122 Unfortunate Souls

"Aaaahhhh!!!..."

Kon screamed in pain when he felt his wrist snap.

In terms of brute power or close combat, no other cultivator in the Dantian Formation Realm can match up to Alex. If the old man had attacked using Qi than Alex might feel some danger of getting hurt.

"I am also a Body Cultivator, dumb old man, you cannot overpower me in terms of strength, not at least with this level of cultivation," Alex said while still holding the broken wrist tightly.

"Kneel!!!" Alex applied more pressure to bring the Old man down on his knees.

"Re...release...my hand" the old man growled when he was forced to get on his knees.

"No, be a good old man and just surrender," Alex said while thinking in his mind 'Old skeleton, you embarrassed me in front of my master, like hell, I'll release your hand.'

When Alex declined, the old man channeled all the Qi in his body towards the sword in his left hand.

"You bastard...Die!!" The old man waved his sword to cut Alex in two. Now Kon did not want to make Alex his hostage but instead, he wanted to butcher him into pieces. He already had enough.

But the anticipated scene did not occur.

The short sword that the old man Kon was holding didn't land on Alex. More accurately speaking, the short sword sliced empty air.

The brat in front of him suddenly vanished where he stood.

Kon was stumped for a second before feeling someone behind his back.

"Ah, not good!" The old man Kon's reaction was not quick as he didn't get the time to turn his body.

Alex did a karate chop on the back of his neck.

A perfect angle, a perfect hit.

Kon lost consciousness immediately and fell face-first onto the floor.

"Stuff a Qi Depriving pill into his mouth and tie him up and that man too," Alex said while pointing his finger at Hazmos lying in a corner.

The puppets did what they were ordered.

A remorseful voice suddenly echoed within the room after some time. Hazmos was lying next to the unconscious body of the Old man Kon being tried up in a dumpling, his eyes brimming with tears as he examined his own wounds. When turned his face to look around he found President Kon on his right side.

Looking at both their state, Hazmos knew that they had both been captured, but he didn't by whom as he had been ambushed when he just going leave the Merchant Hall. The old man seemed to have fought but he lost.

Hazmos wanted to call for help but his mouth was gagged with a cloth. And he was not even able to feel any Qi in his body.

Hazmos struggled to sit up but Alex did not give him any heed. The Puppets were heir to monitor him and the old man Kon.

"Alex, look they are here" master Clayton suddenly pointed outside the window of the office room.

Alex followed Master Clayton's gaze and saw the light of torches in the distance. The torches were approaching, accompanied by the sound of footsteps.

After all this time, the Merchant Union city protection squad had finally reacted. Some people were coming to see what was going on, but based on the sound of their footsteps, it wasn't very many.

"Let them come. it's not like they can do anything now. Let's wait here for some time. Our army should have defeated the two thousand soldiers that the Merchant Union had sent. They might take an hour and a half to arrive here." Alex said as he looked outside the window.

Alex ordered the puppets to not let anyone enter inside the building and guard the entrance.

...

In the south direction of the Merchant Union.

Nev, Thomas, and Kelis had formed a defensive line with the two thousand soldiers that they had brought with them in between the five villages and the Merchant Union city. They had to defend this line and make sure that the enemies don't invade any further.

On the other side, Donald and Jack were getting ready as they had moved out of the villages that their army had seized.

Donald and Jack did not have the authority to command the army as it was in the hands of a puppet known by the name, Cyrus. appointed by Alex as the command in chief.

He was on the same level as Blackbeard and Tagor. They all had a commanding skill specific to their class in their arsenal.

Alex had told Donald and Jack that they would need to listen to Cyrus and do as he says when in battle. Donald and Jack were just strong cultivators, they did not have any experience leading an army into a battle. That's why it did not matter to them at all.

Some time ago, Cyrus informed them that Alex had sent them further orders, they need to defeat the Merchant Union troops stationed outside and make them surrender after which they will need to head towards unguarded Merchant Union city and take over it.

Donald and Jack both nodded and went on to wear the Low grade black ranked battle armor that Alex had given them before departing.

They also called Theo, Joe, Hank, and Tom over since they also came together.

Alex thought they would get some battle experience as they were not able to fight during the civil war.

Hank and Tom were now at the sixth grade of Body Tempering Realm while Theo and Joe were at the seventh grade Body Tempering Realm. They were eligible to participate in the war. Puppets would always be near them to keep them safe from getting killed.

In half an hour, soldiers poured out of the five villages and gathered together to march in the direction of the Merchant Union army where they set their camps.

Since it was dark, one man from each squad was ordered to carry an ignited torch with them so that they and their companion can see in the dark.

Due to this, the Merchant Union troops headed by the three merchants got the time to prepare their troops as they saw them coming from afar.

When the battle started it was completely one-sided. The troops under the command of the Merchant Union were quickly crushed in no time.

Including Cyrus, there were around one thousand and hundred puppets plus one thousand and six hundred normal soldiers in the attacking side.

Think what would happen if some thousand ninth grade Body tempering realm cultivators attack together. It would be an overkill.

During most part of the battle, the normal soldiers didn't even get to kill an enemy because of the puppets in front of them.

The puppets didn't kill most of the time but only knocked their enemies unconscious. To do that, they would always strike the merchant Union soldiers with the blunt side of their swords to either make them unconscious or immobile.

The puppets would also need to guide the normal soldier from time to time so as to keep them in the formation and not get unnecessarily killed by the enemies.

The three council members of the Merchant Union did not know what was happing as they were battling Donald and Jack the moment the battle started. The extra one was surrounded and fighting Cyrus with seven other puppets.

They saw how easily the enemies defeated their troops like they were walking through a park.

An early-stage Dantian Formation Realm can fight at most five ninth grade Body Tempering Realm cultivators to a standstill.

But if they come in hundreds or thousands in number then even a Peak stage Dantian Formation Realm cultivator might not be sure to come out alive.

At the end of the battle, Jack was able to kill Kelis, the fatso, after fighting with him for some time using his experience from sparring with Alex, while Donald had severely injured Thomas by making him cutting off his arms.

Nev was also quickly disarmed by the puppets and easily subjugated after three more puppets joined in.

Hank and Tom were able to take down and severely injure a seventh grade Body Tempering Realm soldier together on the enemy side.

Hank actually had a close call with death when a stray arrow had almost pierced his skull from the back without him knowing of it. If not for a puppet deflecting that arrow in the nick time then Hank would not be alive.

Tom saw this scene and quickly thanked the puppet for saving his friend's life. After that, he became more alert to his surroundings while he fought.

"Throw down your weapons and surrender. You will be spared from death. Those stubborn in their negativity and defiance will die!" Cyrus called out loud.

The troops under the Merchant Union became headless flies in this situation where Kelis was dead,  Thomas was gravely injured and Nev being captured. They all looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

Cyrus may not even have to say anything further because the enemy soldiers who were still standing had already lost their fighting spirit and had all thrown their weapons down.

The veteran soldiers that had participated in many wars felt it was unreal. The soldiers on the Cyrus side had never fought and won any battle in such a short this easily whereas the enemy soldiers that were still standing felt like they might be dreaming in their sleep as this battle had been like a nightmare to them.

After half an hour, the defeated soldiers were disarmed with many of them having their hands tied to a single rope. The unconscious ones lying on the ground were rounded together and also tied up.

There were also some unfortunate souls on the enemy side that either got killed by normal soldiers or died because many people passed over them while they were lying unconscious on the ground.

May they rest in peace.