Chapter 97 - Sevenfold Cutting Tempest

"Advance! Advance!" A man in an exquisite plate armour riding a purebred horse ordered his troops. He wore a pointed helmet with an elegant red horse tail on top, waving with the wind.

The walls were breached, and three squads of Xuanwu clan's infantry, numbering four hundred men in total, were now rushing towards Tealstone. The central squad was supposed to break into the crack in the wall as the side squads mounted the walls using siege ladders. Xin scanned the battlefield, trying to gauge the situation. 

Our allies are well-armoured, their troops moving with great cohesion as they advance towards the walls. With key sections of the walls collapsing, the enemy's movement along the wall-walks is severely hindered, and the continued artillery bombardment keeps their crossbowmen even further suppressed. The fight for the wall crack and the ladder assault are going to be brutal, leading to many losses. We are lucky that our allies are executing this maneuver, our sect troops would probably break if given such an order. 

Master Ning flew up to Rui Ming and Wu Lei, who were leading sixty soldiers combined now. 

"Masters, their cavalry had emerged from the opposite gates of the city! I want you to stay alert and cover Xuanwu's infantry in case of the rear attack! Await further orders!" 

"Yes, master!" They responded. "Troops! Prepare the pikes, we might have some cavalry coming our way!" As Lei commanded his soldiers, Xin was worried. He's a good fighter, but he's not an officer, not a tactician. Our forces might break, we aren't good at formation fighting, and even with pikes, the enemy cavalry might just steamroll us.

"Prepare to advance two hundred steps forward! At my command!" Master Xiaodan's voice rumbled from above. Meanwhile, Xuanwu clan forces were taking losses from the enemy fire, but still advancing rapidly. Xin saw their medics pull injured people aside and stabilise some otherwise fatal wounds, as their qi active mortals protected them with their techniques and enchanted weapons. Great coordination, Xin was impressed.

"Advance, advance!" The Xuanwu officer roared, as his forces flooded into the wall crack, and started clashing with Fist sect's forces. He then rode up closer to his troops, his turtle banner raised. He waved it in a seemingly arbitrary pattern, and he was coated in green ethereal energy, just in time to deflect several crossbow bolts coming his way. Moments later, the energy flickered once more and displayed a translucent turtle spirit, protecting the warrior. It shot green beams of light at the frontline soldiers, who were clashing with the Fist sect, extending its protection to them.

Suddenly, all of Xuanwu forces were covered in a subtle golden light, and moments later, most of the assaulting force had blue circles manifest around their armbands.

Rank one immunity removed! So, any mortal benefitting from this clan magic is deemed boosted above mortal level, and thus loses their immunity? Xin kept observing.

"Troops, advance!" Master Xiaodan finally gave his command. Now that Xuanwu forces were entrenched and kept the enemy occupied, climbing the ladders and showering them with crossbow fire, the lighter armoured sect troops could join the assault.

"Move, move!" Rui Ming commanded his troops. "Advance, the fire died down!"

Xin advanced with his squad, watching Xuanwu forces mow down the enemy forces in the wall crack. It seems that the monks aren't a match for trained clan warriors in such a scenario.

"Commander, can we shoot at will?" Xin asked Rui Ming. It wasn't just a question, but also a reminder.

"Infantry, stay behind, prepare to meet the enemy cavalry! Marksmen, spread evenly, fire at will!"

"Yes, commander!" Xin ducked behind a tall Xuanwu clan soldier holding a tower shield, and aimed at the city walls as he approached them.

A hundred steps. No. Seventy. No. Fifty. 

Xin scanned for a good target. The stone "teeth" on the town walls were protecting most of the soldiers that were attacking the ladder squad, and it would be hard to aim at these mortals.

He noticed a rank one monk throwing spears at Xuanwu's mortal infantrymen, and considered shooting him, but decided not to, as it would remove his immunity. 

"Push! Push!" The Xuanwu soldiers were eager, even rabid as they advanced, and the brawl near the town walls was turning into a crush. 

"Retreat! Protect the street, abandon the hole, fire from all sides!" Xin heard a monk officer shout from behind his troops, his voice strained. Xin aimed at a mortal-level monk who stood out from the others, wielding a massive flail as he struck down a Xuanwu clan soldier.

Metal Infusion. Bowstring infusion. Twang. 

His chest was pierced, and the monk disappeared behind the enemy lines. Xin didn't know if he was dead or just injured. 

There were no duels here, as the crowd was too tight, and the enemy rank ones could freely attack Xuanwu's mortals. Xin stood to the side, behind the infantry lines, reloading while mindful of a stray arrow or a technique. Luckily, the enemies had higher priority targets, and he wasn't interrupted.

"Soldiers, support the Xuanwu's infantry! There will be no rear cavalry attack!" Master Xiaodan suddenly urged them from behind. 

"Reinforce! Carefully! There will be enemy fire inside, don't overstretch!" Rui Ming commanded. 

Xuanwu soldiers finally flooded into the town. As the monks retreated, Xin saw a series of makeshift barricades, leading towards the slums of the town. This area was poor and flat even before the boar's attack, so it was ideal for a breakthrough, as it would be much harder to defend. 

Swoosh. Swoosh. Xin heard a whistling choir of arrows and crossbow bolts launched at his allies, but their clan magic mostly helped them endure. 

"Keep shooting! This magic will exhaust itself!" He heard the enemy commander bark his orders.

Xin stood behind the crack in the town's wall. Rui Ming and Lei flooded inside, protected from the sides by tower shield bearing soldiers. 

"Any challengers?" A man stood on top of a small slum house, wearing black robes with purple stripes, and holding a scythe. He wore a straw hat and had a blue armband. Rank one.

Xin saw Lei head towards him, but his hands moved on his own. Aim. Two infusions. Shot.

A blue ethereal circle emerged around Xin's armband. Rank one immunity gone.

"Agh!" The enemy master was injured in the thigh. He breathed out as he was hit, but whatever his breathing technique was, it wasn't enough. He started backing away. 

"I challenge you!" Lei emerged from the battle ranks and sprinted towards him. 

"No challenge! No challenge!" The man rolled on the ground and clumsily jumped from the house's roof, trying to get away from Lei.

Swoosh. Swoosh. The mortal bowmen shot their bows at Lei to protect their officer's retreat. He nimbly dodged and hid behind the corner of a small decrepit slum building.

"Judge, where the fuck is the yellow glow! It was a duel challenge!" Lei furiously shouted towards the sky, as he hid behind a wall of one of the houses. No one answered. Xin understood what happened, these mortal marksmen were trigger-happy (or bowstring-happy) due to Xuanwu clan troops' immunity being removed, and mindlessly shot at his sect's rank one masters. Well, now their immunity is gone. Good. He sprinted towards Lei, taking position behind a building opposite of Lei's cover.

"Push through the middle! Push through the middle!" Yao Nang realised she was in charge of Lei's force now, and led her troops to reinforce the Xuanwu clan infantry trying to break through the middle barricade.

"Xin, there's like five of them there! I need to get that injured guy!" Lei was elated, seeing his friend reinforce him emboldened him even more.

"I counted six! You got the Molten Heart?"

"Yes, just activated! Suppress them! I'll charge in!"

Xin wanted to peek around the corner, but hesitated. He looked at Lei again.

"Bait." Lei told him quietly and pointed forward and back with his hand. He was anxious, will Xin get what he meant?

Xin exposed his heel slightly, as if unaware of this motion, catching the opponents' attention, then pushed his crossbow around the corner. He made a motion with his ankle, as if he was about to emerge and shoot, but quickly ducked back. The place where he'd emerge was hit by three arrows.

He gets me! Lei used a propulsion dao shard, cutting the distance between him and mortals in mere moments.

"Stop him!" An older monk with a white armband, probably a minor officer, commanded his troops. Lei spat lava at him, and was swarmed by several people moments later. 

"Agh!" One of the monks had his wrist cut off, he was no match for Lei's heightened strength. 

Xin emerged from behind the corner, and rushed towards a barrel closer to Lei, delivering a run-by shot at the monk trying to attack Lei's rear. 

Double infusion! The monk had his pelvis bone penetrated, the bolt crushed a chunk of it and emerged from the other side. He fell to the ground, convulsing. 

"Reinforce the flank! Need help! Rank ones are here!" One of the monks tried to retreat, Xin used a reload technique and shot him with a regular bolt. 

Miss. 

"Die!" Lei kicked his opponent in the chin, sending half of his teeth flying out and breaking his neck. He then parried another monk's pike stab and propelled himself forward, stabbing him into the throat. His other opponents stepped back in panic, they didn't expect to be cut down so rapidly. A few glancing hits they landed were mostly countered by Lei's high quality chitin armour.

"Lei, more people coming! Let's fall back!" Xin heard the sounds of armoured warriors approaching. He gestured for Lei to retreat as he aimed at the emerging squad. He saw a man running swiftly, carrying two combat sickles, glowing with an orange aura. He had a rank one armband, but looked quite dangerous. This opponent moved with great confidence, as if he wasn't expecting anyone to be able to hit him. Thus, Xin shot at the middle of his silhouette, since it would be easier to hit.

Swoosh! The bolt missed, as the opponent sidestepped at an unnatural speed, leaving a ghastly orange trail where he stood. Fuck. Need to run.

The duo sprinted away, and the chase ceased as they turned the corner, rejoining their main force. 

"Rank one squad incoming! Reinforce the right flank!" Lei shouted out.

"How many?!" The Xuanwu officer that invoked the turtle spirit dashed towards Lei on his horse. 

"No fucking idea! Xin?"

"At least five!" 

"Let's swap, then! Get me some heavy hitters in the middle, I'll hold the right flank! Our defence is good, but we lack the personnel to kill their rank ones!" The officer galloped away.

"Got it! Xin, follow me!" Lei took a breather out of a Gentle Wind air sac, a small pouch filled with wind path materials. It was a popular way to recover stamina, and was quite cheap, but could leave the user dizzy.

"You've had enough, stop!" Xin grabbed Lei's wrist and pulled it away from his nose. "We need to move!"

They ran towards the middle barricade, leading to a small artisan square. Xin remembered this area, there was a martials arts school nearby, and a small temple of the Way. There was around a hundred enemy soldiers here, equalling their side's numbers, but lacking in quality. It seemed like the breakthrough of this barricade was inevitable.

Xin got anxious. It can't be that easy. What's going on on the other flanks? 

He hid behind a corner and reloaded manually again. Xin saw Rui Ming on the frontline, waving his blade. 

"Give way or match me, or I'll start cutting your mortals down!" He shouted out in a resolute voice. Indeed, if the soldiers don't let him through or retreat, he'd be entitled to start killing them. 

"I'll match you!" A man wearing simple yellow fabric armour said, holding a quarterstaff. 

"I accept!" Rui Ming gripped his blade with both arms.

"Let's do this!" The man bowed to him and performed a martial gesture. Rui Ming nodded and charged him. 

Tortoise Shell Aura! The man activated an ability similar to that of Xuanwu clan's, but it was a martial arts technique, not clan spirit magic. He then held his quarterstaff like an oar, and prepared to block. 

Rui Ming circled around him for a few moments. He is expecting to hold me off with his defensive techniques, winning time for his troops. It looks like he is intending to win time, not to defeat me. I know what to do.

Rui Ming raised his sword, and it was coated in swirling wind energy. The turtle master slowly approached him and poked him with a quarterstaff, but Rui Ming just gracefully stepped back. The swirling on his blade grew in size.

Just a bit more! The turtle style master braced for impact, his green aura getting more solid. 

Sevenfold Cutting Tempest! Rui Ming activated a compound technique, using his new cutting wind dao shard. It needed time to channel properly, but its strength was at a peak of rank one, as each gust would be a rank one powered move. 

Slash! Slash! Slash! The turtle master's quarterstaff was sliced in half, even with earth path reinforcement. The gusts went further and sliced into his armour, but didn't pierce the ethereal turtle shell. 

Slash! Slash! Slash! He circled the opponent, launching solid wind currents, all pointed at the opponent's head. He was blocking with his arms now, and spent a lot of energy to reinforce the protective aura, but he was at his limit. His spirit shell cracked, and his arms were bleeding underneath the bent armguards.

Slash! Rui Ming launched a final current at the opponent's centre of gravity. It didn't break the armour, but was strong enough to put him out of balance, as he was focused on protecting the head.

Windstrider! Rui Ming followed right after, with the speed of a galloping horse, and delivered a powerful sweeping slash at the opponent's inner knee area. He then twisted on the ground and performed a leg lock, making the enemy trip and fall on the ground.

"Master!" A mortal cried out from behind the enemy lines. Rui Ming knew that he was alone here, surrounded by enemies on all sides, and once he killed his opponent, he might get attacked, even if the rules said otherwise. Still, he chose to keep going.

Swirling blade! He stabbed the opponent's neck with his new meteor iron sword, and the tip of his blade manifested a spinning wind current, dissolving the opponent's overloaded defensive aura. He leaned on the blade and buried it into the turtle master's neck. It's over. 

Rui Ming stabbed the enemy master's head again just in case, then raised his guard and retreated. He still had some time before his golden glow dissolved, and had immunity from being attacked. 

"Master, no!" A young mortal monk cried out. Rui Ming raised his blade, preparing to meet the avenging wrath of the slain master's disciples, but none were daring enough.

Good choice, Ming thought to himself as he jumped over a Xuanwu clan soldier and disappeared behind the troops again. With so many rank one masters dying, swarmed by Xuanwu infantry or killed by the FETS masters, the Fist sect's resolve to hold this passage wavered.

"There's a gap forming! Flood in!" Yao Nang commanded her troops. She was covered in blood, her own and her enemies', and was eager to redeem herself after the duel loss.

A minute later, the barricade was broken.