Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

And while the South may have been resolved for now, the North was still in the thick of it. The past several days have been nothing but constant fighting and Kong Zhi's forces sought to break through the North Fort. 

The ground before this great fortress was riddled with the bodies of demons and of humans, more the former than the latter. 

It was beginning to resemble the battle within the Boundless Beast Forest.  From the ruined land to the thick metallic scent of blood, this battle was far from over. 

"Again, fire!" 

Du Xiu shouted as his soldiers released another wave of arrows upon the enemy. 

"Kong Zhi must really be determined to take down this fortress", he thought, "This is practically his entire army but, it will be difficult to win this." 

Unlike before, the demons didn't charge forward like a swarm but they slowly advanced, moving in waves. They were organized, split into different forces. 

"One charges the gates, the other focuses the walls, and a third goes after the defenses. Fortunately, we have a barrier from Zi Jing, how long would it last?" he wondered.

The commander continued to watch from the walls, looking to see some weakness in their formations. In truth, there were many but, none of them were worth the cost. They were small, insignificant to the whole of Kong Zhi's army. 

"Something has to change..." he knew that much. 

A siege like this would bring both forces down to their knees. The North Fort may have the resources and the manpower but it was the commander's job to keep the losses to a minimum. 

"How should I draw him out?"

He thought for a moment before stepping forward, showing his face at the foremost wall for everyone to see. 

"Kong Zhi!"

His voice boomed across the battlefield, echoing into the demon's ears. Suddenly, the fighting came to a stop as they all looked at Du Xiu. Kong Zhi, who had been watching from the backlines walked forward with a look of mockery. 

"What is it, commander? Are you admitting defeat?" he questioned. 

Du Xiu shook his head, snapping back at the demon. 

"No, no, never. I was just curious about your disappearance. No sign of you since the Boundless Beast Forest and now you come to lay siege on this fortress. I'm curious, so very curious. Whose power did you borrow from this time?"

Hearing those last words, Kong Zhi's face dropped to a frown.

"What did you just say?" 

He walked forward until he was in front of his army, staring up at Du Xiu. Holding onto his halberd axe, the commander leaped down from the walls, landing right in front of him. And then, he repeated himself. 

"I asked, whose power did you borrow from now? Because clearly, whatever it is, it is not worth mentioning."

Du Xiu continued with a smile on his face, bringing his weapon over his shoulders and circling the demon. 

"You lost to me with this 'Vajra Bloodline' of yours, so you run back like a coward and come back acting as if you are so great. So tell me, what makes you so confident this time?" he asked. 

With this, he would not only enrage Kong Zhi but perhaps learn of what he was put to. 

As for the demon in question, he was silent. Seething with rage as he took in deep breaths before finally releasing it and smiling. 

"Ahahaha, did you think I would fall for such provocations?! Now, look at where you are! Within my army and surrounded! Were you trying to trick me or was it the other way around?" 

As he spoke, various demons slowly closed in on Du Xiu, holding their weapons menacingly at him. But the commander was unperturbed by this situation of his, he only looked at Kong Zhi, staring at him in the eyes. 

"Let's see then, if you can win with your fake power."

He then slammed the butt of his weapon into the ground, cracking it and causing the land to tremble. 

"Release!" 

As he shouted, the thirty-meter tall walls began to tremble as stone and metal shifted around, revealing windows all throughout it. From the sounds of cranking and grinding, the bolts of the gate began to unlock just as something emerged from each opening in the walls. The noise only ended moments later as the soldiers in the frontlines retreated to the gate, holding their swords and shields in position.

"Break their formation! Decimate everything!"

As he shouted those last few words, the cannons began to whir and hum as a faint light formed in the barrels. 

Lifting his weapon out of the ground, Du Xiu wielded it with two hands, gripping it tightly as his arms bulged out. Using nothing but his strength and technique, he lifted it and swung down on Kong Zhi.

The demon whose attention had been on the fort suddenly turned to see a blade swinging down on him.

In that split second, he could defend or evade and he chose to defend. Bringing his warhammer up high to meet the strike, he used all six arms to block the attack with the shaft.

"What can he do? My warhammer is made completely out of Deepwater Steel!"

He was confident and yet, there was a tinge of doubt within him. But it was too late to change his decision and the halberd axe came for Kong Zhi. 

The moment it touched the warhammer, Kong Zhi felt his entire body forced down to the ground. The commander struck the same spot from before, shattering the ground and causing a shockwave to burst out with a thundering boom. 

From the cracks of the ground, there was a faint red glow as steam began to rise. All of the demons around him took a step back without even thinking, looking at him in fear. 

Although this old man was the not biggest or the most intimidating. In that moment, his eyes seemed to burn with a raging fire. 

"It's time to end this."

He muttered to Kong Zhi.

And that was when the cannons roared to life, spitting out fiery blaze upon any unlucky demon. Soon enough, it had become a sea of flames as screams echoed through the battlefield. Chaos had been sown and suddenly, everything was in shambles. 

After all, who would've expected the North Fort to have such defenses? These were flames hot enough to melt stone. Now, how were they supposed to attack? Were they going to have to brave these flames?

"Clans of Huo, step forward! Divert the flames and reverse them!"

"Clans of Ao, douse those flames! Destroy the cannons!"

That was when the subordinates of Kong Zhi stepped in. In this case, the Huilu King and Azure Dragon Queen. The former led the Huo Clans whilst the latter led the Ao Clans. 

As they both commanded their own regiments, the various clans moved forward to deal. Holding their hands towards the walls, both groups chanted loudly.

"Hmm..."

Having seen this Di Xiu leaped away, retreating back to the gate just as it opened, revealing all of the soldiers poised for battle. Aside from them all were the Yao Clan and Ling Xue, who stood next to him with her flute. 

"To think they would be able to have brought these clans over. The Huo Clan and the Ao Clan are the strongest bloodlines that govern fire and water, respectively. As for the ones commanding them, they could only be their clan leaders, Huo Shen, and Ao Shuang", Ling Xue couldn't help but speak of this. 

After all, these two clans were of the same caliber as the Yao Clan and the Mu Clan, part of the hundred strongest bloodlines. And that would be proven before Du Xiu and the forces of the Five Armies. 

With each word they spoke, the flames were beginning to disperse, moving back towards the fortress. Then the clouds began to gather and rain soon came down. In minutes, there were no more flames, clearing the field. 

Now, both sides were at odds with each other.