Death... and me

Chapter 4313: Let’s Talk

Roan’s group finally arrived in Turanzo near the end of the day, only a few hours before the horde was expected to reach the country’s borders.

Take a look at the three frontline countries, Turanzo, Terno Dore, and Lesgez. Among them, the country of Turanzo occupied the leftmost side of the defensive line. Unfortunately, the situation in the other two countries was already deteriorating rapidly.

In Lesgez, the first waves had already arrived, and the battle had begun in full force. Reports of casualties and collapsing positions flooded the communication network every few minutes.

No one was surprised in the chain of command, though. Everyone knew from the start that the hordes this time would be enormous. It wasn’t the first time it happened, nor would it be the last.

Meanwhile, Terno Dore had just barely finished positioning its forces throughout the first defensive line. Entire battalions were still moving into formation while preparing themselves to receive the incoming impact at any moment.

Turanzo ended up becoming the last country the hordes would reach.

Not long after arriving, Roan, Celis, and Kentucky quickly found Rean among the countless cultivators gathered near the frontline camps. The four of them soon regrouped and joined the battalion selected for them by the commanders overseeing this section of the defense force.

"How are things going?" Rean asked while walking together with the others through the sea of cultivators, temporary fortifications, and arrays.

Roan had been constantly checking the communication network and the reports provided by the Godly Subjugation Guild throughout the trip. His expression darkened slightly as he answered.

"Not very good. The latest reports estimate that the hordes are at least four times larger than the total number of experts defending here in Turanzo alone. No wonder they ramped up the Sacred Relic’s power earlier. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they increased it further before the main clash begins."

[The only question is how much the Sacred Relic can actually do, right?] Sister Orb commented. [Perhaps it has a limit to how much force it can exert. And if someone tries to force it beyond its capabilities, it might even break.]

Roan had naturally already considered that possibility. "Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about the Sacred Relic itself, especially how it actually functions. Speculating about it now won’t help us much."

He then shifted his attention toward the battalions spread throughout the massive defensive line.

"Instead, what we should really pay attention to is the positioning of our own battalion."

The twins’ battalion was composed almost entirely of Anchor Gods. For roughly every fifty Anchor Gods, there was a single Aura God assigned to supervise and coordinate them.

Naturally, there were no Zone Gods present among the forces at this level.

As for the only two Law Gods belonging to the Besgol Region, nobody knew where they were stationed. Experts at that level rarely revealed their locations unless absolutely necessary.

"In total, our battalion has eight hundred members," Roan explained. "That means seven hundred and eighty-four Anchor Gods, including us, and sixteen Aura Gods responsible for each division of fifty cultivators. Out of those sixteen Aura Gods, only one of them, a guy named Fushio, is the commanding officer of the entire battalion."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"The problem is that we are being positioned directly at the front. We’ll be responsible for receiving the very first waves before another battalion behind us rotates in to replace us and give us time to recover."

"Hum?" Rean looked confused. "Why would that be a problem? It’s not like we didn’t expect something like this. As Anchor Gods, it makes perfect sense for us to be stationed at the frontlines."

Roan shook his head.

"Take a proper look around you. Nearly all the Anchor Gods here are only in the Initial or Middle Stages. Even among the Aura Gods, most are also only in the Initial and Middle Stages too."

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"We aren’t being placed at the front because we’re strong enough to hold the line."

"We are being placed there as sacrifices meant to slow down the momentum of the first waves."

The atmosphere around the group immediately became heavier.

"Forget about us. The battalion behind us, the one that’s supposed to rotate with us later, most likely won’t survive either."

Immediately afterward, Roan transmitted a file directly to Rean’s, Celis’, and Kentucky’s RCs.

Inside was a complete simulation of the projected battlefield.

Roan had used the terrain layout, estimated Godly Creature compositions, expected wave density, defensive formation placements, troop distribution, and even the mobility speed of the hordes to calculate the results.

The final conclusion was brutal.

There was a 97.3% chance that the frontline battalions would be completely wiped out within the first ten minutes of battle.

As for the remaining 2.7%...

That probability only existed because some cultivators might attempt to desert once the defensive lines started to collapse. Technically speaking, if a few survivors managed to escape before dying, the battalion couldn’t truly be considered annihilated.

However, even that possibility carried extremely low odds.

Once the waves collided with the frontline positions, there would barely be any room left to retreat.

Rean pondered silently after seeing the results.

Truthfully speaking, the twins’ group itself didn’t have a very high chance of dying.

Between the Yin Yang Sanctuary and their ability to release Godly Pressure after enough chaos spread through the battlefield, they possessed several methods capable of allowing them to escape.

The problem was that both options involved secrets they absolutely did not want exposed.

"So," Rean finally asked, "what should we do?"

Roan still didn’t have many alternatives to offer.

"Although our battalion’s positioning is terrible, it is honestly still the best possible deployment given the circumstances. I won’t lie—the commanders handling this frontline are doing a very good job."

He glanced toward the endless defensive lines stretching into the distance.

"Using battalions like ours as the initial sacrifice is genuinely the most effective decision available to them. The momentum of the first waves must be stopped no matter what."

[Actually, there is one thing you guys can use without exposing yourselves completely,] Sister Orb suddenly said.

And Roan agreed.

"Yes... there is."

He turned toward the others.

"We can use the Yin Yang Sanctuary."

"Wouldn’t that reveal our abilities to everyone around us?" Kentucky immediately questioned.

"Ah!" Rean suddenly realized something important. "We’re inside the Sacred Relic’s influence right now, and its suppression has already been strengthened. For all intents and purposes, anyone watching would simply assume the Sacred Relic itself is responsible for removing the Godly Creatures’ Godly Pressure, not us."

Roan nodded. "Exactly."

He quickly continued before anyone became overly optimistic.

"The problem is that we can only maintain it for one minute before it enters a cooldown period of twenty-four hours. Still, during that single minute, our battalion would gain an overwhelming advantage because the Sacred Relic’s influence would weaken the Godly Creatures to the maximum possible extent."

Normally, the Godly Pressure emitted by the Godly Creatures partially counteracted the suppressive effects of the Sacred Relic. The more creatures there are together, the more they could counter it, and the more they would weaken the cultivators who got inside their Godly Pressures instead.

Without that resistance...

...their overall strength would immediately plummet, and the cultivator’s strength wouldn’t be affected at all.

Depending on the target, some Godly Creatures could easily lose over half of their effective combat power once deprived of their Godly Pressure.

"Hey, Roan!"

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind the twins’ group.

The four of them turned around almost immediately, and it only took a single glance for them to recognize the newcomer.

Well, it was Roan who responded first since he was the one who had interacted with the man previously.

"So, you’re here too."

It was Wurshan, and he nodded while approaching them.

He still hadn’t forgotten that Roan had saved his life back in the territory of the Carcatira Alligators.

"Indeed. I was assigned here alongside a few members of my clan. While checking the battalion roster, I noticed you guys were part of my platoon of fifty cultivators."

"Hey, isn’t he a Late Stage Aura God?" Kentucky immediately noticed. "Weren’t the Aura Gods assigned to this battalion supposed to be Initial and Middle Stage experts?"

Roan corrected him right away.

"I said most of them were like that, not all of them. It seems Wurshan is one of the few higher-level Aura Gods assigned here aside from the battalion commander."

"So I wasn’t imagining things, huh?" Wurshan sighed while glancing around at the surrounding cultivators. "This battalion truly is filled with low-level experts."

Still, he quickly understood the reasoning behind it himself.

"But I can also understand why I was assigned here. First, there is the fact that we already worked well together during the mission involving the Carcatira Alligators’ Marrow."

Then his expression darkened slightly.

"Second... even though I’m technically still in the Late Stage of the Aura God Realm, I haven’t fully recovered from the effects of the aberration’s black goo yet. At my current state, my actual battle strength would barely qualify as Middle Stage Aura God level."

Roan pondered silently after hearing that.

Because of his cultivation level, nobody would allow him to officially command anything, nor would anyone listen to his tactical opinions in the first place.

However...

"Wurshan," Roan suddenly said, "let’s talk."

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