The battlefield was shrouded in smoke, a scene of desolation. Blood stained the ground, and countless bodies lay scattered everywhere.
Li Xiaotian stood on a high vantage point, his heart aching as he surveyed the scene. Over twenty thousand brothers had fallen this time, and Long Wu was dead as well. The Dragon King Hall had lost a War God.
This was the most devastating loss the Dragon King Hall had ever suffered since its rise to power.
"Assassin's Alliance! If I don't destroy you, I, Li Xiaotian, am not worthy to be called the Dragon King!" Li Xiaotian roared, filled with both anger and grief.
He had been careless. The Dragon King Hall's forces should not have been so dispersed. They should have been consolidated from the beginning.
If it weren't for the Red Dragon's timely warning, everyone at the northern base would have perished.
Just as Li Xiaotian was preparing to go to the southern front for support, he received a message from the Red Dragon, advising him not to move.
Therefore, he had remained on his aircraft, circling above the Dragon King Hall's headquarters. Since the Assassin's Alliance's enemy was the Dragon King Hall, their primary focus was on this direction. Consequently, the Red Dragon's covert actions went unnoticed by the Assassin's Alliance.
The Red Dragon had operatives positioned in various Dragon King Hall bases. When they detected discrepancies in enemy troop numbers at different locations, they immediately informed Li Xiaotian.
Li Xiaotian then led all personnel from the Dark Division to the northern base for reinforcement.
This allowed them to arrive at the last moment and save Long Si and the others.
In this battle, the Dragon King Hall lost one War God and twenty thousand soldiers, but the Assassin's Alliance suffered far greater casualties, losing six War Gods and an immeasurable number of ordinary soldiers.
As the battle drew to a close, the Assassin's Alliance soldiers lost the will to fight and focused solely on escape. Li Xiaotian's men pursued them relentlessly. Many enemies did not fall in combat but died during their desperate flight.
The battle could be considered a great victory! In the first engagement between the Dragon King Hall and the Assassin's Alliance, the Dragon King Hall held the upper hand.
However, despite this victory, Li Xiaotian and everyone in the Dragon King Hall could not find joy. Their brothers had died, and a commander had fallen.
As the Dragon King Hall and Red Dragon forces cleared the battlefield, Long Si and the others approached Li Xiaotian from behind and knelt down.
"King! I'm sorry, I was useless. I couldn't protect our brothers!" Long Si cried, his face etched with grief. As the commander of the northern base, he bore full responsibility.
"Get up! What are you crying for?" Li Xiaotian scolded, stepping forward to help Long Si and the others to their feet. He then spoke.
"This is my fault. I underestimated our opponent. What does this have to do with you? You all did an excellent job!"
"King! Long Wu is dead! Many brothers died protecting us useless ones!" Long Si wept. Even the War Gods were in tears.
"Then get well soon. This battle has just begun. If you want to avenge them, recover quickly!" Li Xiaotian admonished. He knew that being harsh was the only way to alleviate their guilt.
"Dragon King, we should return now!" A voice came from behind. It was Qin Tian Ce, the leader of the Red Dragon.
"General Qin, thank you for your efforts. Please send my regards to Commander Li. After this war is over, I will thank you properly." Li Xiaotian turned around. The Dragon King Hall and the Red Dragon had been long-time allies. Li Xiaotian had initially expected the Red Dragon to remain neutral, especially since their opponent was the Assassin's Alliance. He hadn't anticipated them offering such substantial assistance.
"You are too kind, Dragon King. We help each other. When the Dragon King Hall faced trouble, how could the Red Dragon stand idly by? After we rest and recuperate, I plan to bring all the Red Dragon forces to your Dragon King Hall to fight the Assassin's Alliance together!" Qin Tian Ce declared with a hearty tone. Although he was from the Great Qin Kingdom, he had spent much of his time on the front lines. He greatly admired Li Xiaotian's War God Hall. If not for his own identity, he would have gladly joined the Dragon King Hall.
"General Qin, I cannot express my gratitude enough. From now on, our two families will share life and death!" Li Xiaotian said solemnly. Qin Tian Ce's decision to stand with the Dragon King Hall and confront the Assassin's Alliance together was profound.
After all, the Red Dragon had other options. They could have retreated to the Great Qin Kingdom and avoided retaliation from the Assassin's Alliance. However, they chose to stay, treating the Dragon King Hall as their own.
"Good! Dragon King, we will take our leave now!" Qin Tian Ce grinned, then led the Red Dragon soldiers away from the battlefield.
By then, the Dragon King Hall's men had gathered the bodies of all their fallen comrades. They stood in silence in the base's plaza.
Li Xiaotian watched this scene, his heart heavy. He took a deep breath and instructed Long Si.
"Send a message to headquarters, tell them to send people. I want to bring our brothers' bodies back! After the war is won, I, Li Xiaotian, will personally mourn for them!"
"They are the true heroes of our Dragon King Hall!"
"Yes, King!" Long Si responded with tears, kneeling down, his heart filled with emotion.
Simultaneously, on the base's plaza, upon learning of Li Xiaotian's decision, all the men knelt on one knee, shouting at Li Xiaotian.
"We swear to follow the Dragon King to the death and forever protect the Dragon King Hall!!"
A formidable fleet of aircraft flew overhead. Li Xiaotian led everyone back to the Dragon King Hall headquarters. At the same time, he ordered the other three bases to consolidate their forces.
It wasn't that he feared the Assassin's Alliance, but he did not want a similar situation to recur. He did not want his brothers to sacrifice themselves.
Within the Dragon King Hall, numerous powerful War Gods stood quietly in the main hall, their moods somber. Although the Dragon King Hall had won this battle, the loss of so many brothers was a great defeat for them.
However, at the same time, when all factions in the war zone learned of the battle's outcome, they were shocked. Leaders of countless organizations reconfirmed the intelligence's accuracy. The fact that the Assassin's Alliance's counterattack had resulted in such a crushing defeat seemed like a fairy tale, utterly unbelievable.
But the reality was that the Dragon King Hall had achieved a decisive victory, losing only one War God and a little over twenty thousand soldiers.
In contrast, the Assassin's Alliance suffered a total of nine War God casualties in this war, with ordinary soldier losses exceeding one hundred thousand. Such a record was nothing short of miraculous.
It was known that no other force had ever inflicted such heavy losses on the Assassin's Alliance, nor had any force managed to consistently defeat them from the outset.
The Dragon King Hall had created a miracle, shattering the Assassin's Alliance's legendary mystique.
It turned out that with sufficient strength, even the Assassin's Alliance could be defeated.
It turned out that the Assassin's Alliance was not as terrifying as imagined. Their all-out counterattack felt like mere tickling to the Dragon King Hall.