Chapter 696 Now Or Never
The priority at that moment was to hang on to Yu City, so they could impede the attacking n of Holy
Sea Empire. As long as their attacking process was interrupted, Rocky would be able to take control of
the situation.
Not to waste any time, Rocky immediately called together all the soldiers in Heaven Unicorn City to get
ready, and they were marching to Yu City over the night. Since it was supposed to take them less than
one day to get there, they should be able to arrive earlier than the troops of Holy Sea Empire, and with
this time difference, they would get sufficient time to prepare to fight. And they must have a miraculous
trick to defeat the enemy. Otherwise, all their previous efforts woulde in vain.
As the night was getting dark, Rocky left Heaven Unicorn City with the eight thousand soldiers. With
great haste, they immediately headed to Yu City. In the meantime, Rocky also sent spies to monitor the
movements of Holy Sea Empire''s troops. The spies were preventing that their enemy feinted and
pretended to go east while in reality, they were attacking west.
Rocky and his soldiers arrived at Yu City as nned. While on the other side, the news that Mont City
had been upied by Holy Sea Empire rmed everyone in Pce City.
The position of Mont City was important, and taking it, Holy Sea Empire could attack surrounding small
cities with little efforts, which would consolidate their advantages. On the other hand, Crimson Dragon
Army was concentrating on fighting with Timber Deity Empire and was unable to spare any time to get
Mont City back. The emperor might be able to call forces from other legions, but it would take them at
least a couple of days to get there. At that time, the small cities around might have been controlled by
Holy Sea Empire already. In that case, it would be hard and would take time to take them back.
The emperor hurriedly called the Priest Dean and several other chief officers, which included Marcia.
All of them together had an emergency meeting to decide their next n.
"Your Majesty, the loss of Mont City puts our country in a dangerous position. We need to do something
to get out of such an unfavorable situation as soon as possible. In my opinion, we need to make
another negotiation with Holy Sea Empire. This is probably the best choice for us now," the foreign
minister suggested as he bowed to the emperor.
"Foreign minister, I''m afraid that I can''t agree with you. Don''t you see that Holy Sea Empire has clearly
shown that they won''t negotiate. The eldest prince has presented himself in the front-lines, but they
didn''t give a damn about it. I suggest it''s better to gather our men from Gehenna Border and take Mont
City back. The only way to keep our country and people safe is true military strength. Negotiation won''t
do this time. Trust me!" The military officer had apletely different opinion.
Soon, the officers were divided into two parties. One supported to solve the problem with diplomatic
measures while the others advocated force. As the two parties tried to win the emperor''s agreement to
their suggestion, they arguments escted furiously.
"It''s said that the eldest prince had sent the newly appointed Commander in Chief of Crimson Dragon
Army to Mont City. The prince hoped that the new Commander in Chief might be able to control the
situation, but it seemed that he has let the prince down. The city fell so soon. I believe this new
Commander in Chief is not thatpetent as we expected," Priest Dean suddenly cut in as he bowed
at the emperor as he coughed. The Priest Dean had already learned from a secret message sent by
the eldest prince that Rocky was Basil. Without any hesitation, he would do his best to discredit Rocky
as bad as possible.
"Is that so? But General Lance spoke highly of him in every letter he sent me. ording to him, Rocky
has made a lot of contributions for Crimson Dragon Group. Otherwise, General Lance won''t even make
him the Commander in Chief," the emperor said as he was a little confused to what he just heard.
"Perhaps it''s because he is too young yet was able to achieve so many aplishments. Thus the
general has a positive opinion about him. You may not know this, Your Majesty. This new Commander
in Chief is actually the son-inw of General Lance. I believe that he will always be in a positive light in
the eyes of the general," Priest Dean said meaningfully.
After such a remark, all the ministers present immediately began to whisper with each other. The
discussions was about what Rocky should look like and what he could do exactly.
"Priest Dean, are you sure that your news are correct and true? Please verify it!" Marcia suddenly cut in
and cast a sharp nce towards Priest Dean. The recent bad news about Rocky made her break her
silence.
As he received such cold stare, Priest Dean felt a shudder ran down from his spine.
"What do you mean by that statement, General Marcia? Please rify for us!" Priest Dean asked with a
Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.
long and troubled face.
"Your Majesty, as far as I learned, Mont City has been upied even before Commander in Chief
Rocky got there. The fall of Mont City shouldn''t be his fault. It has nothing to do with hismanding
ability or fighting n. The timings of recent events were just unfavorable towards him. However,
ording to the information, Commander in Chief Rocky has already retreated to Heaven Unicorn City.
It was said that he''s making huge efforts to protect the small cities around. He''s doing the best he can
do as of the moment," Marcia reported to the emperor in meticulous detail.
"Oh, I wasn''t aware that General Marcia has been paying attention to the war on the Gehenna Border."
A surprised expression painted the emperor''s face.
"However, I''m afraid that it is only wishful thinking that Commander in Chief Rocky will be able to save
the neighboring small cities. Sadly, he has no troops at all to resist the attack of Holy Sea Empire," the
Priest Dean continued as he faked a sad face. The priest was already well aware that it was easy for
Holy Sea Empire to take Mont City only because the eldest prince had plotted it in order to deal with
Rocky. Additionally, at that moment, Rocky didn''t have any forces at all. There was no way for him to
save the nearby small cities empty handed.
"That''s quite an impressive update. However, how did you know that Commander in Chief Rocky
doesn''t have enough forces?" Marcia asked as her cold eyes stared at Priest Dean. In fact, Marcia had
already learned from her apprentice that Alston started to aim at Rocky the moment he arrived at
Gehenna Border. Unable to deal with Alston, Rocky had to tell her apprentice who he really was,
hoping that her apprentice could give him a hand. All of the facts pointed to one thing, that Alston''s
purpose was nothing but Rocky''s downfall. He had no intention to fight Holy Sea Empire in the first
ce.
"Oh, about that... It''s rather easy to deduct. All the troops of Crimson Dragon Army are focused on
defeating Timber Deity Empire. There couldn''t be that many men left after Mont City was lost. General
Marcia, the answer is rather obvious and you don''t have to ask!" The Priest Dean had never expected
that Marcia would go to the point and immediately interrogate him. Fortunately for him, he responded
quickly and tried to make out a good case.
"Priest Dean is right this time. It isn''t the ability of Commander in Chief Rocky that matters, but the
troops. We can''t make as many troops as we want out of nothing. I''m afraid that we''re losing those
small cities around us!" A worried frown appeared in the emperor''s face as he nodded in agreement.
"Your Majesty, now that the eldest prince is currently in the front line, I think that he shall be in charge
of the whole situation on Gehenna Border. I believe that he will make better decision and save us lots
of troubles. To be honest, the loss of Mont City won''t be that much to the country. Please don''t worry
about it. The eldest prince is currently leading Crimson Dragon Army in the fight against the Timber
Deity Empire. It''s a good opportunity to cultivate him so that he can grow into a good leader. I believe
that he will break the defense line of Timber Deity Empire soon. After that, he can easily take Mont City
back. We''ll just have to wait and see," Priest Dean said once again with a confident tone.
"Priest Dean, leading an army is not as simple as you thought. We need to pay close attention to the
Timber Deity Empire. Otherwise, we will suffer a tremendous loss," Marcia sneered as she stared
daggers at the priest.
"You are thinking too much, General Marcia. Actually, I''m more worried about Commander in Chief
Rocky than the eldest prince. He may think that he can save the small cities, but I think that he is just
overconfident about his abilities. In case he fails to save one of them, what can you say about it?"
Priest Dean continued to mock Marcia and her belief in Rocky.
"Military officer, how many of those small cities are around Mont City?" After he thought for a while, the
emperor asked impatiently.
"There are three of them, Your Majesty," without any hesitation, the military officer immediately replied.
"If the Holy Sea Empire marched to attack all of them, how long will it take them to capture them all?
Do you have any idea?" a grim expression painted the emperor''s face as he asked once again.
"At least ten day, Your Majesty," after he thought for a moment, the military officer replied honestly.
"Then, we still have some time. Let''s see what Alston will do first. If he can break through the defense
line of the Timber Deity Empire and still have time to mobilize soldiers to support Rocky, then he might
be able to take Mont City back," a firm decision was said by the emperor. It seemed that he also chose
to believe in the eldest prince.
Marcia bowed to the emperor and left the hall without saying anything more. A troubled expression
painted her pretty face as she stopped right in front of the gate and looked at the direction where the
war was going on. With her soft lips, she murmured, "Hold on, Basil! Don''t let me down. Don''t let Alston
win over you! If you lose this time, it will be impossible for you to start over. It''s now or never!" A deep
sigh escaped her mouth. Then, she cracked a mysterious smile and suddenly disappeared.