Death… And Me

Chapter 4316: No More Line

Wurshan was initially confused by Roan’s order.

However, the moment the first defensive line retreated toward the rear formation, he finally understood what Roan had been planning from the beginning.

The cultivators from the first line were gasping for air heavily while sweat poured nonstop from their bodies.

’They overexerted themselves...’

That was the hidden effect of Roan’s battle formation.

There was no realistic way Roan could have convinced the battalion beforehand that the formation would actually work. Because of that, the cultivators stationed at the front had entered the battle fully believing they were about to die.

So, from the very first second of combat, they unleashed everything they had without restraint.

Every attack was performed at maximum output.

Every technique was executed with full killing intent.

Then, once they realized the Godly Creatures were actually dying easily...

...their mentality completely changed.

The despair from before transformed into a frenzy of overconfidence.

They had already forgotten about managing their reserves from the start, and after seeing what happened, they began slaughtering the enemy nonstop without thinking about the consequences even more. The fact that every kill was being recorded and that their eventual rewards would depend directly on their contributions only pushed them even further into that reckless state.

If Roan hadn’t swapped them out when he did, the entire first line would have exhausted itself completely before the Yin Yang Sanctuary even reached the forty-second mark.

Yes...

...the forty-second mark.

Since they retreated at the fifty-second countdown, most of those cultivators still retained nearly half of their total energy reserves.

Roan could have easily left them fighting for several more seconds. However, he still chose to pull them back early. They would definitely need that remaining energy later.

As for the reason Roan activated the Yin Yang Sanctuary immediately at the start of the battle, it was also very simple.

There would never be another opportunity to achieve better results than during the first clash.

This battalion had originally been expected to collapse not long after the first waves arrived. If Roan wanted to keep more than four hundred members alive, then using the Sanctuary immediately and throwing the enemy waves into chaos was the only realistic option available.

There was another important factor as well.

Even low-level Godly Creatures still possessed basic instincts.

Fear included.

Watching countless members of their own horde die effortlessly made the creatures charging behind them hesitate instinctively. Unfortunately for them, the endless pressure coming from the rear waves prevented any retreat.

As a result, the Godly Creatures became even easier targets.

The second defensive line, after witnessing the success of the first, entered the battle with even greater confidence.

This time, however, they had also seen how exhausted the first line became after retreating.

Because of that, the second line fought much more efficiently and with far better control over their energy consumption.

[43... 42... 41...]

[Godly Beasts killed: 198... 215... 241...]

Meanwhile, Fushio continued leading Wurshan’s platoon from the side. At this point, however, he was completely lost mentally. He had participated in many frontline defenses before, yet he had never seen Godly Spawns and Godly Beasts become this weak.

They were being slaughtered so easily that the entire battle felt absurd.

Most importantly, Fushio couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of Godly Pressure coming from the Godly Creatures near their battalion.

That alone completely defied common sense.

Eventually, his curiosity overcame him, and he contacted Wurshan directly through his RC.

’How are you doing this?’

’How did you get rid of the Godly Pressure?’

Wurshan had already expected that question long ago.

Truthfully speaking, it was the exact same thing he himself had asked Roan. Naturally, he simply repeated the explanation Roan had given him.

’It’s because of the Sacred Relic’s ramped-up influence,’ Wurshan answered calmly. ’The strengthened suppression is eliminating the Godly Pressure of these low-level Godly Creatures completely. Without Godly Pressure, they can’t weaken our cultivators anymore, while the Sacred Relic itself weakens their bodies even further.’

However, Fushio still found the situation strange.

Of course he knew about the Sacred Relic’s enhanced state. Every cultivator participating in the battle was aware of it. The problem was that the nearby battalions clearly weren’t experiencing anything close to the same results.

Fushio spread his Celestial Sense across the surrounding battlefield. Within his own battalion, the death count still hadn’t even reached ten.

Meanwhile, judging from the conditions of the nearby battalions, many of them had already lost well over a hundred cultivators in barely twenty seconds of fighting. Some over two hundred, and some cases over three hundred, maybe even more.

The difference was simply ridiculous.

It almost looked as though his battalion alone had received divine protection.

Then, Fushio suddenly remembered the one thing their battalion was doing differently from everyone else.

Wurshan’s compact three-line formation.

’Is that the reason?’ he wondered internally. ’Is that formation the reason we’re overwhelming the Godly Creatures while the others are struggling so badly?’

He looked toward the battlefield again.

The formation continued slaughtering Godly Creatures nonstop without showing any signs of collapsing. Yet no matter how much Fushio analyzed it, he still couldn’t understand why it worked so well.

If anything, that setup should have performed worse than a normal defensive spread. And yet, reality clearly proved otherwise.

Eventually, Fushio simply stopped caring.

A grin spread across his face.

’Who cares why it works?’

’I’m still the battalion commander officially. The accomplishments of this battalion will also be recorded under my command!’

’Hahaha! Kill! Kill them all!’

Naturally, the surrounding cultivators remained completely unaware of the truth.

Yes, the Sacred Relic’s enhanced influence definitely played an important role in weakening the Godly Creatures.

However, the Yin Yang Sanctuary was the true deciding factor.

Because of the Sanctuary, the Sacred Relic’s influence could suppress the Godly Creatures without encountering any resistance whatsoever.

[38... 37... 36...]

Roan calmly issued another order.

”Tell the third line to swap with the second line. Pull the second line back and have them regroup together with the first.”

Wurshan immediately relayed the command.

This time, however, even he felt genuinely confused by the decision.

Compared to the first line, the second line had fought far more efficiently and with much greater restraint.

By Wurshan’s estimate, most cultivators from the second line still possessed around sixty to seventy percent of their energy reserves remaining.

Under normal circumstances, they could have easily continued fighting much longer. Still, after everything he had witnessed so far, Wurshan no longer dared question Roan’s decisions.

[24... 23... 22...]

At the same time, high above the battlefield, Kentucky fought together with the aerial cultivators of the battalion. Any Godly Creature attempting to approach the defensive lines from the sky was immediately intercepted and torn apart.

Roan had only given the flying cultivators one direct order: Remain within a fifty-meter radius of the battalion.

Officially, the explanation was simple.

By staying close enough, the Aura God cultivators on the ground could provide ranged support whenever necessary. Of course, that was merely an excuse. The real reason was to ensure none of the flying cultivators accidentally left the Yin Yang Sanctuary’s area of influence.

In reality, those aerial combatants barely needed support at all, especially with Kentucky within them.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Rean continuously moved throughout the battlefield, eliminating Godly Beasts wherever they threatened to create instability in the defensive lines.

Then, suddenly, he paused.

His eyes swept across the neighboring battalions. ’Roan... it’s about time.’

On the opposite side of the formation, Roan nodded calmly beside Wurshan. ’It seems so.’

Immediately afterward, he gave another order.

”Tell the third line to begin retreating. Have the first and second lines support their withdrawal from the rear.” Then he added the most shocking part. ”We’re falling back. The flying cultivators will continue supporting the retreat from above as well.”

Wurshan’s eyes widened immediately.

”This...” He swallowed nervously. ”Wouldn’t that directly violate the orders from the higher-ups?”

Roan simply shook his head calmly.

”Don’t worry. There will soon be no more first defensive line left to hold anyway.”