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"Do you still have the face to complain?" Elder Long’s face was dark, his anger almost uncontrollable, but he knew that the hearts of the people were in chaos, and now was not the time to let the situation fall apart further.

"Forgive us, Your Majesty!" Several of them kneeled on one knee, knowing that they had been hasty once they calmed down after returning.

So many people saw, and the four of them did not have the demeanor of a commander at all. To say that they did not blush would be a lie.

But staying there did indeed carry the risk of falling. Who were they? How precious were they?

Even if those Heavenly Generals died, as long as they lived, they could always retrieve them from reincarnation. If they were gone, wouldn’t Heaven’s Court fall apart?

The Heavenly Emperor looked at the few people who appeared respectful but whose eyes avoided his, and he knew in his heart that they felt no remorse at all.

They abandoned their subordinates who had followed them for many years without a second thought and without any regret.

Even if this happened a thousand more times, these four would likely do the same.

He suddenly remembered what Liu told him before, "Among your subordinates, the only true soldier is the Three-Eyed; the rest are not fit for great responsibilities. If you do not realize this, you will regret it one day."

He used to scoff at these words, thinking the world was stable, and he had enough time to make the four of them outstanding. After all, aren’t generals molded over time? Give them enough resources, and how much worse could they be?

In fact, with resources deliberately tilted in their favor, the quality of the Heavenly King’s Army surpassed that of the Combat General Department under the Three-Eyed God General.

In several military exercises, the four Heavenly Generals had an edge, and he always believed that the Heavenly King’s Army was his trump card.

Now it seemed that the difference was not minor. In the Heavenly Mirror, the subordinates of the Divine General maintained their formation and made a concerted effort to resist even when the escape formation was fiercely contested by the Heavenly King’s Army, and the main generals were entangled.

In comparison, the Heavenly King’s Army, cultivated at great expense, trampled over each other, fighting within their ranks for a transmission position, simply resembling a rabble.

If such an army were to fight the Demon Realm, would there be any chance of victory?

For the first time, the Heavenly Emperor had such concerns.

In previous eras, due to its unique geographic location, Heaven’s Court only ever attacked and never defended, and every time they could deploy based on the situation, leading to no full-scale deployments. Of course, this also related to the self-restraint amongst the four powers.

But this had also resulted in the Heavenly King’s Army not having experienced real life-and-death battles for nearly three eras.

Miscalculation; among all the calculations, he had never thought to send the Heavenly King’s Army to the battlefield for tempering.

"The few of you, stop feigning regret. Stand up and reorganize and regroup your subordinates. A large number of demons are gathering outside Heaven’s Court. Though there is a Great Formation guarding, it’s not foolproof. Integrate the Heavenly King’s Army immediately and intimidate those demons!"

"Yes!" The four Heavenly Generals reacted immediately when they heard this.

No wonder, despite such a huge mess-up, the Heavenly Emperor did not intend to punish them. It was because the outer perimeter was defended by demons?

Ha, what audacity from those beasts from Outer Space!

Now, with the fate of the Three-Eyed uncertain in Vermilion Bird City, Ziwei absent, Elder Long could only rely on them now. At the thought, their initial panic vanished entirely, and they stood up straight, their posture making Elder Long grit his teeth.

A bunch of resource-wasting fools, proudly posturing like they’re fierce warriors—what gall!

But at this moment, there was no choice, just as those fools thought, right now he could only rely on them.

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"My lord, the soldiers’ morale is extremely low right now, and although we might barely gather them, their combat state would still be poor. Should we really defend against the Great Demons outside?"

The Deputy General was worried, never expecting his troops to be so fragile. Their abilities and resources were clearly superior to those of the Combat General Department, yet their battlefield performance was utterly dismal, barely watchable.

"What else can we do?" Dhrtarastra, making his way to the East Gate, said coldly, "We’ve lost such face this time; if we don’t show any worth, how do you expect the Lord to see us? Also..." He lowered his voice, "Those below us have long been dissatisfied with the treatment of the Heavenly King’s Army. If we don’t show some strength now, it will be troublesome if they become disloyal. Today Heaven’s Court suffered such a setback, and with the Lord having cleansed the Heavenly Pond before, while the low-level players are easier to sway, those Heavenly Generals born of native demon blood may start scheming. ..."

The Deputy General was taken aback; Dhrtarastra had once held a political role and possessed a keen political sense, making him Elder Long’s confidant, proving that his intelligence and abilities were not lacking.

Yet... why did he perform so poorly in the Lower Realm?

Thinking about it left him bewildered; perhaps... were they really unsuitable to lead an army?

"You needn’t worry too much..." Dhrtarastra noticed his subordinate’s panic-stricken face and frowned, "It’s not a big battle that we’re going into; it’s just about projecting some power in front of the formation to intimidate those Outer Demons.

After they are startled, we can reassess the situation for deployment, cutting down those demons who flee in panic.

We’ve done such things before; what’s there to worry about? "

The Deputy General steadied himself somewhat at these words.

Indeed, over the years, the Heavenly King’s Army had always been responsible for Heaven’s Court’s safety; they had done such things before. And because they could always disperse the demons, the lower-level Divine Generals held the Heavenly King’s Army in awe.

Though they had behaved terribly recently, once they dispersed the demons and demonstrated their worth, their image could be slowly restored.

Some battlefield habits and experience could be trained over time.

After all, the quality of the Heavenly King’s Army was undeniable, and there was still a chance for redemption.

Thinking of this, the Deputy General felt much better, and after the Heavenly Generals began to regroup the troops, and before even half were assembled, Dhrtarastra quickly said, "Continue counting the rest; the matter is urgent, we’ll lead the troops over first."

The Deputy General hesitated slightly but then nodded and quickly issued orders to his subordinates.

He understood the General’s eagerness; right now, it was necessary to demonstrate their worth, and it was normal that the general couldn’t stay calm.

The task of intimidating the Outer Demons didn’t require too many troops.

But when he led tens of thousands of the Outer Heaven Army following Lord Dhrtarastra to the outside of the East Gate, he immediately changed his mind.

"This..."

At this moment, even Dhrtarastra was stunned.

"What’s happening here?"

Outside the East Gate, it was pitch black. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the writhing darkness consisted of demons, almost completely enveloping the barrier of the East Gate like a cloud covering the sky.

The numbers... were in the billions, at the very least?

The Deputy General was stupefied...

How could there... be so many?