Chapter 292: A Wager

Wu Chang let out a sigh. Of course he should have expected Lang Sheng to offer such drastic stakes. He thought for a while before smiling, “Alright, but if I win the Jade Horde will complete a job for me.”

Sage thought about it for a minute before offering terms, “Okay, but you have to register the job through the Black Dog Company and it has to be a mission the Jade Horde can actually accomplish.”

“Of course. I’m not asking you to sacrifice your men.”

Sage nodded and Wu Chang smiled widely. He whispered something to one of his aides and the man ran off to give the order. Soon enough the Second, Third, and Fourth Company joined the First. Their commanders had a flagbearer to help organize the units, which also made it obvious to Sage what was happening. Then, just as Sage was expecting, another company came from Lionheart Town. These guards looked very different from the others. They were all wearing heavy armor, had bows slung across their backs, and were riding warhorses.

Sage chuckled, “Is that your most elite unit? Nice trick, hiding them like that.”

“Lionheart Town’s cavalry unit. Don’t worry, I’ve told them to go easy on your men, but don’t get upset if there are any injuries or casualties. Swords and arrows don’t have eyes, so don’t blame them for causing harm.”

“Haha, no worries. Feel free to attack when you wish, the Jade Horde is ready for you.”

The Million Scale Formation had immediately reformed after the volleys of arrows stopped falling. Wu Chang nodded to Sage and then waved to another of his men. The man yelled out a command and the five companies sprang into motion. One of them was equipped with a few dozen large shields. The men formed a shield wall and started advancing towards the Jade Horde. They had much larger shields than the ones used by the Jade Horde, looking much like thin metal doors. The Jade Horde on the other hand, used large discs that covered them from neck to knee. When they braced themselves and ducked their heads down only the shield, and an armored lower leg and foot was exposed. The shields the city guard used would be placed on the battlements, used against riots, or for clearing buildings. They didn’t need to have much mobility so they could be huge and strong.

With the Jade Horde holding position and the city guards free to approach at their leisure, it didn’t matter that their shields were huge, heavy, and unwieldy. They could take their time to close the distance and it would also waste time. The more time they wasted, the weaker that formation shield would get. Or at least, that’s what the city guard commanders had hoped for.

What they didn’t know was that the Million Scale Formation could be maintained indefinitely as long as it wasn’t being damaged. At the moment, only two dozen of the Jade Horde were actually maintaining the energy of the Formation. The other men were waiting to rotate into the formation to restore its energy. The twelve in the center of the formation were responsible for controlling the shield. The other twelve men could be any of the troops in the unit. Every minute a different twelve were contributing their energy while the others could rest and replenish their own Qi. The Qi expended to maintain the shield was far less than what the men could recover, and only if they were suffering attacks would the energy expenditure exceed their natural recovery rates. It would also be a different story if their numbers dropped. Right now they were essentially pooling the energy recovery rate of a hundred people. If that number dropped so would the efficiency of their shield.

Eventually, the large shields of the Fourth company finally reached the Jade Horde. Just behind them the First through Third company had their weapons out and were ready to charge. The Fourth company continued their advance, nearing the glowing formation shield. Unfortunately for them, they were stopped before they could get any closer. A forest of spears suddenly extended out from the turtle shell of shields. The gap between each shield sprouted a Halberd head, each of which extended rapidly. The spears lengthened to twenty feet, and given that the formation shield was only about a foot wider than the shield wall, the city guards found their plan ruined.

They wanted to push in close enough to press through the formation shield and engage the Jade Horde in close combat where the shield couldn’t protect them. It seems that someone on Wu Chang’s side was actually familiar with the Million Scale Shell formation and knew that the best way to deal with it was from close range. It didn’t have any method to attack, and despite its wonderful defense against all types of attacks, it also had a second weakness besides the great energy expenditure: it could be dismantled. The scale shaped energy shields were so great against all types of attacks because they acted like real physical objects. It also made it so that the Million Scale Shell could be torn apart with common tools like a pry bar, pick, or a hammer and wedge. Instead of wasting energy breaking scales, they could just peel them off and break through. Then, once they were occupying the space, the scales wouldn’t be able to reform and they’d be free to charge through the shield.

“That was a pretty good idea, but the Jade Horde is not that weak.”

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Wu Chang frowned and then he waved his hand again. It seems that he had made quite a few plans before this confrontation. The city guards moved onto their next attack pattern without Wu Chang even saying anything.

The cavalry suddenly thundered forward, riding around the other companies and sweeping out towards the Jade Horde. When they were about fifty feet from the tips of the halberds, they turned to the side and circled around the Jade Horde. They pulled out their bows from over their shoulders and started firing arrows while in motion. Pelting the Jade Horde with arrows from short range. Their horses keeping them out of range and moving at high speed, they did a full lap around the Jade Horde. Looking for gaps in their turtle shell.

The Million Scale Shell started to draw back when the arrows were launched, but then the Fourth company pushed forward, smashing their shield wall into the forest of speartips. With that threat, the formation shield stayed deployed and the arrows crashed against it. The energy scales took a beating, but they didn’t collapse. Then one of the cavalry whistled and the arrows were all targeted at only a few scales. They each shot an arrow at specific scales as they rode past. The men behind them in the line firing at the same scale. Then they rode forward and shot at the next target scale.

The targeted scales shattered after a dozen arrows hit them in quick succession, and a few arrows passed through, falling upon the Jade Horde directly. Without knowing they were coming, the Arrow Wall shields weren’t active and the arrows struck against their shield faces. The cavalry did their full loop, and by the time they were done, about a half-dozen of the Jade Horde had taken a minor injury from an arrow. Only one of them had an arrow actually embedded in them. The rest were just grazed or scraped in the scuffle. Even that unlucky Hoplite only had the arrow in his bicep, it certainly wasn’t pleasant, but his life wasn’t in danger.

“Nicely done. Those cavalry are very well trained. A whole company of Horse Archers. Very impressive! If they keep that up for a few days they might break us.”

Sage was just teasing Wu Chang. He couldn’t help himself, given there was a bet involved. He never liked to gamble because he had a tendency to get too involved which made him lose his cool. When he wasn’t calm, he had a much higher chance of making mistakes. He normally wouldn’t accept a bet, but if he could recruit Wu Chang it would be very helpful for his plans.

Almost like they heard Sage’s taunting the First through Third company put their weapons back into their Storage Bags and pulled out their bows again. They jogged backwards and then stopped to open fire. The Fourth company was blocking their direct line of fire, but with a little more distance they could arc shots into the air and have them land down upon the Jade Horde. The tactic hadn’t worked earlier, but they’d just seen the cavalry use arrows to cause a few injuries. They also had the Fourth company with their big shields preventing the Jade Horde from turning off their formation shield.

Or, that was what they hoped for. The Million Scale Shell formation deactivated, and the arrows fell on them like rain. They also had just as much effect, with not a single one of the Jade Horde taking an injury from the arrows this time. There were a few yelled commands and the ranks close to the large shields stepped forward at the same time. They thrust the spear tips of their halberds and activated the full weight at the last instant. The simple step and spear thrust smashed into the large shield like a herd of rhino. Half the shield bearers fell backward and their shield wall collapsed.

The Jade Horde didn’t press their advantage. The city guards were terrified, because they knew at that point dozens of their men would have died in a real fight. Instead, the Jade Horde took a step back and they all shifted positions again. The hexagon with spirals coming from it reformed into a set of overlapping rings. Twelve men each formed a ring and the three rings overlapped to create three ellipsoids and a triangle at the very center. When the shape was completed and the Jade Horde’s energy cycled a few times, a soft wind formed. It swirled around the Jade Horde a few times and then it started to collect dust. They ground in the training field was not that dry. It would grow grass every spring, but after a few training sessions each summer it would end up as packed dirt. Even so, it shouldn’t be so dry at this time of year to create the huge dust whirlwind that was now being kicked up around the Jade Horde.

After only a few volleys of arrows, the whirlwind of dust rose a dozen yards into the air and the Jade Horde was nowhere to be seen. There was only a huge cloud of dust.

Wu Chang frowned, “That really isn’t fair!”

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