The thick blood mist drifted lazily across the sky, eventually settling upon the faces of the wolf soldiers in the front lines. Even though it was still warm to the touch, it sent a bone-chilling cold straight into their marrow.
Dead?
Their invincible Wolf Lord of the Eclipse Pack... the one who had always ruled over the pack with absolute dominance... had been slapped into oblivion by the human standing before them, as easily as one might swat a bothersome fly?
Kanzaki landed gracefully on the ground and slowly withdrew his palm. Standing tall and composed, his indifferent gaze swept across the entire wolf pack ahead of him.
He did not utter a single word.
Yet that calm, emotionless stare proved to be the final blow to their already fracturing morale.
Fear pierced through their bloodthirsty instincts like a sharp blade. It was impossible to tell which wolf soldier broke first, but a terrified wail suddenly rang out, shattering the tense silence.
What followed was complete pandemonium.
The Borisin army, which had been surging forward like an unstoppable tide just moments ago, now retreated in absolute terror, like seawater violently pulled back by the ebbing tide. They shoved and trampled over one another in their desperate escape. This was no orderly retreat. They were fleeing for their very lives from the monster wearing human skin that stood before them.
Countless Borisin scrambled out of the primeval forest in complete disarray, desperately fighting to be the first ones to board the Beast Ships and flee ignominiously into the sky.
Kanzaki had no intention of pursuing the fleeing Eclipse Pack.
Even though the Eclipse Pack had broken and run, there were still other powerful wolf soldier legions remaining, such as the Bloodwind Pack, the Sableclaw Pack, and the Chiseltooth Pack. There would always be those who refused to believe what they had just witnessed.
And just as he had expected, once the Eclipse Pack fled, the Bloodwind Pack soon followed suit.
The Bloodwind Pack consisted of the finest beast-tamers and astrologers among all Borisin. They possessed the largest fleet of Beast Ships, which allowed their entire tribe to migrate rapidly whenever the situation demanded it. Their exceptional mobility had always made it incredibly difficult for the Xianzhou Alliance to pinpoint their home base, while they continued to harass and plunder Alliance expeditionary teams and merchant convoys at every opportunity.
Unfortunately for them... this vast primeval forest did not allow their prized Beast Ship fleet to dominate the skies as they usually did.
Understanding their disadvantage clearly, the Bloodwind Pack chose not to foolishly pit their weakness against the enemy's strength. Instead, their fleet positioned itself above the primeval forest and opened fire without hesitation, unleashing a devastating carpet bombing upon the area below.
Kanzaki had long anticipated that the enemy might resort to such long-range tactics. He had already ordered the Cloud Knights to take cover beneath the massive ancient trees in advance.
Most of the Bloodwind Pack's long-range attacks originated from the genetic shamans of the Chiseltooth Pack. The Cloud Knights were well aware of this fact. They carried out their orders with remarkable speed and precision, skillfully utilizing the dense forest environment to evade the incoming barrage.
The trees in this primeval forest were simply too enormous and resilient for the Bloodwind fleet to level them in a short time. This bought Kanzaki more than enough time to act.
Countless hovering swords suddenly turned their blades toward the heavens in perfect unison. In the next instant, they vanished from their positions and shot upward at incredible speed, ascending thousands of meters in the blink of an eye.
The sickening sound of blades piercing flesh echoed continuously through the air. The multiple brains housed within the massive bodies of the Borisin Beast Ships were all accurately skewered by the flying swords. Once their brains were destroyed, the gigantic vessels lost all control.
For a moment, dense clusters of black dots plummeted from the sky, crashing violently into the primeval forest like dumplings being dropped into a boiling pot.
Falling from such a tremendous height, even the physically strongest Borisin of the Eclipse Pack would suffer catastrophic losses. The relatively weaker Bloodwind Borisin stood no chance at all.
In less than ten minutes, the once-mighty Bloodwind Pack fleet that had blotted out the sun was almost completely annihilated. Only a handful of ships managed to pull up in time and escape into the distance.
This devastating scene completely intimidated the other major hunting packs, including the Sableclaw and Chiseltooth forces. Many of them had already reached the outer orbit of Sipusa Star, eagerly waiting to claim their share of the spoils.
Through the memory images they extracted from the brains of fallen Eclipse wolf soldiers, they witnessed the terrifying sight of a man standing calmly with his hands behind his back, effortlessly downing the entire Bloodwind fleet using swords that moved according to his will. A collective chill ran down their spines.
Attack?
Who would dare to attack now?
The Eclipse Great War Chief had been reduced to a bloody mist with a single slap. The Bloodwind main fleet had suffered catastrophic losses as well.
This was no cornered prey. This was clearly a ferocious behemoth disguised in sheep's clothing, calmly waiting for them to walk into its open maw one by one.
Yet if they chose to retreat now, the Borisin would completely lose their influence in this war. They would become the laughingstock of the other Abominations of Abundance factions.
After much internal conflict, the Borisin opted for the most conservative, and perhaps most foolish, strategy: a prolonged siege.
Innumerable Beast Ships began to circle outside Sipusa Star, intending to use time itself as a weapon to wear down this seemingly unbreakable opponent.
They never expected that this so-called "wearing down" would drag on for more than twenty days.
They had once again underestimated the short temper of the Xianzhou Yaoqing... and greatly overestimated their own fortune.
"Report! To the rear! Imaginary energy reactions from the Xianzhou Yaoqing fleet have appeared!"
"How many large Marching Battleships are there? If it's fewer than a hundred, we can simply devour them!"
"No... no... the number is uncountable! The radar is completely lit up in red! Estimates put it at no less than ten thousand ships!"
"???"
Before the high-ranking Borisin leaders could fully process the shocking report, countless brilliant lights suddenly illuminated the deep space of the universe.
Those were not stars.
They were twenty million elite Cloud Knights.
Tens of thousands of heavy marching ships simultaneously dropped their imaginary energy concealment barriers, their engines roaring to full power. Led by five elite commanders of the Verdant Knights, their banners filled the void, and their overwhelming killing intent could almost be felt across the distance.
At this moment, all thoughts of wolf pride or maintaining a siege vanished instantly.
"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
But it was already too late.
The moment the Xianzhou support fleet appeared, it signified that the hunting net had been perfectly cast.
The five leading commanders had already completed their encirclement. There was no way they would allow these Abominations of Abundance, who had pushed the expeditionary team to the brink of destruction, to escape so easily.
On the ground, Jingliu struggled to lift her head.
She watched as the dark sky, previously obscured by countless Beast Ships, was torn apart by brilliant energy beams raining down from beyond the planet's atmosphere. These came from the familiar main cannons of the massive marching ships.
Outside the atmosphere, silent yet breathtaking fireworks bloomed one after another.
Each brilliant explosion marked the complete annihilation of yet another Beast Ship filled with Borisin warriors, reduced to nothing but cosmic dust.
Debris streaked across the sky of Sipusa Star like a magnificent meteor shower.
Faced with the overwhelming firepower of the Xianzhou Alliance's most elite Cloud Knight units, this massive temporary Borisin coalition proved incredibly fragile.
Kanzaki slowly withdrew his gaze from the direction of outer space. He gradually reined in his sharp killing intent and turned to look behind him.
Jingliu remained in her posture, leaning heavily on her sword. Her body was covered in blood, and her battle armor was shattered in multiple places.
When their eyes met, she found no hint of approval in her Master's emotionless gaze... nor any sign of blame.
Yet somehow, she wished he would not look at her with such eyes.
The nerves that had been stretched to their absolute limit over dozens of days finally snapped completely in this moment.
Jingliu's vision darkened. Her body began to slump backward.
In the final second before consciousness left her, she felt herself falling into a familiar yet strangely comforting embrace.
Kanzaki stepped forward and looked at his disciple lying in Hanya's arms. A complex mix of emotions surged within his heart.
He had always wanted to apply double standards when it came to his disciple, hoping to give her as much time as possible to grow safely and become stronger at her own pace.
But reality was far crueler than that.
Even in what should have been medium-scale battles, sudden and unpredictable changes could push one to the very brink of life and death.
"In this cataclysmic battle, you have done well enough."
His fingers gently brushed against Jingliu's bloodstained cheek. The softness he showed toward her only surfaced in moments like this.
This was the first time he had truly fought alongside her on such a scale, holding the line until reinforcements arrived. He had witnessed firsthand the incredible will and tenacity she displayed on the battlefield.
"Sleep well... Master is here."
At least for now, he was still by her side.