The confident allied forces that were pushing forward behind the spear-men unit leading the assault, suddenly slowed their momentum, the soldiers were startled, coming to a complete stop as the ground shook over and over with booming ear-splitting explosions echoing out.
Those soldiers most eager to pillage and plunder, trying their hardest to reach the front lines of the battle and partake in the fun before the puny forces of the western hills were eliminated, stopped dead in their tracks.
They looked at each other in bewilderment and shock, the formation of spear-men that entered within melee distance of the opposition were completely engulfed by black smoke.
Everything in front of their eyes was obscured by the thick black snaky cloud slowly rising upward.
The army came to a sudden stop standing in a neat line, the wind brought a thick hazy dust swirling from the hidden battlefield ahead, stinging their eyes as the dust-cloud crept over the ground slowly, enveloping their ranks before it was driven to the south with the wind.
After being swamped in dust, they were then showered with countless pebbles raining down from the sky, making constant clinking sounds as the harmless pieces of gravel hit against their armors and fell to the floor.
It was almost as if time was at a stand-still up ahead. The soldiers didn't hear the chaotic clashes of shields, spears, and swords, or the shouts and roars of desperate men locked in life and death combat. Also missing was the clash of metal against metal that usually made up the ambient noises on a battlefield.
It was like there wasn't even a struggle going on behind the veil of dark smoke.
Did the defenders of the western hills surrender? Confusion was evident everywhere as no one really knew what had taken place up ahead.
Things became even worse when they started to hear numerous screams of agony, it didn't sound like any battle they've been involved in before, it sounded more like a field hospital catering for hundreds of injured men had been erected.
"Prepare to move forward!" a captain shouted at the confused troops, the men raised their shields and leveled their swords, again preparing to move forward in support of the spear units.
Suddenly a raggedy soldier missing an arm, with blood gushing from the stump at his right shoulder, came stumbling through the thick black fog, he wore a suit of blackened silver armor that was badly damaged and missing many pieces, the man staggered towards his allies while continuously screaming hysterically, "the terror, oh the terror. The rocks are exploding, no one's safe, no one's safe."
He then collapsed with wide frightened eyes in front of the second line of soldiers, wailing miserably before dying at the feet of the captain with an arrow sticking out of his back.
***
Stood on the high ground of the western hills, Viscount Sanzu's men were shell-shocked into speechlessness. There were sporadic cheers of joy coming from some, but most were muted, staring at the battlefield with eyes that were about to pop out of their sockets.
The young red haired soldier looked at the gore filled battlefield in horror and amazement at the same time, a minute ago he was seriously considering fleeing for his life just at the sight of the enemy's long spears, who would have thought that the enemy's broken bodies would lay dying in misery before his eyes a minute later, the neat organized lines of spear-men had disintegrated into screaming chaos.
He looked at the veteran next to him. The veteran had eyes just as wide as anybody else, when he noticed the younger soldier next to him he said. "Our endings will be decided by fate, not by man."
Then he turned away in a sage-like fashion and charged into the helpless soldiers remaining on the gruesome battlefield.
As the smoke slowly dispersed, the visible area around the Western Hills looked as if a series of tornadoes had swept over it.
There were wrecked trees, deep pits and bloody body parts strewn everywhere. Trees and dead bodies lay sprawled awkwardly on the ground entangled together.
There was the vile and pungent odor of burnt flesh everywhere. Pieces of clothes, broken spears and other unrecognizable parts of military equipment were scattered across the battlefield in piles.
Hundreds of suffering men laid on the shattered ground, they could only use the last tiny spark of life remaining in their battered bodies to wail out a final tune of misery with their dying breaths.
***
The panicked concussed survivors staggered around on the scorched earth in utter confusion.
Fu jianu nocked an arrow, the beautiful girl didn't even flinch as she took a deep breath, surveyed the battlefield filled with dead men and pieces of dead men, steadied her aim, then released the missile from the string and into the back of an armored man stumbling around in a daze of disbelief. He screeched in terror, contorting his body, reaching back and trying to remove the black-fletched arrow-shaft that had lodged into his back, unfortunately for him, it was just out of his reach.
The girl nonchalantly turned to another target without paying the wriggling man any more attention. Again the whiz of the arrow sounded out and again another victim was impaled screaming painfully.
Fu Jianu methodically nocked her arrows then let loose her shots, her targets screamed and fell rolling around in agony. She had taken a position higher than the others and when the blackness from the smoke started to fade, she had a perfect vantage for sniping, she started to work viciously on the last of the struggling survivors.
Fu Jianu had no love or mercy for nobles or the forces that they controlled. She had seen her father bullied and came close to being violated under their oppression on my occasions. When her dad had tried to send her to hide she had insisted on joining the battle.
Fu Qian had taught the girl to hunt from an early age and she was nifty with her bow. She had decided that she would fight alongside her father and take down as many of the bastards that she could before the inevitable happened.
***
When others saw what was happening, they quickly recognized the helplessness of the attackers and rushed down from their position to brutally put the remainder of the spear-men to the sword.
"Ready again!" Fu Qian shouted loudly bringing all the defenders back to their senses as they regrouped. He could hear the marching footsteps of the second wave of attackers coming their way.
The defenders from the western hills were also blinded by the curtain of dark smoke that lingered on the battlefield. The forty elites from House Hartley dipped into their leather bags again and prepared to engage the enemy.
These black lemon-sized orbs brandished by the forty elites of House Hartley contained the explosives which were dubbed "waste product" by the mad scientist Alrick. He had produced one hundred of these orbs and issued them to Hartley.
Within the orb were the two unstable liquids separated by a thin piece of glass. When the indentation in the middle of the orbs were pressed with enough force, a fork shaped piece of wire would crush the glass dividing the two unstable liquids, allowing them to mix.
Ten seconds later they would explode with a force similar to an attack by a 4th layer xiantian expert.
The havoc that these grenade-like weapons wreaked on the battlefield were like forty 4th layer xiantian experts attacking together. How could clustered soldiers mostly in the houtian realm endure these concentrated attacks?
Soon the second wave arrived wielding broad shields and long swords, this time they were much less energetic and much more wary, the first of the attackers to witness the carnage gasped in terror. How was this even possible? was the question swirling through their confused minds.
Just as the defenders perched on the high ground were beginning to feel confident in the secret weapon of the western hills, a fire ball exploded into the ranks of armored defenders perched on the ridge.
The explosion of yellow instantly erased a dozen men, and blew back a dozen more. The viscount's men howled out horrific screams among their ranks, men were being cooked inside their armor.
"Come down here and fight like men you cowardly turtles." Shouted the enraged captain who charged to the front. Just looking at the losses they had suffered and the ghastly remnants on the battlefield made his blood boil with rage.
Whizz!
One of Fu Jianu arrows came streaking towards the man from an elevated position to his left. The captain raised his sword and nonchalantly swatted away the arrow aimed at his chest, producing a clang and a burst of bright sparks.
He was a 3rd layer xiantian with fire affinity, he saw fully armored wearing a helmet that only revealed his eyes. His right hand held a long sword and his free left hand was preparing another fireball in retaliation.
Bolstered by the heroics of the captain the attackers regained their confidence, the air was pregnant with killing intent as the army steeled themselves to take revenge on these bumpkins.
Just as the captain was about to unleash another fireball toward Fu Jianu, a mini green tornado flashed from the high ground to the right and a blurry silhouette appeared in front of the captain.
Immediately an ax that left neon-green after images sliced down towards the captain's head.
The powerful strike blew away the soldiers bunched up directly behind the captain, leaving a ten meter diameter with only the captain and the newcomer standing face to face.
Caught by surprise the captain's sword burst in yellow flames as he brought it up and canceled his fireball. The two weapons clashed....sparks flew...the sword in the captain's hand thrummed loudly, humming out a metallic tune as he staggered back, imprinting his footsteps in the ground as if it was made of wax.
Before the captain could react, the blurry green silhouette was on top of him again, assisted by the wind elements the man's speed was like lightning. The ax connected with the breastplate of the captain.
The captain's armor shattered like a windscreen, spider web cracks quickly crawled out across the armor, the shiny metal began crumbling to pieces bit by bit like a biscuit. He puked out a mouthful of blood within his enclosed helmet, almost drowning himself in blood, at the same time his body made an arc through the sky and disappeared into the crowd of infantry men.
Qin Li's black robe fluttered as the defenders who barely got a glimpse of him rejoiced, the mini green tornado took him back up to the high ground and out of sight in a green flash.
Returning in shame was not an option for these elites, the squad leader next in line commanded the alliance to rush forward and kill.
"Now!" Fu Qian shouted at the forty elites from House Hartley, they threw down those sizzling black orbs into the sea of surging attackers who were obviously trying to overwhelm them with pure numbers.
A new round of explosions rang out, the alliance forces of the nobles collapsed completely like sand that was washed away in a flood, scattering like a swarm of flies as the viscount's men chased down and slaughtered the demoralized remnants of the army trying to escape their doom, desperate to get back to the war camp of the nobles.
***
Almost two thousand men had been grinded to mince meat.
They had tried to over run the western hills with sheer numbers and brute strength tactics. It was futile, they were ripped to shreds by the new weapon of the western hills.
It was wholesale slaughtering on a mass scale. The gratifying explosions that sent particles flying everywhere made even the defenders shiver in fright.
At a safe distance from the battle Hong Zang lips twitched, he witnessed scattered troops running for their lives, Hong Zang was livid with anger and frustration, "Pepper them all with arrows regardless of friend or foe," he instructed the archers.
The nobles waiting in the war camp for the roads leading to the western hills manor to be opened were also in for a rude awakening.....