62: Eagle's Cry

Three days passed, agonizingly slow under the suffocating weight of a countdown.

On the fourth day, just after dawn, a series of sharp, piercing eagle cries tore through the brief peace of Star South City, approaching from the distant horizon.

The defenders on the city walls looked up in horror. The northern sky was a dark mass of giant eagles, at least a hundred strong! On the back of each eagle sat a fierce barbarian knight with night-owl warpaint on his face, wielding specialized longbows or javelins, their eyes as sharp as falcons'. They were all elite Grand Martial Masters!

The reinforcements of the Night Hawk Tribe had arrived!

The giant eagles circled above Star South City, their shadows like the wings of death, enveloping the heart of every defender. The terrifying sense of oppression they brought was even more despairing than that of tens of thousands of ground troops.

Immediately after, the earth trembled with thunderous hoofbeats. Three thousand elite Night Hawk Tribe cavalry, like a torrent of steel, escorted two figures with overwhelming Auras to the barbarian camp. One was tall and thin with a sinister gaze, carrying a pair of oddly-shaped curved swords on his back; the other was burly as a bear, wielding an exaggeratedly large Wolf-Tooth Club. They were the two Martial King powerhouses of the Night Hawk Tribe—the sinister "Ghost Eagle" Wumuzha and the berserk "Raging Bear" Batu.

However, the atmosphere inside the main tent was far from harmonious.

"Natu Lu, Tulu, you two are really regressing with age!" Wumuzha's voice was shrill, laced with undisguised mockery. "A small Star South City, with just two Martial Kings, has actually caused you to suffer losses and setbacks, leaving you looking so disgraced for so long? You've utterly shamed the face of the Canglang Tribe!"

A vein throbbed on Natu Lu's forehead. He slammed his giant axe into the ground with a dull thud. "Wumuzha! Cut the sarcastic crap! A small city? You call this a small city? The city has tens of thousands of defenders, two Martial Kings, and a population of millions including residents and refugees! Its defenses are strong, their resistance tenacious. Do you think this is some remote border town that crumbles at the first charge?"

"Oh? A population of millions?" A greedy glint flashed in Wumuzha's cold eyes as he licked his lips. "That should be enough for a good feast. Now that we're here, breaking the city will be as easy as turning over a hand. However, the distribution of spoils needs to change. Our Night Hawk Tribe wants seventy percent!"

"Bullshit!" Natu Lu roared. "Without us wearing them down initially, would it be this easy for you? At most, sixty-forty! You take sixty, we take forty!"

Wumuzha scoffed. "Without us, you wouldn't get a single hair! Seventy-thirty, non-negotiable! Otherwise, we'll leave immediately with our men, and you can keep gnawing on these walls!"

Natu Lu trembled with rage. Tulu, standing beside him, placed a hand on his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Wumuzha, the women, we want a fifty-fifty split. That's the bottom line."

Wumuzha and Batu exchanged a glance. Batu spoke in a rumbling voice, "The women, fifty-fifty is acceptable. Everything else, seventy-thirty."

Natu Lu ground his teeth until they creaked, finally squeezing out a single word from his throat: "...Fine!"

"Woo—woo woo—!"

The desolate and bloodthirsty Ox-Horn Horn sounded across the plains once more, more urgent and resonant than ever before! The barbarians' final assault had begun!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

In the sky, the hundred Eagle Riders initiated the attack first! They dove down, raining specialized Armor-Piercing Arrows and burning javelins upon the city walls like a downpour, accurately targeting the defenders' archers and command nodes. Some giant eagles even extended their sharp talons, viciously grabbing at defenders behind the Battlements or attempting to destroy the defensive equipment on the Watchtowers!

The city walls instantly descended into chaos. The defenders had to divert a significant portion of their focus to deal with the aerial threat, and casualties increased sharply.

Simultaneously, on the ground, tens of thousands of barbarian infantry mixed with cavalry surged towards Star South City like a black tide of death, launching their most ferocious assault! Scaling Ladders and Grappling Hooks densely covered the walls as fearless barbarian soldiers howled and climbed upwards.

"Kill! For Star South City! For our families behind us!" Xia Xue's clear, cold shout rang out atop the wall. She had changed into gleaming silver armor, holding a longsword, leading from the front. She guided the city's generals and Grand Martial Masters, engaging in brutal close-quarters combat with the elite barbarians who had scaled the walls in the most dangerous sectors. Sword light flashed, bringing forth sprays of blood. Her Grand Martial Master cultivation was displayed to its fullest at this moment, acting like a stabilizing pillar, holding the line on a section of the wall.

However, the true decisive battlefield was in the air!

"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"

Four vast, majestic Auras soared into the sky from the barbarian camp! Natu Lu, Tulu, Wumuzha, and Batu—the four barbarian Martial Kings—hovered in the air. Their powerful pressure, almost tangible, enveloped the entire battlefield!

"City Lord! Come out and die!" Natu Lu's voice was like thunder, his giant axe pointed directly at the City Lord's mansion.

"Hmph, barbarian scum, how dare you be so insolent!"

Accompanied by a cold shout, three figures also rose into the air from within Star South City! They were City Lord Xia Wuyin, the elderly Vice City Lord, and the reclusive Martial King Mu Shan!

Mu Shan still wore his coarse hemp clothes, but his posture was straight as a pine tree, his eyes sharp as lightning. The powerful Aura of a Mid-stage Martial King was released without restraint, actually faintly surpassing the combined pressure of the four opponents!

"Mid-stage Martial King?!" Wumuzha's pupils contracted, a flicker of shock and doubt crossing his face. "The intelligence was wrong!"

"What does one more matter? We will break this city today! Kill!" Natu Lu roared, taking the lead. He swung his giant axe with an Aura that seemed to tear the heavens, cleaving towards City Lord Xia Wuyin!

Tulu sought out the Vice City Lord of Star South City.

Wumuzha and Batu exchanged a glance and, with perfect tacit agreement, simultaneously pounced on Mu Shan! They intended to deal with this biggest variable first by fighting two against one!

In an instant, the skies above churned, and the roar of energy explosions filled the air!

City Lord Xia Wuyin's sword light was like a waterfall, clashing madly against Natu Lu's berserk Axe Energy. Each exchange produced deafening roars, and the scattered shockwaves of energy made the ordinary soldiers below struggle to keep their footing.

The Vice City Lord and Tulu were also evenly matched, their fists and palms interweaving in an intense struggle.

As for Mu Shan, facing Wumuzha's eerie dual-blade assaults and Batu's powerful Wolf-Tooth Club smashes, his movements were elusive. His palm techniques seemed simple and unadorned, yet he always managed to resolve crises at the last possible moment. Where his palm winds passed, the air emitted low hums. With his strength alone, he firmly entangled the two barbarian Martial Kings, not falling behind!

The fierce battle of the seven Martial Kings high in the sky became the focal point of the entire battlefield. Their victory or defeat would directly determine the survival of Star South City.

The battles on the ground and in the air remained Tragic. The harassment from the Eagle Riders caused significant trouble for the defenders, and the ground barbarian assaults came in ever-increasing waves. Xia Xue's armor was already stained with blood—some her own, but mostly the enemy's. Clenching her teeth, she led the defenders in desperately holding back wave after wave of attacks. Sections of the wall changed hands several times, only to be desperately recaptured each time.

The entire Star South City had transformed into a meat grinder. Every moment, lives were fading away.

While treating the wounded, Qin Feng's gaze occasionally swept over the fate-deciding battlefield high in the sky, then towards Xia Xue fighting Fighting bloody battle on the city walls, and the defenders Struggling to hold on against the barbarians' absolute power.

He knew that merely having three Martial Kings block the enemy's four was only temporary. The Disadvantages on the ground and in the air continued to widen. How long could Senior Mu Shan hold out? How long could Xia Xue and the others hold out?

The fate of Star South City still teetered on the edge of a knife.