Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Endgame

The road was filled with swirling dust, and the sound of horse hooves was constant.

Wave after wave of reinforcements arrived at Qingyu Ridge, and the main force of the Northern Territory finally took over the battle line.

The soldiers pitched tents and began to build defenses around the valley entrance: watchtowers, trenches, arrow towers, and even catapults and heavy crossbows were brought up.

In just a few days, Qingyu Ridge transformed from a simple Snow Swearer outpost into a veritable barrier of the Northern Territory.

Of course, the Snow Swearers had no intention of retreating just like that.

They mobilized small elite units from the direction of Ice Sea County, attempting night raids, arson, and supply cut-offs, and even some launched curse bullets at the outpost.

But all failed.

They were either discovered in advance or ambushed and annihilated.

Gibson commanded seamlessly, his maneuvers and battle formations were impeccable.

But he knew very well that the reason he managed to be one step ahead at several critical junctures wasn’t because he was so god-like.

It was because of the Baron sipping tea behind the scenes.

Louis had long delegated tactical command after Gibson took over.

His contributions were already substantial; any more accolades would just be icing on the cake, so he preferred to preserve his strength.

He lived in an independent tent in the back camp, basking in the sun by day, brewing tea and writing reports by night, with the attitude of a retiree.

Of course, he wasn’t completely idle; he would shrewdly offer Gibson some advice based on the Daily Intelligence System.

For instance, once, when Gibson was troubled about the enemy’s direction.

Louis suddenly pointed to the map and said, “This mountain path might see enemy movement in a few days.”

“How do you know?”

“Just a hunch.”

That night, indeed, a team of two hundred enemy troops passed through there, only to be ambushed and wiped out before getting close to the main battle line.

Lately, Louis would occasionally remind Gibson of the enemy’s tactics too.

Each prediction came true, as if he had a celestial eye, seeing the opponent completely.

Gibson found it increasingly hard to contain his rising respect.

In his heart, Louis was already a prodigious war genius.

Qingyu Ridge gradually stabilized.

The Snow Swearers were understaffed, and their attacks grew weaker.

The final strong onslaught did not even form a proper formation before being routed by the Imperial Army.

Unwilling yet powerless, they could only retreat bit by bit to the north.

The strategic bottleneck of Qingyu Ridge in the Northern Territory was finally firmly defended.

……

Snow Eagle City could finally hold on no longer.

After a month of siege, the Snow Swearer soldiers were starved beyond endurance, their faces gaunt and limbs weak, even the war wolves were mere skin and bones, unable to make a sound on the snow.

They had no more food.

Nor any “people”.

In the city, apart from the Snow Swearers themselves, there were no living people left long ago.

Flesh became the only food, charred bones piled up around the fires under the city walls.

This was no army but a pack of beasts driven mad by despair.

Barnes stood on the damaged high platform, gazing at the thick clouds afar, awaiting not reinforcements but complete silence.

Finally, he understood—no one was coming.

The reinforcements from Ice Sea County were mere figments of his imagination.

So, he ordered a breakout.

“Whoever hesitates for a second, I’ll cut him down myself!”

That day, he personally killed two personal guards attempting to flee.

The Snow Oath Army’s morale was momentarily cowed by this madness before being driven to a dead end.

They charged out like ghosts from within the city, shouting hoarsely, stumbling and rushing outward.

But just a hundred meters out from the city gates, the Imperial ambush revealed itself.

The archers on the flanking cliff walls had long been in position.

“Release the arrows!”

The rain of arrows descended like a downpour, cold glimmers falling from the sky.

Already starving, the Snow Swearers couldn’t hold on, scattering after only a few steps.

Some even dropped their weapons and fled for their lives.

Barnes was still shouting, “Hold your ground! Anyone retreats…”

Before he could finish, an arrow pierced through his thigh.

Then his shoulder, chest, and abdomen.

He fell into a pool of blood like a rag doll, trembling hands trying to pull out the arrows, but his body wouldn’t obey.

The blood dyed the ground a deep crimson; his mouth twitched as he stared unflinchingly at the northern ridge.

That was the direction of the reinforcements he had hoped for all month.

He died, died like a dog.

Without command, the breakout turned into a one-sided slaughter.

The Imperial Army had already set formations, the ambush on the flanks closed in like a tide; after three waves of arrow rain, more than half of the Snow Swearers lay on the ground.

The remaining ones tried to charge, tried to break out, but the war horses couldn’t move, the infantry couldn’t run fast, the whole squad like an insect swarm struggling in a mire.

Unable to hold for ten minutes, the entire Snow Oath Army fell into complete defeat.

The Imperial Army hesitated not, expressionless as they harvested each struggling enemy.

The blood turned the earth red, severed limbs strewn everywhere, stepping on it, one could hear the crunch of broken bones.

This was a reckoning.

Every cry from Snow Eagle City was remembered.

Now it was time to return it in kind.

Half an hour later, the Imperial Army launched a full assault on Snow Eagle City.

There was no resistance inside the city, they pushed open the battered city gates directly.

Most of the Snow Swearers died during the breakout, and those who remained had long given up in despair.

The Imperial soldiers entered Snow Eagle City as if walking into a purgatory.

The streets were littered with charred yellow bones, charred wooden houses still smoldered, the air reeking with the stench of decay and blood, sickening to the stomach.

Anger, resentment, and malice, in this moment, burst forth.

“Kill them all!”

Thus, there were no prisoners, no interrogations.

The Snow Swearers were completely purged.

In the aftermath, Snow Eagle City was left a wasteland.

……

The Snow Swearers suffered a crushing defeat, the situation took a drastic turn.

Aside from maintaining tenuous control over the northern Ice Sea County and Snowfall County, the rest of the territories were almost entirely cleared of the Imperial Army.

Numerous outposts were removed, supply lines severed, main forces successively obliterated in various places.

The fall of Qingyu Ridge and Snow Eagle City meant the entire southern campaign had utterly collapsed.

Elder Grom slammed the stone table with a heavy hand, glaring fiercely: “I warned you not to be too arrogant! That Northern Barbarian Witch…”

“Shut up.” Hiro stood before the statue, voice grim: “You were right; they are too tough to handle, so now we must hasten.”

“What… do you intend to do?” A chill settled in Grom’s heart.

“As long as the Ancient God of Cold Abyss revives, everything will be solved,” Hiro whispered.

He raised his hand slightly, and the personal guards immediately surged forward.

Grom widened his eyes, struggling as they pressed him down heavily.

“Stop! I am the elder!”

No one responded.

He was hung upside down on the cold altar, alongside several bound captives.

The sacrifice began.

Blood slowly flowed from their seven orifices, as if drawn by some invisible force, dripping onto the altar’s stone slab.

Their skin shriveled, bones twisted, eventually leaving nothing but a heap of shattered remains.

A muffled abnormal sound came from deep underground, as if something was awakening.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep