While Lin Jun was focused on tinkering with [Life Essence], Inanna led her Puchi legion and finally neared the Redstone City ruins.
The closer they got to the frontlines, the more anxious Inanna felt.
After all, real warfare was a first for her—reading about it in books was completely different from being on an actual battlefield.
Fortunately, the boss had clearly stated he would help her. This promise was like a reassuring pill that gave her some peace of mind.
During the march, they encountered some scattered demons, most of them pigfolk.
These pigfolk naturally stood no chance against this Puchi mage legion and were dealt with along the way.
More commonly, they met defeated kingdom soldiers. Most came from the fallen Redstone City, with a few having retreated from even further forward. From these remnant troops, Inanna pieced together the situation ahead.
After Highfort Fortress fell, the demons regrouped briefly before attacking again.
Ignoring Duke Alama's remnant forces, they pointed their blades directly at Threehill City where the Sword Saint was stationed.
Duke Alama had no choice but to drag his unhealed body and join forces with Grand Duke Lorenzo, leading their remaining troops in an attempt to harass and delay the demon advance. Instead, they walked straight into a trap, suffering another devastating defeat. The fleeing soldiers they encountered were mostly survivors from that battle. As for what happened afterward, these men had no way of knowing.
Each piece of news was worse than the last, and Inanna's heart sank bit by bit.
Though Alama and Inanna had spent precious little actual time together—far from the intimacy of ordinary fathers and daughters—his care for her was genuine and heartfelt.
Inanna naturally felt this real yet distant paternal love, and couldn't possibly remain indifferent to Alama's current peril.
She wanted to speed up the troops, but her adjutant stepped forward to advise: "Young la... Commander, I'm afraid we not only can't advance at full speed, but must detour around Redstone City."
"Why?"
"Have you forgotten the other news those fleeing soldiers brought?" the adjutant reminded. "The area around Redstone City has now become the domain of storm elementals. Moreover, those occupying the area aren't low-tier elementals. In fact, according to intelligence, many diamond-rank storm elementals have been spotted. While our legion could certainly force a path through, it would inevitably come with heavy losses. And then, leading a battered and exhausted force, what would we have left to support His Grace the Duke?"
Inanna fell silent. She knew the adjutant was right.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down: "Then how far do we need to detour?"
Hearing this, the adjutant immediately pulled a leather map from his pack and spread it before Inanna, his rough fingers tracing along a winding route: "Taking this path, skirting the edge of the elemental chaos zone, will require approximately five extra days."
"Five days?!" Inanna's heart sank. For her father who urgently needed rescue, that was far too long.
"The elemental chaos zone left behind by the Storm Lord's rampage covers an enormous area. To avoid it completely, this is the only way." The adjutant's voice carried a note of helplessness.
"Is there... no other option?" Inanna pressed unwillingly.
The adjutant pondered for a moment, his finger moving to a certain section of the detour route on the map: "There is a compromise. Look here—this is the relatively narrowest point of the entire chaos zone. If we risk passing quickly through here, we can shorten the detour to just two days."
"Then let's..."
The adjutant paused, looking up at Inanna before continuing: "But the risk is that we cannot predict the exact strength of the elemental storms in this area. If we encounter resistance beyond expectations, not only might we fail to save time, but we could get bogged down in hard fighting, needlessly depleting our forces and possibly delaying even longer."
Inanna's gaze wandered back and forth between the safe long route and the dangerous shortcut on the map, her fingertips unconsciously tightening. On one side was safety but possibly missing the critical moment; on the other was risk but potentially faster arrival... For a moment, she found it difficult to decide.
After a brief internal struggle, she suddenly raised her head, a flash of determination in her eyes:
"Take me forward. I want to see with my own eyes what that elemental chaos zone is really like before I make my decision!"
...
Inanna and her adjutant, surrounded by their escort squad, rode slowly into the edge of the elemental chaos zone.
If one had to describe the scene before them, it would be: chaos!
Though storm elementals didn't need to hunt for survival, that innate urge for destruction drove them to annihilate every living thing in sight.
Whether humans, demons, monsters, or even the plants growing in the region—none had been spared.
Stray lightning occasionally ignited dead wood, the scorched earth was littered with burned remnants, and the entire area was permeated with a charred smell.
Even without seeing the storm elementals themselves, this ravaged land was enough to demonstrate their terror.
The surrounding silence was bone-chilling, as if all life had been completely erased.
The adjutant somewhat regretted agreeing to bring Inanna here and suggested: "Commander, perhaps we should stop here..."
"But we haven't yet..." Before Inanna could finish, an abrupt whirlwind kicked up dust, and distant thunder rumbled continuously.
A bad premonition suddenly arose in the adjutant's heart, and soon that premonition came true!
At the edge of their vision, storm elementals appeared. Not just a few, not just a dozen, but a dense swarm—at least a hundred elementals!
Even more chilling, the rear area seemed to have even more figures wrapped in wind and lightning converging toward them. This scale completely exceeded the adjutant's expectations!
"Retreat! Quickly!" the adjutant roared hoarsely as everyone frantically turned their horses around and fled desperately back the way they came.
With so many, their reconnaissance squad couldn't possibly withstand them. Even if they were all gold and silver rank, they could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, not to mention that some storm elementals clearly had bodies that had reached diamond rank.
"Why? Why are they all chasing us?" Inanna's voice trembled slightly with fear.
Looking back from the jolting horse, she saw wind and lightning gathering like a surging tide rushing toward them.
Unfortunately, the adjutant couldn't figure out why either.
Fortunately, they weren't far from the border. Relying on their horses' speed, the group barely managed to rush out of the elemental chaos zone's boundaries.
However, before they could catch their breath, they were horrified to discover that those storm elementals had actually charged out of the chaos zone boundary without hesitation!
Although their forms seemed to become unstable after leaving their native environment and their energy fluctuations were weakening, they still pursued relentlessly regardless!
"This..." In the next moment, the adjutant drew his longsword and wheeled his horse around with his subordinates. "Young lady, you must go! We'll cover the rear!"
"If we leave, we leave together..." Inanna suddenly thought of something. "Boss—!!!"
"Coming, coming!"
At the critical moment, eight thousand directly-controlled Puchis appeared in Inanna's field of vision, with Knight Puchis leading the charge!
As soon as Lin Jun detected the disturbance, he had mobilized the Puchi army to come. The timing now seemed just right.
However, the moment the two sides made contact, everyone suddenly realized something seemed wrong.
The storm elementals at the forefront saw their violent whirlwinds become gentle, their blinding lightning withdrawn into their bodies.
They completely ignored the adjutant and others who had taken defensive stances, restraining all aggression, and like docile birds, slowly circled around Inanna.
And Inanna inexplicably sensed from these storm elementals before her a trace of... submission?
Recently updating at noon
(End of Chapter)
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