No Repeats

The battle outside the wall

Yu Li was charging full speed towards the city gates when suddenly he was plunged into darkness. The frontline troops immediately stopped running as they stood bewildered at the sudden change. Stopping was a deadly mistake when the waves of men and horses behind them tried to do the same but was impeded by momentum. It became a stampede as horses and men trampled to death other men.

The collective screams of thousands of troops and horses that perished from the sudden shift into darkness mingled with the smell of blood, flesh and dusk made Yu Li's senses heighten with bloodlust. His eyes scanned the suffocating pitch blackness that surrounds them, unable to even see his own hands let alone a few paces ahead and only relying on his hearing and other remaining senses.

Raged filled his mind as he shouted instructions for the everyone to stop moving and stay still. This instruction was repeated down the line by his captains and commanders to ensure that those hundreds of thousands of troops all receive the same message.

Yu Li flew upwards and tried to slash open the magical barrier that have plunged them into absolute darkness, but it was a futile endeavour. Frustrated and sweating with the exertion, Yu Li had to give up and regroup to think about his next steps.

"Lu Tai, this must be the Light and Spirit rune from the legends," said Yu Li as he landed next to his trusted captain.

"It must be, but who can have such power to cast a rune this size and control hundreds of thousands of people?" asked Lu Tai.

"To think that the Murong clan had someone so powerful. I underestimated them. Regardless, it won't be able to hold on for much longer after all, this rune uses too much energy that even the highest level of cultivation would only be able to sustain it for an hour. Maybe he is buying time, but once the powers fade, we will be back in full force," said Yu Li.

"He must be moving their troops into advantageous positions so that once the magic fails, we will be pierced on all sides," speculated Lu Tai.

"Let him try, I have confidence in our troops. For now, to prevent more deaths, no one is to move from their position, we will wait this out," said Yu Li arrogantly.

Bai Ye looked down on the hundreds of thousands of troops that stood at attention and the horses being tied together and smiled. The rune plunges those inside in darkness but to everyone outside it everything is visible. The troops on the city walls was perplexed why the Northwest army have chosen to remain stationary. They knew that the stampede previously must have been caused by this scary man in front of them.

The captains who had accompanied the Grand General here feared for their lives from both this man and the army below. They stood stunned and unable to think of the next move. Do they flee or do they use this opportunity to attack the Northwest army?

"This is war and your Grand General is dead. That is your current reality. You are left in the position of control, so stop hesitating and use your training to do what is required to defend yourselves and your family. I have helped you and turned them to sitting ducks, so why don't you take advantage of this situation and decimate them?" shouted Bai Ye.

At his words, the captains immediately woke up  and understood the significance of their situation. They are officers of the army, politics had nothing to do with them and they have been long trained to do as their superior's command. The reality before them is that the Northwest has a reputation for mass slaughter and the Huang General had shown no signs of sparing those who wants to surrender.

If that is the case, then they should continue to defend against the enemy until things can be resolved at the top. The captains decided to leave the politics to the politicians and  take advantage of the situation that Bai Ye had handed to them on a silver platter. They subconsciously and collectively placed Bai Ye as their temporary commander in this frontline battle.