Lin En’s “Cycle of Slaughter” operated at full efficiency, and each dull roar of the Thermobaric Art was accompanied by the silent evaporation of a swath of the beast horde.
Each whirling rotation of the Storm Meat Grinder turned enemies attempting to charge into a mist of blood.
This death line constructed by magic was so unbreakable that, for the first time, the seemingly endless assault of the Beast Tide showed obvious signs of stagnation.
The magical beasts at the front were slaughtered to the last, and the beasts that followed instinctively slowed their pace in fear.
At some edges of the battlefield, small-scale chaos even erupted. Some weaker-willed magical beasts began to flee or even attack their companions blocking the way in a mad frenzy.
The dawn of victory seemed to be emerging.
Soldiers in the camp erupted in cheers, their taut nerves finally relaxing a little.
To them, this terrible Beast Tide, in front of this godlike powerful Mage Lord, was destined to collapse.
But Fiona, beneath the illusion of victory, sensed a fatal and icy crisis.
She did not cheer.
Instead, her expression grew graver, her amber eyes fixed on the black sea that seemed to be wavering.
“No… something’s wrong…”
She murmured.
“What’s wrong, Lord Fiona?”
Barret also noticed her oddity, asking in confusion.
“Look, they’re already in chaos! We’re winning!”
“No.”
Fiona shook her head, extending a finger, her voice hoarse from tension.
“Look at those chaotic zones. Look closely!”
Everyone turned to follow her guidance.
They saw mutations occurring within those beast hordes thrown into turmoil by fear.
Several unusually robust, red-eyed magical beasts—like executioners implanted with orders—suddenly lunged at those attempting to escape or tear at each other.
With claws and fangs, they ruthlessly shredded the deserters into pieces.
Their movements were precise, efficient, without the slightest hesitation, as if enforcing an undeniable iron law.
Master Elaine also sensed something was wrong.
Logically, faced with such an unnatural slaughter, any beast horde should have long since collapsed, the entire Beast Tide dissolving in fear and chaos.
But it hadn’t.
At that moment, a roar like the tearing of the heavens and shaking of mountains exploded from the rear of the Beast Tide, from the region shrouded in black mist!
“ROAR—!!!”
This roar was utterly different from the previous howls of any magical beast.
It contained neither pain nor anger, but an absolute, undeniable [King’s Might]!
The soundwave swept across the entire battlefield like an invisible psychic shock.
The magical beasts that had shown hesitation on the frontlines, on the verge of retreat, trembled as if struck by an invisible whip.
The fear in their eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a fanatical intensity in which self-will was utterly erased!
Crimson light reignited and boiled in the eyes of every magical beast!
“It’s… It’s the Beast King!”
Barret cried out in horror.
“There’s something strange about that roar! It can control the Beast Tide!”
Under this roar, the chaotic beast horde miraculously reassembled.
They were no longer a chaotic flood but a reorganized, fearless army infused with a new soul.
They even began to display basic tactics; some massive magical beasts charged toward the Maze Corridor, using their bodies to fill pits and pave a path of flesh and blood for those behind!
Not a single magical beast on the battlefield retreated again.
They did not fear death, for their King forbade them to.
“This is bad…”
Master Elaine’s face was deathly pale.
“That’s not a simple roar… It’s Spirit Domain Kingship! Enslavement of will! As long as the Beast King lives, this army will not stop until the last soldier falls!”
Look!
Under the King’s Might, the Beast Tide began a reckless assault on the maze, heedless of casualties!
They’re climbing the Earth Wall in madness!
Master Lynn’s killing speed can’t keep up with their advance! The main force is about to break through the maze!
Yes, this is the nature of war. No matter how strong individual power is, there’s always a limit.
Against endless foes, one is always worn down.
Fiona believed Lin En’s tactics had reached their limits, but now he was about to face the ultimate challenge that all powerful individuals must face—war of attrition.
Was he about to lose?
Lin En’s brows furrowed quickly.
Even with large-scale terrain division, the number of beasts was still overwhelming.
Under the oppressive King’s Might from afar, they began to charge recklessly at blocked passages, even trying to destroy and climb the Earth Wall.
His killing speed, though terrifying, felt like a drop in the bucket before the infinite, frenzied Beast Tide.
The Cycle of Slaughter was still spinning wildly, but the balance of the battle was subtly shifting.
Piles of magical beast corpses, heaped high as mountains, even began to impede the Storm Meat Grinder’s clearing efficiency.
More magical beasts trod over the remains of their kind, advancing in a frenzy stripped of all fear.
When the enemy’s rate of reinforcement and fearless will began to match, even surpass, the killing threshold of his magic, the scales of victory were no longer in his hands.
This was no longer a simple slaughter, but the most brutal, least desired—war of attrition.
And he was alone.
Lin En’s gaze pierced through the raging Elemental Storm, locking onto the source of the roar, shrouded in black mist.
The true commander of this war, the one supplying the soul to the Beast Tide war machine, was their King.
Killing soldiers alone could not win the war. Decapitation or crippling the command system was necessary.
“Time to adjust tactics.”
Lin En slowly closed his eyes.
The scientist’s mind spun rapidly, devising a countermeasure to this war of attrition.
He recalled the ultimate art of warfare developed in the human world before his transmigration.
He thought of command systems in modern warfare—and Information Warfare.
In an instant, the entire battlefield model was reconstructed in his mind.
That Beast King hidden in the shadows was a powerful [Central Command].
The endless Beast Tide were the [Basic Combat Units] receiving orders.
And that psychic roar brimming with wild will was a simple, brutal, yet highly efficient [Command Signal]!
“If it’s a command signal,”
Lin En’s lips curved into a cold smile,
“Then it must have unique encryption and authentication.”
Fortunately, just now, as the Beast King issued its terrible command, he had burned the entire military code into his memory.
Now, he raised his hand. In his palm, the rampaging elemental power went utterly still.
He did not build a new storm, but constructed an extremely precise [Soundwave Mimicry] magic model.
From the vast palace of memory, he extracted the mental audio of the Beast King’s roar, dissecting it into two core components: the King’s frequency representing highest authority, and the command structure defining specific actions.
What he needed to do was use his magic to perfectly forge a kingly decree powerful enough to move thousands of troops!
A sharp light flashed in Lin En’s eyes!
A vividly simulated Beast King’s roar, wrapped in wind elements, was projected precisely into the left flank of the Beast Tide trapped in the maze.
In the perception of the beasts, this royal edict was—
“Traitors on the right wing! Tear them apart!”
The left-wing beast horde, under the false king’s command, had blood-red eyes that flickered violently. Their simple minds could not comprehend why their most trusted allies were traitors. They only knew this was the King’s will!
And while the right-wing beasts were still lost, searching for their target—
“ROAR!!!”
The left-wing Beast Tide suddenly turned, surging like a breached dam, charging toward their own right-side companions with frenzied hatred!
A slaughter of unimaginable savagery erupted without warning under the stunned gazes of all the guardians!
The camp was plunged into dead silence.
Whether battle-hardened Knights or young guards, all minds seemed frozen.
They saw the Beast Tide go mad, but could not comprehend how it happened.
All were stunned by the bloody and bizarre sight—except Master Elaine, who did not look at the battlefield.
His gaze was locked onto the instigator, the young man still floating in midair by Light Wind Art, expression as cold as a god.
His mind raced, linking every moment since the battle began, seeking the true logic hidden behind the savage magic.
When the final puzzle piece—beast horde self-slaughter—clicked into place, a complete and terrifying Tactical Blueprint exploded in his mind.
In that instant, he felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, his whole body trembling.
Elaine suddenly seized Fiona’s arm beside him, gripping so hard even the young female Knight felt pain.
Fiona turned in confusion, only to see a fire of ultimate fear and frenzied curiosity burning in her mentor’s eyes.
Elaine’s voice was low and trembling, yet carried a solemnity as if delivering a divine oracle:
“Fiona, remember this. This is the most important lesson of war in your life.
This is the Art of the War God.”
Fiona was completely subdued by her mentor’s tone, unconsciously straightening her back.
Elaine did not look at her, his gaze still fixed on Lin En’s back, as he began to dissect this terrifying, logic-defying tactic for her—like explaining a holy scripture from a demon god:
“Step one, eliminate enemy airborne forces. Sweep away aerial threats and trigger the first wave of chaos and attrition…”
She paused, as if allowing Fiona time to think.
Fiona’s mind flashed back to the terrifying start of the battle: countless flying magical beasts falling from the sky like rain, their bodies crashing into the beast tide below and sparking the first wave of casualties and chaos.
Elaine’s voice sounded again, now tinged with awe:
“Step two, divide the army! Fiona, this is the most terrifying and effective tactic against massive legions!”
Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
“He used large-scale earth magic to forcefully reshape the terrain, creating trenches and high walls from nothing to divide the beast tide vertically! Then, using Quagmire magic, he split the divided forces again, this time horizontally, completely disrupting the army’s advance!”
Fiona’s gaze drifted to the battlefield, at the Earth Walls and Quagmire zones like giant scars—no longer mere magical constructs, but… slaughter tables slicing up the battlefield!
Elaine spoke the dreadful conclusion for her:
“In this way, the mighty army became isolated, unable to support each other, at the mercy of the butcher!
Step three, employ efficient magic cycles to methodically exterminate each separated zone!”
Division, slaughter… this was beyond any general’s imagination.
“Step four, the most insidious—disrupt the Beast King’s information transmission, forge false data, and drive the enemy into mutual slaughter!”
Fiona’s mind went blank, utterly stunned by the ruthless, tightly woven tactical logic.
Breaking enemy air superiority, battlefield shaping, division and extermination, cyclical slaughter, Information Warfare…
This was not a strategy. It was a complete, mature, and unheard-of system of war!
Elaine clenched his fist, nails digging into his palm, and in a voice bordering on collapse—like one worshiping a god or demon—gave his final lamentation:
“What kind of war demon uses such terrifying tactics?”
“What supreme intellect could conceive such perfect slaughter?!”
Elaine’s fear infected Fiona completely. In her extreme shock, her mind became abnormally clear, and an old memory suddenly surfaced.
In Fiona’s mind appeared a scene from years before: a Chess Grandmaster invited by her father to teach her.
He was a calm old man, sitting before the chessboard, indifferent to all.
Each move seemed ordinary, but twenty or thirty turns later, the opponent would realize in horror that every piece—king, pawn, or soldier—had long been bound in an invisible web, trapped in a net with no hope of escape.
That feeling… was not playing chess, but being played.
Every struggle of the opponent had been foreseen by the Grandmaster—even the struggle itself was part of his plan.
Now, everything Lin En had done was frighteningly similar!
No, it was even grander and more terrifying than chess!
The earth was his board, tens of thousands of magical beasts his pieces, and the world-shaking spells, his defining moves of victory and defeat!
He cleared the sky—cleaning the board.
He divided the land—laying out strategy.
He established the Cycle of Slaughter—exchanging pieces efficiently.
And in the end, he disrupted enemy minds—overturning the opponent’s board and forcing their pieces into mutual destruction!
This was not a battle.
Fiona finally understood.
This was not even slaughter.
This was a kind of… battlefield domination she had once glimpsed from the Chess Grandmaster, but magnified a thousandfold!
At this moment, Fiona finally understood what Master Elaine meant by “the most important lesson.”
From beginning to end, Lin En had never viewed this as a battle.
To him, it was simply a game he controlled.
This was not war at all.
As Mentor Elaine said, this was the Supreme Art of War of the War God.
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