Wu Liang's eyes sharpened instantly. "Can we confirm their identity?"
"We captured two alive, but they clammed up and killed themselves before we could pry anything out of them."
Akomann's face was ashen.
"Still, their gear and accents suggest they're from the Roland Empire."
Roland Empire.
The name made Florgloria's expression flicker.
Wu Liang lapsed into silence, fingers drumming the table unconsciously.
He had always known this day would come.
"The days of peace are probably over."
"Should we… suspend the railway project? Pull back our defenses?"
Florgloria asked, worry etched on her face.
"No."
Wu Liang rejected the idea outright.
"Not only do we keep building, we accelerate. At a time like this, we must show the world our strength and resolve!"
"Pass my order: the entire army is to enter combat readiness."
"Tell Suina's Military Workshop to distribute those Maxims to every fortress and defensive node immediately!"
"Also, tell Sa Lan to push her reconnaissance another hundred li east. I want to know which cesspool these flies crawled out of!"
"Yes, sir!"
Akomann saluted, turned, and strode away.
Just then a guard burst in, panic all over his face.
"Chief! Bad news! The Scout Battalion just sent an emergency signal—Lord Sa Lan's patrol seems to have run into trouble!"
Wu Liang's pupils contracted sharply.
"Exact location?"
"East, about eighty li, at Soul-Sunder Cliff!"
Soul-Sunder Cliff, true to its name, was a chasm cleaved as if by a titan's axe—treacherous terrain and a natural barrier on Black Rock Tribe's eastern border.
When Wu Liang arrived on Fenglei, a black lightning bolt, the place reeked of recent carnage.
The air was thick with the stench of blood; a dozen corpses lay scattered.
All wore the standard-issue leather scouts' armor of Black Rock Tribe, every body bearing multiple fatal wounds—clean, single strikes.
The scene screamed ambush.
Sa Lan's scout squad had been outnumbered and outclassed.
Wu Liang's face was thunderous.
He dismounted and examined each fallen soldier.
Veterans who had followed him for years now lay silent in the wild.
"Where's Sa Lan?"
His voice was icy.
Her body wasn't among the dead.
With a low growl Fenglei sniffed the ground, then loosed a warning roar toward one direction.
Wu Liang followed the tiger's gaze: a trail of blood led west—back toward Black Rock Tribe.
She broke through!
Heart pounding, he vaulted onto Fenglei.
"After her!"
Man and tiger became a whirlwind, racing west along the crimson trail.
Meanwhile, at Black Rock Tribe's east gate, tension crackled.
A lookout shrieked and hammered the alarm bell.
"Enemy att—! No, it's one of ours! It's Lord Sa Lan!"
A lone dot lurched along the horizon toward the settlement.
It was a war-horse, gait broken, on the verge of collapse.
Across its saddle slumped a familiar figure, lashed in place with rope.
At the gate the beast finally gave out, sinking with a mournful whinny.
Waiting guards and medics swarmed forward.
"Cut the ropes—fast!"
"It's Lord Sa Lan! Gods, she's torn to pieces!"
When the cords were severed and her slight form slid from the saddle, every onlooker gasped.
Her snug leather armor was soaked black with blood, stiff as iron.
Wounds gouged to the bone; a belly gash still oozed crimson.
Her face was paper-white, breath barely there.
Anyone else would have died a hundred times over; only her freakish stamina and will kept her alive.
"Make way!"
A commanding voice cut through the chaos.
Wu Liang arrived.
He vaulted from Fenglei and knelt beside Sa Lan.
Seeing her broken body, rage blazed through him.
Without a word he pressed a palm to her chest.
Soft emerald light pulsed, flooding her with vibrant life.
Flesh knitted before their eyes; her breathing steadied.
Bystanders stared, awestruck.
They knew their Chief could heal, yet witnessing such a miracle up close was staggering.
Minutes later the glow faded.
Sa Lan wasn't fully healed, but death no longer loomed.
Her lashes fluttered; she opened her eyes.
Meeting Wu Liang's stormy, worried face, she clung to consciousness.
"C-Chief…"
Her voice rasped like grinding stone.
With desperate strength she gripped his arm, nails drawing blood.
"E-enemy… army…"
Terror blazed in her gaze.
"Easy, speak slowly."
He clasped her icy hand, sending soothing energy.
Between ragged breaths she forced out the tale.
"Tiee Fortress… it's their army!"
"Their lord—Taiwen Merlin, father of Aniya—has five thousand heavy cavalry and… a full Mage Corps!"
"Our squad was ambushed at Soul-Sunder Cliff… w-wiped out. Only I… got through…"
Then she collapsed.
The words detonated like a bomb in every mind.
Tiee Fortress!
The Roland Empire's border stronghold!
Five thousand heavy knights—and a Mage Corps!
Aniya, arriving late, froze at the name Taiwen Merlin.
Her face drained of color; she swayed, speechless.
"Father…"
Disbelief and pain flooded her eyes.
In the crushing silence Wu Liang rose.
He gently placed the unconscious Sa Lan into Alesha's arms.
"Take care of her," he murmured, then turned to face the frightened crowd.
His gaze lifted to the black war-banner snapping above the square.
"He wants war,"
"Then I'll give him one he'll never forget!"