'This went better than I expected, normally they would try to debate the issue for at least another week, I guess when it comes to actual war they know to strike the iron when it's hot.'
Zhang Dong stepped out from a large tent that was moved onto a new flagship. It was sent out by the Heavenly Crane Sect and was flying next to some of the acquisition battleships of the enemy. Their talks have ended and the Heavenly Crane Sect had decided to make a push for it. It was clear that their motives were not pure but as long as the empire was clear of any invaders, it was fine.
'I just need to be careful, calling over for some backup when the time comes won't be such a bad idea either…'
"How does it look, has their Empress made a move yet?"
"No Patriarch, we are fighting the same exact waves of enemies, their strength doesn't seem to be increasing either but…"
"Is there a problem?"
"Yes, we noticed that while their forces remain the same, the intervals between the attacks have become slightly longer."
"I guess they reached a plateau and their resources might be running out… good, I might have to pull you to my side, be ready for anything."
"Of course, Patriarch, the United Element Sect will always be with you!"
"Haha, that's good, talk to you later Zhang Zhi."
Zhang Dong cut the connection to his own general that was still out north and fighting against the fish people. There was a possibility for the Cerulean Empress to appear but for the time being, it was a repeating wave of fish monsters and clones. It was a true grindfest meant for the system holder to gather enough spirit points.
'Zhi said that they are getting slower with the counter-attacks, this grind spot will probably dry out soon enough…'
It was clear to him that this world didn't possess infinite resources. The northern Cerulean Empire could have been set up as a spirit point farm but it probably had its limits. Perhaps if he allowed them to invade their lands to get some resources back it would last for longer but that was not something he would do.
The Cerulean Empress might start making new moves if she starts running out of soldiers but that also wasn't set in stone. She was strangely passive when it came to showing herself, instead only cloned generals and troops made up of sea creatures appeared. It wouldn't be strange if after these armies all fell she would actually not appear. Perhaps she was a stationary boss that never moved from their initial base. The defenses would probably be quite hard to get through but it also gave Zhang Dong enough time to clear out the eastern side first.
"Well then, I should check up on my other friends."
After taking flight he started moving towards a ship that looked like a floating Spanish galleon. It was much bigger than the counterpart from his world and had a knightly crest of a lion on its sails. Even though it was larger than most galleons, its size was only a fifth of the flagship he just left. The owner of this ship spotted him floating towards and didn't even offer up a smile to greet him.
"Zhang Dong."
"Lucius"
It was a flying vessel from the magical kingdom, the knights that were gathered there didn't appreciate the way he didn't speak out Lucius' noble title but couldn't really say anything about it. If a fight broke loose they knew that Zhang Dong would probably be victorious or at least that their victory would be a hard-fought one.
"How long will this take?"
"I'm not sure, if we are lucky we might be able to drive them back after that Prince is gone."
"What if we are not?"
"Then… I'm not sure either but it would be better if their Emperor is kept from entering this side, then I'll just have my troops block of the bridge and it will be done… hey stop looking at me like that, you'll get your shield after, I made you an oath and I'm going to keep it."
"Hmph…"
"You're such a tsundere…"
"What?"
"Nothing."
There wasn't much he came here to say and spending more time would only annoy the Duke even more. After relaying the plan of pushing towards the eastern side their meeting was concluded and the war was resumed. The following few days were quite boring as the enemy forces were on a path of retreat.
'That guy is trying to send a message…'
It wasn't long until they arrived at the first big settlement or at least what was left of it. One of the large cities that previously contained millions of people was not burning before them. It was one of the war tactics used, burning everything so the enemy couldn't gain back their lost resources and lands. Everything was being destroyed by the retreating forces and Zhang Dong was unable to arrive in time to help.
This was the first time he was in these lands and splitting away from the forces was not a good idea. It wouldn't be strange if his new enemy was a crafty one, doing such things was meant to anger his side. People from the Heavenly Crane Sect were enraged at the loss of life but he wasn't sure if they were more concerned that this made them look bad. If cities under their name were eradicated from existence together with the people living there, then would put them in a bad light.
There was nothing there, the only thing in the air was a large amount of residue energy from Qi. Massive amounts of it were just shot everywhere but it seemed that life did find a way as hidden beneath rubble and sand there were some survivors. Perhaps this was done on purpose or just showed that they didn't have enough time for everything while evacuating.
'I can't just leave them to die…'
Zhang Dong had charged in front of the rest of the army and acted like a scout. His morals wouldn't allow him to abandon these people but this would slow their approach. Perhaps their enemy was counting on this. Even as he was using his spiritual energy to raise up the rubble and pull out injured people he was looking around for an ambush. When scanning the area he could see small pockets of people trapped underground, some were in the process of drawing their last breath.
'I can't do this alone…'
The city they were in was huge, ten million citizens had lived here before and now only a few thousand were scattered everywhere. The Emerald Phoenix Empire or in this case the Prince Cuilu Kong, didn't seem to have a conscience. To allow this much carnage and wanton destruction to occur a certain idea had to have taken over his mind. He must have seen himself as someone superior, as a god among humans to be okay with such atrocities.
Perhaps he was even worse than Wang Long, who convinced himself that the people living in this world were NPCs and not actual intelligent beings. He was someone that lived in this world for long enough to know better. This only made him angrier at the part that he played in all of this. Even though he knew that he didn't really have anything to do with their deaths, perhaps if he had taken things slower more people could have survived.
"What are you doing, do we really have time for this?"
"Lucius? Don't just stand there and tell your people to help me you know healing magic."
The whole army was stopped as they saw Zhang Dong's puppets flying around and taking injured people to the side. Lucius and his knights were the first to descend to ask about what he was doing. In their eyes, this was still a battleground and it was unwise to leave yourself open to an attack.
"You should leave this to your servants, this is no place for a leader."
"No place for a leader, huh? Want me to remain as some sort of radiant symbol that appears when the time is right or something? If you don't want to help then it's fine, continue with the chase, my puppets will still assist you and I can always get there when I'm needed"
The Duke nodded his head but to Zhang Dong's surprise instead of just leaving he actually called some of his men over. A bunch of knights wearing silver armor along with people that looked like servants started aiding the injured people. He did not expect them to actually listen to his proposal but more help was always welcome.
Time was being wasted but most of the army continued with their chase while he remained here to establish a teleportation gate. His own sect was mostly up in the north but that didn't mean that he couldn't activate some of his own medical staff. His sect was quite content in their healing and regenerative arts. The medallion around his neck wasn't the only one they made and it would aid in evacuating everyone here.
After giving his people some orders he finally decided to join back with the main army that had actually encountered some resistance on the way. The small skirmishes were all won but there were far too many for them to not be a distraction. At strategic locations, they would be attacked and stalled for as long as humanly possible. Then the attackers would either flee or fight to the last man.
They would even perform a strange suicide art that left their bodies exploding like bombs, it was clear to him from that point that this Prince was stalling them. This became more apparent the further they advanced into the lands that the Heavenly Crane Sect once owned. There was nothing left for them to gain there besides more injured people that needed rescuing. What the Emerald Phoenix prince was up to still remained to be seen but it wouldn't be strange if he was waiting for some backup to arrive.