Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 303 Fire attacks are always useful
Li Batian exerted all his strength, cleaving the enemy in front of him in two with a single stroke. Then, leaning on his broadsword, he gasped for breath.

"Damn it, these damned guys are really hard to deal with now."

The retreat of the soldiers at Xueyuan Pass greatly boosted the morale of the Northern Di Iron Knights.

This allowed their already formidable strength to be fully unleashed.

In the distance, the sound of horns rose and fell, signaling the attack of the Northern Di people.

The heavy footsteps drew ever closer, and Li Batian could even see the ferocious faces of the enemies in the front row, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"General, be careful!" came the exclamation from the guards behind him.

Li Batian suddenly turned to the side, a curved blade grazing his neck, sending a chill down his spine. With a backhand slash, he cut the attacker in half at the waist, warm blood splattering on his face, emitting a pungent stench.

In the current situation, even a master like Li Batian would find it quite difficult to deal with a few ordinary Northern Di cavalrymen.

His hand holding the knife trembled slightly, and the web between his thumb and forefinger was cracked.

Each swing of the sword felt like dragging a massive boulder. A glance across the battlefield revealed mutilated corpses everywhere—enemies among them, but mostly his own brothers from Snow Abyss Pass.

Those experts hidden among the Northern Di cavalry are the most difficult to deal with.

These experts were all carefully selected by the commanders of the Northern Barbarian tribes, so their strength goes without saying.

When fighting a losing battle, those commanders were reluctant to send their trusted men to their deaths.

But when they're winning, their performance is absolutely insane...

With these guys launching sneak attacks, even someone as strong as Li Batian was caught off guard and suffered a loss just now.

Fortunately, as a general, Li Batian's armor was definitely among the best.

In addition, he reacted quickly, and the knife only barely pierced through the armor and grazed the skin.

Although he bled quite a bit, it wasn't a fatal wound.

Li Batian spat out a mouthful of blood, used the tip of his knife to pick up a tattered military flag from the ground, and hurled it at an enemy charging towards him. Taking advantage of the enemy's moment of dodge, he launched a sudden attack, his cleaver whistling through the air as it slashed down.

Not every soldier at Xueyuan Pass who followed Li Batian to block the enemy had his strength.

They had only been fighting for a short while, and already more than half of them were dead or wounded.

The surviving soldiers held the crossroads tightly, each with a resolute expression on their face, determined not to retreat even a single step.

In the distance, the Northern Di cavalry continued to charge towards them.

The dark mass of cavalry surged in like a tide, shouting and killing wildly.

"Kill them! Avenge our fallen brothers!"

"Don't let a single southern barbarian get away with it; make them pay for their crimes in blood."

"The commander-in-chief has ordered that not a single blade of grass be left at Xueyuan Pass!"

Li Batian quickly raised his saber, ready to meet the enemy.

The blade reflected his bloodshot eyes and the endless Northern Di cavalry.

The horse-slaying sword, which I had found quite handy when I first acquired it, now felt incredibly heavy.

The cowhide wrapped around the hilt was soaked in blood, making it slippery and difficult to grip. Li Batian shook his head violently, clearing away the blood and sweat that blurred his vision.

Even before the enemy arrived, Li Batian felt a heavy, drowning-like sense of unease.

The air became viscous, and each breath felt like swallowing iron filings.

Just then, a rapid clanging of metal came from behind him.

"Ding ding ding, ding ding ding!"

As if afraid they wouldn't hear it, the piercing sound continued incessantly, each shrill thud like a heavy hammer pounding on the heart.

However, both Li Batian and the soldiers of Xueyuan Pass who followed him to block the enemy felt that the sound was as melodious as celestial music.

One of the veterans, his face covered in blood, even grinned, revealing a missing front tooth. He shouted in a hoarse voice, "Brothers, His Highness is finally safe."

When the retreat signal is given, the party should withdraw.

His Highness was informing them that their mission was complete and they no longer needed to fight the enemy; they could retreat immediately.

"go!"

With this furious roar, the veins on Li Batian's neck bulged.

Even someone as warlike as Li Batian, upon hearing the signal to retreat, decisively ordered his men to withdraw without the slightest hesitation.

The soldiers helped each other retreat, some even picking up their comrades' belongings before leaving.

As for Li Batian himself, he did not leave with his men immediately.

He squinted at the pursuers; the front rank of Northern Di cavalry was less than twenty paces away. The leading general brandished his scimitar and shouted in broken Great Zhou Mandarin, "Surrender and you will not be killed."

Li Batian sneered, turned around and lifted the coarse cloth covering something in the corner of the wall.

The coarse cloth was lifted, revealing a dozen or so sealed earthenware jars.

Each earthenware jar was tightly bound with hemp rope, and the mouth of the jar was sealed with a thick layer of wax. Li Batian's rough fingers ran over the jar, and he could feel the liquid inside sloshing around; this was their last remaining stock.

To stop the enemy, His Highness entrusted everything to him.

Without saying a word, Li Batian picked up a pottery jar and threw it towards the pursuers behind him.

The earthenware pot traced an arc through the air before hurtling towards the Northern Di cavalry. The enemy clearly hadn't anticipated this move; by the time they realized it, it was too late to dodge.

The already flimsy pottery jar shattered into pieces when it hit the armor of the Northern Di cavalry.

As fragments flew everywhere, viscous liquid poured out like raindrops.

The Northern Di cavalry were also smashed to the ground by the immense force.

The liquid quickly becomes slippery upon contact with air, and gleams with an eerie oily sheen in the sunlight.

The Northern Di cavalrymen nearby slipped and fell flat on their backs after being splashed with the liquid.

Some people tried to steady themselves, but only swayed twice before falling to the ground.

They struggled to get up, but one pottery jar after another smashed them, knocking them over.

Li Batian hurled all the pottery jars like a catapult, each one landing precisely where the pursuers were most concentrated.

A Northern Di soldier had just propped himself up when he was hit on the head by a flying pottery jar, and blood immediately streamed down his face.

Some people tried to go around from both sides, but as soon as they got their hands on the liquid, none of them could maintain their balance and all fell down.

Li Batian saw two clever Northern Di soldiers trying to advance along the wall, unaware that the wall was also splattered with oil. One of them slipped, hit his head hard on the corner of the wall, and immediately lost consciousness.

In the blink of an eye, the small passageway was filled with fallen Northern Di cavalrymen.

People were piled on top of each other, creating a chaotic scene. This prevented those behind from getting up at all.

The Northern Di's follow-up troops were blocked at the alley entrance. Some cursed loudly, some tried to climb over the corpses, and some even shot arrows at him.

Li Batian dodged to the side, his rough fingers pinching the tinderbox. He blew on it twice, and the sparks on the tinderbox flickered before it quickly ignited.

Just then, a mournful scream suddenly rang out from among the Northern Di cavalry.

The sound was like that of a wild beast being choked, sharp and piercing.

Li Batian looked up and saw a burly Northern Di officer pointing in terror at the oil stains on the ground. His beard trembled with fear, and his eyes were filled with despair.

"Damn it! This is flammable oil! Kill that guy quickly, don't let him set it on fire!"

The officer's voice was almost cracking, and the surrounding Northern Di cavalrymen turned deathly pale upon hearing it. Some instinctively retreated, but were pushed back by their comrades surging forward from behind, unable to move.

Not to mention those guys whose bodies were covered in flaming oil, even the other Northern Di cavalrymen were all terrified.

Li Batian could even see that the faces of the few Northern Di cavalrymen in the front row changed color seven or eight times in a row, just like chameleons.

During today's siege, the Northern Di cavalry suffered twice in a row from the golden juice mixed with fierce fire oil at Xueyuan Pass.

Even though many of them had not participated in the previous battles.

But beneath the walls of Xueyuan Pass, flames raged, like a wall of fire that devoured all life; they had all witnessed it with their own eyes.

Now it's even more terrifying; these are the purest, most potent fire oils, and once ignited...

Upon realizing the situation was dire, all the Northern Di cavalry who could see Li Batian drew their bows and shot at him, trying to stop him from setting the fire.

The sound of bowstrings vibrating blended together, and the whistling of arrows piercing the air was painful to the eardrums. The archers in the front row had veins bulging from the effort, but their eyes were filled with ferocious killing intent.

If looks could kill, Li Batian would probably be dead hundreds of times over by now.

For a moment, the small alley was almost completely obscured by the rain of arrows.

The dense swarm of arrows, like locusts, stung the walls and the ground.

Unfortunately, Li Batian had anticipated this situation and had hidden himself away beforehand.

Actually, it wasn't something he expected; rather, the Fourth Prince had specifically instructed him to do so when he sent him over.

Li Batian's mind flashed back to the Fourth Prince's unfathomable eyes and his slender fingers tapping the table as he spoke: "Remember, make sure you find cover before you light the fire..."

After a pause, the fourth prince added, "Don't get too close to the wall."

Therefore, before the Northern Di cavalry shot arrows, Li Batian had already retreated from the alley and hidden in a corner where the arrows could not reach.

The dense array of arrows pierced through the wall, making Li Batian's scalp tingle.

The bluestone wall in front of Li Batian turned into a hedgehog, with plaster falling off in a rustling sound.

Several arrows even pierced through the wall and embedded themselves in the ground, their fletchings still trembling.

Li Batian couldn't help but swallow hard: "Fortunately, I listened to Your Highness's orders."

If he hadn't taken cover beforehand, even he would probably have been riddled with bullets.

He touched his chest; the undergarment beneath his armor was soaked with cold sweat. In the distance, the Northern Di cavalry was drawing ever closer; he could almost hear the sound of hooves—their cavalry had already entered the city.

By this time, they should have already begun to bypass this area and occupy other parts of Xueyuan Pass.

Li Batian dared not delay. He cautiously glanced across the alley and saw that the Northern Di cavalry were trying to rescue those guys who had been doused with flaming oil.

Several Northern Di soldiers used their spears as levers to try to pry their fallen comrades up and have those men grab the spears and drag them away.

Unfortunately, these people were covered in flammable oil, making them incredibly slippery, so no matter what method was used, the effect was not very good.

A centurion-like man was directing soldiers to take off their cloaks, hoping to absorb as much of the burning oil as possible in this way.

However, because they were wearing full suits of armor, rescue operations were actually quite difficult.

"Damn barbarians, don't worry. I'll send you to see your ancestors right now, if you have any." Li Batian didn't hesitate any longer, and with a sneer, he threw the tinder over.

The tinderbox drew a graceful arc in the air, and the sparks trailed a long, thin beam of light in the wind.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. When the Northern Di people looked up at the tinderbox, the frozen expression on their faces was the most primal fear that humans face when confronted with death.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and the centurion of the Northern Di cavalry leading the team could even clearly see the flame on the tinderbox changing as it was turned.

The cluster of orange-red flames flickered in the wind, reflected in the centurion's bloodshot eyes.

The sparks flung from the tinderbox scattered and flew in all directions, like stars in the sky.

A few sparks fell to the ground, making a faint crackling sound.

A spark drifted onto the leather armor of a Northern Di cavalryman, burning a small black spot on it.

It was just a small tinderbox, yet it displayed a charm as vast as the universe.

In a daze, the centurion even recalled that when the Eternal Heaven adorned the night sky with stars, it was also with such casual strokes.

But at this moment, this beautiful spark brought with it a harbinger of death.
Beauty is fleeting.

As the tinderbox traced its final arc, the centurion instinctively reached out to grab it, forgetting that he was still separated from it by a field of Northern Di cavalry.

He watched helplessly as that faint flame fell, as if watching his own fate come to an end.

The next moment, the tinder suddenly sped up and landed directly on the flowing oil on the ground.

With a muffled boom, flames suddenly erupted like a giant beast awakening.

The Northern Di cavalry at the very front didn't even have time to scream before they were turned into fireballs. Their armor quickly turned red-hot under the intense heat, sticking to their flesh like red-hot irons.

In the blink of an eye, the small flame turned into a raging inferno, engulfing the Northern Di cavalry blocking the alley entrance.

A wave of heat rolled over him, and the centurion felt as if his eyebrows were being roasted.

Several rescuers were almost burned because they couldn't get out of the way in time.

The continuous screams were enough to send chills down one's spine.

The sound was not human; it was more like the wailing of a demon being tortured in hell. A figure of fire staggered out of the inferno, frantically slapping its head and face with its hands, each slap causing charred flesh to fall off in a flurry.

Those Northern Di cavalrymen, covered in burning oil, rolled on the ground and rubbed against the walls, but they could not extinguish the flames on their bodies.

Many of the fire-men struggled to their feet and stumbled towards their companions, causing the others to retreat in fright.

"Damn you southern barbarians, I'll kill you all!" The centurion leading the group had bloodshot eyes.

He gripped the scimitar tightly, his knuckles cracking.

The veins on his forehead bulged, like several writhing earthworms. His teeth were clenched so hard they were grinding, and the taste of blood filled his mouth; he had bitten his cheeks raw without anyone noticing.

(End of this chapter)