The Sandpeople who were still on the offensive had never expected the situation to change so drastically. Some of them, slower of wits, had not even noticed that something was off yet.
In the back, most of the ritual personnel were wiped out, with only a few Sandpeople who had accompanied the army still alive. The rear was completely sealed off by Griffins and Griffin Knights, and the route was impassable.
On the other hand, there were even more Sand Snakes in the back, not simply blocking the rear but also spreading to surround the front. Some Sandpeople who had noticed the unfavorable circumstances were already trying to flee from the battlefield.
At this moment, a great uproar suddenly erupted from the direction of the forest.
Everyone turned their heads to look, noticing a group of disheveled Sandpeople emerging from the forest. The Sandpeople within the forest had finally realized something was wrong and someone must have issued a retreat signal directly.
When they emerged, they found out that over five hundred had entered the forest, but fewer than a hundred had managed to escape. As for those who had reached the second tier, only a dozen remained now, with the key point being that the leader had disappeared.
Upon seeing this, some Sandpeople understood: "It’s bad, both Shali and Fengcao leaders have died, we must run."
Upon the cry, the Sandpeople in front who were initially on the offensive promptly turned tail and ran, but it was too late to change anything. From the front wall, the Hidden Shadow Shooters emerged from their tunnels and started attacking head-on.
The city wall was without a gate, but some well-prepared Heavily Armed Warriors came out directly through the tunnels and began to gather under the eyes of the Sandpeople to form an attacking formation, pushing forward bit by bit.
Most of the Arrow Towers had been destroyed, but they weren’t useful in this offense anyway.
The people in the forest had just run out when the pursuers behind them followed. These were a large number of Shadow Shooters, and their accompanying Snow Wolves. Under the leadership of Lin Yucha and Lin Yushi, they launched their final hunt.
Du You stood on top of the city wall, casting five Destruction Flames consecutively towards the front. Five fireballs crashed down, turning a large number of Quicksand soldiers into ashes, while Du You himself barely expended any energy. If not for the fact that the Quicksand soldiers weren’t dense enough, he wouldn’t just not consume anything, but would even take the opportunity to recover quite a lot of Magic Power.
After five times, Du You stopped using it, because he was unable to. This kind of extensive attack, if continued, would hit his own people. And Putrid Insect Mist was inappropriate to use under such circumstances.
With his own people everywhere, Du You was worried he wouldn’t be able to control it, and some unfortunate souls would die under his own Magic.
However, given the current situation, Du You didn’t need to cast any magic. Because at this moment, the battle going on could be cleared up just with his army alone, and there would be no loss.
"Start tallying losses, prepare to record the situation here," he instructed.
After some thought, Du You added, "Also, erect a hero monument at the border town. Bury those who died protecting our territory there and commemorate them."
"Good idea, I understand, Lord," Luo Jia’s eyes lit up upon hearing Du You’s words.
This method was very effective to enhance territory cohesion. Du You himself only felt it was a pity that the deceased didn’t get to leave a mark, and he didn’t consider too much else.
Even if his subjects were all summoned and didn’t know where they were from, Du You would still do this.
Suddenly, Du You thought of something else and added, "Actually, don’t bury the deceased as is, burn them to ash first. Burying bodies directly is too wasteful of land, and it may also attract Undead Mages."
Luo Jia nodded slightly. Such practices were not strange in this world. In actuality, in many places, in order to prevent bodies from being exploited by people with ulterior motives, the bodies of the deceased are treated before burial. Treated bodies were essentially of no use to Undead Mages or any other odd professions or methods.
This method of cremation was implemented in many parts of this world. Since they didn’t hold much respect for their bodies, they didn’t need to worry about resistance of any kind.
After issuing his orders, Du You continued to watch the battlefield, which had entered the phase of elimination. Those Sandpeople, almost all of whose second-tier elites had died, were no match for them now.
The injured among them had been replaced. With a large number of summoned Sand Snakes at the rear and Heavily Armed Warriors at the front dressed in armor, the Shadow Shooters at the flanks were mostly long-ranged. The Snow wolves did not hesitate to charge forward.
As a result, no matter how the Sandpeople attacked, they could not produce any effect, instead suffering constant losses. If they hadn’t been almost entirely surrounded, these Sandpeople would absolutely not have the courage to continue to confront them.
Du You was aware that this would result in greater losses for him, but now it had to be done.
In Luo Jia’s words, this was the first time they were facing an external attack since the establishment of the domain. Their first target must be completely crippled to demonstrate their strength and resolve against the invaders to the outside world.
Only thus, would the domain have fewer issues in the future. If they were too soft this time, there would be more and more people looking for trouble in the future. Du You understood this principle, so he readily agreed.
Of course, war was still war. This was not a place of constant danger like a valley, so the Sandpeople were not completely wiped out. Only a very small number of Sandpeople managed to escape.
"No need to chase anymore, my lord. Let these people escape, it’s a way to spread our strength. Plus, after waiting a few months, there will be a tremendous change in our strength here. The intelligence they bring back will only mislead the Sandpeople. If they attack again, our advantage may be even greater." Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Du You nodded, "I understand. You did very well this time. Don’t worry, there will be rewards for you. From now on, you are the domain’s commander, only under me and Shaliya." Du You then altered Luo Jia’s status on the control panel.
Of course, this commander in name could command all the troops, but he needed Shaliya’s permission to do so. He didn’t wish to grant him too much power, which could lead to problems in the territory upon his return.
"Thank you, Lord. I will do everything I can to glorify you." Luo Jia knelt on one knee, hammering his right hand on his left chest. This was a pledge of loyalty in this world.