City of Sin

Book 5, 55

The New Generation(2)

The last thing out of the portal was the astral chrysalis. At three metres wide and ten metres long, the silent beast was the most imposing presence here.

As the veterans looked at Richard, his sea of knights, the strange creature floating in the air, and back at the ruins surrounding the teleportation gate, they were suddenly overcome by despair. Because of the high cost of transporting troops to this plane, they had slowly accumulated a certain amount of status here. As the backbone of the war, they had grown untameable, even disregarding some of Senma’s orders. Gaton was the only one they served wholeheartedly.

However, here was a full army of elite soldiers breathing down their necks. They were no longer the central force on this battlefield, which meant they lost all rights to make any demands. All of the knights coming out the portal were armed to the teeth with superior-grade equipment, while the rune knights shimmered with a magical glow. As for Richard’s followers, their equipment was on an entirely different level. Compared to them, even the generals here seemed like peasants.

The past had just been buried under the ruins of their teleportation hall. These survivors of the old generation realised that they would soon be replaced as well.

Once all the troops gathered, Richard mounted his unicorn and turned to Senma, “We’re setting off immediately, have your troops join us in the base camp.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

After giving her some further instructions, Richard mobilised his army of knights and rushed a few dozen kilometres away to where the base camp was located. Senma waited for him to be a considerable distance away before casting a glance at the restless veterans who had been assigned to guard the portal, sighing and heading to her command post.

“Miss Senma, wait!” An older man blocked her path, “What about us?”

“Sigh... What do you mean?”

As other soldiers gathered around, one middle-aged man spoke up, “That Richard... Lord... Richard... Is he going to war?”

“Yes, my Lord is going to break through the Godtear Rift and fight all the way to the Godnest.”

“How is that...” Whoever had that question in mind quickly shut up as they recalled the hundred rune knights Richard had brought over.

“Then what about us? You’ll take us there too, right?” another veteran asked uneasily.

“You lot...” Senma sighed, deciding that she couldn’t avoid the truth, “You’re going to stay and guard the base.”

“We’re warriors, not guards!” The soldiers started to make a din. However, unlike before Richard’s arrival, their words were now said with a pleading tone instead of a threatening one.

“You’re to stay here and guard, that is an order!” Senma’s tone brooked no room for discussion, leaving the veterans with no choice but to let her go. Despite their unwillingness, they eventually scattered.

Richard’s abrupt departure had said more than enough about his need for these soldiers. She knew there was no room for sloppy and disobedient soldiers in his army, regardless of power. While these veterans were powerful, they largely fought as individuals in battle.

When she returned to her post, she mobilised only a thousand elite light infantry for the expedition. However, when she took a look at the list of materials in the warehouse she was shocked by just how short it was. It was a lot for Gaton’s standards, but from what she had heard, the astral chrysalis could now store almost a thousand tonnes of materials. The only thing she needed to provide was food, but even with that Richard was prepared for emergencies. Several tonnes of fresh beef had been placed within the chrysalis as well, serving as food for the shadowspear knights. If it was cooked properly, it could also be served to regular soldiers as well. Besides, those on the level of rune knights were individually strong enough to digest raw meat more effectively than cooked food.

Even though her resources paled in both quantity and quality, Senma decided to make the best use of them. After an hour spent drawing up logistics plans, she took out half the goods from the warehouse and mobilised a logistics team of more than 3,000 soldiers to take charge of protection and delivery. They would set out early the next day, working under the assumption that Richard could cover any deficiencies they had.

Looking at the plan in her hand, Senma sighed once more. She knew that this was all pointless to Richard and his astral chrysalis, only the roars of a clawless lion into the empty void. However, she wanted to give her soldiers a chance to showcase their organisational abilities and at least redeem themselves a little in Richard’s eyes.

With Richard and his elites here, the 20,000 soldiers already present had lost all their purpose in a flash. Their best use now was merely occupying the territory and keeping things stable.

As she put her legs on the desk out of habit, staring into the ceiling, she felt the same disappointment the old soldiers did. She was likely the only one on this entire plane who was even slightly valuable to Richard; with his bottomless coin purse, hoards of locals could be bought over without issue. The few hundred veterans were immeasurably loyal to the Archeron family itself, but if they didn’t change allegiance he would just crush them with numbers. They might be able to deal with twice their numbers, perhaps even thrice, but what if he sent ten thousand soldiers all armed to the teeth?

The ruins of the portal flashed before her eyes once more. Gaton was no more, and it was now Richard’s time. The two had vastly different styles, and Richard’s mark would slowly overwrite Gaton’s in the future. Everyone, including her, had a choice to make. They could either change with the times, or slowly die off as relics of the past.

When the troops finally gathered, she adjusted the sabre by her waist before taking large strides out from the command post.

......

With the continent being so small, the Resting Orchid Plane generally had the same climate from north to south. The constant hail and snow was unbearably oppressive, each flake the size of a young child’s fist. Sometimes the snow was piled so high that even large warhorses would occasionally sink in completely.

After an entire week of marching forward, Richard finally had a taste of the arduous climate of the plane. The temperature was often several dozen degrees below freezing, and without experienced guides marching through these snowy lands was a great danger in itself. There were bottomless pits on either side of the elevated path that could instantly kill a horse.

Richard had gathered about 5,000 of the troops already stationed here and reorganised them along the way. By the time they reached the Godtear Rift, he now had a passable group of soldiers in them. With the new arrangements, more than 20,000 soldiers would be at the Godtear Rift. 5,000 were manning the base city, while less than 3,000 were spread throughout the rest of the territory to maintain order. Senma had expressed her concerns over potential revolts, but he had waved them off. The shadowspears would be enough to crush any rebellion.