Chapter 163: The Cruel Encirclement
Chapter 163: The Cruel Encirclement
Chapter 163: The Cruel Encirclement
"Order received. I'll immediately prepare the team for battle," said Zhang Bao'er.
My confidence was boosted by Bao'er's promise. After the call, I left with Wind Spirit to meet Hakan again. Before leaving, Maley gave each of us a ray pistol. That was a sign of his trust in us. After passing through rows of soldiers, we stood before Hakan and Commander Lipu again.
"That was quick. Where is Maley?" asked Hakan.
"Brother, I already told Maley what's going on. The situation is clear for all to see. He can either surrender or face destruction," I replied, completely ignoring Hakan's idiotic plan.
"Very good. Only an outstanding person is capable of recognizing and submitting to circumstances. What did Maley say?" asked Hakan. Obviously, he himself did not believe in the stupid plan he wanted us to carry out.
"Chief Maley hopes to surrender with dignity. He will come with his personal guards. The rest of his soldiers will stay behind," I said.
"I'm not convinced. Maley is not the kind of person to surrender so easily," said Hakan. It was obvious that inwardly, he was still terrified of Maley.
"I can't do anything if you refuse to believe me. Whatever you decide to do, the two of you will still need to meet at least once. Feel free to just attack if you don't trust me," I refuted loudly.
"We can't attack! Commander Dilo is still with them. We must prioritize rescuing the commander," Lipu immediately objected.
Hakan was starting to get swayed upon hearing Lipo's objection.
"Maley's guards will be limited in number. Just tell him he can't bring more than 10 people with him. Have him wait 50 meters away from the platform," said Hakan after finally deciding to face Maley.
"Roger. I also need you to have the soldiers open a path for Maley and his people. I'll notify Chief Maley to surrender," I said.
And thus, Wind Spirit and I returned to Maley's command tent.
"Chief, everything is ready. Pick 10 guards to protect you. Wind Spirit and Master Crystal will remain and wait for my signal before leading the army here to break out. Remember, protect Commander Dilo well. He will be the perfect hostage for us," I said.
"Hero Canyue, are you going with me?" asked Maley as he handed me a flare gun.
"Yes. I'll be going with you so that I can fire the signal," I said.
"Excellent. I have notified the barbarian army to follow the order and attack after seeing the signal," said Maley.
With everything in place, we left the tent. Waiting outside were 10 sturdy and fierce ox-headed warriors. The leader of these guards was a big guy with dark skin. He was none other than the warrior who had led the charge to break the Kenante army's shield formation in the previous battle.
"Gajin, a bloody battle might be waiting for us. Are you and your guard team afraid?" asked Maley as he looked at the dark-skinned big guy.
"So long as I get to fight beside the chief, I won't be afraid even if the sky collapses on me," said Gajin as his battle intent surged.
"Good. Let us teach Hakan, the scum, a lesson," said Maley. With his command, the group marched forward with our heads held high.
The surrounding soldiers were rather shaken by Maley's imposing presence. As he walked, they parted to allow him passage. Before long, we arrived before the clones' defensive perimeter.
Following Hakan and Lipu's order, the clone soldiers moved aside to allow us passage. We ignored the numerous clones around us and strutted forward. Shortly after, we reached a circular opening 50 meters away from the command platform. The clone soldiers had formed a small packet of encirclement in advance.
"Hakan, I'm here. I thought you wanted to be a hero. Show yourself, coward. You can have my army. I was long tired of this position," said Maley loudly.
"Chief, have your people lay down their arms. The moment that is done, we can begin our joyful negotiation," said Hakan while hiding behind the clone soldiers.
"What a joke. You're surrounding us with so many people. Why are you still afraid of our weapons? The blood of the Wargod race flows in our veins. Since ancient times, we never lay down our arms. Are you trying to break the tradition?" refuted Maley loudly.
His words caused some disturbance among the soldiers. Even though they were clones, they still had the blood of the Wargod race in their veins. Laying down arms was the greatest insult to the honor of their kind. Thus, the clones also could not accept it.
Surprised by how much Hakan feared Maley, the uproar among the clone soldiers grew. Right at that moment, the crowd parted. Lipu and Hakan walked out of the encirclement. Following behind the two was Baron Sisse. The baron nodded at me, signaling that everything was fine.
"Chief Maley, as per your request, we're meeting face to face. You can officially hand your army over to me. We barbarians never go back on our words," said Hakan.
"Hehe. Yes, we barbarians never go back on our words. But how can a liar like you call yourself a barbarian?" Maley sneered.
'Shit! Maley is going to ruin the plan. He's a lying bastard himself. It's pointless to provoke Hakan here,' I thought.
"No, I wouldn't dare take the credit for that. When it comes to lying, I am nothing before a great liar like you, Chief. Now, we'll have to see if you're going to fulfill your promise," replied Hakan, conforming to my thoughts. At that moment, an ox-headed soldier stepped forth and whispered something into Lipu's ear.
"According to our initial plan, the attack on Gunda's army will resume after 10 minutes," announced Lipu.
'This is bad. We're running out of time. We need to start the operation immediately,' I thought anxiously.
Right after Lipu's announcement, a peculiar scene appeared. Loud roars erupted from the other side of the encirclement. It almost seemed like Gunda's army was launching an offensive to break free of the encirclement.
"What is going on?" asked Lipu when he heard the noise.
"This is bad, Commander. The surrounded Wargod soldiers are charging our blockade at the main road. About 10,000 of them are attacking together," reported a soldier anxiously.
"What? An attack by 10,000 soldiers? Are they trying to kill themselves?" asked Lipu in astonishment.
"Commander, ignore Gunda's army. No matter how many people they throw at you, it'll be the same as suicide. Deal with Maley first," said Hakan, pulling Lipu's attention back to the issue at hand.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear about the large-scale attack. It was like the heavens were helping me. This attack created a perfect opportunity for me. At that thought, I nodded at Maley and signaled him with my eyes.
"Maley, what do you want? We don't have the time to waste waiting for you to make your choice. Surrender or die," demanded Hakan loudly.
"Surrender your mother," a loud roar rang out. Then, I saw Gajin toss a black lance at Hakan. The lance shot straight toward Hakan's chest like a bolt of lightning.
The move stunned all the surrounding clone soldiers. Gajin had actually attacked when there was no doubt that we were the ones in the inferior position, catching all the clones by complete surprise.
However, Hakan was previously Maley's guard and was an experienced combatant. He leaned to the side by instinct as the black lance passed by the spot less than two centimeters away from his body and stabbed into the clone soldier behind him.
The lance was astonishingly powerful, killing the clone soldier before the clone could even make a sound. After several seconds of silence, an uproar erupted among the clones who had seen their comrade fall.
"Kill them!" ordered Lipu.
The clone soldiers raised their weapons and swarmed us.
"Prepare for battle!" I roared as I aimed my ray pistol at one of the charging soldiers and pulled the trigger. I was able to penetrate the soldier's shield after several shots and dropped the soldier.
As the soldier fell, I saw Baron Sisse activate his morph-capable shield as he evaded the attacks from several clone soldiers, cutting quite a sorry figure.
"Catch!" I shouted as I tossed a ray pistol at the baron.
Baron Sisse caught the pistol and shot several times at a clone soldier before him. After dropping the soldier, he rushed to my side. The battlefield had turned into a chaotic melee. One ought to admit that Maley's guards were exceptionally bold and powerful. They formed a formation and relied on their years of experience working together to fight madly.
Although the clones had the numerical advantage, they were unable to unify their offensive. Because of that, they were unable to seize the initiative of the battle. Gajin was the bravest of them all. With his axe, he attacked furiously. He even left the formation several times due to his bloodlust and had to be called back by Maley.
"Hero Canyue, you should be ordering your people to attack now, right?" asked Maley, breathing heavily from the fight.
The battlefield around us was in chaos. The clones had separated their army due to the attack by Gunda's army, so this was our best chance to break free. At that thought, I fired the flare into the sky without hesitation. After firing the flare signal, both the baron and I joined the battle. Now, all we could do was wait for an opening so that we could break free.
In the sky, the mechanical birds of both parties were also engaged in a chaotic battle. Both sides were clearly marked by different emblems, and the barbarians were not disadvantaged in terms of the quantity of their mechanical birds. The battle in the sky was intense, and destroyed mechanical birds were constantly dropping down.
Baron Sisse and I were both hidden right in the middle of the circular formation formed by Maley's guards while we attacked with our ray pistols. After more than 10 minutes, the corpses of the clone soldiers had piled into a miniature hill around us.
Admiringly, of the 10 guards, not one of them had fallen. Their combat strength and physical qualities are frighteningly strong. Suddenly, the clone soldiers around us pulled back, leaving a blank space in front of us.
We couldn't understand why they did that, but we grabbed the opportunity to take a short break. All the guards were breathing heavily. The short battle had been incredibly exhausting. The empty gap kept growing, eventually reaching a size of 30 square meters. Our circular formation was directly in the center of it.
"What is Hakan doing this time? Everyone, be on alert and maintain the formation. Canyue, why is your army still not here?" asked Maley loudly.
Only then did I notice that I had joined the battle the moment I fired the flare signal. I had not been communicating with Zhang Bao'er. At that thought, I took out the communicator the barbarians had given me from my backpack. I was about to contact Zhang Bao'er when I heard the sound of bows being pulled from behind the encirclement around us.