Ian stood outside the city of Jinling, gripping the Human Emperor Banner.
He made no grand gestures, simply giving the banner a light shake. In an instant, golden light exploded. Countless golden soul shadows shrieked out from the banner, their numbers so vast they practically blotted out the sun.
These soul shadows came in all forms; some were missing limbs, others had facial features twisted in agony, but without exception, they all carried a sky-reaching resentment. They unleashed piercing roars—a spiritual shockwave that, through the light screen, transmitted itself into the heart of every Chinese person watching the live broadcast.
"That's... that's my father! My mother!"
In front of a light screen, a young man who happened to be away from Jinling just before the Japanese massacre pointed at a blurry soul shadow and broke into uncontrolled sobbing. Similar cries of grief echoed across the land.
The soul shadows surged like a tide. Without a moment's pause, they dove straight toward the city of Jinling, swarming the Japanese strongpoints, barracks, and headquarters.
The invaders inside the city had long been alarmed by the phenomena outside. Sirens wailed throughout Jinling.
"Shoot! Fire!" the Japanese commanders shrieked, their voices cracking with terror.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Tongues of fire spat from rifles and machine guns. Bullets fell like rain upon the incoming soul shadows.
Boom! Rumble!
Mortars and field guns joined the chorus, shells exploding amidst the spectral swarm.
However, it was all in vain. Bullets passed straight through the golden soul shadows without causing any harm. The artillery explosions, relying only on high heat, caused nothing more than minor distortions in the ghosts' forms before they snapped back to their original shapes. Physical attacks were nearly useless against these entities composed of pure resentment and soul power.
"What on earth are these things!"
A Japanese soldier watched with wide eyes as several bullets passed through a soul shadow, which continued to float toward him unscathed. The utter horror on his face was clearly displayed via the light screen.
The soul shadow passed through his body.
The soldier's movements froze. The rifle in his hands fell to the ground with a metallic clatter. Then, his eyes bulged, his pupils dilating rapidly as if he had seen the most terrifying sight in existence.
"AAAAGH!"
A scream that didn't sound human tore from his throat. He collapsed, limbs twitching and foam bubbling from his mouth. His body jerked irregularly on the ground for a few moments before going still. He died a miserable death; his mind seemed to have been completely obliterated in an instant.
Similar scenes played out simultaneously at Japanese strongpoints throughout Jinling. The soul shadows were ephemeral, ignoring the obstruction of walls as they drifted through houses and fortifications. They needed no weapons; they themselves were the most lethal weapons.
Japanese soldiers touched by the soul shadows suffered either immediate insanity—becoming raving, babbling lunatics—or met a sudden, agonizing end like the first soldier. Their fear, their despair, and their painful death-wails acted as invisible nourishment, absorbed by the soul shadows.
With every portion of terror and despair consumed, the golden light on the soul shadows seemed to solidify further. The golden radiance of the Human Emperor Banner in Ian's hand grew increasingly brilliant.
However, upon closer inspection, one could see a faint, blood-red tint beginning to dye that gold. The roaring figures on the banner's surface became clearer, and the pressure they exuded grew increasingly terrifying.
"No! Don't come over here! Monsters!"
"Help! Help me!"
The Japanese lines collapsed completely. This wasn't a battle; it was a unilateral slaughter. Their weapons were useless, and their "courage" evaporated in the face of the unknown.
In front of the light screen, the people of China felt a repressed sense of gratification surge through their bodies.
"Kill them! Good! Let these beasts taste despair for once!"
"Let them die! Let them all die!"
The invaders inside Jinling scrambled like rats pursued by ghosts. Some officers tried to organize a resistance, only to be the first ones swallowed by the shadows. Their katanas slashed at the souls as if cutting through air. Then, they died in extreme terror.
This slaughter lasted for several hours. Only when not a single living Japanese soldier could be found in Jinling did the golden soul shadows return to the Human Emperor Banner like birds to a nest.
At this moment, the Human Emperor Banner glowed with an eye-searing golden light, with blood-red energy swirling within—it looked like a flag forged from gold and fresh blood. The pressure it emitted caused even the members of the Magnetic Field Sect in the distance to feel a shiver of fear.
"Jinling is just the beginning," Ian's voice spread across the nation via the light screen.
"This Human Emperor Banner will tour every inch of Chinese land ravaged by the invaders."
"Every compatriot who died a wrongful death has the right to revenge."
"Every beast that dared to invade will be held to account."
The scene on the light screen shifted. Ian, holding the Human Emperor Banner, appeared on a new piece of land alongside the Magnetic Field Sect members. It was the ruins of a small town that had been massacred.
Ian thrust the Human Emperor Banner into the ground.
Wooo—! A spectral howl as shrill as the one in Jinling rang out. More black mist surged from the scorched earth, racing to merge into the Human Emperor Banner. The golden-red glow on the banner intensified, nearly dyeing half the sky the same color.
Then came another spectral slaughter against nearby Japanese outposts.
The same scene repeated over the following days, moving from city to city, village to village. Wherever there was a site of a large-scale massacre, Ian would manifest the Human Emperor Banner. The local wronged souls joined in with boundless hatred, strengthening the banner's power.
The light screen broadcasted all of this to the people of the nation. Wherever the Human Emperor Banner went, Japanese camps were turned into ghost realms. The invaders could not organize any effective resistance; no fortification could block the footsteps of the dead. Japanese soldiers were swallowed by the vengeful shadows amidst screams of despair.
The morale of the remaining invaders plummeted to rock bottom. The "Magnetic Field Sect" and the "Human Emperor Banner" became the death knells hanging over the heads of all Japanese invaders in China.
"Brother Ian, this is faster than us doing it ourselves," Zhang Chulan remarked, clicking his tongue as he looked at the golden-red banner exuding a terrifying aura.
"Isn't it better to let them take their own revenge?" Ian replied.
As it continued to absorb wronged souls and devour the fear and life of the invaders, the form of the Human Emperor Banner was quietly changing. The golden-red colors on the flag grew deeper, with a faint divine light flowing through them. Densely packed golden engravings began to surface on the pole, looking like ancient inscriptions. The pressure it exerted already placed a heavy strain on the weaker magnetic field powerhouses.
Today, Ian arrived at a site of a tragic battlefield. Here, even without using the Human Emperor Banner to summon the spirits, one could already feel the atmosphere of despair clinging to the area.
Years ago, a battle took place here that was known as the "Oriental Meat Grinder." The brutality of that battle exceeded everyone's imagination—an average of one division was wiped out per day, and over a thousand officers at or above the rank of colonel were killed in a single month.
In this battle, hundreds of thousands of Chinese sons charged to their deaths, and 300,000 heroes sacrificed their lives for the nation.
This place was—the site of the Battle of Shanghai.
##Discount##
Want more chapters? 50+ extra chapters are available on my Patreon:
patreon.com/Hard_Worker