Chapter 013: Colonel Leibao

These archers, led by Naixiu, quickly followed the Black Panther Knights!
Running alongside Naixiu was a Black Panther larger than the others—this one had advanced! It had evolved into a fifth-level magical beast, its dark body covered in rings of red patterns!
Sitting on this advanced Black Panther was the colonel of the Black Panther Knights! He was a realm powerhouse, renowned among the dwarves as second only to the Dwarf King—Colonel Leibao!
This Colonel Leibao’s real name was Lain, but to show his deep affection for Black Panthers, he changed his name to Leibao!
The seventh-level elf archers could now fully keep up with the Black Panthers’ speed, while Naixiu’s pace seemed almost leisurely.
“Chieftain Naixiu, Duke Du Fan gave us two days, yet we’ve had to take such a long detour to launch a long-range attack on Komhan’s rear. Do you think this plan will succeed?” The colonel, wearing a black iron mask that emitted a stern voice, spoke.
It must be said that Colonel Leibao had some reservations about Du Fan. Relying on his centuries of military experience, he thought Bashah would surely follow his advice. But to his surprise, Bashah chose Du Fan’s opinion without hesitation!
With 6,500 Black Panther reservists, 500 elf archers, and 30,000 dwarf warriors recruited from various tribes, this army moved slowly toward the Kama Valley—a journey that should have taken at most a day. Yet they planned to take two days!
During these two days, he was forced to lead 8,000 regular Black Panther Knights and 1,500 elf archers on a night-long journey, taking a huge detour of 500 miles to attack Komhan’s camp from behind!
The goal was to launch a successful surprise attack on Komhan.
“I have confidence in him!” Naixiu could easily sense Colonel Leibao’s dissatisfaction with Du Fan. Given her cold nature toward outsiders, she had even less patience for someone who disapproved of her man.
“Colonel, there are Komhan scouts over there!” one of the Black Panther Knights shouted.
Indeed, in the distant woods, several figures were moving around.

It was still two hundred li from where Komkhan was stationed. Komkhan had already deployed his scouts in such positions—no wonder he was so confident in preventing a surprise attack by Basha! Deploying scouts within a range of two hundred li around the area was extremely rare in military history. Generally, scouts only monitored an area of about one hundred li around the army. Seeing the shuffling figures in the woods, Naixiu snorted coldly. The distance from here to that forest was two thousand meters. For other races, even the strongest archers from the Gavin Empire could only reach a range of one to two thousand meters. But for the elves, especially these level-seven elf archers, it was merely a medium-range distance. Moreover, with the help of their eagle-eye skill, they could achieve 100% accuracy at this range! The Black Panther who reported to Colonel Leibao hadn’t finished speaking when the elf archers shot their long arrows one after another. From a distance of two thousand meters, Komkhan’s scouts fell to the arrows. Seeing the astonishing shooting skills of these elf archers, Colonel Leibao was secretly impressed. Suddenly, one of the Komkhan scouts on the ground jumped up and dashed away quickly. Caught off guard, the Black Panther knights quickly covered a distance of two thousand five hundred meters. “Damn!” Leibao’s stern voice carried a hint of urgency. It was too late to chase at such a distance, and moreover, the fleeing figure seemed to be extremely skilled. Naixiu snorted again, drew her bow, and shot. From two thousand five hundred meters away, her arrow struck the figure mid-air, pinning it firmly to a tree. “Take twenty men and go check that forest to see if anyone was captured. If not, hurry back to the main group. If there are captives, deal with them before joining the group,” Leibao said to a knight beside him. The knight replied loudly and quickly led twenty Black Panther knights into the forest. “Move forward!” Leibao shouted. Soon, the entire army rushed like a storm, encircling Komkhan’s rear forces.

Two hours later, after Komhan’s long wait, Basha’s troops finally appeared across the Kama Valley. To Komhan’s eyes, Basha’s forces gradually became visible.
“Leader, Basha has arrived. Should we attack them while they’re not yet settled in, or wait for them to come at us?” asked the leader.
“Of course, we wait for them to attack. If I sent you to charge, would you be sure you could break through the Black Panther Knights’ defenses?” said Komhan. “Since we have the advantage of terrain, we’ll wait for them to attack! Besides, Karu’s troops are on their way too. By then, we can encircle Basha’s forces between us and Karu’s troops!”
At these words, a fierce expression appeared on Komhan’s face as he squeezed his hands together tightly, as if already encircling Basha’s troops between his own and Karu’s forces.
“I reckon, after being trapped between our troops and Karu’s, Basha won’t have anywhere to run!” Komhan said fiercely.
When Basha and Du Fan arrived, they stopped just two kilometers in front of the mountain where Komhan’s troops were stationed. What was called a mountain in Komhan’s camp was actually just a small hill. It was only about 300 meters high, and its slope was roughly 30 degrees—considered quite steep.
Yet even so, Komhan’s side had many advantages. It could be said that if their positions were reversed—Basha leading the Black Panther Knights above and Komhan below—Basha would be confident that a single charge would be enough to overwhelm Komhan’s forces.
“Second brother, go up there and scold Komhan badly. If you can drive them off the mountain, that would be a great achievement,” Du Fan said to Basha.
Hearing this, Basha rushed to the front of his troops, arriving just 200 meters from the small hill.
“Komhan! You old fool! Grandpa Basha has come! Dare you fight me?” Basha shouted loudly as soon as he reached the front of the hill.
What if you thought someone was a fool, but one day that fool suddenly came over and called you a fool? That’s exactly the situation Komhan was facing.

All along, Komhan had thought Basha was a fool. But this fool suddenly appeared before him, scolding him in front of all the tribe’s warriors, calling him an old man and demanding a duel with him! At such a sight, Komhan’s first reaction was fury.
“Basha, you little wretch! Even your father wouldn’t dare insult me like this in front of me! You—!” Filled with rage, Komhan suddenly spoke up. He was only an eighth-level warrior, while Basha had already reached the Holy Rank.
In an instant, Komhan sat back down.
“Someone, go and crush Basha’s arrogance,” Komhan said calmly once he had calmed down.
Unfortunately, before Komhan could wait for anyone to volunteer, a fierce voice rang out from another mountain peak.
“Basha, you brat! How dare you humiliate my father like this! Pay for it!”
The soldiers of the Bilu tribe numbered over 60,000. They were stationed on two peaks at the entrance of the Kama Valley, with more than 30,000 on each side—one led by Komhan and the other by his son. That fierce voice belonged to Komhan’s son.
Seeing his son lead his troops down the mountain, Komhan inwardly cried out in alarm.
He was old now, and he could see through many things clearly. So, when Basha insulted him like that, he could quickly calm down. But his reckless son lacked his composure!
Seeing the troops from one of the peaks charging down, Du Fan was first stunned, then overjoyed!
Du Fan never expected Basha to actually drive Komhan off the mountain. He only hoped to buy more time, as there was still no news of Nai Xiu and Lai Biao.
When he saw Komhan stand up angrily before sitting back down abruptly, Du Fan knew it was almost impossible to get Komhan off the mountain.
So, Du Fan was initially stunned.
But hearing a fierce voice from another peak, he immediately realized that luring them down the mountain to fight was feasible!
Thus, Du Fan was overjoyed once again.
Soon, under Du Fan’s orders, 5,000 of the Black Panther Reserve troops met the troops rushing down from the mountain peaks. From Komhan’s perspective, the other 30,000 dwarf warriors and 2,000 elf archers were slowly moving toward the space between the two peaks.

“Chief, this is bad! It seems they intend to cut off our connection with the eldest prince,” the leader said loudly to Komkhan as soon as he saw Bashah taking such actions.
Unbeknownst to them, Chief Komkhan simply sat there quietly, saying little, merely remaining still.
On the side of Komkhan’s eldest son, there were five thousand Giant Pangolin Riders. With their momentum surging down the mountain, they created a truly magnificent sight. Soon, the Black Panther Cavalry from below clashed with the Giant Pangolin Riders!
The intense shouts of battle, the sharp screeches of the Giant Pangolins, and the roars of the Black Panthers quickly blended together, producing a thunderous noise!
Although the Giant Pangolins weren’t very aggressive, their scale armor provided excellent protection—able to withstand the fierce claws of the Black Panthers!
Moreover, these animals were covered in scales all over their bodies.
Yet, there was a huge disparity between the riders on their mounts!