Chapter 198 — The Cult's Prestige
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
The bronze-masked man was about to shout a warning when suddenly those great banners snapped and rolled, and at once three hundred sixty banners appeared within the city. Beneath them, strange figures in bamboo hats, each bearing a long cloth bundle on his back, abruptly shook out the banners—and tens of thousands of Jingping troops from beyond the city suddenly appeared within Daxiang City!
And only then did the bronze-masked man's voice come: "To arms—"
But it was already too late.
As the three hundred sixty strange figures furled their banners, beneath them appeared one murderous face after another, gripping sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, killing intent soaring to the heavens.
Beneath the banner cloth, golden-armored giants appeared together with cloud chariots; at the stern of the huge tower ships, bronze beasts had already begun spewing flame; great birds beat their wings and whipped up fierce winds.
When the great banners were fully furled into small flags, the battle cries had already risen. From the sword caskets came the sound of blades leaving their sheaths, mingled with earth-shaking roars.
This moment seemed to pass with extreme slowness, so slow that one could mark every shift in every face—from murderous to ferocious, from blank to panic-stricken.
The spray of blood as flying swords cut through living bodies seemed to burst forth from within by degrees and scatter through the air; the instant a head flew from its neck had a strange, poignant beauty.
"Elephant Transformation!"
A roar came, shattering that brief moment. A general of the infantry bellowed in fury, and thousands of infantry roared, their bodies swaying as they transformed into elephant-headed giants and suddenly charged the rebel army, scattering it.
And the cavalry had already surged into the sky, then swooped down, numberless flying swords raining downward like rain.
"Fire Gourds!"
Upon the tower ships, a command flag was waved, and the officers and soldiers aboard took the red gourds, half a man's height, from their backs and pulled out the stoppers. At once raging true fire spewed down from the ships, burning the defenders upon the city walls, turning countless souls into men of fire!
Boom—
A column of golden-armored strongmen hauled the cloud chariots, crushing countless soldiers beneath them along the way, and smashed savagely into the city wall, battering down several hundred zhang of it; the burning men upon the wall plunged down in droves. And beyond the walls, the Grand General Champion and the Grand General Huaihua raised high their spear and halberd, pointing toward Daxiang City, while behind them the countless hosts of Jingping raised the cry of battle, surging forward from the air and from the ground like a tide.