Chapter 749: War (2)

The fleet commander watched the avenue clear beneath the strike.

Dozens of marked targets had disappeared. The commander ignored them and watched the figure escaping above the blast.

"He used our shot," the commander said.

The officer beside him kept his voice low. "Their other force moved before we fired."

"I can see that."

On the display, the withdrawing vampires had reached the broken buildings beside the avenue. Continuing to fire at the largest concentration would leave them behind cover while their pursuers remained exposed.

The commander pointed at the smaller formation.

"Don’t keep aiming where he wants. Track them separately."

The officer passed the order on.

"The ground formations will need to spread out if we continue bombardment, sir. Our people can’t descend through the impact areas."

"Then give them room to land."

The commander enlarged the streets around the two vampire forces. Much of the city was already damaged, and the fighting had opened a wide breach beneath the center of the conflict.

They would not clear every building and passage from above. Leaving the vampires scattered through the ruins would turn a battle into a hunt.

"Send the ground force. Secure the streets around the breach, then close in."

"All vampire targets?"

The commander held the officer’s gaze until he lowered his eyes.

"All vampire targets."

***

Cultivators descended from the ships.

Alex watched their ranks spread through the air. Weapons and protective formations brightened as they split toward different streets, giving each group room to land and fight.

"Vesa, tell Dorian they’re coming down on both sides."

"He sees them, King."

Thepes came at Alex before he could say more.

His next blood blade was thicker than the last. Alex caught it against the haft of his hammer, then turned the head into Thepes’s arm. Thepes moved with the blow and kept his balance, leaving Alex no opening for a second hit.

Mingyue’s sword passed close to his neck. Thepes pulled away, then sent blood down toward the surface.

The red-eyed vampires turned toward the descending soldiers.

Alex watched the first ranks change direction. Thepes was sending them against the Imperial soldiers, though his own blades remained aimed at Alex and Mingyue.

A group of Imperial cultivators landed near the avenue.

The first red-eyed bodies reached them before they finished spreading out. A soldier drove a spear through an attacker’s chest and tried to pull it free.

The body kept moving along the shaft. The soldier recoiled as it reached for his throat, but a blade of qi struck from the side and cut through its neck.

"Destroy the heads!" someone shouted.

The Imperial formation tightened.

The next attackers met several weapons instead of a single soldier. Fire spread over the fallen bodies while other cultivators struck the ones coming behind them.

Alex’s attention returned to the air as Thepes pressed between him and Mingyue. Alex lowered his hammer to catch a strike aimed at his leg, then drove a knee into Thepes’s chest to force him back. The wound had closed, but the healing had cost life force he would rather have used to attack.

A shot crossed the air behind Mingyue.

She turned through a purple line, reappearing outside its path. The weapon’s light passed between the three of them and struck a distant ruined building.

The fleet was firing at the leaders now.

Alex changed position as Mingyue had warned, keeping Thepes between himself and the closest weapon for as long as he could.

Thepes moved sideways and struck at Mingyue, forcing Alex to follow. He wouldn’t let Alex keep him in the ship’s line of fire.

The air filled with blood, purple ice, and green fire.

Below them, Dorian’s soldiers had met the second Imperial landing group.

One of the humans pointed past Dorian toward the red-eyed army. Dorian answered with his weapon raised, refusing to move aside while the wounded passed behind him. Alex couldn’t hear the words through the clash.

For a moment, the two groups faced one another without closing the distance.

Then an Imperial cultivator sent an attack toward Selene’s position. Dorian struck it aside and lunged at him. His soldiers closed around their commander, meeting the humans before they could reach the wounded.

Weapons met in the narrow street. The humans pushed forward in formation, while Dorian kept his people between them and the wounded.

The red-eyed vampires reached the fight a moment later and attacked whoever was closest.

An Imperial soldier turned to meet one and exposed his side to Dorian’s line. Dorian pulled his nearest fighter back rather than let him chase the opening into the new attackers.

"Stay with our wounded!" His voice reached Alex between two impacts. "Let the humans lose theirs."

The space between the three forces disappeared.

Selene shifted the wounded farther behind the defenders. One of the recovering Sovereigns tried to help the rear guard, but she sent him back to the injured soldier he had been carrying.

The soldier Dorian had pulled from the first blast lay behind Selene. His eyes were open, and one hand gripped the vampire supporting him. They had moved him out of the avenue, but he still couldn’t follow them without help.

An Imperial weapon turned toward that part of the street. Alex sent a rune barrier down before it could fire.

The shot hit the barrier and drove it into the broken wall behind Selene. Stone burst inward. The soldiers sheltering the wounded pulled them clear of the falling section.

Alex’s arm shook under the force passing through his formation. Before he could release it, Thepes struck.

Mingyue crossed in front of Alex and met the blood blade with both swords. Purple ice shattered between them, scattering across the rooftops.

"Watch him," she said.

Alex pulled the remaining runes back. He wanted to smash the weapon that had fired at his wounded, but Thepes would attack the moment he turned away. Mingyue had already covered for him twice. He couldn’t keep leaving her to fight alone whenever the fleet took aim.

"Vesa, keep Selene out of their direct fire. Dorian holds what he can. Don’t let them chase either side."

"Understood, King."

Alex moved beside Mingyue.

Thepes hovered in front of them, blood running down his arms. Beyond him, the Imperial warships shifted while their ground forces fought through the ruined streets.

Alex raised his hammer as Mingyue’s swords filled with purple light.

Thepes came forward, and another Imperial weapon began charging above them.