"The 24th Battalion of the Light Faction is here to support the 26th Battalion, to fight the Dark Faction together!"
"The 27th Battalion of the Light Faction is here to slaughter the Dark Faction!"
Just as the two armies stood poised like drawn bows, ready to engage, two more groups of Light Faction troops came rolling in from the distance, their roars echoing through this region of the Chaotic Void.
This meant that a total of seven Light Faction Battalions had gathered in this place, forming a truly formidable lineup!
The seven Battalion commanders swiftly reached a consensus and decided to act immediately!
"I will send a message to Commander Cang of the 26th Battalion right now to inform him of the situation. He can lead the 26th Battalion out, ready to join the battle! We'll launch a pincer attack from inside and out!" one commander said. He quietly took out a jade slip and sent a transmission.
Inside the 26th Battalion's base, Commander Cang's expression grew exceptionally complex upon receiving the message.
"Everyone, what should we do? Do we really proceed with this? Once this battle commences, every single member of our 26th Battalion will be branded traitors and sinners against the Light Faction from this moment on," Commander Cang's gaze slowly swept over the silent senior officers of the 26th Battalion standing around him as he spoke in a heavy tone.
"Hehe... Commander Cang, look at you, didn't we agree long ago? We cooperate with the Dark Faction's operation, use the crisis of our 26th Battalion to lure as many Light Faction battalions as possible here, then concentrate and annihilate them. This operation serves as our first meritorious contribution upon joining the Dark Faction. Commander Cang, listening to your words now, are you having second thoughts? Don't forget—your parents, wife, children, brothers, martial sect, and that whole bunch of people close to you, their lives are in the hands of several High Envoys of the Dark Faction. If you try to back out now, none of them will survive. They will all die because of you!"
At this moment, a senior officer of the 26th Battalion standing in the distance chuckled coldly. This officer was a black-robed old man whose aura was sharp and fierce—an Advanced Earth Immortal. Although Commander Cang was the battalion commander and held the highest position, this man showed him not an ounce of respect, his words dripping with sarcasm.
"Elder Gao, in truth, all of this is because of you..." Commander Cang's gaze fell upon the black-robed elder. He appeared to be in great pain, with a surge of intense rage deep in his heart, yet utterly powerless. He opened his mouth slightly and spoke.
Because Elder Gao's words were true. A large group of his closest loved ones had indeed been captured by several Dark Faction High Envoys.
Besides Commander Cang, in the depths of the other senior officers' eyes, there also hid anger. Their situations were the same as the Commander's—they too had beloved ones they wished to protect who had been snatched away by several Dark Faction High Envoys!
If they wanted to save those people, they had to obey the Dark Faction's orders, serving them from now on and turning against the Light Faction.
This crisis the 26th Battalion faced was actually a trap!
The Dark Faction had long ago concealed a powerful army near the 26th Battalion's base, waiting specifically for the other Light Faction battalions to walk right into the net!
"Enough, Commander Cang. I don't want to waste words. If you have anything to say, say it directly to the High Envoys!" Noting the concealed fury in everyone's gazes, Elder Gao's face darkened as he replied coldly.
The next moment, five indistinct, dark, shadowy figures slowly appeared before them, solidifying from ethereal forms into tangible shapes.
These were five Dark Faction experts, each exuding immense energy pressure that secretly alarmed all the senior officers of the 26th Battalion.
"Good, six Light Faction battalions have already arrived outside. We can move. Once the fighting starts, you lead the 26th Battalion out. First, pretend to fight us from the Dark Faction. I will observe from the side, and when the time is right, I'll give the order. You will immediately launch a surprise attack from behind, catching those Light Faction troops off guard. Of course, even if you people of the 26th Battalion don't act, the army the Dark Faction has deployed outside is more than sufficient to annihilate this batch of Light Faction troops. I am merely testing your loyalty. I believe the 26th Battalion will not disappoint me, will you?"
One of the Dark Faction experts slowly spoke up, his tone laced with threat.
Upon hearing these words, all the senior officers of the 26th Battalion lowered their heads.
"Good, make your preparations! Wait for my command!" the Dark Faction expert who had spoken declared coldly.
"Pass the order! Prepare to act according to the plan!" After struggling fiercely inside for a moment, Commander Cang finally issued the command in a trembling voice.
He thought of his family, his clan, his martial sect, his close friends... These were all the people he most wanted to protect!
He had originally hidden them well. But a traitor had emerged from among the 26th Battalion's senior officers, one who had secretly ascertained the identities of most officers' closest connections. This person had then notified the Dark Faction, leading to the capture of all these people. Then, with inside help, they had breached this core base of the 26th Battalion and taken control of the entire battalion.
Of course, during this process, many within the 26th Battalion had resisted, but they had all been killed!
Outside, in the world beyond.
"Everyone, I've received Commander Cang's reply. We proceed as planned!" the commander who had just sent the transmission to Commander Cang sent a Sound Transmission to the commanders of the other battalions.
"Attack! Slaughter all these Dark Faction bastards!"
"Kill them!"
...
The commanders of the seven battalions roared out almost simultaneously.
Kill!
The troops of the seven Light Faction Battalions also let out fierce battle cries, their massive combined roar converging like one invisible cosmic torrent after another, sweeping through this stretch of spacetime and shaking the boundless void.
The seven battalions charged forward en masse, dense and innumerable, like a swarm of locusts sweeping across the land. Their murderous aura blazed, and their momentum was truly terrifying.
"Hahaha... You Light Faction fools think you can win by numbers, eh? What a pity! The numbers of our Dark Faction army are even greater! Come out, all of you! Kill every last one of these Light Faction scum! Don't let a single one escape!"
Seeing this, the leading Earth Immortal expert of the Dark Faction threw his head back and laughed wildly.
Boom!
Along with this Dark Faction expert's mad laughter, from all directions of this Chaotic Void, from deep within the very space itself, Dark Faction troops poured out continuously, wave after wave. Their numbers were terrifying, surging forward like a black, boundless, raging ocean.
At the forefront of these Dark Faction troops, mighty Earth Immortal experts led the charge.
Boom boom!
Looking around, all one could see were vast swathes of black, the armies of the Dark Faction continuously emerging from their hiding places. Their numbers were simply too vast, overwhelmingly so!
"Bad! It seems we've fallen into an ambush!" The commanders of the seven Light Faction battalions, with their keen perception, immediately sensed this scene. Their faces changed dramatically, knowing the situation had turned dire.
"The situation is bad! Their Earth Immortal experts... there seem to be over two hundred of them! How is this possible? Since when did the Dark Faction possess so many Earth Immortals?"
A commander with the most powerful perception was the first to sense the number of Earth Immortal experts among the Dark Faction forces, and he cried out, his voice trembling.
The commanders of the other six battalions felt as if they had just been plunged into an icy abyss.
The combined Earth Immortal experts from their seven Light Faction battalions numbered no more than a hundred at most. Even if you added those from the 26th Battalion, they would barely exceed a hundred!
"The enemy's total troop numbers are also at least double ours! We have absolutely no chance of winning this battle!" another commander exclaimed in shock.
"We've been tricked. We're completely surrounded now. There's no escape." The commanders of all seven battalions realized the situation was disastrous, each of their faces paling with dread.