Chapter 992: News of two fronts
Half a Day Later - Planet Poison Rock
"Your Excellency... Your Excellency..." Leonid Burton approached Rubin's body and began tapping it gently.
After a full five minutes, Rubin opened his eyes and looked toward Leonid, annoyed that his Spirit Refining process was interrupted. It was Evergreen who had shaken his soul domain to alert him about the new comer. "What is it?"
"I apologize for disturbing you, Your Excellency," Leonid quickly lowered his head, then slowly raised it with a pleading expression. "General Caesar has not requested anything, but on his behalf and the rest of the army, I felt it necessary to ask for your intervention. The situation is dire."
"...Explain further." Rubin furrowed his brows slowly.
"Six of the nine Great Beasts under Durger the Devourer have personally moved to attack our army, bringing all their subordinates with them. The reinforcements from other planets have helped halt their advance and evened the scales, but General Caesar no longer has the luxury of assigning part of the army for rest or treatment. They've all been engaged in full-scale combat for the past two hours with no reserves. The martial emperors in our ranks have reached the limits of their stamina and the affinity booster serum effect is running out, they began to fall, and the War Lords will soon collapse as well!" Leonid explained quickly.
He continued, "If a seventh beast and its troopers join the battle now, we will crumble. Even if none join, I fear that in the next hour, all the warlords and martial emperors in our ranks will be forced to retreat or they will get killed. General Caesar has been forced to consume his affinity booster serum twice and refine it while activating his Wall of Death Flame, which is accumulating damage in his body. He will have to stop soon to treat himself before he can consume another one..."
"...A wave of beasts can be this powerful?" Rubin clenched his fists tightly. He no longer blamed Leonid for disturbing him; the situation was disturbing enough.
He had indeed summoned those reinforcements from other planets primarily to intimidate the Marshals and Imperial Guards, but in hindsight, the reinforcements, along with the current army, should have been enough to handle the beasts and showcase the empire's power- even if they didn't win.
These reinforcements consisted of 120,000 soldiers who wielded laws, 120 martial emperors, 8 warlords, and four generals!
If this army were combined with their already present forces, they would now be facing 320,000 law-using soldiers, 280 martial emperors including the Shadow Swords, and 17 warlords. This does not even include the Draco swarm and the Terra Knights Legion, who had all been deployed to assist. Moreover, Caesar himself was there supported by life energy from Richard... Was all this not enough?!
Dugar himself had yet to make a move!
"Your Excellency, whenever one of the Nine Great Beasts moves, 100 to 200 beasts emperors follow, obeying their every command. This doesn't include the hundreds of thousands of beasts behind each one. The only reason we've held on is thanks to General Caesar, and the fact that the Crown Prince has been releasing heavy murderous intent, halting the beasts at several gaps on his own."
"...." Rubin tapped his thigh several times, then turned his gaze toward a particular direction - the same place where he had last seen the Marshals and Imperial Guards. They were still standing in their positions.
At that moment, the old Marshal, who had fought Caesar on the first day, was shouting at the young Marshal, gesturing toward him aggressively. The young Marshal, however, appeared mostly unfazed.
Rubin stared at them for a moment, while he couldn't hear everything the old Marshal was saying, it was clear, however, that he was generally urging an immediate attack taking advantage of the fact that the palace military square was devoid of soldiers. The young Marshal however seemed uninterested!
"...Again, he's refusing to take the bait. The first time in the palace, when the army had not yet deployed, he had the chance to target me or the portal, but he declined and managed to save all of the imperial guards and that old fart. And now, it's the second time he refuses to take action. I wouldn't be surprised if he was behind the idea of provoking Durger. Tsk~ If it weren't for him, all 200 guards and that old man would have been wiped out by now... That person is not so simple." Rubin muttered, slightly irritated.
In battle, there are many types of opponents- honorable and intelligent ones, or fools who rely purely on strength. Each one has weaknesses that can be exploited... but those who are treacherous and expect trickery at every turn are the hardest enemies. That person didn't know Rubin's true strength, nor what he was thinking now, but something within him told him that danger was approaching and he trusted it.
Most generals and high-ranking individuals would ignore this inner voice, either to avoid losing face in front of their subordinates and appearing cowardly or due to the arrogance in their hearts that tells them nothing can harm them if they plan well. But that person listens to his instincts fully, disregarding the opinions of others. He is dangerous.
"...Heh~ I'm certain that if I can bring in one more reinforcement, they'll take the bait. At least that old man will, he doesn't seem like he can endure much longer." Rubin let out a sarcastic laugh, then slapped his knees and stood up. He began to crack his neck from side to side. "But I can no longer bring in any more decent reinforcements, nor can we afford to wait for the beast battle to unfold any longer. It's time for the heavy artillery to intervene... Go and prepare for the final confrontation with the beasts, I'll take care of the intruders."
"Understood, Your Excellency!" Leonid Burton immediately understood Rubin's intentions and ran toward the space portal. After inputting the coordinates into the portal's control panel, he disappeared within it.
Shiiee A black space spear materialized in Rubin's hand as he exhaled deeply. "Whooo..." His heart began to race with excitement and anticipation.
He can't go help against Durger while those snakes are standing by. And if they didn't come, he'd go to them!
Of course, he might not be able to kill a handful of them before the rest scatter, but that was fine... At the very least, he had to make sure to kill that young Marshal first!
Bzzzt
At that moment, the portal behind Rubin activated, drawing his attention once again. "Hmm?" Leonid had just left- who could be coming to Poison Rock?
"Where is His Excellency?...Your Excellency!!" A Shadow Sword that Rubin had never seen before hurriedly rushed out from the gate and began frantically searching for him. Someone pointed him toward Rubin, and he rushed toward him, his face showing signs of something
serious happening.
"What now?!" Rubin asked in irritation. Wasn't what was happening at Poison Stone enough?
The Shadow Sword didn't even take a breath before speaking quickly, "Your Excellency!! The southern region of Planet Nihari has been breached, and the portal in the Winter Punishment City has been destroyed!!"
-Three days remain until negotiations begin-