048 Blood-Boiling...

Inside the military camp of the Moon-Worshipping City, a low-ranking soldier clutched his weapon as he lay down to rest.

His action left his comrades nearby utterly puzzled.

"Kui, what are you doing?"

"Today is the fourth day. That necromancer said he only gave the kingdom three days, and if there was no response by then, he would carry out his revenge himself. I need to get ready to fight at any moment!"

The young soldier named Kui clutched his longsword and said earnestly!

However, his reply was met with roaring laughter from his fellow soldiers.

"You really are a coward, Kui! Don't worry, that filthy pack of undead will never dare to set foot inside the kingdom!"

"Exactly. That necromancer is just putting on a bluff relying on the Hand of Silver behind him; he wouldn't dare lead an army into the kingdom!"

"Besides, even if he does march his army in, aren't the might of our Bourbon Kingdom enough to suppress a mere necromancer? The moment his army dares to cross into the kingdom, we will make sure none of them return alive!"

"Put your weapon down already. If the undead really break through, that piece of junk of yours won't be of any use anyway. Just hide behind us when the time comes, we'll protect you!"

Thanks to the current atmosphere in the Moon-Worshipping City, absolutely no one considered Keren a threat.

The rare voices treating the matter with solemnity were dismissed as signs of cowardice and fear of battle under such an atmosphere.

Even so, Kui stubbornly refused to let go of the weapon cradled in his arms.

He always felt a lingering unease; only when holding his weapon could his mind find a moment of peace.

And at this moment, there were actually quite a few people sharing Kui's mindset and emotions, with Ryan being one of them.

The biggest difference between Ryan and the others was that he had fought against Keren and knew all too well just how terrifying Keren's undead army truly was.

Therefore, from the very moment Keren's undead army began to mobilize, he had been on high alert, preparing for battle with all his might over the past three days without daring to slack off even a fraction.

However, to the young generals who had arrived successively over the last three days, his frantic preparations did not stem from Ryan knowing the terrifying extent of Keren's power.

In the eyes of those young generals, Ryan was simply trying to push them out because he wanted to monopolize the military merits.

Coupled with the fact that these arriving young officers all possessed extraordinary backgrounds and hot tempers, it directly led to several clashes between them and Ryan. They even went so far as to ignore some of the garrison assignments Ryan gave them.

In their view, they had come to slaughter the enemy, not to play defense. They were waiting—waiting for Keren to march his undead army out!

The moment Keren's undead army dared to step out, they would dare to wipe it out!

To put it bluntly, this group of people was thoroughly looking forward to Keren stepping out of the Land of the Dead!

And Keren did not live up to their expectations. At midnight that very day, Keren led his undead army in a mighty procession out of the Land of the Dead.

An undead legion of fifty thousand could truly be described as a mighty force.

Such a massive legion of the dead made it completely impossible to conceal its movements, and Keren had no intention of hiding it anyway, swaggering directly into the territory of the Bourbon Kingdom with his undead legion.

From the moment Keren's army crossed into the Bourbon Kingdom's territory, the Moon-Worshipping City, acting as his "neighbor," discovered them immediately.

Instantly, whether it was Ryan, who held the utmost apprehension toward Keren, or those young generals who had come for military glory, everyone's spirits lifted.

A force of twenty-five thousand troops was assembled in an instant, actively preparing for the impending war.

Amidst this state of active preparation, the friction between Ryan and the group of young generals eased quite a bit.

After all, they were now on the same battlefield and about to fight side by side; their previous conflicts were temporarily cast aside.

However, after they had spent half a day tense, high-strung, and making bustling preparations, they quickly discovered that the route taken by Keren's army seemed entirely different from what they had anticipated.

Keren was not marching toward the Moon-Worshipping City at all; instead, his sights were set directly on the more distant Odo City!

At this, the situation inside the Moon-Worshipping City underwent a sudden change.

When Ryan received this intelligence, he actually breathed a sigh of relief. If he had a choice, he truly did not want to fight this battle against Keren.

He knew all too well that his one or two tens of thousands of troops might not be enough to handle Keren if a real fight broke out.

While he was not cowed by battle, being able to avoid a brutal conflict didn't exactly fill Ryan with overwhelming joy, but it was certainly much more relaxing than facing certain bloodshed.

Yet while Ryan felt relaxed and relieved, the young generals under his command refused to let it go!

What is wrong with those undead?

They aren't attacking the Moon-Worshipping City right next door, yet they insist on making a detour to attack Odo City?

They had gone through a tremendous amount of trouble and pulled every string imaginable to get themselves transferred to the Moon-Worshipping City, all for the sake of fighting this battle and claiming the highest honor. Now that Keren had run off, who was going to reimburse them for the political favors and expenses they had spent beforehand?

Consequently, these young generals were stirred into intense agitation and marched straight to Ryan, demanding that he dispatch troops to intercept Keren's undead army.

Hearing this demand from the group of young generals, Ryan nearly choked on his own breath.

He had finally managed to avoid a battle, and now they wanted him to go intercept Keren's undead army? Impossible! Ryan would not agree to it under any circumstances.

The moment Ryan refused, those young generals instantly turned hostile toward him.

These young generals—or rather, pampered young lords—were utterly lawless in their actions. Without wasting any more words on Ryan, they simply had him placed under arrest, and directly strode out before the assembled army of the Moon-Worshipping City.

In front of the twenty-five thousand troops, a prominent young officer from the Moon-Worshipping City named Meda stepped forward, dragging a restrained Ryan along with him.

"Just now, right at this moment, that filthy army of undead from the Land of the Dead marched right past the Moon-Worshipping City!

They bypassed us and headed straight for Odo City!

At that time, I advised General Ryan to dispatch troops to intercept those filthy undead, but he was unwilling! He was afraid! He told me that the undead army was far more powerful than we imagined, and warned us not to do anything foolish!"

"How should I put it? The 'wise' General Ryan is right.

I know that undead army is powerful, and I know that what we are about to do is 'foolish.'

However, I know even more firmly that I am a soldier, a warrior of the kingdom!

From the moment I put on this suit of armor and picked up the weapon in my hand, I have already prepared to dedicate my entire life to the kingdom, prepared to die on the battlefield!"

"If I were to halt my steps simply because the enemy is powerful and our endeavor is deemed 'foolish,' if I were to stand by and watch as the filthy undead march past us to slaughter the people we are sworn to protect, then I would be betraying the armor I wear, betraying my weapon, and betraying the honor of a kingdom's warrior!"

"I believe that a formidable enemy requires someone to face them, and 'foolish' mistakes require someone to commit them!

Even if it costs me my life, as a warrior of the kingdom, I will not take a single step backward, nor will I let the people under my protection suffer even the slightest harm!

Therefore, I am taking up my weapon to intercept those filthy undead. I know that once I go, I may never return, but I have no regrets!"

With an angry shout and a face full of righteousness, Meda drew the longsword from his waist and heroically charged in the direction of Keren's undead army.

And the soldiers under his command responded to him at just the right moment.

"For the glory of the kingdom!"

Accompanied by a deafening, blood-boiling roar, the soldiers under Meda followed in his footsteps.

Trailing closely behind them were the rest of the troops, whose passions had been thoroughly fanned into a boiling frenzy by Meda's rhetoric.

At that moment, out of the twenty-five thousand soldiers, at least twenty thousand charged off with Meda to assault Keren's undead army.

Kui's comrade grabbed his arm, blood boiling with excitement.

"Let's go, Kui! For the glory of the kingdom, let's go intercept that pack of filthy undead!"

"No, don't go!"

Gripping his weapon tightly, Kui wore an expression of sheer terror. "General Ryan said that undead army is extremely strong. We shouldn't go; our duty is to defend the Moon-Worshipping City..."

"Slap!"

Before Kui could finish, his comrade glared at him with intense fury and struck him across the face. "I never expected you to be such a coward! From this moment on, you are no longer my comrade!"

With that, the man violently shoved Kui aside, strode rapidly to catch up with the departing army, and chased after Keren's undead forces with a heart full of sacred honor, leaving Kui standing alone and utterly dejected, staring at his comrade's receding back...