Wind-Thunder was having a great time.
Its massive body galloped wantonly across the battlefield; every pounce claimed several lives.
Those Imperial Soldiers, who once seemed so majestic, were fragile and unable to withstand a single blow before it.
Cyan lightning swirled around its body, occasionally transforming into a web of electricity that enveloped large groups of fleeing enemies.
To it, the pungent smell of burnt flesh and the shrill screams were the most pleasant symphony.
Wu Liang did not stop it.
In this war, he didn't just want to win; he wanted to win thoroughly, to win in a way that would make all his enemies feel terror.
He wanted the Roland Empire, and even the entire continent, to know that the Black Rock Tribe was not a soft persimmon they could squeeze at will.
Wind-Thunder's existence was the best business card.
It announced to the world that the Black Rock Tribe not only possessed weapons beyond the era but also a powerful Magic Beast capable of rivaling the legendary dragons.
"Akomann, Ignis, tighten the formation! Don't let the pursuit get too scattered!"
Wu Liang issued orders through messengers to the two women who were leading their teams in the pursuit.
"Our goal isn't to kill them all; it's to break them!"
A routed army was the least valuable.
What he needed were prisoners—vast amounts of cheap labor that could be used to build railroads and mine minerals.
"Understood!"
Akomann and Ignis quickly grasped Wu Liang's intention.
They commanded their respective units to stop simply hunting and killing, acting instead like sheepdogs.
They drove the sheep fleeing in all directions toward a single point, partitioning and surrounding them.
The soldiers of the Rifle Battalion stopped aiming for the enemies' vitals and began shooting at their thighs and arms.
The roars of battle on the field were gradually replaced by cries and pleas for mercy.
"I surrender! Don't kill me!"
"I'm willing to be a slave! Please, spare my life!"
More and more Imperial Soldiers dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground, and raised their hands high.
Their will had been completely destroyed.
On the other side.
Arthur, supported by several personal guards, finally found his father who had fallen from his horse.
"Father! How are you?"
Arthur looked at the dust-covered, wretched Taiwen Merlin, his voice filled with anxiety and pain.
Taiwen Merlin pushed away the soldiers supporting him and struggled to stand up.
He looked at the devastated battlefield, the soldiers kneeling in surrender, the rampaging Magic Tiger, and that killing machine still slowly advancing not far away.
His body was trembling slightly.
Not from fear, but from endless rage and resentment.
"Why... why did it turn out like this..."
Taiwen Merlin muttered to himself, as if asking himself, or perhaps asking the heavens.
He couldn't understand it.
He had brought five thousand of the Empire's most elite Griffin Heavy Armored Knights, a hundred-man Mage Corps, and the Empire's most advanced weapons and tactics.
He thought this would be a crushing victory.
He had even planned out how to deal with that savage leader who had made off with his daughter after breaking the Tribe.
But reality had given him the loudest slap in the face.
Before the opponent's unheard-of weapons, his great army was like a group of children with wooden sticks challenging a fully armed giant.
They were utterly fragile.
"Father, what should we do?"
Arthur looked at his despondent father, his mind a complete blank.
The education he had received since childhood, the knightly spirit he took pride in, and everything he knew had been completely overturned today.
Taiwen Merlin took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He was, after all, the veteran Lord of Tiee Fortress and a seasoned general of the Empire.
Though defeated, his will had not been entirely destroyed.
"How many men do we have left?"
Taiwen Merlin's voice was hoarse and low.
"Those... those we can gather... I'm afraid... there are fewer than two thousand left."
A commander answered with a trembling voice.
Five thousand Heavy Armored Knights, plus several thousand infantry.
An army of over ten thousand had lost more than eighty percent in less than an hour.
This was no longer just a defeat.
This was annihilation.
Taiwen Merlin's body swayed again.
But he held himself up.
"Pass down my order."
Taiwen Merlin's voice regained a trace of composure.
"All soldiers still capable of fighting, rally to me immediately!"
"Form a defensive formation, provide alternating cover, and retreat toward Tiee Fortress in an orderly fashion!"
"We cannot all just die here!"
"As long as we can retreat to Tiee Fortress, with its solid walls, we can hold out! We can wait for the Empire's reinforcements!"
Taiwen Merlin's words reignited a spark of hope in the surrounding officers and soldiers.
"Yes!"
The officers immediately took the order and began running about, attempting to gather the routed troops and organize an effective resistance.
However, would Wu Liang give them that chance?
Obviously not.
"Trying to run?"
Wu Liang watched the Imperial remnants starting to regroup in the distance, a cold sneer appearing on his face.
He set off, walking neither fast nor slow toward Taiwen Merlin's position.
With every step he took, his aura rose another level.
That tangible killing intent made all the Imperial Soldiers blocking his path feel a sense of suffocation.
They subconsciously backed away to both sides, clearing a path for him.
No one dared to swing a weapon at him.
Because they had all seen Arthur's fate.
Wu Liang strolled through the midst of the vast army as if in a leisure garden, walking step by step toward that Imperial general.
Taiwen Merlin also saw Wu Liang.
He gripped the sword in his hand, staring intently at the young man walking toward him.
He knew this was the opponent's decapitation tactic.
As long as he was killed, this army would completely lose its command, with no further possibility of a turnaround.
"All guards! Form up! Prepare to face the enemy!"
Taiwen Merlin roared.
The few hundred remaining guard knights by his side immediately formed a human wall, shielding Taiwen Merlin and Arthur firmly behind them.
The face of every man was written with the resolve to fight to the death.
Arthur also struggled up from the ground, picking up a common soldier's longsword and standing in front of his father.
"Father, go quickly!"
Arthur roared.
"I'll hold him off!"
"Shut up!"
Taiwen Merlin shoved him behind him.
"I, Taiwen Merlin, have not fallen so low that I need my own son to cover my retreat!"
He looked at the approaching Wu Liang, a flash of determination in his eyes.
Even if he were to die, he would die like a general of the Empire!
He would personally put an end to his own failure.
Just as tensions reached a breaking point and a major clash was imminent.
A crisp and anxious voice suddenly came from behind the Black Rock Army's lines.
"Stop! Everyone stop!"
A white warhorse charged out from the crowd.
On the horse's back was a petite figure wearing silver light armor with dazzling blonde hair.
It was Annia.
Her face was covered in tears.
Looking at this hellish scene before her, her heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard by an invisible giant hand.
On one side were her father and brother.
On the other side was her man, her current home.
She didn't know what to do.