As the red lotus bloomed, the giant illusory image of a blazing lion loomed behind Leona.
But it was neither red nor blue; it was a purple hue where red and blue intermingled, and an eerie violet light flashed in its eyes.
It appeared for only an instant before being swallowed by the radiant light of the blooming red lotus.
The entire sky seemed to turn crimson, flecked with dancing blue flames, while the very core of the bloom glowed with a faint, shimmering violet light.
There was no shockwave, as it had been completely contained by Leona's mana domain, bouncing back to inflict secondary damage. However, the light that illuminated half the sky was so bright it even eclipsed the sun.
A terrifying wave of sound came rolling in, forcing everyone to instinctively duck as if feeling a pressure that weighed directly on their souls.
Even the magical beasts lowered their heads, too terrified to look directly at it.
Only Zhang Ye.
He stood perfectly straight, his eyes holding nothing but the figure amidst the brilliant red lotus.
Her figure was far more beautiful than the blooming red lotus.
By the time the light faded, the Dark Cloud Tiger's body had vanished.
It had been vaporized, leaving behind only a dark purple magic core that slowly drifted down into Leona's hand.
Leona grasped the scalding magic core and held it high.
“The instigator of the beast tide is dead!!!”
Her voice echoed between heaven and earth.
The magical beasts could not understand her words, but they understood what they saw.
Their king... was dead...
Their king had started this beast tide, and now, it was dead...
Looking around, the beast tide had lost its momentum. One by one, the Saint-tier magical beasts were being slain by the combined efforts of the human Saint-tier experts, leaving no hope for a turnaround.
“Retreat!” Leona shouted, her terrifying voice carrying endless pressure.
The battlefield ground to a halt. The magical beasts began to shrink back in fear, while the morale of the human army soared.
Everyone raised their weapons high and roared in unison.
“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”
Each shout of “Retreat!” was like a massive boulder weighing down on the magical beasts, intensifying the terror in their hearts.
With every shout of “Retreat!”, the human army took a step forward. The heavy, synchronized thud of their footsteps rumbled like war drums.
“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”
Finally, a Saint-tier magical beast cracked. Casting a fearful glance at Leona, it let out a howl, turned around, and fled toward the forest.
With a Saint-tier magical beast leading the way, the beast tide finally began to scatter and flee. In the end, they were sprinting at full speed, as if terrified that the human army would pursue them.
In truth, the human army had also suffered devastating losses, lacking both the strength and the desire to give chase.
Excluding the hundreds of thousands of magical beasts drowned by the flood, only three hundred thousand of the beast tide remained. Though they had slain over a hundred thousand, the human army of four hundred and eighty thousand had lost nearly two hundred thousand.
This was a stark testament to the terror of a beast tide.
For every magical beast slain, more than one soldier had to pay with their life.
Had it not been for the support of the All Souls Magic Academy, the Allied Army of the Four Kingdoms would have undoubtedly been defeated.
In a way, the kingdom that fled had made the right choice.
Fortunately, however, humanity had triumphed.
All the soldiers cheered in unison, but before long, groans and weeping drowned out the celebration.
Many soldiers knelt on the ground, cradling mangled corpses with desolate expressions.
Many of these dead were their friends, brothers, or even family members...
In this victory, the All Souls Magic Academy had suffered almost no casualties, with only a few students sustaining minor injuries. However, the ordinary soldiers of the Allied Army of the Four Kingdoms had suffered devastating losses.
In war, the ones who always suffer the most are the people at the bottom.
Watching this scene, the joy of victory was instantly dampened for everyone.
Lina bit her lip gently.
This was her first time on a battlefield.
The Lionheart Empire had fought wars in the past, but most of what she heard were reports of victory.
She had never seen such horrors, only listening to her father and brothers cheerfully describe how gloriously the Lionheart Empire had triumphed.
Her father and brothers had only ever shown her the glorious side.
Now, she was seeing the dark side.
Watching the soldiers retrieve the corpses with heavy steps, and seeing the wounded clutching their bleeding injuries, trying their best not to cry out to maintain their masculinity yet still unable to stop themselves from gasping in pain, Lina felt a suffocating tightness in her chest.
Was there... a world without war?
She couldn't help but wonder.
Zhang Ye walked over and gently patted her shoulder. “What are you thinking about with such a long face? We won the battle, we should be smiling.”
“But... so many people died. How can anyone smile at a time like this?” Lina looked at Zhang Ye and asked softly.
Everyone gathered around. They couldn't help but nod, their faces devoid of any smiles.
Zhang Ye scanned the crowd and smiled.
“Why can't we smile?”
“Tell me, what did those fallen soldiers sacrifice themselves for?”
“They did it for the kingdoms behind them, for their wives, their children, and their families.”
“They successfully protected them with their lives. So even if they died, on their way to the afterlife, they can smile and say—I was a real man!”
“Look at them.” Zhang Ye pointed toward the wounded, and everyone turned to look.
They saw that although those wounded soldiers had pale faces, cold sweat dripping down, and pain they could not hide, they still forced smiles, trying to comfort the trembling recruits.
Or they would boast, “I'm only Tier Four, but I traded an arm to take down a Tier Six magical beast! Can any of you do that? Hahaha... Ow, that hurts like hell! Be gentle!”
Stunned by the sight, everyone looked back at the smiling Zhang Ye.
“Compared to them, we are lucky. And as for the outcome, we won.”
“If they can smile, why can't we?”
“Besides, smiling always looks better than crying, doesn't it?”
Zhang Ye flashed a toothy grin. Just then, sunlight broke through the clouds and fell upon him, outlining his figure in a hazy golden border.
His profile shimmered in the sunlight, and his smile appeared exceptionally bright and radiant, as if the battle just now had not left him battered, but had instead helped him grow.
Everyone's heart trembled.
It was as if his smile had pierced right through their souls.
The girls felt their hearts skip a beat.
Even the group of tough guys couldn't help but feel a deep sense of admiration rising in their hearts.
Such a state of mind... Truly impressive...
“Alright, stop looking so gloomy and cheer up! You're all geniuses, and geniuses should act like geniuses!”
“Never looking down on others, yet proud and unyielding!”
Zhang Ye waved his hand and started walking toward the Eros Kingdom. “Once the fallen soldiers are laid to rest, we're having a victory celebration! What's with these miserable faces? Let's all cheer up and get moving!”
Everyone looked at one another and couldn't help but smile.
Even Lina grinned, her energetic smile fully restored as she skipped along to keep up with his pace.
No one knew just how many lives on that field were changed by Zhang Ye's words.
Whenever they found themselves in desperate straits in the future, they would never give up. They would always be able to smile and look danger right in the eye.
And then, welcome hope.
Up in the sky, Leona naturally witnessed this.
A beautiful curve lifted the corner of her lips, her eyes softening with tender affection.
This was the person she loved.
Clearly, she no longer needed to worry about his state of mind.
A mindset like this was more than enough to carry him to the absolute peak!
...
....
Rate on N.U.
