First came rolling thunder echoing from the forest, followed by the sight of heavy-armored knights bursting into view.
Shen Mo rode at full gallop, his cavalry lance with its dragon-engraved shaft pointed straight toward the enemy ahead.
An invisible blast of force expanded at the tip of their wedge formation.
The moment the first Wight made contact with this pressure wave, its broken body flew straight into the air.
Literally flew.
With Shen Mo leading the charge, two hundred and ninety Jingsai troopers followed close behind.
Under normal historical circumstances, even fully armored heavy cavalry would never charge directly into an enemy formation without an absolute advantage.
Yet now, these heavy cavalrymen—who regularly charged Chaos monstrosities along the Great Bastion border of Grand Cathay—slammed headlong into these emaciated skeletons.
Shen Mo felt a momentary daze, as if he were charging the undead legions of the Tomb Kings.
Well, there was a difference: the Tomb Kings’ armies were a bit cleaner, and smashing them felt a bit more satisfying.
Bursting from the woods, Shen Mo led the Jingsai Army to carve through the Wight encirclement, galloping all the way up to Guan Zimo.
“Little Guan, looking pretty ragged there, aren’t you?
To think you needed Lord Shen to come rescue you in person.” Xin Qi wore dark red iron armor, the two long plumes on her phoenix-winged golden crown swaying back and forth with her horse’s stride.
“Easy for you to talk standing there!
If it were just you, I might not have survived long enough for Lord Shen to save me.” Guan Zimo offered no further argument.
Shen Mo’s arrival brought her immense relief, as if a crushing weight had been lifted from her shoulders in an instant.
“Just take a good rest.
Leave the rest to me!” With that, Xin Qi swung her painted halberd, wheeling her mount around to charge toward the regrouping Wights.
“My Lord, we can’t go on like this.
Taking these things down one by one with ordinary blades is far too grueling.” Watching the high-spirited Xin Qi wreak havoc among the undead, Guan Zimo could not help expressing her concern.
“No need to worry.
This time, Sister Zhao…
Miss Zhao is here too.” Shen Mo pulled his reins, turning to look back toward the direction they had ridden out from.
Zhao Qi had not joined Shen Mo’s initial charge, leading sixty Line-Breakers in the rear instead.
When the ring of Wights surrounding Guan Zimo was split wide open, Zhao Qi knew it was time to act.
Her staff resembled translucent white jade, its head shaped like a blooming white flower stamen.
Chanting incantations under her breath, lotus blooms sprouted with every step she took.
Looking closely, they were not real flowers, but white-and-gold ripples expanding outward like petals blooming on water.
Just as Zhao Qi had noted, although Westeros possessed forces akin to the Eight Winds of Magic, they were far from abundant here.
If casting spells in Grand Cathay was like swimming in the ocean, casting spells here was like drawing water from a deep well.
Not only was the usable magic scarce, but gathering it required immense effort.
However, Zhao Qi was no ordinary mortal—she was a Jade-Faced Fox.
Her childhood village had been destroyed by Dark Elves before she was taken in by the Moon Empress, and eventually appointed Grand Minister of Ceremonies by the Sea Dragon.
Zhao Qi’s appearance set off alarm bells in the mind of the White Walker commanding the undead.
It let out a guttural hiss, ordering its Wights to charge toward her.
Yet it was a step too late.
As Zhao Qi’s fingers danced through the air, the ambient magic began to churn beneath her guidance.
Lore of Life — Awakening of the Wood!
The earth beneath the Wights trembled as the snow covering the ground began to “boil.” The ground churned in fury.
These undead creatures were inherently antithetical to the Wind of Life.
A spell driven by Ghyran was the ultimate poison for these reanimated husks.
The ground shattered beneath the snow in the tremors, concentric circles of fractures appearing in the center of hundreds of Wights.
In the next instant, the earth surged, tree branches awakened by the Wind of Life roaring to life.
They intertwined, lashing through the horde like massive whips.
Every strike shattered scores of Wights into bone dust.
*What is this?!* Seeing his undead horde swept about like trash by living trees, what little sanity remained in the White Walker evaporated.
It had thought its own kind were miraculous enough, yet today it witnessed something far more terrifying.
Even though these Wights were soulless puppets, as they were swept aside by the branches summoned by Zhao Qi, they seemed to emit agonizing shrieks and wails.
Awakening of the Wood lasted dozens of seconds, yet it wiped out more than half of the Wights present.
When the spell subsided, the branches retracting into the soil even dragged a vast number of Wights down into the earth with them.
*Don’t panic.
The Wights are numerous.
Only half were destroyed—there’s still another half…* The White Walker tried to comfort itself, but in the next instant, Zhao Qi’s second spell detonated amidst the remaining undead.
Lore of Life — Forest Resurgence!
The ground that had just cracked open from squirming roots suddenly bulged, and a massive ancient tree erupted violently from beneath the soil.
A trunk tens of meters in diameter, draped in lush foliage, burst forth, blasting nearby Wights high into the air before they could flee.
Wights caught directly within the tree’s radius were swallowed straight into the trunk, turned into nourishment for its growth.
Two consecutive spells slammed into the battlefield, completely turning the tide in an instant.
Seeing the enemy thrown into utter chaos, Shen Mo raised his cavalry lance high.
“For Grand Cathay!
For the Dragon Emperor!” “For the Empire!
For His Majesty!” “Charge, Children of the Dragon!” “Kill!!!!!!” Re-forming their ranks, the Jingsai troopers led by Shen Mo slammed into the scattered Wights.
Like a heavy plow turning soil, the Jingsai Army swept back and forth, shattering what remained of the undead forces.
The heavy-armored half-dragon steeds grew exultant, relishing the sensation of trampling enemies beneath their hooves and hurling them into the air.
And mounted atop them, the Jingsai troopers wielded their lances with wild abandon, harvesting the already-dead “lives” of the Wights.
*No!
No!
No!* *It shouldn’t be like this!* The White Walker’s face—frozen as if carved from northern frost—twisted in sheer panic.
It could not fathom how everything had gone so horribly wrong.
*It’s all because of that woman!* The White Walker glared toward Zhao Qi standing at the forest’s edge.
Her icy-blue gown fluttered gently in the freezing wind, and the exquisite woman turned her gaze back toward the monster with pale blue skin.
*If I kill her, I can still win!* With that thought, the White Walker mounted the dead, reanimated black steed beside it.
A longsword composed of pure Ice condensed in its right hand.
Tugging the reins, the undead steed charged straight toward Zhao Qi.