"Great Principle Pass is only days from the Royal City. If we don't find a way to repel the enemy soon, I fear it will be too late," a Domain Lord muttered quietly.
"How are we supposed to repel them?" another Domain Lord asked.
"Great Principle Pass is coming with overwhelming force, and the Royal City cannot withstand it. In that case, we can only evade. The humans want to use Great Principle to destroy the Royal City—we absolutely cannot let them succeed."
Destroying the Royal City wouldn't actually be a huge loss for the Ink Clan. Wherever the Mo King was, that was the Royal City. If this one fell, they could simply relocate to another.
The key issue was that the Mo King's Ink Nest was inside the Royal City. Ink Nests did not possess particularly strong defenses. Once the Royal City was destroyed, the Ink Nest would inevitably be caught in the fallout. If something happened to the Ink Nest, given the Mo King's current injuries, he would have no way to draw upon Ink Power—how could he possibly stand against the human Old Ancestor?
If the Mo King were to fall into decline, the impact on the morale of the Ink Clan army would be enormous.
Faced with the approaching onslaught of Great Principle Pass, many Domain Lords felt the best response was to simply evade.
Hong Di said calmly, "How can we evade? Great Principle Pass is ultimately a mobile fortress Artifact. Even if we relocate the Royal City, we cannot match its speed. Eventually, we will encounter it."
He had previously gone to investigate the situation at Great Principle Pass and knew that the Royal City could not escape.
"So we're just supposed to sit and wait for the humans to attack?" the Domain Lord who had spoken earlier said indignantly.
Hong Di replied, "Great Principle has come a long way, and they have strength enough for only a single strike. As long as we work together and can withstand that one blow, the Royal City will be safe. After that, it will simply be a battle between the two clans. Everyone, though the humans may be formidable, their numbers are their weakness. In terms of both elite warriors and rank-and-file soldiers, our Ink Clan holds an overwhelming advantage. Why should we fear them?"
Words to that effect, but all the Domain Lords knew that the humans' combat strength could not be judged by numbers alone. Otherwise, two hundred years ago, the Ink Clan would not have been beaten so badly that they didn't dare leave the Royal City.
"Withstanding that one strike from Great Principle Pass will come at a considerable cost."
Such a massive fortress, arriving from afar with unstoppable momentum—if they wanted to stop it, the Ink Clan would have to throw lives away to fill the gap. The Lords went without saying; even the Domain Lords present could perish if they were not careful.
"No matter how great the cost, we must hold," Hong Di said heavily, his face twisted with ruthlessness.
Back then, he had been forced to leave behind his own Ink Nest and all his Seventh-Order Ink Disciples in order to lead his army out of Great Principle Pass. It had been a tremendous humiliation, and many Domain Lords had looked down on him ever since, thinking he had brought shame upon the entire Ink Clan.
Hong Di had never stopped wanting to fight the humans again—to prove his strength, and to prove that his choice that day had truly been a last resort.
Now the humans were attacking. For the Ink Clan, it was a crisis—but it was also an opportunity! If he could deal a devastating blow to the humans in this battle, he could wash away his humiliation.
If he could kill an Eighth-Order, that would be even better.
Che Kong also nodded. "Running is not the solution. We have spent years painstakingly setting up this massive defense line—are we really supposed to flee with the Royal City when the humans arrive? I refuse to suffer that kind of humiliation. Two hundred years ago, the humans used trickery to devastate Lord Mo King and inflict devastating casualties on our Ink Clan. That victory blinded them, making them think our Ink Clan was nothing special. But things are different now. If they dare be this brazen, we will make sure they never return!"
He turned around, clasped his fists toward the Mo King seated above, and said, "Lord Mo King, your subordinate requests permission to lead the Domain Lords in a vow to the death to defend the Royal City and stop Great Principle Pass!"
The Mo King remained silent. Behind him, two wings that once radiated Ink Power had now been reduced to just one. The other had been torn off by force during his battle with Old Ancestor Xiaoxiao two hundred years ago and had yet to recover even today.
Since he did not speak, the Domain Lords could only wait.
After a good while, the Mo King finally spoke. "Then let the Royal City serve as the battlefield. In this battle, we will kill the human Old Ancestor and destroy the human army!"
The Domain Lords' spirits surged, and they roared in unison: "Kill the human Old Ancestor! Destroy the human army!"
Morale soared instantly.
It was unclear where their confidence came from.
Shortly afterward, the numerous Domain Lords filed out one after another to prepare for the upcoming defense against Great Principle Pass. In an instant, the Ink Clan army within the Royal City was mobilized frantically. Hundreds of thousands to millions of troops deployed outside the Royal City, establishing defense line after defense line.
Every Domain Lord knew that this battle concerned the fate of both clans for generations to come. If the humans won, the Ink Clan would have no room to survive in the Great Principle theater ever again. Conversely, if the Ink Clan prevailed, humanity would be doomed!
No one dared let their guard down. All held nothing back.
In an instant, both inside and outside the Royal City, a killing aura pervaded the air.
In the distance, Great Principle Pass pressed forward relentlessly, its speed pushed to the absolute limit.
Intelligence continued to arrive from the front, and the Ink Clan's deployment was fully observed by the human leadership.
In the council hall, Xiang Shan and the others furrowed their brows. The Ink Clan's behavior was truly suspicious. They had expected that when Great Principle Pass arrived, the Ink Clan would relocate the Royal City to avoid the collision. But it now seemed the Ink Clan intended to resist head-on.
Could they withstand it?
Even if they did, how would the Ink Clan handle the great battle that followed? The Mo King's injuries were not healing. Even with the power of the Ink Nest to bolster him against the Old Ancestor, how long could he last?
Once the Mo King fell, the Ink Clan would have no way to resist the Old Ancestor's assault.
What gave the Ink Clan the confidence to act this way?
But there was no more time to deliberate. The assault of Great Principle Pass was already underway. If the Ink Clan wanted to resist head-on, then let them—and they would see what price the Ink Clan would pay.
...