Chapter 1072 - 878: Obtaining the Second Layer Key (2)

Throughout his long military career, no one ever defeated him in direct combat after he fused the Earth Element Rules with the power of his physical body.

The Duke spread the fingers of his right hand, palm facing upward.

Dark red, earthy yellow, pale green, azure... the light of the four elemental rules simultaneously illuminated in his palm. This time, he did not attach the Four-Color Divine Light to any medium; instead, a purely and highly compressed fusion of the four rules directly coalesced into a semi-transparent palm in his hand.

The four-color light surged and flowed within the palm, like four different-colored lightnings forcibly confined in the same container, with each collision sparking a circle of visible energy ripples along the edges of the palm.

Victor’s fist collided with the four-color light palm, and the scene seemed to slow down a thousand times.

The earthy yellow light on Victor’s fist was immediately extinguished upon contact with the four-color light palm, without even a blink of resistance.

Next came the skin, muscle, and bone on the back of his hand—the Earth Element Rules he had integrated into his flesh shattered inch by inch under the crushing power of the Four-Color Divine Light, and before the splinters of bone and flesh could scatter, they were engulfed by the light itself.

After shattering his fist, the four-color light palm continued forward, its palm pressed against the center of his chest, then pierced through without any hindrance.

Victor’s body paused briefly in midair, his eyes wide open, pupils reflecting the palm piercing through his chest.

His eyes swirled with extreme shock, unwillingness, and a realization that surfaced just before his consciousness faded away.

He had poured all his power into the attack, completely underestimating the strength of the palm.

At the instant he saw the four-color light palm, his proud Earth Element Rules perception belatedly informed him of a fact: the power of this unassuming young man’s casual strike was separated by an insurmountable chasm from his all-out blow.

Victor’s body fell from midair, crashing heavily onto the fragmented stone floor.

His chest had a palm-shaped hole, its edges smooth as if meticulously polished, with no traces of blood or flesh, only a faint layer of four-color light halo slowly spreading.

The Duke withdrew his right hand, the four-color light gradually dissipating from his fingertips.

He glanced down at Victor’s corpse before turning away, vanishing from the hall as a gentle breeze.

Victor had nothing left of value to the Duke; the statue was the greatest reward.

...

When Victor’s corpse was discovered by the trusted aide, the edge of the palm-shaped hole still had remnants of faint four-color light halo.

The Guard Captain squatted to inspect the wound, and as he stood up, his face was as pale as paper. He announced Victor’s death to the generals gathering around the tent in a hoarse voice, plunging the entire rebel army camp into silence.

This silence lasted only a moment before being utterly shattered by sudden chaos.

Victor had not designated an heir, left no will regarding the transfer of power, nor said a final word to any subordinate.

He had forcibly united this diverse army with an iron grip, and now that grip vanished with him.

Lieutenants gathered in the temporary command center’s hall around the oak table still spread with maps, locked in heated debate.

Victor’s most trusted cavalry general advocated for an immediate breakout northward with the main forces, retreating to the rebel army’s long-held border territory to regroup. He believed that Silver Shield City’s flat terrain favored cavalry warfare, and while the Kingdom Army’s main forces had not yet encircled them, there was still a chance for a breakthrough.

Another official responsible for logistics and civil affairs advised holding their ground and negotiating with the Kingdom Army using Silver Shield City as a bargaining chip to secure terms of amnesty. He repeatedly emphasized that the rebel army controlled nearly a third of the Osseron Kingdom’s territory, enough for the Kingdom to take them seriously even with Victor dead.

A few front-line generals drew their swords and slammed them on the table, declaring they would not accept amnesty and would fight to the last man. They had risen with Victor from humble beginnings as commoners and mine slaves; amnesty was akin to a death sentence for them, preferring to die on the battlefield rather than surrender.

The argument persisted for nearly two hours with no resolution.

Meanwhile, news spread from the camp’s center like ink in water, fear rapidly permeating down the command chain.

The first problem arose with an infantry regiment stationed south of Silver Shield City. Upon receiving the news of Victor’s death, the regiment commander immediately departed with his personal guard, leaving only a few worthless personal items and a paper pinned to a wooden pillar with a dagger behind.

The deputy commander stared at the paper for a few seconds, then left with his contingent to follow.

In just thirty minutes, an infantry regiment of over a thousand men disintegrated into countless fleeing soldiers.

Simultaneously, the garrison on Silver Shield City’s east wall voluntarily opened the city gate.

The officer in charge of east city defenses was himself a local noble of Silver Shield City, initially forced to surrender by Victor’s forces; now, with Victor dead, he immediately sent his trusted aides to deliver a letter of surrender to the Kingdom Army’s vanguard building their camp on the plains.

The Kingdom Army’s vanguard commander was overjoyed upon receiving the surrender letter, swiftly dispatching two thousand cavalry to seize the east city gate at once, while ordering the main forces in the rear to advance at full speed.

Two thousand royal cavalry organized into neat wedge formations, their horses’ hoofs clattering crisply on the cobblestone roads, raising the Osseron Kingdom’s royal Gold Lion banner high as they swiftly advanced towards the city center.

The rebel army stragglers encountered along the way were either scattered or cut down, facing virtually no organized resistance.

As Silver Shield City fell, the original City Lord previously imprisoned by the rebel army led dozens who escaped the cells amidst the chaos to seize weapons from the west city’s arsenal. Using crossbows and javelins in stock, they blocked key routes connecting the West District to the outside, ambushing several groups attempting to flee west.

By noon, the Kingdom Army’s main forces reached Silver Shield City.

Three hundred thousand troops advanced simultaneously from east, south, and north; the eastern cavalry already controlled the East District, the southern heavy infantry steadily advanced along Silver Shield City’s main street, and northern light cavalry flanked and compressed the rebel army’s main forces within a narrow area of less than two square miles in the West District.

Among the rebel army, only one unit remained intact enough to attempt organized resistance, numbering only a few thousand, most were veterans who had followed Victor since he rebelled from Grey Rock City.

They entrenched around the Earl’s Mansion, reinforcing the mansion’s walls into makeshift fortifications, valiantly counterattacking using the Earl’s Mansion’s stock of bows and pitch.

Two cavalry units attempted to break their defensive line but were repelled twice by crossfire, until infantry pressed forward with heavy siege shields from the front and cavalry encircled from behind, cutting off retreat routes, finally crushing this last resisting force.

When the Earl’s Mansion’s walls were smashed open by siege hammers, the wounded inside had no arrows left. They drew short knives and rushed the Kingdom Army soldiers flooding in, falling one after another along the charge; the last fallen soldier died clutching a blood-soaked Red Sun Banner.

As the last rebel flag was torn down from Silver Shield City’s West City Wall, there were no rebel soldiers left standing in the West District.

The streets were littered with abandoned weapons, trampled flags, and bodies sprawled everywhere, while Kingdom Army officers organized the captives into lines, escorting surrendering rebel soldiers to a temporary prisoner-of-war camp outside the city.

Meanwhile, Silver Shield City’s civilians, who had crouched in their own cellars for many days, finally dared to push open the skewed doors and step onto the streets, bewilderedly gazing at the ruins ravaged by the flames of war.