The masked Jindao fighter replied, "I still can, but I mis-evaluated his original strength."
The second prince whispered, "Good, then. We can't miss this opportunity—we have to strike now!"
"But these troops still have the stamina to keep fighting, don't they?"
The second prince shook his head. "Regardless, we have to strike now, or we won't have a chance to do so. If I'm not mistaken, the imperial guards are almost on their way here. Once the main force arrives, our opportunity to strike will be over."
The Jindao fighter sighed. "Second prince, patience is key."
The second prince frowned. "You don't dictate my actions. Release the fourth-level beast horde."
"Now, this early?"
The second prince nodded. "We have to destroy the defenses in one fell swoop, and it gives us the cover to strike."
The Jindao fighter knew the second prince's behavior to be a reflection of his anxiety. He had spent over a decade in preparation for this plan, and he was only one step away from success. He didn't want to give up so easily. After all, if this plan were to succeed, the second prince would surely be able to claim the throne for himself.
The Jindao fighter had no choice but to pretend to agree. He sent a message to the Jinghun via a specialized technique.
Not long after that, the beast stampede began to evolve. Behind the current horde of beasts came a group of peak-grade ones, so densely packed together that the general's face crumpled.
Zhang Lie frowned.?That the peak-grade lifeforms would only appear now, and in such a large group...
The mastermind behind this stampede had to have been preparing this assault for a long time. This was a middle-sized world, and there were at least five hundred peak-grade lifeforms charging toward them. Such an incredible number of these lifeforms would have taken an equally long amount of time to prepare—and it would be trivial for them to destroy one weakly defended city after another.
After so much fighting, the guards were already getting weary. Many continued to fight despite their wounds; the biggest problem was their lacking medical supplies, rather than combat ability.
In order to protect the king of the realm, the general had prepared a month's worth of rations and medical supplies for the entire guard, but no one had expected this to be a prolonged siege. The medical supplies had been exhausted, and the reinforcements from the imperial troops had yet to arrive.
The beast horde seemed to have picked exactly this moment to strike.
"Protect his majesty! Protect him—retreat!" the general cried out.
The second prince immediately held them back. "General, we can't retreat! The capital's not a hundred miles away from us. If these peak-grade lifeforms were to break through, it would be a disaster for our kingdom!" contemporary romance
The general's face turned pale. "But his majesty—"
By then, the second prince had already unsheathed his sword and was about to behead the general when Zhang Lie appeared by his side and caught the second prince's blade.
The second prince was fast, but someone else had been faster.
"My goodness, second prince, whatever could you be doing?" Zhang Lie called out.
The general was so scared that he fell to the ground.
The second prince snorted as he sheathed his blade, knowing that he would have no further chances to kill the general. "During times of strife, how dare he disrupt the morale of the troops? None of us princes have sounded a retreat—it's no place for a general to countermand us."
Zhang Lie sighed. "He was only worried for his majesty's safety!"
The second prince narrowed his eyes, which gleamed with frost. "Do you mean that I don't care for my father, that I'd like him to die?!"
Zhang Lie ignored the second prince's idle pretense. "Who can say?"
The second prince's eyes burned with rage. "You—"
By this time, the crown prince had noticed what was going on and headed over to break up the conflict. "That's enough! The fourth-level beasts are about to attack us—we can't break out in internal conflict now!"
The second prince snorted. "For such a weak-willed general to be commanding us would be an even worse travesty."
The crown prince shook his head. "To kill the general of the guards at this crucial moment would be the worst thing you could do for morale."
The second prince snorted again. "I'll defer to you, eldest brother, but if this fellow dares talk about retreat again, I won't show him clemency. None of you will be able to deter me then, I assure you."
The general stood up. "Crown prince, are we truly not going to retreat?"
The crown prince shook his head. "The second prince's actions might have been inappropriate, but he didn't act without reason. Behind us lies the capital. If this fourth-level beast horde reaches it, it would spell disaster for our kingdom. If we contain the fighting here, those who perish will be guards—if we retreat, those who perish will be ordinary citizens!"
The general explained, "Crown prince, I'm not afraid of death, but your highness and his majesty are right here! Neither of you can perish!"
The crown prince shook his head. "Father hasn't spoken a word. No one can retreat now."
The general nodded firmly. "I understand, your highness!"
The crown prince declared, "Everyone, we fight to the last! The imperial troops will make their way over within half a day!"
As the defense continued, Zhang Lie put in more effort than before against the peak-grade horde. After all, he still had a lot of peak gene fragments that he needed to obtain.
"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!" Zhang Lie's fist smashed into the ground and sent ripples into the distance. The ripples erupted in a shockwave of force, making heaven and earth tremble. Roiling energy swept over the peak-grade horde, causing them to rampage in earnest.
Compared to superior-grade lifeforms, peak-grade ones were superior in all aspects. Even Zhang Lie couldn't take them down easily bare-handed. Even Zhang Lie had to take the fight seriously; the guards had it much worse.
The defensive lines seemed on the verge of breaking, and it was up to Zhang Lie to shore up any holes.
Zhang Lie's fists rippled with water-attuned genetic energy imbued with spatial force. The streams of water revolved more and more quickly around his wrist, augmented by the two streams of energy, sending a hurricane of force spiraling up around him.
The weaker staff hurriedly hid in tents; even the guards themselves seemed to be on the verge of being blown away.
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