Chapter 1446 — The Chipped Blade, the Broken Edge
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
Your wives are back there, your sons and daughters, your fathers and mothers — the parents who raised you! " "Follow me, and let's give 'em hell! We can't wait for them to come slaughter our homes! " He charged out.
Ahead, countless primal blades danced and came sweeping toward him.
The veteran roared, struggling to hold them off as he pressed forward.
Chhh, chhh, chhh. Dozens of primal blades struck him, and still he forced himself onward.
Hsss — countless primal blades swallowed him.
The primal blades withdrew, and no bone or body remained on the field.
All around fell a dead silence. No one dared take another step forward.
The giant beasts hauled the Flame Tower this way, and before and behind Shen Mu the soldiers were falling back.
Suddenly another man charged forward, and was at once swallowed by countless primal blades.
Then another rushed forward; before he had even fallen, a dozen more charged in, trying to block the Southern Emperor's divine weapon. Batch after batch fell, and still men kept charging forward.
"The people of Jingping have never lost their blood!
" A flame leaped up in Shen Mu's heart. He raised his blade and roared, striding forward, his steps quickening, and behind him the seven who remained of the squad charged forward with him, voice rising after voice: "Jingping is behind us!
" "Behind us are our fathers and mothers, our wives and children! " "We will not let the Southern Emperor's divine weapon set one half-step into Jingping!
" "Our corpses will be peaks no one can climb, holding the enemy back before the mountains!
" More Jingping soldiers came surging in, their shouts shaking the heavens. Opposite, Southern Heaven's demigod host moved with a roar, fresh and waiting, and came killing toward them.
Shen Mu swung his iron blade, holding off countless primal blades, and yet comrade after comrade fell at his side.
But at once others stepped into the places of the fallen, pressing him onward.
"Jingping is behind us!
" He fought his way forward with all his strength.
His comrades-in-arms took blades for him, blocked the enemy's strikes for him, and one after another fell along the way.
He forgot that he was a Heavenly Venerate.
He forgot that he possessed the power to remake heaven and earth.
He forgot the divine abilities he had learned, forgot the cultivation sealed within his body.
He had only a blade — but at his side he had countless comrades.
Countless men guarded him, bore him along, charging at the Southern Emperor's divine weapon! Men fell without cease, and without cease others took their places, but their numbers still dwindled, until at last they cut through the ring and came before the Southern Emperor's divine weapon.
Shen Mu drove power into his legs and leaped into the air, his body clearing the two giant beasts, and brought his iron blade down with all his might on the Southern Emperor's divine weapon!
"Let him," a demigod commander said suddenly, halting the demigods around him with a cold laugh.
Clang. Shen Mu's iron blade struck the Southern Emperor's divine weapon. The blade broke, shattering into countless fragments. His body fell, and only the hilt remained in his hand.
Shen Mu looked around him, dazed.
Around him were his comrades, guarding him in a tight ring, and beyond them countless demigods, watching with mockery.
"Jingping is behind us!
" his comrades still shouted, pressing forward one after another, trying to cleave apart this world-ending weapon. The demigods watched them coldly and did not move. "Jingping is behind us.
.
.
" Shen Mu gripped the broken blade. This was a blade of protection, a blade of slaughter on the battlefield; it carried a great cause, a great evil — and a great good as well.
"Enough. Kill them," the demigod commander said indifferently.
Suddenly Shen Mu raised the broken blade and roared in fury, every muscle in his body swelling, and a terrifying blade light swept across the battlefield in an instant!