Surprise Attack? No, It Was A Surprise Attack.

Guo Ming stood on the city wall, lost in his thoughts. He no longer cared about stopping his soldiers from fleeing. Defeat was inevitable. No matter how hard he tried, it was pointless.

But just then, Guo Ming noticed something outside the city—a lone figure on horseback, surrounded by only a dozen men.

"That's... Orion?" The face of Orion, the enemy commander, was etched deep in Guo Ming's memory. The moment he saw the figure, he recognized him immediately.

Seeing Orion riding seemingly alone with just a small group around him, Guo Ming's eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope. A wild idea surged through his mind.

"No... there's still a chance!"

"If I can capture Orion, there might still be hope!"

Guo Ming's spirits lifted, and for the first time in a long while, he felt a spark of hope ignite within him. The old adage rang in his ears: "Capture the leader, and the battle is won."

He was only a few miles away from Orion. If he could capture him alive, there might be a chance to turn the tide of this battle.

"Quick! Where's the lieutenant? Gather the men immediately!"

Guo Ming, with renewed energy, called for his remaining loyal soldiers who hadn't yet succumbed to chaos. There were only a little over a thousand left, but to Guo Ming, that was more than enough for a surprise attack on Orion and his small entourage.

"Haha, Orion, you arrogant fool!" Guo Ming sneered. "Sending your entire army forward without keeping a proper guard around yourself? You've made a grave error!"

He underestimated me, Guo Ming thought, convinced that any seasoned strategist would never make such a basic mistake.

Outside the city, Orion was already confident in his victory. He yawned as he waited for the final confirmation of his success. But out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an elite cavalry force of about a thousand men charging straight toward him.

Orion raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Looks like someone over there has some sense. They're trying to capture the leader." But then he paused, realizing the irony of his words. Was he really describing himself as the leader?

Looking around at his small group of elite guards—Xu Chu, Li Sandao, Yu Xiang, the severely injured Luo Yi, and Yan Yun's Eighteen Cavalrymen—Orion knew their strength far outweighed their numbers.

"Indeed, it may seem that there are few of us," Orion mused with a smirk. "But each one of my men is more powerful than an entire battalion." Each of them was a powerhouse, well above the level of a half-saint.

However, Orion was cautious. "Ying Mo, send a hundred shadow guards to assist Xu Chu," he ordered.

"My lord, I don't need them!" Xu Chu protested, eager to fight alone, but Orion's stern gaze made him relent.

"Use them or don't fight at all!" Orion snapped.

"Okay, okay! But just one hundred, no more! This small fry won't be enough to satisfy me anyway," Xu Chu muttered under his breath as he hefted his weapon and charged forward.

"Xu Chu is really a battle-hungry fool," Orion chuckled. He knew Xu Chu's capabilities, but sending the shadow guards was a precaution. The leader of the enemy force was a semi-saint, backed by several Martial Emperors and Martial Sects. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Li Sandao, keep an eye on things. If anything goes wrong, step in immediately," Orion instructed.

"Yes, my lord!" Li Sandao replied, drawing his long knife with a serious expression. Despite his usual quiet demeanor, Li Sandao was ever ready to execute Orion's orders with precision.

"Little thief! Your grandpa Xu Chu is here!" Xu Chu roared with excitement as he charged toward Guo Ming and his troops, his long knife dragging behind him.

On the other side, Guo Ming, expecting to find Orion surrounded by weak and wounded soldiers, was stunned when he recognized Xu Chu's immense power.

"Damn it! A peak half-saint?" Guo Ming's heart sank as he recalled the intelligence that there were six semi-saints under Orion's command. He had already seen five during the previous battles. This had to be the sixth.

"Still," Guo Ming thought, "this must be Orion's last line of defense. If I can break through this semi-saint, there will be no one left to stop me!"

He braced himself for the confrontation, hoping against hope that this gamble would pay off.