Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"...Why does it feel like there are more people now?"

The sorcerer muttered to himself, then pursed his lips, sensing something was amiss. Why were there suddenly so many more werewolves patrolling?

"Hey, you werewolf over there, whose henchman are you?"

"Um, I'm not a werewolf."

"What do you mean? Don't joke around. Release your spell and return to human form."

"I am--"

The claws that attacked from directly in front were powerful enough to slice through the sorcerer who was protected by magic, piercing straight through his chest and tearing his heart out of his body.

"Werewolves."

However, the sorcerer's colleagues around him felt no sense of danger, because they were all instantly killed by the werewolves who attacked him.

"They were so lax, taking the city gate so easily—First squad, go and light the fire, and report to the officers."

As the fires rose at night, at the same moment, in the Caucasus Mountains north of Farsas.

In one corner of the mountain range, on the rolling hills, the Huns nervously swallowed, awaiting orders from their leader.

After all, this has always been an insurmountable natural barrier for them.

"...Has it finally arrived?"

The white-haired girl gazed into the distance, at the distant sky—filled with dense, blazing flames.

“That’s right. After we take Falzas, you will lead the werewolves and Gorinich and Simfitri south to attack Armenia, while I will lead the Dead Apostles to the southeast to continue our attack on the Sassanid dynasty.”

The sharp blue light of the crescent moon illuminated Avia's profile.

Attila looked at him, frowned, and said:

"However, you are under much more pressure than I am."

It should be noted that the Sasanian Empire's strongest army, the Sassanid cavalry, was capable of inflicting heavy losses on the Roman army, which used the tortoise formation. Moreover, the Sasanian Empire was still at its peak and showed no signs of decline. Had it not been for the unexpected death of its king, it might have continued for hundreds of years.

"After all, I'm stronger than you."

"...That's true."

The girl turned her head and stared into the distance, her narrowed red eyes revealing a hint of coldness.

"So, it's time to move forward."

In the next instant, countless white shadows, darker than the night, cold and fierce, suddenly appeared beyond the horizon of Falsa.

Then, the entire edge of the endless horizon that stretched across the field of vision was tinged with white.

Like a tsunami crashing ashore, the waves collapsed, and countless white figures crossed the Caucasus Mountains, transforming into a sweeping wave that turned the dark blue mountains into a gray ocean in the blink of an eye.

The sounds generated by countless people coming together spread like wildfire, forming overlapping and continuous waves. No matter how far the waves went, the following waves always emerged from the other side of the mountain, just like the immeasurable ocean.

As far as the eye can see, all that can be seen is white.

The barbarian army, without the triumphant roar of warhorses, spread silently and ominously in white from one direction towards the other.

That is—death.

It was also an alarm bell—the collapse of the Caucasus defense line.

The Hunnic army marched across the long-standing natural barriers without any fear of being ambushed or blocked as before, and stormed into the unprotected territory of Falsa, into the Sasanian Empire, which had thought it could enjoy eternal peace and tranquility but had even forgotten to defend its borders.

The Huns' response to the fact that Falzas had hindered their progress for many years was, of course, to ruthlessly destroy it.

The cries that reached his ears made Attila squint his eyes slightly.

Whether she groaned or screamed, she felt neither fear nor pity.

For her, enemies should be eliminated.

Unconsciously holding his breath, his bloodshot eyes radiated a cold aura.

After naturally swinging down the God of War's sword, the facility in front of his line of sight was pierced by magic and destroyed instantly.

After an unknown amount of time, someone noticed that it was already daylight and that they could see their own hands holding weapons with the naked eye.

The sunlight, however, was red.

In the glow of dawn, taking advantage of a lull in the destruction, the Hunnic soldiers instinctively looked up at the sky.

The sky was dyed bright red; the sky, which should have been free from darkness, seemed to be burning fiercely, locked in red.

That scene was worse than hell, if not hell itself.

In the red and black hell, some people felt they had witnessed a white nightmare.

It was a fleeting, vivid vision, a white nightmare speeding through the planet's past.

In 425 AD, the Hunnic Empire crossed the Caucasus Mountains of the Sasanian Empire and destroyed the defensive stronghold of Falsa, leaving no survivors and erasing it from the map forever. The entire Sasanian Empire was shocked, but no amount of blaming the derelict nobles could change anything.

From then on, the gateway to West Asia, having lost the Caucasus Mountains, was wide open, and the Huns and the Fantasy army swept in, splitting into two routes and heading towards the heartland of Armenia and the Sasanian Empire.

138: The Sound of the Evening Bell

Northern Sasanian Empire.

Under the attack of half of the Hunnic army led by Avia, the dynasty, which had just experienced the defeat and death of its king and a period of turmoil in all aspects of politics, society and religion, put up some resistance, but naturally suffered repeated defeats due to depleted supplies and low morale.

The controlled area in the north continued to shrink, and one village after another was occupied and one city after another was captured. Whether it was a key node on a transportation route, an economic and cultural center of the region, or a religious and cultural center, its land was covered with blood.

The Huns, having crossed the formidable Caucasus Mountains, swiftly destroyed this empire, tearing apart the former hegemon of West Asia together with the Hephthalites to the east.

"So many people have died."

The black-haired girl spoke softly in a cold, aloof voice, as ruthless as the moon.

“Fu”.

Eltrauge, who came with Avia, crossed the collapsed city gate and the shattered city, the sound of rubble rolling down echoing among the empty buildings and streets.

As a princess of the Dead Apostles, she was used to this stench. From beneath the rubble, thick, red blood seeped out, forming a puddle.

No one dies without war, so how many people have the Hunnic army killed so far?

Countless, they walked over the bodies of the already killed humans, trampling on their blood and corpses as they continued onward.

The victor in war stands on the corpses of the vanquished.

The prosperity of a race is built on the sacrifice of certain things.

The foul, viscous blood, imbued with a thick, malevolent aura, is the voice of the dead, filled with hatred, envy, and resentment.

Death is often imminent, and no one knows when they will die easily, readily, or naturally.

It's just a matter of who gets killed; if you kill someone, you should be prepared to be killed yourself.

Death, for everyone, is fair, brutal, and sudden.

However, this made Ji Jun feel somewhat relieved, because there was no need to think during the battle and killing. Therefore, the entanglements, regrets, mourning, and lamentations that had been lingering since the incident with Van Fem were frozen and forgotten in the depths of her consciousness.

A corner of my frozen heart felt calmly at ease, finding this very relaxing.

During battle, you don't have to think about anything else; you can forget everything.

The black-haired girl felt that was the most relaxing way.

That's why she felt she could somewhat understand the madness of those creatures driven to madness by struggle and killing.

That's right, because as long as you become like that... you can be free.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, Princess, I've mobilized your Black and White Knights and the Royal Guard to deal with the sorcerers."

The dominant religion of the Sasanian dynasty was Zoroastrianism, and most of the sorcerers there believed in it, thus putting them in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.

"...Avia, why are the knights and guards so willingly manipulated by you?"

"Because, perhaps because of my alliance with you, everyone has been very cooperative, right, Fufu?"

The reasonable question posed by Altrouge, a fourteen-year-old girl, with a slight tilt of her head, received an extremely brief answer.

"And that's what they all told me, 'This body is the sword and shield of the master, and the greatest honor is to protect it to the end. Even if only a single hair on the princess's body is damaged, it is the greatest humiliation for us.' Cathy was quite happy about it at the time."

"Fufu, fufu, fufu, fufu!"

The white demon dog following at Eltrauge's feet seemed to bark with considerable pride, but unfortunately, its owner didn't even glance at it.

"So, the one who should be commanding them isn't me, it's you... But since I'm nominally the highest-ranking officer... so..."

The silver-haired youth, already hailed as another Hunnic king, spoke calmly, as if it were no big deal, relying on his 'merciless yet loving' tone that had plunged this dynasty, which had lasted for centuries and commanded the submission of countless people, into crisis:

"Because this is my responsibility—Altrud, are you ready?"

"Of course, since you and I are allies, it can be done anytime."

Eltrauge, her blood-red eyes fixed on Avia, gave this reply.

At this moment, the northern part of the Sasanian Empire, which extended into the Caucasus region, was completely breached and destroyed by the Hunnic army brought by Avia.

In the original historical account, Attila, who attacked the Sassanid dynasty, would have been retaliated against and defeated in Armenia, thus abandoning his plan to conquer Persia and continuing his march toward the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

But now, Attila's other army is also making rapid progress in Armenia, almost unstoppable, and the Eastern Roman Empire has even taken advantage of the situation by seizing several important towns...

Before parting ways with Attila, Avia specifically instructed her not to completely eliminate the Sassanid dynasty in Armenia, but to leave them a way out.

Otherwise, if the Eastern Roman Empire were to completely conquer Armenia, it would ultimately be disadvantageous for the Hunnic Empire.

After all, he had no plans to occupy the conquered territories. He could wait for the Sasanian dynasty, beset by internal and external troubles, to agree to his demands before driving the Hephthalites out.

These actions were taken both to strengthen the Hunnic Empire's power and economic strength, and to have the Sasanian Dynasty contain the Eastern Roman Empire during the attack on the Western Roman Empire.

The Sasanian Empire's failure to provide support to the north is entirely due to the Hephthalites' relentless attack on Fars Province, the Sasanian cradle and the empire's premier province. More than two thousand years ago, the Persian ancestors took a crucial step onto the historical stage from here.

They successively established the Achaemenid and Sasanian dynasties, becoming a superpower capable of dominating the course of West Asian history. Even during the Hellenistic and Parthian periods under foreign rule, the local indigenous cultural foundation remained unaffected.

Therefore, the major powers of the Sasanian Dynasty would never easily give up Fars Province, and naturally they would fight the Hephthalites, who had a bloody feud with them for the murder of their king, to the death.

However, before Avia continued south, he had one more thing to do: deal with the strange events that had recently become popular among the Hunnic army, the 'masks' and sounds that brought death at night.

The silver-haired youth knew it couldn't be Hassan, after all, his organization was founded in the 11th century, and it was only the 5th century now, so many years apart.

But the person who can be considered the 'founder' was not born in the 11th century; he was probably a figure who came from the Age of Gods.

After making inquiries from various sources, he discovered that there was indeed a sacred temple located deep in the mountains nearby.

Although the locals have never seen or entered it, they all call it the bell-ringing hall for blessing the end of life, or the 'entrance' to the underworld.

139: Light of Salvation

Is this really the place where the so-called holy temple is located?

In a remote mountain in West Asia, in a valley where the arid region was still shrouded in mist, two figures moved forward, swaying like steam.

"Really...it's not some kind of 'hell' reappearance' or something?"

Eltrauge couldn't help but say to Avia that, in her opinion, this place was no different from 'hell', filled with the aura of death. Compared to the battlefield where blood flowed like rivers, this place was a death zone where the gods still existed.

"In this secluded valley, life and death are blurred. You can think of it as experiencing death while continuing to live."

"...I'm a little curious, why do you know so much? It's as if you've been here before."

"I only heard it from others."

Avia and Eltrauge are indeed living beings, in theory. They walk on the border between the mortal world and the underworld, their bodies merging with the aura of both, and simply keep moving forward.

The paths to the temple may differ, but if you look back at the end, you will find that they are all the same road.

It is the concrete image of a concept that all living beings must pass through, a place that can only be reached by crossing countless perilous valleys.

Before long, the two arrived at the entrance of the temple.

"What... what's going on..."

In that instant, Ji Jun froze instinctively. To stop her body from trembling, she used almost all her mental strength. What happened suddenly was beyond her imagination.

Clearly different from black smoke and mist, and not emerging, it was as if the image was absorbing all the surrounding light into a single point and spreading outwards from her.

It takes away everything in sight, even the feeling of the wind caressing the skin disappears without a trace.