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No commander would willingly stake the outcome of a battle on a single combat.

Though possessing a superior force, he was forced to resort to single combat, a sign of a commander’s incompetence...

Yet he had truly never encountered such tactics before and, for the moment, could not come up with an effective method to counter it. He saw only two paths before him.

Either he had to personally intervene to intercept Sparrow Bee. His opponent, a master of the same caliber, was extremely fast. Trying to encircle him would simply waste time and effort with no effect, leaving only self-restrain as an option.

The risks of this approach were clear. If he were to die at his opponent’s hands, losing their commander would, at the very least, severely sap the Vital Energy of this Four Holy Army.

Even if they managed to break out, they’d lose at least half their forces.

The Four Holy Guard was not easily established, each member a future capital for conquering the world.

A significant loss would be extremely detrimental in the future.

The second path was to continue this attrition!

The opponent’s extreme support on sixteen fronts was physically taxing and could not be sustained for long. Once the enemy’s stamina was depleted, their system would immediately collapse, and their loss of a top Military General would enable him to fully exert his strength.

However, the consequences of this approach were also clear because it was uncertain which side would exhaust their strength first. Logically it should be the opponent; but since they dared to employ this tactic, surely they were prepared somehow?

Upon this thought, the Priest was immensely conflicted.

With countless war experiences coursing through his veins and numerous lessons on decisive action in critical moments, he had thought his vast ancestral experience would ensure resolute command in such crucial battles.

However, it seemed not to be the case, as he found himself indecisive when facing truly significant choices.

Those famously resolute generals he had once regarded as nothing special, thinking he would perform similarly, only felt different when literally at the brink.

When the critical winning or losing moment was in his hands, and one wrong decision could doom the entire army, it was not so easy to make a decision!

"Priest, sir?"

The Deputy General beside him looked anxious, the Priest’s back sweating profusely.

"Just wait..." Ultimately, the Priest dared not act hastily. "That kid can’t maintain his pace indefinitely."

"This..." The Deputy General frowned. Though that was true, the soldiers on their side were also heavily drained.

Charging forward was different from holding the line.

Facing forces ten times their size, constantly moving to avoid encirclement in a sea of enemies, maintaining mobility, clearing obstructing soldiers, and keeping morale at its peak also drained their energy considerably.

Continuing like this, within a quarter of an hour at most, the soldiers’ stamina would plummet to an extremely low level, and then they would only be able to break through.

"There’s no need to worry..." The Priest took a deep breath, "Even if we can’t break through, we can still successfully pull back. This kind of Big Formation strategy by the opponent makes it difficult to retain people..."

This had always been a drawback of the Big Formations of the Central Plains.

Unless there was a very formidable general with elite troops ambushing at specific locations, as the striking side, it was actually difficult to be captured, at most losing some rearguard soldiers.

This was also why the Northern Wasteland had managed to continuously harass the Central Plains, as those able to completely annihilate the opponent’s elite strikers were indeed few.

The Deputy General kept silent, opting not to continue talking, clearly knowing that the Priest’s way was the safest.

Regathering his spirit, the Priest knew that outstanding commanders each had their own style: some loved taking risks, others were cautious and conservative.

He should belong to the latter, able to maintain composure in the face of great temptation, taking a steady approach, proving himself as one of the distinguished generals.

Mainly because, although the Ancient Demon Clan had a profound heritage, being suppressed for so long, just one cycle of Reincarnation was not enough preparation compared to that of the Reincarnators’ Guild.

These Four Holy Guard were almost all the assets they had; if they were to be lost here, the consequences would be extremely grave.

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"It seems the commander of the Ancient Demon Clan is a composed person."

"Hmm..." Deputy General Tian Yu nodded. To be honest, if he were in the opponent’s position, he would find it equally challenging to decide. An entire army’s fate hung on a single thought, a single decision.

It truly wasn’t easy to choose. Some decisions might seem bold, but failure could lead to utter ruin.

The older generals tended to avoid such risky moves.

Of course, this was probably the difference between a famed general and himself; he would probably only ever be fit to be a Deputy General.

"This strategy of elite strikes has no issue; it’s essentially a hit-and-run approach.

If the opponent can’t break through, they should just retreat.

The Imperial Court doesn’t have enough skilled Guard Commanders to hold anyone back, and that’s the critical point.

With this advantage, there is no need to take risks. "

"That makes sense..." Chen Baifeng nodded. As the leader of his family, unless forced into a corner, he naturally wouldn’t gamble with his family’s fortunes.

Just as he was about to say something in response, Chen Baifeng turned around and was suddenly stunned.

Because he didn’t know when, that deadly figure had appeared behind the two of them.

Tian Yu also saw the person and became extremely stiff.

The figure had arrived silently; Tian Yu didn’t even know when he had gotten so close, and the soldiers behind hadn’t alerted him at all. With such skills, he was likely a top-tier assassin. If he wanted to do something, Tian Yu feared he now had no capacity to fight back.

"Elder?" Despite some guesses in his heart, Chen Baifeng was not completely sure and carefully asked, "Is it... time to act?"

The mysterious person, shrouded in the flow of Yin and Yang, nodded slightly.

The Deputy General’s heart skipped a beat. Tian Heng was thrown on the ground by the person, life or death unknown. What did this man want to do by suddenly appearing now?

He looked doubtfully at Chen Baifeng. He always felt that Mister Chen knew something, but it seemed... he had something to hide. What should he do?

Should he take the chance to rescue his superior?

"What do you want us to do, Elder?" Chen Baifeng asked in a lowered voice.

"There isn’t much time left..."

The deep voice emerged for the first time from the mouth of the mysterious person, momentarily dazing both of them.

Time... isn’t much left?

What... is this guy talking about?

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"My lord, it’s been half a quarter!"

In such an intense war, time moved slowly, yet the Deputy General kept a precise record; since they charged the formation, half a quarter had already passed.

Although the Four Holy Guard of the sixteen paths still seemed to rampage in all directions, causing significant casualties to the opponent, it was clear that their Vital Energy was much inferior to the beginning.

On the contrary, the Ghost Army, initially weaker, had gradually become steadier, like an indestructible great mountain, increasingly giving a sense of solidity.

"Hmm..." The Priest nodded. He glanced at Sparrow Bee, who was still scurrying around; while his speed seemed nearly the same as before, it was noticeably apparent that some of his movements were becoming stiff.

This was clearly a sign of exhaustion.

Should they wait a bit longer?

Maybe... after a few more moments, that guy wouldn’t hold up?

Currently, to retreat without achievement was his initial thought, but now... with the opportunity right before his eyes, how could he not be tempted?