers saw this, they immediately wanted to destroy the enchanted doorway. The reason why they only retreated 800 meters was so the archmages could still cast their spells at the enemy.

The archmages of those clans were already on guard against Ren Xiaosu and the others if they were to make any further moves.

The enchanted doorway appeared too unexpectedly. No one could be sure whether the corroded metal door was linked to a power that could destroy the Kingdom of Sorcerers.

The archmages wanted to make a move, but just as one of them gripped their Eye of True Sight, a sniper bullet came out of nowhere and pierced his chest.

Everyone looked into the distance. They vaguely saw a girl in a cap jumping off a roof in the darkness and disappearing into the streets and alleys again.

The darkness of the night was her best camouflage.

Someone in the Norman family’s group ordered coldly, “Advance guard, quickly escort Bailey and Billy over there!”

Bailey and Billy were two sorcerers of the House of Norman. The commander wanted to send these two sorcerers to their deaths for a chance to cast the Norman family’s bloodline spell.

The Norman family’s bloodline spell was a spell that could be used for close-range destruction, so they had to get closer for it to work.

But just as this group of people rushed out of the shield formation, they were knocked to the ground by another round of shots from the shadows. In just a few seconds, more than a dozen corpses were added to the streets.

This time, no one saw where the bullets came from.

This invisible deterrent was like a shadow that shrouded everyone in fear.

…

A moment ago, on Stronghold 144’s Anning East Road.

This neighborhood had been turned into a huge military base. The area within a three-kilometer radius had become a temporarily military-controlled zone. Checkpoints were set up everywhere to enforce martial law, and there were even temporary sandbag bunkers built on the roofs of the residential buildings here. There were also heavy machine guns mounted on the roofs in case of an offensive approach.

It was 3 AM currently. In the temporarily military-controlled zone, dozens of spotlights illuminated the entire camp, making it appear like daytime.

In Ren Xiaosu’s humble abode, everything in the living room on the first floor had been cleared away. Black Fox even had the Engineering Battalion build a temporary steel structure on the floor as the future commander had warned them not to damage the floor.

However, Ren Xiaosu’s house door had been widened to allow three people to pass through at once. After all, in Black Fox’s opinion, the future commander had only said not to damage the floor, but he did not say they couldn’t dismantle the door.

At this moment, Black Fox was standing quietly in the living room with his eyes closed. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoman was pacing back and forth uneasily in the living room. “When will Future Commander take action? When will Future Commander call for us? Hey, what do you think the Kingdom of Sorcerers is like…”

But no matter what Zhang Xiaoman asked, Black Fox remained silent throughout. It was obvious he was used to Zhang Xiaoman’s anxiety.

Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu’s voice rang out in the living room, “Begin operations.”

Black Fox suddenly opened his eyes. He went onto the radio’s broadcast channel. “Report readiness.”

“1st Infantry Brigade, standing by.”

“2nd Artillery Brigade, standing by.”

“3rd Infantry Brigade, standing by…”

“4th…”

Black Fox said calmly on the radio, “Muster for battle. We’ll start passing through the doorway! Everyone, don’t disgrace the 6th Field Division on this trip to a foreign land, and don’t disgrace the future commander either. We’ll return to base for celebratory drinks in three days. To victory!”

Outside this residence, more than 10,000 troops of the 6th Field Division were standing solemnly while awaiting orders.

The parade formations stretched out into the distance like a black sea.

“To victory!”

“To victory!”

“To victory!”

Rallying cries erupted.

When Black Fox heard the commotion outside the house, he silently prayed for this battle that would ensure the Northwest’s continued survival. Then he stepped through the wall in the living room carrying a huge safe.

Everyone stepped into the living room in an orderly manner as planned and disappeared through the wall one by one.

None of them knew where they were going exactly, nor did they know if they would return. However, it was never for a soldier to think about such useless concerns. All they had to do was walk through the enchanted doorway and pull the trigger on the enemy.

This army was too orderly, so orderly it was difficult to imagine.

The enchanted doorway could only fit three people at once, but the soldiers of the 6th Field Division managed to fit nine people through in just one second by filing into the portal with sharp precision.

This might sound simple, but it was actually very difficult to execute.

By this point, even Zhang Jinglin, Wang Fengyuan, and the other high-ranking commanders of the Northwest had arrived in Stronghold 144.

They stood on the roof of a residential building somewhere and watched the elite troops who were awaiting orders. However, they did not issue any instructions to them. The high-ranking commanders behaved as though they were just a crowd of onlookers.

Wang Yuexi had followed Ren Xiaosu’s instructions and reported the Prosperous Northwest 3.0 battle plan to Zhang Jinglin. When the high-ranking commanders found out about it, they rushed over eagerly.

They even contributed the best equipment from their own armies, such as the 40 mm underbarrel grenade launchers.

Everyone was getting a little excited.

“Commander, I heard that Future Commander has found a way to accurately launch an attack on the key region of the Kingdom of Sorcerers. Is that true?”

“Commander, I heard that Future Commander…”

The high-ranking commanders kept bombarding him with questions, but Zhang Jinglin just smiled and did not say anything.

Zhou Yinglong looked at Zhang Jinglin and asked, “Commander, what do you think are our chances of winning?”

Zhang Jinglin smiled but did not answer the question. “Everyone, relax. Just watch patiently. After today, history will be made in Fortress 178. Today, you and I are no longer the ones writing our history but the witnesses of it. A new era is coming.”

“Commander, are you thinking of retiring again?” Zhou Yinglong asked suspiciously.

Zhang Jinglin looked out of the military base and saw that the residents of Stronghold 144 were not flustered at all despite the impending war. Everyone stood outside the security perimeter and waited quietly. It was as though they were getting ready to cheer the moment the military returned victorious.

It was already 3 AM, yet the 6th Field Division was still awake, and so were the residents of Stronghold 144.

This was the cohesiveness of Stronghold 144, as well as Ren Xiaosu’s ability to bring them all together.

Zhang Jinglin smiled and said to Zhou Yinglong, “If I really choose to retire now, it’s not like that would be a problem, right?”

…

Inside Ghent City, Black Fox arrived in front of P5092 and Ren Xiaosu the second he stepped through the enchanted doorway. He saluted them and said, “Total strength of the 6th Field Division, 16,780. Present strength, 16,780. The estimated time required for everyone to pass through the enchanted doorway is 31 minutes and 7 seconds.”

31 minutes might seem like a long time, but it was only an instant in a large battle.

Ren Xiaosu had read in a book that it could take two hours for a cataphract unit to get its formation ready during a battle. This was not an exaggeration at all. Seeing that the Knights of Tudor and Knights of Radiance had yet to fully adjust their entire defensive formation, Ren Xiaosu was not worried they would miss any opportunities to fight during this period.

P5092 had already taken over command of the entire battle. Before Ren Xiaosu could say anything, P5092 said to Black Fox, “Let’s begin.”

“Understood.” After that, Black Fox opened the black box he had brought with him.

“Sir, I’ve brought the portable command center.” Black Fox took out an earpiece from the box and handed it to P5092.

P5092 issued orders one by one from here. The troops who came through the portal first immediately set up machine gun positions in the designated area to cover their comrades who were still passing through at the rear. They did so to prevent the enemy from rushing over and destroying the enchanted doorway.

More than a dozen snipers from the Pyro Company quietly left the group and went to look for a satisfactory vantage point to camp at. Their aim was not to suppress the enemy with their firepower but to use their calm minds to search for sorcerers armed with Eyes of True Sight among the enemy troops.

This was a compulsory requirement for every sniper. Just like in the modern warfare of the Central Plains, they would have to quickly identify enemies carrying RPGs and heavy machine guns. Only by finding the sorcerers could they reduce the casualties of their own comrades.

The 6th Field Division’s fighting force that gradually passed through the enchanted doorway quickly formed into several assault columns under P5092’s orders.

This was going to be a large urban battle. The 6th Field Division’s only goal was to wipe out all the enemy forces and occupy this city.

P5092 took a deep breath and said, “Let’s begin.”

In that instant, the heavy machine guns that were already set up started firing.

When the bullets hit the knights’ shield formation, their shields were nearly destroyed. In an instant, an expanding wall of ice blocked the front of the formation and prevented the knights from getting penetrated by the bullets.

Under the cover of the heavy machine guns, the assault columns started infiltrating the city like a stream.

Ghent City was very large, and the defensive formation laid out by the sorcerer clans spanned a kilometer wide.

Meanwhile, the infiltration coverage of the assault columns was even larger. From above, it resembled a huge fan.

Chen Jiu, who was at the rear, had a clear view of this sight. He felt that he was watching a one-of-a-kind army.

The other party had a command style that was incomprehensible to those in the Kingdom of Sorcerers, with their troop movements meticulous and orderly.

Even though the infiltration coverage was so wide, it was not chaotic at all.

The heavy breathing of the soldiers could be heard over the radio. “Check the streets and eliminate any potential threats!”

“Zone A1 clear.”

“Zone A2 clear.”

“Zone A3…”

Before the real battle broke out, Ren Xiaosu had asked Xu Anqing for a map of Ghent City, which he passed on to Black Fox. So Black Fox had not really been idle either. The 6th Field Division had already drafted the initial battle preparations and marked out strategic areas on the map.

Black Fox had done all this so P5092 could take over immediately once they rendezvoused.

It was just like how a nurse had to be particular about the angle at which to pass the scalpel to the doctor during surgery. As an adjutant, Black Fox’s responsibility was not to participate in the development of the tactical plan but to get everything ready for P5092.

However, just as the hundreds of assault columns had officially begun infiltrating into the streets, several columns that were advancing in parallel suddenly saw their future commander walking over from the rear.

The young man in the darkness drew his black saber and raised it diagonally. Old Xu, who was wearing the white mask, had escaped from its constraints at some point and returned to Ren Xiaosu’s side.

A man and a shadow clone, one walking in front of the other. It was as though two identical saber wielders were strolling down the long boulevard and walking towards the shield formation hundreds of meters ahead.

P5092 said calmly, “Future Commander, you should stay next to me.”

Ren Xiaosu said with a smile without turning his head, “How can I let our soldiers charge into enemy lines while I hide at the back? Don’t worry, our 6th Field Division will always be led by their commander.”

When Luo Lan heard this, he laughed out loud. “Things like killing and arson are really the most interesting.”

The golden martyred spirits next to him carried their heavy machine guns and followed behind. “Satisfying!”

Seeing the situation, the Great Hoodwinker, who was scratching his feet at the side, put on his shoes and followed along. “Future Commander, wait for me!”

The troops who were preparing to infiltrate the danger zone silently viewed the backs of their future commander and Old Xu with indescribable emotion.

They felt as though their blood was gradually starting to boil, like a fuse had been lit in their bosoms and started moving towards their throats.

Ren Xiaosu raised his saber and picked up speed as he approached the shield formation. Gradually, the young man broke into a crazy sprint.

P5092’s voice rang out on the radio, “Assault columns, don’t disrupt your attack rhythm by trying to follow Future Commander’s pace. You’ll only tire yourselves to death. Future Commander is only doing this to provide cover for you all. Just advance according to the original plan.”

P5092 looked at Zhou Yingxue. “Let’s begin.”

“Mhm.” Zhou Yingxue nodded. A green glow appeared at her fingertips and dropped to the ground. Then something started growing crazily underground.

The underground vines meandered across the ceiling of the sewers of the underground world and extended all the way to the defensive position where the knights were.

Immediately after, P5092 continued: “T5s, move out. Follow Future Commander and charge into the enemy’s formation! The assault column on the left taking Zone A118, spread out your infiltration approach. I want all of you to attack the flank of the enemy’s position to distract them.”

P5092 stood in front of the temporary command center as though he were playing blindfolded chess. He did not have a visual of the overall situation, but the battlefield was in his mind.

A moment later, 22 muscular soldiers broke away from the numerous assault columns. They left their original groups and started running faster and faster. They were just like the wolves running behind the Wolf King.

A lot of people did not know that P5092 had not only brought the Pyro Company’s remnant troops back from the Northern Plains. He was also joined by some T5 combatants who others would consider as human tanks.

One or two T5s might not make much of a difference in battle, but 22 T5s would act as a sharp blade cutting through the knights’ formation that was still stuck in the era of melee weapons. Unless an archmage endured the pain and attacked with the knights, the T5s would surely bulldoze them.

Initially, P5092 wanted to use them to break the knights’ formation from the side, but he was worried they would get overwhelmed by the enemy’s numbers. But it was different now. They had the future commander leading the charge.

P5092 believed that even if the T5s got trapped, the future commander would still be able to lead them out of trouble.

Chen Jiu watched all this quietly from afar. Tonight, the more he watched the battle, the quieter he became.

So did Ren Xiaosu possess any leadership skills? To get an answer to this question, one would first have to think about what leadership was.

Was it about having precise command? No.

Was it about having immense combat strength? No.

Leadership was about having the following traits when you stepped onto the battlefield:

Influencing those around you to charge forward together without hesitation and with no regrets, and be willing to fight to the death in battle. In addition, to have people waiting expectantly for you to return home, to cheer for you, and to celebrate the spoils of victory.

Ren Xiaosu possessed all of these.

That was why Zhang Jinglin said that even if he were to retire now, it wouldn’t be a problem.

…

The range of the archers was a 100 meters. With Ren Xiaosu and Old Xu’s speed, it would only take a few seconds for them to close the gap, a fact the sorcerers were also well aware of.

If they wanted to stop Ren Xiaosu, they would have to rely on sorcery.

So when Ren Xiaosu started sprinting madly, a few of the sorcerers hidden among the knights finally made their move.

Strange spells were cast one after another, so much so that Ren Xiaosu had to advance in an irregular trajectory to avoid getting hit.

The sorcerers then chanted a second round of incantations. But before they could finish reciting, everyone heard the sound of a manhole cover getting blasted into the air next to them. The next second, countless green vines surged out of the manhole.

The needle-sharp vines did not directly attack the knights’ armor. Instead, they crawled through the gaps in their armor and stabbed into the bodies of the sorcerers and knights one by one.

The vines that were originally green in color slowly turned red after sucking out their blood. The mesmerizing scarlet red color made the vines look extremely eerie.

A huge commotion broke out within the knights’ ranks as everyone was shocked by the sudden appearance of the vines.

This sudden turn of events helped to take away the last bit of attention that was on Ren Xiaosu.

Now was the time!

Ren Xiaosu accelerated again in an attempt to break the formation with his saber.

But before he could make a move, the T5 combatants behind him were one step ahead. One by one, they smashed into the shield formation like artillery shells. This group of intrepid human tanks directly used their brute force and created a “wave” of people upon contact with the front of the shield formation!

There was also the Great Hoodwinker, with his monster strength, who kicked the front of the formation and sent the knights holding shields flying backwards.

Ren Xiaosu could only smile helplessly. He had been slowed down because he had to dodge the spells, but he did not expect that the group of T5 combatants would charge ahead of him because of that.

Ren Xiaosu, who had always been a lone wolf, rarely had others fighting alongside him in battle. Now that he had occasionally experienced it, it actually felt quite good!

Ren Xiaosu said through the earpiece, “Ji Zi’ang, Wang Yun, help me find the Norman family’s patriarch. I want to know where he is.”

Having reached this point, the other party would surely have to make a move.

At this moment, Ji Zi’ang created a high platform at the rear with his superpower to ensure Wang Yun could get the widest view of the situation.

Wang Yun was sweating profusely as he stood on the high platform and surveyed the battlefield with his binoculars.

The Norman family’s patriarch was wearing a knight’s armor and hiding among the crowd. If he couldn’t find the other party in time, it would probably cause a lot of trouble for the 6th Field Division if the archmage completed the incantation for whichever spell he was best at.

But reports said that the Norman family’s patriarch was already in his 80s, so his movements would definitely not be as fast as those in their prime. He would definitely also have his subordinates protecting him, so Wang Yun needed to locate him on the battlefield.

“Have you found him yet?” Zhang Xiaoman shouted from below.

Wang Yun muttered, “Stop rushing me! I found him! Future Commander, he’s to your 9 o’clock! But I can’t judge the distance for now!”