Chapter 366: Advancing into the Forest

In the western outskirts of the Boundless Beast Forest was an army, a million men strong. And at the helm was none other than Kong Zhi, wielding his war hammer in one hand. The head of it was massive, comparable to a small boulder and shaped with a skull at the face of the hammer.

He was a monstrous demon, with gray stone- like skin and a massive figure. He was several heads taller than his men and solemn expression on his face. He had no brows but a pronounced brow ridge and his nose was a bit sharp. However, the most important part were his eyes that which carried a pale magenta color.

They were piercing, one could not help but look into those eyes. When they did, they would find a fire within them, a determination that showed that he would stop at nothing.

Kong Zhi wore demi- plate armor, thick armor layered over chain mail making it heavy but durable. He wore a helm as well, one resembling the head of a dragon. It was fully black with gold accents. The design of it all was not exquisite or pretty but brutal. It further supported his tyrannical aura.

Camped outside of the forest, he looked at it before turning to his right where one of the three kings stood.

"Both Tie Ja and Hai Zhu have yet to come back from their missions. However, the Boundless Beast Forest needs to be ours. We have to make it our foothold, Shi Hou."

"Yes, leader!"

Shi Hou was known as the Roaring King due to his booming voice. He had a stocky build and four black horns on his head, a member of the Horned Demon Race and one of many clans. His skin was of a reddish color and he wore full scale mail armor, having even a helmet made for his horns to go through.

"As for the Forest Keeper... That beast will be dead by my hands", as Kong Zhi spoke, he gripped his warhammer tightly as wisps of purplish- red energy rose out.

What sort of power did he gain from the Dark Starlight Manor? What had he obtained from his ancestors?

As he eyed the forest, he looked back to his men. His entire force comprised of six million beasts and soldiers. All of them stood still, waiting for their orders.

"Get me my Hel-Fire Dragon, we're going."

"Yes!" Shi Hou cupped hist fist, leaving his leader alone.

Kong Zhi stared at the forest but his eyes moved beyond it. Even though it was out of sight, he looked to the direction of the Iron Citadel.

"Just wait Du Xiu, after, I take care of Nie Xia, I will come for our rematch."

There was a grin on his face, one of rare excitement as he thought back to his first encounter with Commander Du Xiu.

Shi Hou promptly returned with a thick chain wrapped around his hand, collared by this chain was the Hel-Fire Dragon.

From when it was first captured, the beast was much larger now, covered in all sorts of scars from the constant battle. It's body was covered in crimson scales and had four wings. It had three heads that breathed out flames hot enough to melt steel with mouths large enough to swallow a man whole. This beast was a rank 7 and capturing it took a ten thousand men, of that number only a thousand lived. It wasn't even fully grown either.

It's eyes were sharp, most important of all they were defiant. Even after falling under Kong Zhi's control, the Hel-Fire Dragon would love nothing but to chew him up.

Kong Zhi looked at it and smiled, sheathing the warhammer to his back.

"Still baring your fangs at me? Good, it means that you can still fight."

Taking the chains from Shi Hou, he walked forard and hopped onto the beast, standing on it back. He pulled the chains back, rearing all three heads as the fire shot out of their mouths into the sky. He turned the beast around and looked to his men, raising his fist.

"One month! One month and the Boundless Beast Forest will be ours! From there, we will destroy the human bases! Finally, we will enter their and let them know what hell truly feels like."

His words were met with a uniting shout by his men as they were all raring to go. They raised their weapons together, trembling with excitement.

Kong Zhi then urged the dragon to move forward and his army of a million men were on the move.

With such commotion, the many scouts of the the Iron Citadel quickly sent back news of this. Within a day, Nie Xia read a letter in his hand, his face was of a grim frown.

"They didn't send a detachment to find the tortoise, they were scouting the forest out. To plan to conquer the forest with an army that large... What can we do?" he thought carefully before turning to his subordinates.

"Captains, what do you all think?" he asked.

There were three others beside him, all three of them wielded spears but had completely different auras to them.

"Commander, I believe that we should call for reinforcements! Send a message to the other commanders asking them to come as well."

This soldier wore a pale green and gold armor and a helmet shaped like a eagle's. His spear was of a green shaft and the spear head was a forty centimeters long. There was a weight to it, two or three times heavier than the average spear head. He had a very stern expression, a person who sought only justice and righteousness. Strangely enough, his brows were white, split into two at the end.

"While Captain Shan's suggestion would be the best, there is simply no time. Kong Zhi's army has most likely begun invading the forest. Rather, we should lay traps and focus on ambushing them, weaken the army and let the forest finish them off."

Standing by Captain Shan was a soldier dressed in very light armor on his gray clothes. It was mostly blackened leather armor with metal greaves and shin guards. His spear was much thinner and slightly shorter, focusing on speed and flexibility. His appearance was quite handsome, a thin nose, sharp eyes, and sleek black hair tied to a ponytail.

Nie Xia looked at the two, nodding at their suggestions. He then looked to the third one.

"What do you think, Captain Yang?" he asked.

The third captain, Captain Yang was rubbed his chin. Unlike the other two captains, his armor seemed more standard to that of a soldier's, his spear too. However, it didn't take more than a look to know that he was the strongest of the three. Captain Yang's expression was calm and composed, opposite to his rather fiendish looking face, the face of a bandit. He was Nie Xia's most trusted friend, a comrade who had been with him from the beginning.

"Hmm, both Captain Shan and Captain Liao have good ideas. But such desperate times would require risky measures."

The others looked at him with interest and curiosity.

"We will notify the other commanders, slow down Kong Zhi's army long enough for them to come. Finally, we should go to the heart of the forest and find that Tortoise. Converse with it if we can. Better yet, if it comes out, we will aid it as best we can", he explained.

"But what about the Hel-Fire Dragon? There is one wandering around that area. It would take more than just us to try and get by it."

Nie Xia immediately brought that up, remembering that third document. However, Captain Yang shook his head.

"As long as we do not disturb it, it will be fine. Better yet, if the beast knew that Kong Zhi would come, it would run off to fight him. After all, he took its child."