Chapter 26: Slaying a Hundred Men

“They’re here! The Red Demons have arrived—over a hundred of them!” Tony, who was on guard, brought the latest news.
It was already around 4 p.m. While waiting for more enemies to arrive, many of the Wind Swift members had taken a good sleep right in the makeshift camp.
Facing the assembled team, Neo said briefly, “Everyone, get ready. Think about the experiences we’ve gathered before. Stay focused and calm! And find your own rhythm.”
“Yes!” The members replied in unison and loudly. It was clear that after the recent battles, they had gained more confidence.
After everyone dispersed, Valentina, who had remained silent, asked in a low laugh, “Why do we need to find our own rhythm?”
At that moment, Neo, who was sitting on a tree stump adjusting the laces of his greaves, looked up and said, “Killing is also a job. Based on training, I hope everyone can find the method that suits them best.”
“Do you really plan to let them make a living with swords and knives?” Although Neo had already discussed with her the allocation of those 15 Mathua militia members and their families, Valentina still found it hard to believe.
In Valentina’s view, the people Neo led might be a bit too weak to be called useless, but at most they were just strong ordinary youths who had attended a few training sessions. Now, add the fact that they had fought in a couple of small battles—wins, no less—and their starting point seemed extremely low.
On the other hand, though Neo was currently only a Level 4 warrior, if he were willing to showcase all his skills, he could easily be hired at the standard of a Level 6 warrior. In different circles, interacting with different people, Valentina believed that with Neo’s abilities, he could gather several capable companions within a year. As for loyalty and team honor, it wasn’t necessarily better to cultivate them from scratch; it mainly depended on personal character and circumstances. Without going through hardships, even after eight or ten years, there would still be those who turned traitor.
“Unless they’re exceptionally outstanding, I’m not interested in members with fixed patterns,” Neo said as he stood up and performed several smooth and powerful kicking movements, feeling compact and comfortable. He nodded in satisfaction. His new greaves, like his armors, were made of black iron, heavier than before. In terms of design, they resembled the combat gear used by the elite berserkers in Frey’s regular army—though the real combat gear was far more refined, each set soaked in the blood of the user in a frenzied state. Neo’s version was merely a imitation.
Valentina understood what Neo meant—consciousness adaptability. But if they aimed to elevate it to such a level, another issue needed attention. “How do you plan to address their physical fitness? Most of them have passed their prime for starting out. Even with hard training, their progress will be limited.”
Neo, who was about to put on his rubber helmet, grinned and said, “I’m a werewolf. The solution, naturally, is the way of wolves.” Seeing Valentina’s confused expression, he added, “Total assimilation!” He pointed to the animal skins hung up in the camp for drying.

Valentina began to understand a little. Neo’s words reminded her of the ruthless skill of “life absorption” and of how he had healed her the previous night. Putting those two things together, the concept of “complete digestion” emerged—absorbing, giving, and she had personally experienced what it was like to be affected by “life absorption,” knowing that what was lost was not just life energy.
“Fighting to sustain fighting!” Valentina understood now why Neo could choose members in defiance of logic—he possessed a truly astonishing “remedy”…
On the other side, the Red Ghost Squad discovered the fake battlefield. The Red Ghost centurion, adorned with bright plumes, observed carefully and compared several wounds with his long axe before turning his gaze toward the wooded area to the north. His intelligence, experience, and the influence of his social environment prevented him from easily becoming a conspiracy theorist or overly scheming like humans. Since he couldn’t find any flaws in the fake battlefield, his conclusion was that a scouting party and a group of no more than 20 humans had encountered each other here, fought a fierce battle, and the humans had won through ambushes and the jungle. These humans had no notable professional skills.
His ingrained hunting mindset kept the centurion cautious. He sent three scouts to investigate the wooded area based on the clues they found.
About half an hour later, the scouts reported finding a human camp. Their comrades had been skinned, and the humans were laughing as they ate roasted meat.
Skinning and eating—this was also done between humans and beasts. They would even sacrifice the weak and old in their own tribe when food was extremely scarce to solve the problem of food, though such situations were generally rare, like this winter.
Even with such “open-mindedness,” the centurion and the Red Ghosts were furious at the news brought back by the scouts. Their anger was far greater than that of a human hearing that their family had been eaten by sheep.
“Charge in! Drive them out and torture them to death!” The Red Ghost centurion spoke succinctly and clearly. Over a hundred Red Ghosts were divided into three groups. Two groups of 40 each, led by the scouts, circled around from the sides to form a semi-encirclement from north to south, aiming to drive them out. The centurion, along with more than 20 of his subordinates, waited outside the woods for the humans to be driven out. This tactic was similar to that used by the Red Ghost scouts who had been defeated by the Gale Team before, except with a greater numerical advantage.
Neo and the main force of the Gale Team were hiding on the left wing of the camp. This time, Neo himself served as the bait, playing the role of someone who discovered the enemy and fled in panic to the camp to report the situation.
Seeing their encirclement plan exposed, the over 40 humans and beasts on the left wing sent 20 of them to cut in toward the northeast corner of the camp, while the other 20 pursued Neo directly, trying to intercept the messenger. If that failed, they would simply slaughter him outright.
The battle ensued under these circumstances. First came two waves of arrowfire. Members of the Gale Team emerged from behind the trees where they were hiding and shot cold arrows at the Red Ghosts. After those two waves, the Red Ghosts had already charged in, but their attacks resulted in only 3 deaths and 6 injuries.

Immediately after were pits. Several Red Ghosts at the forefront, already engaged with their targets and raising or swinging their weapons, suddenly found themselves falling into the pits. As they broke their legs, the Wind Team members took the opportunity to stab them. A few Red Ghosts, quick-witted, leaped up in an attempt to bypass the front and engage from another angle, only to discover pits behind them upon landing, suffering even worse injuries—just the wooden stakes rising from the pits were enough to cause severe harm. Soon, cries of agony, roars, and calls for reinforcements filled the forest. Those heading northeast immediately turned around and headed south to provide aid, while those approaching from the west stopped sneaking and advanced toward the camp while forming up. In the direct battles, at least half of the Wind Team members couldn’t even defeat a Red Ghost in a one-on-one fight, and their teamwork was practically non-existent; they could only rely on pre-planned strategies. Several members, upon realizing the situation was unfavorable, activated traps and used ropes and attached wood to climb trees. Though the human-beasts could climb like cheetahs, their heavy bodies became a hindrance when facing thick, straight redwoods and firs, not to mention the defenders in the trees who wouldn’t let them succeed easily. The trio of Barritt, Witz, and Boglem worked well together. Barritt used his tower shield for solid defense, Witz wielded a powerful iron axe, and Boglem was agile and skilled at striking from unexpected angles; his slender sword often dealt the fatal blows. Thanks to their familiarity with the terrain and the cover of trees, the trio faced little pressure and did well, killing two Red Ghosts in less than 3 minutes. Another pair was Dick and Bichir, both equipped similarly—with small shields and cross swords for both offense and defense. Interestingly, both were left-handed, and they found it comfortable fighting back-to-back. There was also a group of four: the tall Arno, who had previously acted as a wolf rider with Witz, Barritt, and Mah at the migration camp entrance. Poor and affected by delayed treatment for a high fever in childhood, he was somewhat simple-minded and uneducated, supporting himself by logging. He ate as much as four people combined, and though he was always hungry before, he was happy at Neo’s camp, only to eat even more—now as much as five people’s share. There’s a saying that links one’s eating capacity to their ability to work—Arno was a perfect example. A regular lumberjack’s two-handed axe felt light in his single hand, and he could lift and carry logs over ten meters long and as thick as a human waist by himself. Recognizing Arno’s extraordinary strength, Neo crafted for him a full-steel wolf’s fang shield with thick spikes at the bottom, resembling a wolf’s fangs, along with a battle axe featuring a large blade on the front and a pickaxe-like tool on the back. Armed like this, Arno became a capable pathbreaker.

Working with Arno were the support role Gardener Steve, the blacksmith Taylor, and Cheebman, who served as the team’s strategist and provided long-range firepower. Cheebman’s weapon was quite unique—a giant slingshot. Many people found this weapon amusing at first, but it was actually quite powerful in Cheebman’s hands; not only was it accurate, but its projectiles also exploded. Due to current material shortages, over 20 different types of projectiles could reportedly be created.

This quartet was even more formidable than Barret’s group, thanks in large part to Cheebman’s powerful slingshot. Several Red Ghosts were caught off guard and had their heads blown apart by the explosive projectiles, allowing the other three to strike fiercely, making it nearly impossible for them to survive.

The only long-range team consisted of Mach and Edward. Mach used a modified recurve bow made from beast bones, while Edward wielded an arcane pistol left behind by Thelos, the bishop of the Glory Church in Solace City. Among the supplies seized from Ratno were universal arcane energy cells, and projectiles could be made on demand—enough ammunition seemed to be available for now.

Edward’s arcane pistol emitted a thunderous sound that intimidated enemies, while Mach’s arrows were quieter but deadly. Their teamwork complemented each other well, though Edward’s mobility was somewhat limited. On two occasions, Mach had to pull out his dagger to rescue him, creating quite a tense situation.

Nio was currently fighting alone. Within his own faction, his combat strength was about average—he posed a hindrance to Valentina and couldn’t fully utilize his abilities with Barret’s group, so he had no choice but to fight on his own.

In this battle, with so many enemies, Nio didn’t have time to be cautious. He fought with two swords and transformed into a wolf, using his expertise in the jungle to move swiftly through the trees like an arrow, slashing and weaving through the enemy ranks. He was also skilled at setting up traps, both his own and natural ones—often, a single thick branch could determine the outcome of a fight.

In just 3 minutes, Nio single-handedly killed 5 Red Ghosts. When those Red Ghosts heading northeast turned south to attack, he was the first to confront them, cutting through their ranks and forcing them to assign many fighters to guard their backs, thereby reducing the pressure on the others.

Meanwhile, Valentina also shone brightly. This was a one-on-one positional battle for her—she had no need to hold back and could freely use her combat energy to unleash various techniques. The camp itself was filled with traps, all designed skillfully under Nio’s guidance. The attacking Red Ghosts suffered heavily; more than a dozen were killed simply by falling into these traps. By the time they realized Valentina’s strength and started using bows and arrows, she had already slipped into the camp, escaped through secret passages, and turned to attack them from behind.

The Red Ghost Centurion faintly heard sounds of combat outside the forest. The humans driven out were not seen, and the noises seemed distant. Realizing there must be a problem at the front line, it led its troops to reinforce, but speed was limited in the jungle. It took over ten minutes to reach the battlefield. By then, the Gale Force members in the east had already entered the second trap zone under Neo’s cover, while Valentina, having slain 31 Red Ghosts, joined Neo there.

Out of more than 80 Red Ghosts, only over 20 remained alive, with one-third injured. Yet their ferocity was fully unleashed as they fought desperately against Neo and Valentina. In Neo’s view, this tactic was full of flaws aside from its intimidating appearance—especially with the cover of trees. What he feared least was someone using desperate moves; if the first strike missed, the opponent was almost doomed!

Under such circumstances, Neo’s strength shone through. The Red Ghosts were fierce, but he was even fiercer. With almost always a last-second, life-threatening strike, as soon as a Red Ghost’s sharp attack grazed his body, Neo’s fatal blow would follow—within just three to five breaths. After a series of perilous moments, eight of the Red Ghosts surrounding Neo were killed instantly, their bodies falling one after another. It was as if Neo had danced on the edge of a blade.

In contrast, Valentina fought in a more conventional manner. Her combat skills were inferior to Neo’s, and she lacked the courage forged through countless life-or-death experiences. Even in terms of muscular strength, Neo was superior to her. Yet her fighting style made her weapons and light slashes invincible. The Red Ghosts fighting her were essentially braving death head-on, showing great bravery, but such bravery usually only bought a slight delay or caused some trouble before they were eliminated.

Seeing this, the Red Ghost Centurion’s eyes turned red. But it didn’t forget its duty. With so many subordinates dead, retreating in defeat would lead to nothing good. However, it needed to send back news. With a command, its deputy, along with two elite fighters, rushed off, while it led the remaining troops in a charge.

“Retreat!” Seeing how tough these Red Ghosts were and their fierce momentum, especially the obvious strength of the leader, Neo warned Valentina, and the two fought their way out of the battle and retreated northward with all their might.

The Red Ghost Centurion swung its long axe, unleashing a blade of light that split stones and wood as it sliced toward Neo. Boom! Valentina also summoned a blade of light to counter the Centurion’s attack, then spun around with Neo, cleverly using the terrain to temporarily escape danger.

The Red Ghost Centurion roared in anger and pursued with its remaining subordinates, entering the second trap zone without hesitation. By then, the Gale Force members were mostly in position. Though exhausted, they knew this was a critical moment, so they gritted their teeth and held on. Their fighting frenzy had turned them fierce, giving them a special kind of bravery that served as motivation. When the Red Ghosts attacked, they unleashed all their firepower—tripwires, nets, arrows, rolling stones, crashing logs, spear arrays… everything they could use.

Valentina bent down to pick up the Red Ghost Centurion. Neo had thrown a Life Wave at her during his run earlier, and although her combat energy was nearly depleted, her spirit was fully restored, allowing her to deal with the Red Ghost Centurion without issue. What remained was the task of Neo’s Swift Wind Team. This time, Neo acted as the commander, rushing to rescue them whenever danger arose. The team members made full use of the Red Ghosts’ tendency to weaken after repeated attacks, avoiding direct confrontations. Many of the enraged Red Ghosts missed their attacks or struck trees instead. As time went on, they showed signs of fatigue, and then were gradually worn down through targeted strikes or sudden attacks, eventually dying from excessive blood loss or severe injuries.

“Fire! Shoot arrows!” Neo was a warrior who fought bravely on the battlefield without many rules. He didn’t care about so-called chivalry. Seeing that the battle at Valentina’s side was still ongoing, he ordered those skilled in archery, like Mach and Edward, to attack the Red Ghost Centurion. Once again, Chebman’s slingshot proved effective, dealing heavy blows to the Red Ghost Centurion, who became furious and charged at Valentina, only to be slashed by her sword before rushing straight at Chebman.

With the ability to use combat energy to create blade-like attacks, this Red Ghost Centurion was no less formidable than a level 6 knight, and his speed was astonishing. Chebman was even so intimidated by his fierce presence that he forgot to run.

Just then, Neo rushed in from the side. The Red Ghost Centurion swung an axe that grazed Neo’s left shoulder, tearing away pieces of armor and flesh. Neo then grabbed the centurion’s head and used “Life Siphon” to rapidly collapse its already low defense energy. Without energy protection, crack! The Red Ghost Centurion’s head was crushed by Neo’s claw-like hand, while its internal energy continued to be plundered. The immense momentum carried its 2,000-pound body sliding forward, stopping less than two meters away from Chebman.

The Red Ghost Centurion was visibly emaciated, and within a minute, it was completely drained of energy. Yet its body remained intact, with its magnificent fur still intact—clearly a valuable asset.

Most of the Swift Wind Team members had seen Neo’s “Life Siphon” skill for the first time. This scene left a deep impression on them and instilled some psychological fear, contributing to their awe toward Neo.

“I’m sorry for stealing your glory!” Neo apologized as he sheathed his sword and walked over to Valentina.

“I just think he was, after all, a warrior,” Valentina said. She knew mercy had no place on the battlefield, but deep down, she still hoped to defeat an evenly matched opponent in a fair manner—out of respect for both the opponent and herself. With anyone else, she would have politely brushed it off, but with Neo, she felt it was okay to express her thoughts directly.

“That’s right, he was a warrior.” Neo turned to the Wind Riders gathered around him and said, “For the warriors of our enemies, we will inherit both their soul’s power and their physical strength. As for our own, if anyone sacrifices themselves one day, their soul will go to heaven to watch over our actions, while their physical strength will be passed on to us. This is how we honor our warriors—making full use of everything! We will grow stronger with each battle. Now, let’s cheer for our victory!”
Roar…
Roar…
At first, the members were a bit hesitant, but under Neo’s highly persuasive shouts, they opened their hearts and roared loudly until their voices were hoarse. An unprecedented sense of exhilaration filled everyone’s mind at that moment. Indeed, the feeling of victory was wonderful!
No one died in this battle. Four severely injured members and five moderately injured ones received timely aid. Although Neo spared no effort with his techniques, these nine people, especially the four severely injured, would not be able to fight for the next few days.
Afterward, they cleaned up the battlefield. All the Red Demons who were injured but not dead were drained of their life force by Neo using his “Life Siphon” technique. As he had promised, each member received at least one Life Pearl as compensation. This wasn’t just about recovery; it was also extremely beneficial for improving everyone’s physical condition, especially after such a fierce battle as today.
Neo told them that this was only part of the “distribution.” Besides life energy, there were other more practical powers he was organizing and would reward according to each person’s attributes and performance. As long as they worked hard, it wasn’t impossible to catch up with those powerful figures who were admired and revered by others.
Neo wasn’t lying. Not long ago, during deep meditation, he spoke with the Perfect Woman, who “imagined” the future for him—much like what he preached to the others. As long as they worked hard to gather enough energy for the Sacred Artifact, they would have more and more powerful functions at their disposal. One of these was power injection. The Perfect Woman named the relic treasure obtained by Neo this way; it was said to be a very precise term.
Power injection essentially meant using the energy drawn from life siphoning—other than life force—for other purposes. Currently, only a portion of the Sacred Artifact’s energy could be converted and used, while the rest was stored separately. Once the Sacred Artifact’s functions recovered to a certain level, these stored energies could also be utilized. How to decide which ones to use was up to Neo.
The Perfect Woman’s explanation made Neo realize that the recovery of the Sacred Artifact’s functions was an obviously accelerating process. The higher it reached, the more types of energy it could convert and absorb. It was like a sick person who could only eat liquid food at first, then soft food, then easier-to-digest foods, and so on.
Theoretically, restoring the Sacred Artifact’s functions meant enhancing one’s own strength, which was the foundation of everything. But after careful consideration, Neo realized that this approach was somewhat impractical, as it involved a complex, interrelated set of issues related to combat strength, skill levels, energy storage, and more.

Just like this time, with Valentina around, he was able to successfully absorb centurions with combat abilities. Overall, the benefits a centurion could bring him exceeded those of 20 ordinary human-beasts, and some of the powers could not be obtained from lower-tier beings at all. As for the technique of absorbing life force, Neo had basically activated it at full capacity just now. In other words, the ideal way for Neo to restore his sacred artifacts was to have professionals at levels 5–7 help him with the absorption process. To achieve this goal, the most practical approach was to use some of his own power to cultivate loyal and reliable subordinates who could assist him in plundering, allowing everyone to get what they needed and thus creating a positive cycle of interaction.

For the members of the Swift Wind Team, who previously hadn’t even been considered proper soldiers, Neo’s promises were undoubtedly extremely tempting. Moreover, the Pearl of Life allowed them to experience the wonders of gaining power. It was from this moment that a concept gradually formed in their minds: as long as their leader remained unharmed, they could be pulled back from the brink of death time and time again and grow stronger! There are two things I need to do: 1. Protect myself! 2. Protect my leader!