142: Chapter 142 Counterattack

This time, the roles of attacker and defender have shifted! The roles of hunter and prey have completely swapped!

About eight kilometers away from the battlefield, in a hidden mountain valley.

Space distorted slightly, and a disheveled figure fell from mid-air, slamming heavily into a pile of fallen leaves and rolling several times before stopping.

It was Long Ao!

His face was as pale as paper, foam of blood hung at the corners of his mouth, and his magnificent lord's battle robe was covered in mud and grass. His aura was extremely weak, barely allowing him to maintain a standing posture.

Although the substitute puppet had saved his life, the "experience of death" from that fatal blow and the random spatial teleportation had nearly drained all his physical and mental strength.

At this moment, he felt like his bones were falling apart; his head was buzzing, and his heart was pounding wildly.

He was filled with the relief of surviving a disaster, as well as... fear and humiliation that reached into the very marrow of his bones.

One hundred Black Dragons! Two-thirds of the Black Dragon army he had painstakingly saved up and regarded as his greatest reliance—all gone!

In just over an hour, they were buried at the hands of that damned Lin Tian!

Even he himself had almost actually died!

"Lin Tian... Lin Tian!!!"

He curled up in the fallen leaves, gnashing his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment and madness, but even more so, an uncontrollable lingering fear.

That man, those soldiers, that terrifying combat power... he simply couldn't contend with them!

Just then, an even colder thought that made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar suddenly enveloped him.

"attack order token... Lin Tian also has an attack order token! Will he... will he..."

This thought made his hair stand on end!

That's right, since Lin Tian could develop such a monstrous force, how could his beast tide rewards be bad?

The opponent likely had a powerful weapon like an attack order token as well!

And with the ruthlessness and decisiveness the other party just showed, would he pass up this god-given opportunity to "strike while he's down"?

Absolutely impossible!

Long Ao shuddered violently; the shadow of death, like a maggot on a bone, tightly entwined around him once again.

In his current state, the remaining fifty Black Dragons in his territory couldn't stop the counterattack of Lin Tian's army at all!

Once the opponent's attack order token fell, his Territory Core, his everything, would vanish into thin air!

No!

He couldn't die!

He had finally become a legendary lord; he still had ambition, and he still wanted to stand at the peak!

He couldn't end like this in such a pathetic way!

The desire to survive overwhelmed everything.

With trembling hands, Long Ao struggled to activate the teleportation function of the attack order token and teleported back to his territory.

He immediately pulled up his friend list.

His gaze was fixed on a dark, ink-like gray avatar that exuded an ominous aura.

Necromancer Lord Karl!

After the server merger, a lord with the legendary unit Death Knight had once tried to recruit him, indicating they could "cooperate," and had given him a contact method for a big shot.

At that time, he was arrogant and had the Black Dragon army in hand, so he didn't take it seriously and just brushed it off.

Now... this was his only lifeline!

He no longer hesitated and used his last bit of mental energy to send a message to that avatar, his tone more humble and urgent than ever before.

The notification sound from the friend list sounded like heavenly music at this moment.

He opened it with trembling fingers; it was a reply from that dark gray avatar. The opponent's name was simple and cold: Karl.

Karl: "Lord Long Ao, it seems you've run into quite some trouble."

Long Ao: "Lord Karl! Help! Lin Tian... he's about to attack! I'm willing to pledge loyalty! As long as you can keep me alive!"

Karl: "Loyalty? I remember when I mentioned it yesterday, you seemed uninterested."

Long Ao's face burned with humiliation, but his survival instinct overwhelmed everything:

"I was blind yesterday! Lord Karl, please show mercy! I am willing to sign a contract and become your Subordinate Lord! I only ask that you intervene and stop Lin Tian!"

Karl: "Long Ao, you won't lose out by becoming my Subordinate Lord. On the contrary, I can give you power beyond that of the Black Dragons. I will naturally protect your life. However..."

Seeing the word "However," Long Ao's heart sank.

Karl: "Right now, I am deep within an Ancient Ruin dealing with some urgent matters and cannot temporarily dispatch troops to intervene directly in your battlefield."

Hearing this, Long Ao's heart went half cold, but the following words made him rejoice.

"But there is more than one way to save your life and foundation."

"Right now, immediately use the temporary authority attached to the contract to teleport to my main territory. According to yesterday's agreement, sign the subordinate contract. Once the contract is established, you will be one of my own, and I will have my ways to keep you safe."

Teleport? To the other party's main territory?

Long Ao's expression flickered uncertainly.

This was no different from placing himself completely under the other party's control; his life would no longer be his own.

But... staying here and waiting for Lin Tian's army to arrive was also a dead end, and he would die without any value.

In the few seconds he hesitated, the distant open ground faintly echoed with the thunderous sound of rhythmic footsteps and the clanging of armor, as if thousands of troops were approaching!

It was Lin Tian! He was here! He actually came so fast!

The shadow of death, like a physical giant hand, gripped his throat.

Long Ao no longer hesitated, a flash of desperate madness and ruthlessness in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth as he replied:

Long Ao: "Fine! I'll sign! I'll teleport now!"

Almost at the same time his message was sent, a virtual contract scroll flickering with eerie blue runes and containing powerful binding force appeared before him.

The terms were not complicated; the core was to establish a master-servant relationship, stipulating that when Karl needed it, Long Ao must unconditionally obey and provide his Black Dragon units.

While Karl promised to provide protection and a path to "become stronger," and would not interfere with Long Ao's daily internal affairs and freedom of development.

This contract seemed loose, but the sense of soul-level binding could not be faked.

Once signed, his life, honor, and disgrace would largely depend on Karl's whim.

"Lin Tian... you forced me to do this!" Long Ao growled, pressing his mental blood seal onto the end of the contract with a blood-stained finger.

Buzz!

The contract turned into two streaks of light; one entered Long Ao's forehead, and the other disappeared into the void toward Karl.

Long Ao's body shook, clearly feeling an invisible shackle added to his soul.

But at the same time, in his system panel, a flashing option indeed appeared: [Emergency Teleport: Main Territory (Karl)].

"It's done!"

His heart settled slightly, and he was about to initiate the teleportation.

However, at the very moment his fingertip was about to touch the option.

Boom!!

To the northeast of his territory, in the sky above the plateau, a familiar, terrifying scarlet space teleportation gate suddenly tore open!

Immediately after, dense ranks of human soldiers, armed to the teeth, poured out of the rift like a steel torrent, quickly forming a formation below the plateau!

Who else could it be but Lin Tian's troops?

Lin Tian's counterattack had arrived!

And it appeared precisely on the outskirts of his territory!

Long Ao "saw" that Lin Tian had almost no pause.

The order fell. Having no intention of letting him off, the dark mass of the army launched a charge toward his territory, which had lost most of its elites and only had fifty Black Dragons left!