Chapter 694: The Crown Prince’s Operation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was, in essence, a dictum to kill issued by Yutang's crown prince. Was this – was this a jest?
For a moment, the two leaders were baffled.
It quickly became apparent that this was not a joke, as there were loud sounds of movement from their surroundings right after the order. With a quick glance, countless Deicide Bow archers could be seen perched at every corner – on the ground, the collapsed walls, the tall walls, the trees, taller buildings – they lined the space tightly, and could be seen almost everywhere.
Everyone wore black military uniforms which sported emblems that belonged specifically to the crown prince's personal armed forces. These were the crown prince's troops! They were the military elite that was directly under His Highness' command. It was apparent just by the look of the uniform.
What neat movements, what majestic military discipline!
There had to be at least over ten thousand Deicide archers in the vicinity, pointing the chilling tip of their arrows right at the sixty-odd assassins who had just made their arduous escape. The archers had drawn their bows as far as it could allow, the crescents turning into full moons; their gazes were icy, the thousands of arrows waiting to leap with a single command.
Hen Bieli roared in fury and his steps faltered as he bellowed, "Your Royal Highness! What is the meaning of this?"
Their initial goal in coming to Tiantang City was because they had been commissioned by the crown prince's men. Why had they turned around and threatened them instead? Did the crown prince desire the dragon hide treasure map as well?
Unfortunately, before Hen Bieli could figure it all out or pose the question plainly, he heard a deafening shout, "Shoot!"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…
Hen Bieli felt his vision darkening immediately. Without a doubt, it was due to the simultaneous release of inky arrows from the Deicide Bows that had obscured the sky's illumination.
"Ah!"
Hen Bieli shrieked in rage and reacted spontaneously. With a flip, he rolled away, staying close to the ground. As he did so, he grabbed onto the corpses on the ground and used them to shield himself from the Deicide Bows' force.
As a top-tiered assassin, he knew full well the Deicide Bow's power. It was simply too easy to skewer a person with the arrow; it was not even a challenge to penetrate five to six people that stood in a single file!
Therefore, his first thought was to gather more cover – the more the better!
Watching Hen Bielie's swift response, Hong Zhan and the other assassins, being experienced experts as well, quickly found shelter to hide behind.
In spite of this, only a small number of approximately twenty people up front had managed to cleanly avoid the storm of arrows. A large portion of the assassins at the back was weaker in their abilities and most of them were still clouded by the haze of the violent collision just now. If Hen Bieli and others had successfully broken free, they would have advanced, following suit. However, they were less than capable when faced with such a shower of arrows – they could not even react in time.
By the time they realized how disastrous the situation was, it was too late to take any preventative measures. They could only grit their teeth and clench their jaws, blocking the attack with the weapons they had in their hands.
The sounds of weapons clanking and targets being penetrated rang incessantly… Then, a series of shrieks and cries followed.
The shower of arrows had effectively halved the ranks of pinnacle assassins, which had originally numbered over sixty men!
Each one of these people was a top-notch expert – a remarkable killer. Under normal circumstances, every one of them would have been equipped with the ability to perfectly avoid the Deicide Bow's attack. With enough opportunity and space provided, it was only a matter of time for these sixty people to counter the attack and wipe out the ten thousand Deicide Bow archers instead.
Now, however, under such specific circumstances where these killers were fatigued and the Deicide Bow archers had suddenly appeared to ambush them, it effectively turned the place into the assassins' hell! They did not even have the opportunity to seek cover.
One ace-ranked assassin had reacted incredibly swiftly, but he had only managed to collect three or four corpses to block the arrows. In the end, a round of shooting had turned both him and his shield into a porcupine. In all likelihood, he had used up all his luck in the previous battles!
Hen Bieli's voice boomed in the air, seething with anger, "What a great crown prince of Yutang! What a great crown prince of Yutang! Hahaha… Your father has finally seen past your façade!"
Amidst Hen Bieli's grave laughter, a cold voice of command rang out once more, "Shoot!"
The second round of arrows descended. As the Deicide Bow archers commenced their attacks, the arrows rained down on the hapless men. After three rounds of such a storm, there were no more than five people who were left alive in the assassin team who had been charging to escape. These survivors included both Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan!
The other three men were superb assassins whose names were what it took to terrify the martial world. Strictly, they were on par with Hen Bieli, Hong Zhan and the ten Yama Kings.
These five men were all injured, while the corpses they had procured as their shields had already turned into huge porcupines long ago. Supported by the densely packed arrows, the dead bodies actually looked exactly like real, standing porcupines!
Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan growled in rage and anguish. Their minds were practically overflowing with resentment. They had turned back just earlier, their eyes scanning the land full of fallen assassins. They were in extreme grief and fury. It as if their hearts had exploded right at that very moment.
The martial world experts who had finally caught up at the rear were terrorized as well. Pale-faced, they dared not move recklessly. They were brimming in fervor earlier, but they now felt their calves cramping.
In all honesty, the current lineup of the martial men was difficult to be defeated even if Yutang deployed all of the empire's army, as long as the martial artists remained calm. The army would be annihilated, as the reputation of the martial world pinnacle forces who could fight one against ten thousand was not mere words!
At least, it was not an issue to break free and escape.
Despite the seemingly obvious advantages, such an outcome was on the premise that these martial men were not fazed or perturbed.
Any cultivator, especially those proficient ones, would normally enjoy better psychological quality than the militants. The more skilled in cultivation base one was, the more one would have had to go through mentally. Therefore, the army would have been hard-pressed to defeat the martial artists even when they had the advantage of numbers under normal circumstances – just like when the Ma-i Sect had joined Dongxuan, bringing up Dongxuan's combat power immediately. This was the special attribute of a martial force intervening in a war.
Nevertheless, the martial cultivators had their weaknesses compared to the army as well. Firstly, they could barely form a team; they were used to battling alone and their fighting spirit and determination were limited. Secondly, the psychological trait of wanting to protect oneself and escape unscathed had stayed hidden within them all along. Thirdly, and also the key point, was that the vast majority of the martial world men could only fight a winning battle; they could perform their best when they had the upper hand, but once they were at a disadvantage or met a stronger opponent, their fighting spirit would be reduced and the determination would fare worse than that of ordinary soldiers, causing their combat power to decrease significantly.
The best example could be seen right now – were Yutang's Deicide Bows powerful?
They were, very much so!
Yet, it was a whole other story to speak of the annihilative damage it could deal to the martial men.
Despite that fact, the martial world cultivators were still afraid, because the previous round of arrows had butchered thirty to forty pinnacle experts instantly – after three rounds of the same shower, only a handful of the sixty pinnacle assassins who had almost broken free of their siege were left standing!
The result was terrifying!
Due to this current state, the martial artists had completely omitted the fact that Hen Bieli and group had actually exerted most of their combat power on them and this troop of Yutang militants had shown up at a very opportune moment. In addition, the Deicide Bows were dead set on their targets and had been utilized in massive amounts as well. It was due to these overlapping incidents that such an outcome could be procured!
In other words, such an ending could never be repeated.
In spite of this fact, the martial artists would never share such a point of view. What they saw was only the three rounds of Deicide Arrows pouring down and the annihilation of the assassins whom they had failed to wipe out and almost let them break free, despite their momentous effort.
How could they not be struck with terror?
In their minds now, anyone was vulnerable to such an attack, as long as they had not reached the immortal level of heaven ascension.
Everyone who pondered upon this had another question in mind, 'Didn't Yutang officials say they wouldn't step in? They had even cleared out space for us – why are they intervening now?'
'The commander earlier said that it was in accordance to the crown prince's name. Is this the personal order of Yutang's crown prince, or the command from the Emperor of Yutang? Moreover, is their target only the assassins, or do they plan to clean the rest of us up as well?'