Chapter 778: The Golden Empire

The darkness of the eternal night enveloped the land as a gray-white heron soared above the eastern wilderness, its sharp eyes constantly scanning the ground, as if searching for prey in the dark of night.

Tap, tap, tap.

On the ground, the clamor of hoofbeats arose.

A troop of cavalry, clad entirely in oriental garb, slowly advanced. They wore red battle robes under their mail, with bows on their backs and swords at their waists. Atop their heads were red cherry blossom helmets, and in their hands they held azure battle flags emblazoned with golden edges and torches. They seemed to be patrolling this stretch of land.

However, at that moment.

Twang—

The sound of a bowstring suddenly released from within the patrol.

Whoosh—

A fiery, sharp arrow pierced the night, directly penetrating the skull of a half-human, half-beast creature covered in green scales from head to toe. At the same time, it illuminated the darkness beyond the light of the torches in the distance.

There, several more creatures of similar appearance, their bodies covered in green scales, half-human and half-beast, were eyeing the patrol of cavalry with a greedy and brutal gaze. They let out an eerie howl and then pounced towards them.

"General."

Among the patrol, a cavalryman seated upright on his horse, holding a longbow, furrowed his brow slightly. He then turned his head to look at their general.

It was evident that the arrow just now had been shot by this cavalryman.

His eyes were sharp. Even in the dim darkness of night, he could clearly see the trajectory of the enemy. Thus, he had just discovered this monster stealthily approaching, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and directly shot the opponent.

But unexpectedly, this monster was not acting alone. Not far from it were several more of these green-scaled creatures, moving on all fours, with a pair of small wings on their backs, capable of short gliding flights.

"Hmm."

"They're the Shrike."

The leader of the patrol, clearly addressed as "General," was a middle-aged man with black hair and a black beard on his chin. His eyes were a deep color.

He also saw this group of green-scaled, half-human, half-beast monsters. A look of disgust and hatred appeared in his eyes.

"These damned monsters!"

They were the garrison troops of the Golden Empire of Yi stationed at the Five Forts. The Five Forts were located in the northeastern frontier of the Golden Empire, five gigantic military fortresses stretching from the southern end of the Blood Sea in the north to the northern foothills of the Mountains of the Morn in the south.

They formed a curved line, guarding the borders of the Golden Empire, defending against attacks from monsters from the Grey Waste and even the Land of the Shrykes.

The walls of the Five Forts were built from molten black stone bricks, reaching a height of several hundred feet, rivaling even the height of the Wall at World's End. They stood as an absolutely impregnable barrier beyond the lands of human civilization.

According to legend, when the Five Forts, these marvels of human civilization, were first built, they were not used to resist these Shrykes and monsters from the Grey Waste.

Because although the Shrykes had a pair of small wings on their backs, they could at most glide briefly. They definitely could not fly to the top of the majestic city walls hundreds of meters high. Even the terrifying monsters from the Grey Waste would face a crushing defeat before the Five Forts.

Therefore, the ancestors of the Yi had no need to go to great lengths to build such huge fortresses guarding the empire's frontier just to fight against these low-grade races that harassed the borders.

Thus, in the ancient legends of the Yi, the origin of the Five Forts predates the Golden Empire. They were ordered to be built by the Pearl Emperor, the second emperor of the Dawn Empire era.

He was a descendant of the Maiden-Made-of-Light and the Lion of Night. The eldest son and heir of the God-on-Earth, who ruled for ten thousand years until he ascended to the stars. The Pearl Emperor ruled for over a thousand years after him before passing the throne to the Jade Emperor. The Pearl Emperor believed that with the protection of these five fortresses, they could keep the Lion of Night and his demons away from the human world.

The patrol of cavalry currently out was precisely from the garrison troops of the Golden Empire stationed in the Five Forts. They not only garrisoned the fortresses but also occasionally sent out elite scout teams to patrol, hunting down the Shrykes and monsters from the Grey Waste that tried to sneak past the Five Forts into the world of mortals.

Therefore, when this troop of Golden Empire cavalry saw the Shrykes, which were only legends to the outside world, they showed no timidity. Instead, they drew their bows, nocked their arrows, and some even unsheathed the swords at their waists, charging towards this group of monsters pouncing at them.

"Kill them!"

At the black-bearded general's command, the rest of the Golden Empire cavalry did not hesitate. As if they had rehearsed countless times, they tugged on the reins in their hands. The patrol cavalry instantly scattered in all directions like startled birds and beasts.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of hoofbeats was chaotic and noisy. The crimson-eyed, green-scaled Shrykes let out an eerie roar and pounced.

The mounts under the Golden Empire cavalry were also experienced. They often followed their masters to hunt these terrifying monsters.

If ordinary warhorses saw such monsters, where would they have seen them before?

Perhaps they would have long been frightened and fled in all directions with their riders.

However, these warhorses were all robust in build, with slender bones. Their coats shimmered with a glossy sheen under the light of the torches, clearly fine steeds. This type of horse was larger in size, faster in sprinting speed, and had a stronger impact force. Of course, there was a price to pay. They generally did not have very good endurance.

They carried their riders and scattered, while the cavalrymen on their backs also drew their bows and nocked their arrows. Cavalrymen holding high torches provided illumination for them. The archers then narrowed their eyes slightly.

Twang—

The bowstring released with a sound once more, and a lightning-fast arrow suddenly shot out from their hands.

Then, with a splat, the flying arrow swiftly pierced into the eye socket of a howling Shryke. Blood instantly spurted out, and the corpse fell headfirst to the ground.

The patrolling Golden Empire cavalrymen used their skilled horsemanship and scattered formation to confuse the attention of this group of bird-men monsters, making them lose focus, unable to concentrate on a single target. They were then defeated one by one.

Twang, twang, twang—

In the eternal night, arrow after arrow flew out, reflecting a cold light under the glow of the torches, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the Shrykes.

Soon, only a few Shrykes were left trying to escape. But at this moment, they discovered that, unknowingly, they had already been surrounded by the Golden Empire cavalry in a "scattered" formation.

They let out shrieks of terror and threat, putting on a show of strength, as if trying to scare off this group of humans. However, the riders on horseback had icy expressions, unmoved in the slightest. They all drew the swords at their waists in unison.

"Charge—"

"Kill!"

Splat, splat, splat—

Then, amid the chaos of trampling hooves, muddying the soil tainted with blood, the corpses of the Shrykes fell across the ground.

(End of chapter)