Death... and me

Chapter 4317: As He Said

Wurshan was taken aback by Roan’s words. In an instant, he recalled Roan’s earlier warning that everyone stationed in the first and second defensive lines was likely nothing more than a sacrifice meant to delay the enemy’s advance.

Until now, the momentum of their battalion had been so overwhelming that he had unconsciously stopped paying attention to the condition of the neighboring battalions. Their own success had blinded him to the battlefield around them, and only now did reality come crashing back down on him.

[19... 18... 17...]

"This..." Wurshan muttered under his breath as his eyes widened.

Only then did he realize how catastrophic the situation around them had become. Most of the surrounding battalions had already lost over half of their members, and the remaining cultivators were being relentlessly swallowed by the endless tide of Godly Creatures flooding the battlefield from every direction.

The situation had deteriorated to the point where many cultivators had completely lost their courage. Some abandoned formation and tried to flee on their own, but that only worsened the collapse even further. Their escape opened even more gaps in the already fragile defensive structure, allowing the Godly Creatures to pour through like a broken dam. Worse still, while retreating, those fleeing cultivators had to cross the relatively empty space between the first and second defensive lines.

Out there, without proper protection or formation support, they became easy prey.

Godly Creatures that had already broken through several collapsing battalions immediately pounced on those isolated cultivators. One after another, panicked screams echoed throughout the battlefield as the fleeing soldiers were dragged down before they could even reach safety.

[16... 15... 14...]

Roan’s group also began to retreat, though unlike the others, their withdrawal remained perfectly organized. The battalion moved in layers, rotating aerial and ground cultivators according to Roan’s previous instructions. Even during retreat, their structure barely showed signs of disorder.

Soon, they fully detached themselves from what remained of the first defensive line, if that ruined formation could still be called a defensive line at all.

However, they were not the only survivors still capable of organized movement. Although Roan’s battalion was unquestionably in the best condition among all nearby forces, a few other battalions had somehow managed to endure until now. Those commanders quickly noticed the difference between Roan’s orderly retreat and the complete chaos elsewhere.

Before long, Wurshan began receiving message after message through the RCs from nearby battalion commanders, all desperately requesting assistance. Compared to the rest, Wurshan’s battalion still possessed shocking combat strength.

Naturally, there was no way Wurshan could possibly help everyone.

"Tell them to join us instead," Roan said calmly, his expression completely unchanged despite the battlefield collapsing around them. "If they can provide an extra layer of protection around our battalion, even better. At this point, there is nothing else the first defensive line can accomplish anymore."

Wurshan nodded and immediately relayed the message to the nearby commanders. Still, offering the invitation and actually reaching Roan’s battalion were two entirely different matters.

Many groups were simply too far away.

Others were already trapped by swarms of Godly Creatures.

Some tried to force their way toward Roan’s formation, only to be intercepted midway and swallowed before they could arrive.

[9... 8... 7...]

As the final seconds of the Yin Yang Sanctuary ticked away, Roan issued another order without hesitation. "Tell everyone the Godly Pressure of the Godly Creatures will return at any moment. The Sacred Relic’s influence has limits. Now that attacks are coming from every direction, the Relic won’t be able to suppress the concentrated Godly Pressure of so many creatures at once."

Wurshan swallowed hard after hearing that.

He knew exactly how terrible that news was.

Once the Godly Pressure returned, it would not only weaken their cultivators again, but would also help the Godly Creatures themselves recover most of theirs. Their bodies, instincts, and bloodlines would all become far more oppressive under the restored pressure of the battlefield.

Only now did Wurshan fully understand why Roan had insisted on preserving everyone’s stamina from the very beginning.

"No wonder you wanted to conserve everyone’s energy as much as possible..." Wurshan said with a pale expression. "I’ll warn everyone immediately."

Finally...

[3... 2... 1...]

[Yin Yang Sanctuary deactivated.]

[Cooldown: 24 hours.]

The moment the Sanctuary vanished, the atmosphere of the battlefield changed instantly.

The surviving members of the nearby battalions finally reached Roan’s group and merged into their retreating formation. At the exact same time, however, the pursuing Godly Creatures also arrived right behind them, almost as if the timing had been predetermined from the start.

The oppressive Godly Pressure returned like an invisible mountain crashing onto everyone’s shoulders.

Even though everyone had mentally prepared themselves for it, many cultivators still groaned as their bodies suddenly felt heavier. Their spiritual energy circulation slowed, breathing became more difficult, and the pressure weighing on their souls intensified dramatically.

Still, none of them suspected the true existence of the Yin Yang Sanctuary.

To everyone present, the appearance of the pressure simply seemed like the natural consequence of the Sacred Relic reaching its limit under the overwhelming concentration of Godly Creatures.

In that sense, the Sanctuary had achieved the perfect outcome.

Its existence remained hidden while still extracting the maximum possible advantage from the battlefield.

[Godly Beasts Killed: 783]

As soon as the Sanctuary disappeared, the speed at which the kill count increased also plummeted sharply. From this point onward, only kills directly related to the twins’ group, or battles where they were the main contributing force, would continue being counted.

Sister Orb’s voice echoed through the soul connection shared between the four of them.

[Well, you already got three Orb Points in a single minute. Even without the Sanctuary, getting past eight hundred kills should still be easy.]

Roan showed no interest whatsoever in the numbers right now.

’We can look at the kill count after we survive this battle.’

"Tell everyone we’re increasing our pace," Roan ordered once more. "The first defensive line has completely collapsed. If we don’t reach the second defensive line quickly, we’ll get surrounded from every side."

At this stage, nobody questioned Wurshan’s orders anymore.

Even Fushio remained silent.

The reality before everyone’s eyes was undeniable. Among all the battalions originally stationed in the first line, theirs was one of the very few groups still capable of maintaining cohesion. Small groups of survivors continued joining them from different directions, but aside from those remnants, nearly every other battalion nearby had already fallen apart.

Fushio himself clearly understood that, had Wurshan (or Roan) not taken command from the start, his battalion would likely have already been annihilated like the Godly Creatures.

Their retreat accelerated.

The aerial cultivators protected the skies while the ground cultivators rotated continuously according to Roan’s commands, minimizing exhaustion as much as possible. Despite the increasing pressure, the battalion still moved with remarkable efficiency.

At the center of it all, Rean and Celis became the greatest stabilizing force of the entire formation.

The two coordinated seamlessly with the Battalion’s Aura Gods, intercepting the strongest Godly Beasts before they could wreak havoc among the weaker cultivators. Through their soul connection with Roan and Kentucky, commands and reactions flowed instantly without requiring a single spoken word or RC transmission.

Again and again, powerful Godly Beasts attempting to break into the formation were either frozen in place, cut down, or blasted away before they could create chaos.

Finally, the second defensive line became visible in the distance.

Seeing it, Roan finally gave a slight nod of satisfaction.

Wurshan, however, suddenly received another series of RC messages. His expression turned somewhat strange afterward.

"They’re complaining about our presence here," he reported. "They’re saying our battalion should be further ahead on the battlefield instead of retreating."

Roan snorted coldly. "Hmph! Let them complain."

His gaze swept across the devastated battlefield behind them. "After everything we accomplished in the first defensive line, the higher-ups would have to be insane to punish us. Our contribution was simply too massive. The RC recordings alone are enough proof."

He then continued in the same calm tone as always. "We’ve killed well over ten thousand Godly Spawns already, and we’re approaching one thousand Godly Beasts. What this battalion accomplished today is nothing short of a miracle."

At long last, they reached the second defensive line.

Naturally, once they arrived there, Roan’s battalion could no longer continue retreating. If the second line collapsed as well, only then would another withdrawal become possible.

Still, there was now something rather surprising about the battalion itself.

Originally, it had started with around eight hundred members. By the time the Yin Yang Sanctuary disappeared, they had already lost roughly a hundred cultivators.

Yet now, after absorbing survivors from destroyed battalions, their total numbers had risen to well over twelve hundred members.

More importantly, a huge portion of those new arrivals were Aura Gods.

That outcome made perfect sense. Aura Gods naturally possessed far greater survival chances due to their superior strength, speed, and combat awareness. Most weaker cultivators had already died long before managing to reach Roan’s formation.

Another fortunate aspect was that the commanders of those destroyed battalions could not interfere with the internal command structure of Wurshan’s battalion. Technically speaking, the battalion still belonged to Fushio in name, but by this point, everyone understood who was truly directing the entire force. Yes, Roan was still a shadow in all of this, Wurshan taking all the credit together with Fushio. It was a good thing Roan couldn’t care less about it.

"Pass another order to the new members," Roan said. "They have ten seconds to decide whether they want to stay with us or transfer somewhere else. I won’t try convincing anyone to remain here. They can make their own decision."

He narrowed his eyes slightly before adding, "And make sure they understand one thing clearly. The surrounding battalions are still full of energy."

Unlike Roan’s exhausted forces.

The meaning behind those words was obvious.

Any cultivator who wasn’t part of their battalion initially and who was seeking safety or easier combat conditions still had time to leave.

"The battalions around us have already started engaging the next wave of Godly Creatures," Roan continued. "Things will deteriorate quickly from here onward. I don’t have time to wait before assigning the newcomers their positions and responsibilities."

Wurshan accepted the order immediately.

At this point, he no longer questioned Roan’s decisions, nor did he ask for explanations.

He would simply do exactly as Roan instructed from now on.