It's time!

It's finally our turn!

The breathing of everyone in the square grew heavy, their chests heaving violently as the fire in their eyes was completely ignited.

Zhou Huai's gaze suddenly turned sharp.

"Qin Ming, Moli!"

Hearing their names, the two stepped forward together in broad strides from the very front of the line.

Without the slightest hesitation, they dropped onto one knee again in a crisp, sharp motion.

"At your command!"

Zhou Huai's gaze swept past them to look at all the guild members waiting in eager anticipation across the square, his voice resounding like a great bell piercing the sky.

"I have summoned you all here today for only one reason!"

"I am sending you to Jiangning City!"

"To join Dongning Province's military forces!"

He paused briefly, letting every word sink deep into everyone's hearts, before his voice suddenly rose.

"I have already made arrangements with Governor Hou Changfeng—you are not some reserve force!"

"You are the first sharp blade of Dongning Province aimed straight at Sakura Country's heart! You are the vanguard!"

"Boom!"

The crowd erupted into complete frenzy.

The vanguard!

These words represented honor, trust, and even more so, brutal sacrifice!

Yet not a single face showed fear; instead, their eyes burned red, trembling all over with intense excitement.

Zhou Huai looked at them, his voice ringing out once more.

"Remember!"

"You are the people of Eternal Night, and even more so, the people of Great Xia Nation!"

"There are no cowards in our Evernight Guild!"

At this point, a genuine, heartfelt smile finally appeared on his usually calm face.

His voice softened a bit, yet it carried more power than anything he had said before.

"I am deeply honored to be your master!"

At this moment, all emotions found an outlet for release.

Without knowing who took the lead first, someone roared out at the top of their lungs.

"Long live Eternal Night!"

In the next second, a mountain-shattering and ocean-toppling wave of sound merged into a single force, soaring straight into the clouds as if about to shatter the sky itself.

"Long live Eternal Night!"

"Eternal Night will prevail!"

The fanatical shouts resonated endlessly, echoing over the entire guild headquarters.

Zhou Huai smiled in gratification and raised his hand again, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

The clamor came to an abrupt halt.

He looked at the flushed, excited faces before him and said softly,

"Everyone, take care."

"I will wait here for your triumphant return!"

As his words fell,

On the square, the 3,500 members of the Evernight Guild made no further sound.

They simply bowed deeply, silently and with utmost solemnity, toward the delicate young man in the wheelchair.

This bow was loyalty.

It was trust.

And it was... farewell.

Qin Ming and Moli stood up, turned around, and faced their comrades behind them.

Moli unsheathed the longsword at her waist, pointed it forward, and issued a clear, ringing cry.

"Evernight Guild, attention!"

"Target: Jiangning City!"

"March!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Amidst the unified response, the massive army began to move slowly.

The 3,500 people turned into a black torrent, taking heavy and resolute steps as they left the guild square, surging grandly toward the assembly point outside the city.

Uncle Fu pushed the wheelchair, standing silently behind Zhou Huai.

Zhou Huai didn't speak; he just quietly watched the long black dragon march into the distance until even the last shadow disappeared at the end of the street.

On the empty square, only he and Uncle Fu remained.

The autumn wind whipped up a few fallen leaves, swirling them around their feet.

It seemed a bit desolate.

Zhou Huai had no choice.

He could only make a desperate, decisive gamble.

If Great Xia Nation lost, or if he failed to secure the Pendulum of Life,

Only one outcome would await him:

Death.

So keeping everyone by his side served no purpose.

It was better to send them all to the battlefield to maximize their potential.

Zhou Huai looked at Uncle Fu, his voice calm.

"Uncle Fu, let's head back to Mother's courtyard villa."

Even though he had stayed in the guild for so long,

For some reason, he still felt most comfortable staying in that small courtyard villa.

Uncle Fu nodded with a smile. "Alright, this old servant will take you back right away."

Of course, this wasn't an impulse on Zhou Huai's part.

He had thought about returning there long ago.

As early as a few days ago, Zhou Huai had Zhuge Kongming secretly set up an intricate defensive Formation outside the courtyard villa.

His mother's villa was where his dream had begun; if he was destined to die, let him die there in peace.

Zhou Huai thought indifferently.

Night fell.

Over the East China Sea.

Under the cover of night, the endless sea resembled a giant piece of black silk, so calm that there wasn't a single ripple.

An isolated island offshore was brightly illuminated.

This was Sakura Country's most important military outpost in the East China Sea, heavily guarded, with a protective barrier set up around its perimeter capable of withstanding a full-power blow from an SS-Rank Expert.

Atop the watchtower, several Sakura Country soldiers were idly smoking and chatting.

"Say, do those Great Xia Nation pigs really dare to attack us?"

"Who knows? I think they're all talk and no action, just shouting slogans."

"Exactly. With Lord Kujo around, along with those legendary powerhouses, even if you gave them a hundred times more courage, they wouldn't dare!"

Just as those words left his mouth, a soldier suddenly shivered.

"Strange, why did it suddenly get so cold?"

Hearing this, the others also sensed that something was wrong.

The temperature was plummeting at an extremely abnormal rate.

Right at that moment, a heavy fog rose over the sea without warning.

The fog was as thick as undiluted ink, surging from all directions at a frighteningly fast pace.

In just a dozen seconds, it completely swallowed the entire island.

Visibility instantly dropped to less than three meters.

"Baka! What's going on?"

"I can't see anything!"

The soldiers on the watchtower panicked instantly. Dropping their cigarettes, they stared intently at the churning thick fog before them, trying to make out something, but to no avail.

An experienced veteran, his face pale as a sheet, leaned over the railing to look down at the sea below.

In the next second, his pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.

He saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The ocean surface, which had still been gently rolling, actually began to freeze silently!

The ice spread at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning the seawater pure white instantly wherever it passed.

That was no natural freezing.

"Quick! Sound the alarm!"

The veteran let out a hoarse roar with all his might.

"Enemy attack!!!"

Right at the same time the alarm rang out—

"BOOM—!!!"

A thick pillar of crimson flame, like the wrath of a Heavenly God, suddenly shot forth from the depths of the thick fog.

It tore through the darkness and illuminated the night sky, carrying a terrifying aura capable of burning everything as it slammed heavily into the translucent protective barrier surrounding the island!

The barrier shook violently, ripples spreading across its surface visible to the naked eye.

This was merely the beginning.

In the next second,

Countless long-range spells of various colors roared in from all directions of the thick fog like the most brilliant meteor shower of a summer night, overwhelming the sky.

Giant ice spears, howling tornadoes, lightning lances wrapped in purple electric arcs, and tens of thousands of meteorites blazing with fiery flames...

They converged into a destructive torrent, pouring entirely onto that protective barrier with deafening screeches!