Xyrin Empire
Chapter 500 Dan Dan’s Sorrow

Chapter 500: Chapter 500 Dan Dan’s Sorrow

"Legion, against legion!"

The command, although not loud, carried with it the dignity of the higher-ups and the iron will of Conquerors. It instantly spread throughout the entire battlefield. Even the brave Roman Soldiers were startled by the hint of gunpowder and the iron-blooded aroma that the seemingly delicate girl’s words conveyed.

Having served as the Personal Guard Army for the Roman Emperor for many years, these soldiers were very familiar with this feeling—it was the bearing of a true sovereign, the flair that only a great ruler who could decide the fate of the entire nation with a single word possessed. No pretending noble could ever imitate this metallic edge in their lifetime.

"Click, click..."

The sound of metal clashing rang out neatly from nowhere. Around us, and even in every open area of the Roman legion’s phalanx, countless Teleportation Gates emerged, casting a faint white light. From above, it looked as though thousands of fireflies were suddenly sparkling amidst a heavy layer of iron sand. Even without knowing what was happening, the Roman Soldiers instinctively felt the threat, and they quickly grabbed their javelins, throwing and thrusting at these gates to no avail. Like reflections in water, the gates remained undamaged despite the onslaught of attacks, showing only ripples of discomfort.

A neat declaration of war thundered forth.

"Strength is justice! Power begets freedom! Tyranny maintains peace! The Blade’s direction is the Imperial Border! Conquer everything! Conquer everything!!"

Hearing this powerful declaration of war, I was even moved to tears.

How long has it been, damn, how long? How long have I not heard such an inspiring imperial policy of action? All the ace army Commanders have been turned into ruffians under my mismanagement, and now it’s only these brainless big Soldiers who are reliable!

"Ah Jun, what’s the matter?"

Noticing the series of pained expressions flashing repeatedly across my face like a meme loop, Sandora immediately asked with concern. I responded with a faint smile:

"It’s nothing, darling. I’m just a bit melancholic, that’s all..."

What emerged from the Teleportation Gates were the hundreds of muscled Big Men clad in black Alloy Armor. Their high-tech Battle Armor, filled with rigid lines, and the faces as cold as those of Zombies, churned an acrid rust smell under the illumination of the Red Moon. The moment these Soldiers appeared, Roman Soldiers’ javelins and swords were swiftly met with a multitude of Ghost Energy Shields that ignited torrents of energy sparks. Though fully-fledged Heroic Spirits might hold their ground against Xyrin Soldiers, these here were merely avatars, and their attacks could not penetrate the Soldiers’ Defenses.

Honestly, although we were close, sometimes I couldn’t comprehend some of Sandora’s notions. For instance, now, it would be easy to handle this Roman General—just a few Satellite Cannons would be enough to take him down. But Sandora insisted on summoning her own army to fight these outdated Heroic Spirit Soldiers in legion combat—this concept of preserving "military honor" over exploiting one’s own strengths was something I probably would never understand in this lifetime.

However, since Sandora was so adamant, I naturally supported her. Moreover, she wasn’t obsolete. The choice she made was based on an absolute advantage in military strength. If we were fighting Fallen Apostles, this girl wouldn’t come short of cunning tactics compared to me...

"Light Infantry, retreat separately, disperse! Reinforce with reserve troops! Spearmen attack!"

"All units, fire your Ghost Energy Weapons at will!"

The cries of the Roman Soldiers and the roaring of the Ghost Energy artillery echoed across the battlefield simultaneously. Black Magic Power javelins and blue Ghost Energy sparks burst forth from every corner of the Roman legion’s main formation.

Sandora employed the typical airdrop ambush tactic. As the former Battle Song Princess, she had turned various common tactics into her instincts. The battle method that involved summoning the High-level Xyrin Apostles directly into the enemy formation and then widely summoning base-level Soldiers was, like the Imperial Battleship’s crushing force, a famous tactic. In the melee of two fighting legions, a High-level Apostle suddenly rushing into your main camp and endlessly summoning troops, while also being formidable in combat, was definitely a lethal threat capable of ending the war. Although this somewhat sacrificed the range advantage of the Xyrin Soldiers, the abrupt and indefensible nature of super space deployment made up for this minor shortcoming: We didn’t need range to deal with regular troops because the enemy command team would be wiped out in the next second.

It was as sleazy as placing your barracks’ exit right beside the enemy Commander’s chair.

In fact, the results were indeed good. At first, almost all Xyrin Soldiers were attacked by the nearest Roman Soldiers, but their Ghost Energy Shields successfully neutralized the initial damage. Less than ten unlucky ones were badly injured by being surrounded by nearly a hundred men and had to retreat into Other Space for repairs. The rest of the Xyrin Soldiers had activated their Ghost Energy Weapons and began to reap the enemy’s lives en masse.

On my advice, Sandora had already issued the command to these Soldiers to "only use Ghost Energy Weapons." Although energy weapons were not as efficient as physical weapons in an atmospheric environment, they were the only effective means against these foes who continually resurrected under the Red Moon. Also, what was called energy decay was only relative. At such close range, no Roman Soldier could withstand a direct hit from a Ghost Energy Beam. Hordes of enemies were riddled by the rampant fire lines in the air and fell heavily to the ground, and this time, they could not resurrect again.

But even facing the sight of his soldiers being slaughtered at a visibly rapid rate, the nameless Roman General stood resolutely on his war chariot, not even blinking an eye. Instead, he coolly issued commands, "Light infantry! Continue to attack from the flanks! Are there any reserves still alive? Send them all into battle! I will not retreat, and neither will you!!"

His courage was commendable, but unfortunately, the outcome was already decided.

Indeed, from the moment Sandora and I personally rushed to this Heroic Spirit Army’s headquarters, they were already defeated.

As the last Long Spear Soldier was cut in half by a bright blue beam of light, there were no more survivors left on the battlefield. The Roman Legion’s headquarters were completely destroyed, and miles away, the radiance of the Crystal Holy Mother was gradually fading: not due to energy depletion, but because there were no more enemies to be slain.

"Rome will prevail!"

Leading the few remaining Personal Guards, the nameless General raised his broadsword high and jumped from the chariot, charging fearlessly at us. A blue beam whistled sharply through the air from Sandora’s side, striking him directly in the heart. The previously unfailing beam for the first time did not kill its target. Using magic to resist the assault, the nameless General continued his direct charge towards me with a bowl-sized scorch mark on his chest, raising his broadsword and striking down forcefully.

I grabbed his blade with my hand, and I couldn’t help but feel a slight surprise at his strength. The next second, the brave General exploded into a sky-full of light particles.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," several sharp beams hit the remaining Heroic Spirit infantrymen, turning the last enemies into scattered energy in the air.

"An excellent soldier," Sandora sighed deeply, genuinely admiring.

"Anyway, they’ll soon be under our command."

"You really plan to take away all the Heroic Spirits, huh?" Sandora glanced at me sideways, "But I do quite admire soldiers like that..."

The only regret is that these Roman soldiers aren’t true Heroic Spirits. Sakura’s power can’t transform them directly. I can only consider dealing with the Origin of the World. Otherwise, from today’s battle alone, we could have directly deceived over ten thousand undying Heroic Spirits as our minions.

"Speaking of which, Sandora," I suddenly recalled something and asked curiously, "that General mentioned something about Gaius—shouldn’t that be the true Heroic Spirit summoned by the Makoto family? Do you know who that is?"

Sandora blinked, "I seem to remember he’s probably Rome’s most famous founding Emperor. His full name is Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, who ruled the Roman Empire for 43 years and was posthumously given the title Augustus because of his great deeds... Eh? Ah Jun, what’s wrong?"

I looked up at the sky, teary-eyed.

"It’s nothing... just that it feels sad to have an alien teach me Earth’s history..."

I thought, if only I had paid attention in a few history classes back in middle school, I wouldn’t be losing face for Earthlings now.

The battle, although exceptionally brutal, in fact, lasted less than an hour. The main reason was the ferocious attack power led by Pandora—a violently armed group of the Empire (I absolutely refuse to acknowledge that the Roman soldiers who died under my various energy blasts outnumber those who fell to the mad sisters’ bombardment!). Even the firepower meant for space warfare had its force reduced several times in the atmosphere, it was still not something that ordinary Heroic Spirits could withstand. An army of ten thousand Heroic Spirits (though not true Heroic Spirits), resurrected several times under the Red Moon, potentially numbering twice that, just vanished into thin air. Honestly, it felt somewhat unreal.

Even though they are now the enemies, I cannot help but admire such an army—as the nameless General said, Roman warriors never retreat. Until the last soldier was riddled with holes, not a single deserter appeared among the ten thousand legionnaires. They fought to the last man, and even when only three infantrymen remained, they still attacked us without panic, valiant soldiers that even Sandora couldn’t help but praise.

This cemented my resolve to entice the Heroic Spirit Army...

A few minutes later, we regrouped with Tohsaka and the others.

"Altoria? Injured?"

I noticed that the scatterbrained girl had been pressing her hand against her ribs; there were faint traces of blood seeping between her fingers, and I couldn’t help but be concerned.

"Dai Mao, were you ambushed?" I asked, casually worrying about her.

She responded seriously, "I was attacked by surprise, but there’s no major damage. If I had a Radiant Aura, I would recover quickly." Judging by her full, strong voice, it seemed like it was only a superficial wound.

After all, Heroic Spirits were not like the Xyrin Apostles, those strange creatures that could exhaust the enemy with just a Ghost Energy Shield. Perhaps a fully-functional Saber could contend with a lower-ranked Xyrin Officer, but now she was just an incomplete being summoned by the Holy Grail System. In such a battle, injuries were inevitable, and not just for her—Sasaki, also a close-combat professional, sported several scars, too. As a swordsman skilled in combat and footwork, his control over the damage was clearly more adept; although he had more wounds, he looked twice as energetic as Saber.

"Ah! Boss! I’m injured too!"

Seeing that I was concerned about a "non-regular member" as soon as I arrived, Sasaki naturally felt imbalanced. He pointed at a white mark on his arm, exaggerating his injury. Meanwhile, Rider silently came to my side, showing a faint bloodstain on her shoulder, and muttered under her breath, "Boss, raise!"

Does this mean that by joining the Xyrin camp, they are assuredly abandoning principles by 10086?

"Is everyone okay?"

I looked around. Pandora Visca and the others, now bouncing around energetically, could be ignored, as could Little Baobao, who was chatting with the red moon in the sky. Dingdang had just dived into my pocket, and I could feel the little thing rummaging around inside. Tsuruya was happily striking poses with the Commander’s Sword alone. In short, the Xyrin army, after this battle, was in high spirits.

The Tohsaka group looked much more haggard. Though there weren’t many injuries, fighting against the tens of thousands of Heroic Spirits for an hour had taken a massive toll on their physical strength—and importantly, on their spirits. Especially Tohsaka, who now seemed barely able to stand.

Miss sighed deeply and unceremoniously grabbed my clothes to get up, "To think we’re still alive. I thought today was going to be the day... Uncle Alien, I didn’t expect you to be this powerful. Honestly, I was almost scared silly at the beginning."

Almost scared silly? It looked like you really were scared silly at the time!

She was the first to be stunned when the Void Explosion appeared. And she was the first to cry out when Pandora and Visca began their saturation bombardment. It was you, wasn’t it?

Of course, these thoughts couldn’t be spoken aloud; the proud Miss would go mad if her pride were damaged.

"By the way, since you guys are so powerful, shouldn’t all the fights be left to you from now on?"

Miss, where is your integrity?

"But anyway, this battle... was a bit too much."

Emiya still had a frightened look on his face. It was not just the scene of thousands of soldiers charging at him, but the sight of Pandora and her crew sweeping the battlefield with their huge cannons was even more jaw-dropping. For a student who had been attending school properly until recently, being thrown into the throes of a war zone was indeed a huge shock.

"Young man, you should know the universe is a dangerous place," I patted Emiya on the shoulder, speaking earnestly, "Little monsters like QB are everywhere in space, and even big, collision-prone targets like Ultraman are a serious nuisance to space travel. If you don’t arm yourself with enough firepower, the vast cosmos won’t be so welcoming, yeah!"

"Ah Jun," Sandora nudged my arm, "I think you just crushed the kid’s lifelong dream of space."

It doesn’t matter; astronaut Emiya was never a reliable thing anyway.

After the Heroic Spirit Army was destroyed, the abnormalities in both the Inner and Outer Worlds gradually calmed down. The Leaving World Garden began retracing spatial coordinates, preparing to put Fuyuki City, currently in "deep freeze," back in its original place. We then started discussing our next move.

The Makoto Family had summoned a Heroic Spirit Army, or rather, a Heroic Spirit known to posterity as Augustus. This was a done deal, and this Heroic Spirit Army had a significant connection with the Red Moon of the Inner World. Based on these clues, we could deduce a lot of things.

"First of all," said Xyrin, "the fake Priest must be involved in all of this."

Tohsaka was meticulous in her thinking and by now was certain that Yanfeng Qili was playing a role in agitating the situation behind the scenes.

"Caster, you can enter the Inner World, and Sasaki, whom you summoned, can use the light of the Red Moon to enhance his strength. The origin of all this was the black crystal dagger given to you by the fake Priest, wasn’t it?"

Medea nodded silently: "Indeed, it was all his plan."

"The Roman Legion can also enter the Inner World, and according to what your alien uncle said, their large-scale appearance must rely on the Inner World. Plus, they can continuously resurrect under the Red Moon. These circumstances are very similar to Sasaki’s, so I think the fake Priest must have also helped the Makoto Family cheat."

This speculation was highly probable, but the key question was: what’s the point?

Giving two participants in the Holy Grail War such huge cheating advantages was it to ensure one side could securely win the war? What value does this add for Yanfeng?

"The only way to find out is to confront the fake Priest ourselves, though he’s unlikely to tell the truth," Tohsaka yawned deeply, "and then there’s the Makoto Family. They might seem like a pawn too, but they should know more than Caster: the cheating tool the fake Priest gave them is even more powerful."

"But right now, I think it’s best if we hurry back to sleep..."

Tohsaka added another long yawn and spoke with an expression of exhaustion.

That’s right, everyone today, uh, excluding the spirited Xyrin folks, were tired. Anyway, the Makoto Family and Yanfeng Church weren’t going anywhere, and after this attack, the old man from the Makoto Family would surely be waiting at home for us to show up and cause trouble. If we got home unscathed and slept soundly, I wonder how frustrated they would be?

It’s funny just thinking about it.

The space around us twisted and shuddered, and a few seconds later, the large Tohsaka mansion reappeared before our eyes—this time the normal version. Seeing the house safe and sound, Tohsaka couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, despite already knowing it would be.

It’s been truly hard on Miss Tohsaka, who’s been worried sick about her house being forcefully demolished these past few days.

"Hmm... Does Dingdang have to be thrown out again today?"

After saying goodnight to everyone and before stepping into my own room, Little Thing suddenly poked his head out of my pocket and said in a pitiful voice.

Sandora and I were startled and suddenly had the same thought: How did we come to share the concern of a couple fretfully deciding how to coax their child to sleep in the next room?

"Does Ah Jun hate Dingdang?"

Little One continued to speak pitifully, his cuteness score wreaking havoc on my sense of guilt with five plus signs.

"Alright..." I exchanged a helpless glance with Sandora and after pressing my fingertip to Little One’s head, I surrendered.

"Yay!" Little One cheered immediately, "I get to be with Ah Jun again today!"

Hey! Yelling like that might make Sandora reconsider and throw you out again!

(To be continued... For the continuation of the story, please visit www.qidian.com. There are more Chapters available than here, support the author, support genuine reading!)