Zhan Long

Chapter 762 - Snow Dragon Knight

“General, Dragon City is asking for help?” Han Yuan was getting excited, “Is it finally time for our Royal Army to act?”

I nodded, “Immediately get Her Highness Princess Pearl’s command. Once we get the scroll, we’ll set out!”

“Yes sir!”

……

Han Yuan galloped off. In less than twenty minutes, he returned, holding a shining tablet with a smile,“Her highness already had the command prepared. General, when do we set out? How many men are we bringing?”

I methodically said, “Two thousand cavalry from the first and second camp. In addition, the fifth, sixth, and seventh camps’ foot soldiers. Well set out posthaste. Vice General Song is responsible for escorting the army provisions. When we reach Dragon City, I will ask Frost for a chance to allow the Royal Army to display its might. This battle will be the first after we reorganized the military. We cannot afford defeat!”

“Yes sir!”

On the Royal Army drill grounds, soldiers were gathered and lined up in straight rows. They were the elite of the Royal Army. Of them, two thousand were cavalrymen coming from the equestrian grounds. The other three thousand were barbarians who made up our Shield Formation. For the moment, these were the elite troops of our ten thousand soldiers.

After we conducted roll call, I leapt onto my Flying Scythe Horse and pulled out my Dragon Reservoir Sword and roared, “Set out for Dragon City!”

A group of Royal Army cavalrymen all charged out. One after another, their hooves beat the ground, raising a storm of dust. Two thousand cavalrymen rushed forward. Behind them, a group of barbarians stampeded forward. They were fighting because the Hybrid Demons had invaded their homes. To be honest, they were like the humans, and had a strong sense of protecting their homes.

Five thousand men and horses brought three days worth of rations out of Tian Ling City and aimed straight for Zi Wu Mountain. After we passed over the mountain, the distance between us and the supply wagons pulled further and further apart. We had no way of knowing just how urgent the situation in Dragon City was. Either way, the sooner we arrived, the better.

……

Just as I was leading the Royal Army forward, I heard Li Mu’s voice in the guild chat, “Have you seen it yet? The new update will be ready in five hours. On top of that, they aren’t going to kick anyone off. They’re just directly updating it!”

Wan Er exclaimed, “Oh?”

I stiffened as I asked, “What’s the update?”

Li Mu replied, “The update is called ‘The World’s Armies.’ The details explain that players can choose between two arrangements. One is to continue staying as an adventurer, which is similar to mercenaries, whereas the other is to join an army. Tian Ling City, Ba Huang City, Jiu Li City, and Fan Shu City have a total of thirty established armies. You can join any one of them. Furthermore, players can earn promotions through Achievements and make their way up the ladder. Players can fill any position, from Team Leader to Corporal Lieutenant, all the way to General, Commander, and Commander in Chief. In addition, after joining the army, players can receive a wage and rations every day. We know for the moment that the rations and wages include gold, potions and other replenishing types of medicines. Otherwise, there’s also minerals and herbs.”

Wolf was stunned, “D*mn, this update is really interesting. Players can actually become Commander in Chiefs?”

Li Mu chuckled, “Who knows? I only glanced through the forums. You can look at the details yourself. Tian Ling City has a variety of different options to choose from. There’s the Flame Dragon Army, the Xia Yua Army, and the Fierce Gale army. Oh wait that’s not right, wait… D*mn, why isn’t guildmaster’s Royal Army among the options?”

Qing Qian replied, “Eh, let me check. There really isn’t Brother Xiao Yao’s Royal Army. What’s going on?”

Wan Er smiled, “Maybe there’s a reason for that. Li Xiao Yao managed to jump to Commander through Princess Pearl’s recommendation. In other words, he has the same rank as a Deputy General. That’s normally a position that players must spend a lot of time in order to achieve. And so, the Royal Army is an exception that normal players cannot enter…”

Li Mu asked, “Guildmaster, do you think [Zhan Long] should join the ranks?”

I nodded, “If it’s necessary, then we should. Either way, we can receive rations. There’s no reason to turn that down. There shouldn’t be too much that the NPC army wants us to do, right?”

Li Mu replied, “Yup. All we gotta do is the daily tasks. Those can be completed in minutes, unlike your commander position. You’re so busy that we only ever see you maybe twice month.”

I smiled, “That’s good. Everyone pick an army that looks like it has a bright future. It’s best if everyone from [Zhan Long] joins the same army.”

“Yes sir!”

Wan Er smiled at the ground, “I saw it…”

“What’d you see?”

“Of the different army camps that you can join, one of them is lead by Frost in Dragon City. There’s a lot of concrete details regarding that too…” She stopped for a moment and then continued, “in Dragon City, there are around 7254 soldiers in the army. There’s a total of 5428 horse tamers and ironsmiths. There are seven commanders in the army, and they have a battle power of 73661!”

“This…” Li Mu was stunned, “Dragon City is very strong!”

I smiled, “What makes you say that?”

Li Mu replied, “Tian Ling City’s strongest army, the Flame Dragon Army has a total of 140,000 people. Their battle power strength is over 110,000. Dragon City only has ten thousand people and yet their battle power isn’t must lower than the Flame Dragon Army. In other words, Dragon City’s ten thousand people is enough to take on the 140,000 in the Flame Dragon Army. If that isn’t strength, then what is?”

I smiled, “Then how about this, when the update is open, [Zhan Long] should immediately head to Dragon City. Although, I estimate that the rations from Dragon City won’t be as good as that from the main city’s armies.”

Qing Qian smiled, “Brother Xiao Yao is right. The Dragon City’s rations and wages are barely 30% of the main city’s. I’m thinking that the number of people who will want to join Dragon City won’t be very many?”

I replied, “That’s fine. After a few more battles, Dragon City can enter the Northern Territories and we’ll be able to plunder the resources from the Hybrid Demon Territory. Then we’ll get money through there. There’s no need to worry about our rations, we gotta think about the long run.”

“Ok!” Qing Qian replied, “Dragon City has a recruiting limit, only a total of 20,000 can join.”

I replied, “That’s about right. We have around 20,000 people in [Zhan Long]’s core players. That’s enough. The rest can just join the Flame Dragon Army or the Xia Yu Army.”

“Alright, I got it. I’ll go and get everything organized.”

“Melon, thanks for your hard work!”

“Isn’t it all because I like Brother Xiao Yao too much?”

I was speechless.

……

After an hour, we arrived at Dragon City. I looked up and saw that a smoke signal was rising above the city. Looks like the battle was becoming more intense. Not far away, I suddenly heard the sounds of hooves beating the ground. It was the army from Ba Huang City. There was a young General leading the team. They sped along while shouting, “Princess Angela has sent orders, we must reach Dragon City with the utmost of haste and hand these supplies to Lady Frost!”

“Yes sir!”

The team didn’t even glance at us before passing by. There was around five hundred of them, all cavalrymen. However, all of them were carrying bundles of arrows. Looks like they were sending emergency supplies.

Han Yuan raised his broadsword and charged ahead. He turned around to look at me, with a cold glare in his eyes, “General, it looks like the situation isn’t great. What should we do?”

I lowered my voice and said, “Same orders. I’ll go up and see what’s going on. Wait up for me!”

“Yes sir!”

……

The cavalry charged straight up the slope towards Dragon City. This slope was like a bridge to heaven, and had just finished construction. It connected the extremely high altitude Dragon City with the flat lands, making transportation much easier. Of course, this also lowered Dragon City’s defenses to the seven kingdoms that were south of it.

“Jiu jiu…”

We charged up to the city. My Flying Scythe Horse’s iron hooves rhythmically beat against the paved roads. From afar, I could see smoke rising from the northern section of Dragon City. A large number of NPC soldiers were gathered around the wall, letting loose an array of defense mechanisms such as arrows and boulders. The archers were shouting to one another. I could see large puddles of blood on the ground. A pile of soldier bodies were already building up. Looks like the Hybrid Demons had already killed their way onto the wall.

I could see a lone figure standing on the observation deck. Frost was fully dressed in armor, her arms crossed over her chest as the bitter winter breeze brushed past her cloak. She had the pose of a queen. Furthermore, the Severing Beauty sword flashed as it spun through the hoards of Hybrid Demons, cutting them apart.

I leapt off my horse and bounded towards the observation deck. When my boots hit the snow, Frost turned around with a smile, “Li Xiao Yao, you came.”

I nodded, “Yup, I’m here now!”

Frost smiled, “Well, this time, you seem stronger than before!”

“Not bad…” I modestly smiled, “How’s the situation?”

Frost said, “The Son of the Storm, Gwaine, and the Blood Giant Kehl have joined forces and are attacking. For the moment, I’ve only seen Gwaine’s troops, and it’s already too much for me to bear. We’re suffering great losses. Healers, medics, and ranged fighters are all scarce in supply. To top it off, these Hybrid Demons have incredibly strong charge. Our heavy shields keep breaking when they charge at full force.”

I shuddered, “Will Dragon City fall into enemy hands?”

Frost wryly smiled, “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t.”

“Where’s all your confidence coming from?”

“Them…”

Frost looked up at the sky. I followed her gaze. Past the thick snowflakes and grey clouds, the screech of dragons thundered in the sky, shaking the ground. A Crystal Dragon descended from the sky, its body was enormous and I saw a beautiful knight riding on its back. It was the Dragon Knights Squad Leader, Qing Luo. With a single command from Qing Luo, the Crystal Dragon opened its enormous jaws, spraying its Crystal Dragon Breath at the border of the city. At that moment, an entire group of Magic Sword Masters were shot to death by the crystals. Right after that, another four fire dragons descended, dealing an air strike. With a Flame Dragon Breath, the Hybrid Demon Army was enveloped in a sea of fire.

I was stupefied. Dragon Knights. The epitome of mount type classes. That destructive power was just too terrifying!