Death… And Me

Chapter 4320: Run!

The strategy remained the same as before.

An organized retreat.

Thanks to Roan’s earlier decisions, his battalion still retained far more combat power than anyone else expected. By constantly rotating his forces and keeping over half the battalion recovering at the rear whenever possible, their overall stamina remained incomparably better than the surrounding forces.

Because of that, even while retreating, Roan’s battalion still maintained structure.

The cultivators continuously rotated positions while fending off the endless Godly Creatures pursuing them from behind and the sides. Meanwhile, exactly as Roan predicted, the remainder of the second defensive line completely collapsed.

There was no possibility of reorganizing it.

The battlefield had descended fully into chaos.

Wurshan’s RC immediately began filling with more and more desperate requests from nearby battalion commanders and surviving cultivators.

Just like before, Wurshan told them that they would have to join his battalion and that he couldn’t send help to anyone... or so he thought Roan would order him to say.

However, before he could answer the incoming requests, Roan spoke coldly. ”Tell them we cannot allow anyone else to join us anymore.”

Wurshan froze briefly. Roan’s refusal caught him completely off guard. Wouldn’t additional cultivators increase their chances of surviving the retreat?

Even exhausted experts could still contribute to the defense. Of course, Wurshan wouldn’t question the decision; that’s what he decided long ago.

”Retract!” Roan’s voice shattered Wurshan’s thoughts instantly.

Wurshan immediately transmitted the order through the RCs without hesitation. At once, every cultivator within the battalion retracted their Celestial Senses.

Only a few seconds later...

*Cawww!*

The Three-Eyed Raven swept across the skies above them once more like a streak of living darkness. The pressure it emitted caused even the air itself to feel distorted.

”Return!” Roan ordered immediately afterward.

The battalion instantly restored their Celestial Senses.

Wurshan unconsciously let out a breath of relief.

By now, the cultivators within Roan’s battalion had become extremely sharp regarding the Raven’s movements. The moment Roan gave the command, nobody hesitated anymore.

Everyone understood the consequences of delay.

Then, as the Raven disappeared once more into the battlefield chaos, Wurshan finally understood the true reason behind Roan’s earlier refusal.

If more and more survivors continuously gathered into their battalion during the retreat, their group would naturally become increasingly conspicuous amidst the battlefield collapse.

And once that happened...

The Raven would inevitably notice them.

Roan had no choice.

He was intentionally allowing the remaining collapsing battalions to act as distractions so the Raven’s attention would remain scattered across the battlefield instead of focusing solely on them.

Wurshan felt a chill run through him after realizing that. Roan truly had been calculating even that. Still, Roan himself did not feel safe yet.

Although he refused additional reinforcements, his battalion still possessed far more surviving members than almost every other battalion after the collapse of the second defensive line.

And as time passed, that difference would only become more obvious. Eventually, the Raven might decide that Roan’s battalion represented the most valuable target on the battlefield.

”Increase the pace!” Roan ordered after some time.

Immediately, the battalion accelerated toward the third defensive line.

By now, Godly Creatures had begun pouring toward them from nearly every direction. Only the rear remained relatively open, and Roan constantly adjusted their movement path to ensure it stayed that way.

Once again, he was heading toward a specific gap in the third defensive line.

Another funnel.

Another defensive position where his battalion could recover.

Too bad, though...

’Shit!’

Kentucky’s voice suddenly exploded through the soul connection shared between him, Roan, Rean, and Celis.

Roan’s expression instantly changed.

”Now!”

Again, every cultivator in the battalion immediately retracted their Celestial Senses.

But this time...

That wasn’t the real problem.

*CAWWWW!*

Above them, the dark cloud-like figure suddenly stopped moving.

The thing Roan feared the most had finally happened.

His battalion stood out far too much amidst the battlefield chaos.

After countless deaths spread across the battlefield, the Raven’s natural backlash ability had also become less effective overall. There were simply fewer large concentrations of cultivators remaining alive for it to terrorize in the collapsed second defensive line.

At this point...

The Three-Eyed Raven would gain more by directly attacking Roan’s battalion.

The enormous black mist hovered above them silently.

Its mere presence made everyone’s scalps go numb.

Even Roan felt immense pressure at that moment.

”I hope you have a plan for this too...” Wurshan said with a bitter smile.

Roan closed his eyes briefly.

Then he opened them again and stared toward the distant third defensive line.

”No plan will work against that thing,” he replied calmly. ”The difference in cultivation is simply too large.”

Wurshan’s expression darkened.

”So what do we do?”

Honestly...

What else could Roan possibly order?

They could only continue running toward the third defensive line and pray they survived long enough to reach it, a straightforward ’make a run for it.’

That was all.

Yet just as Wurshan prepared to relay that desperate order...

*CAWWWW!*

*ZUSHHH!*

The Three-Eyed Raven suddenly shot away like a black meteor.

It was not fleeing.

Instead, the Raven had noticed that the leading waves of Godly Creatures were already beginning to crash against the third defensive line.

Compared to Roan’s battalion, the third defensive line contained far larger concentrations of cultivators. Naturally, the Raven would create far greater chaos there.

Simply put...

Roan’s battalion was no longer worth its attention.

”Celestial Senses free! Keep moving!” Roan immediately changed the command.

Was that luck?

Maybe.

Still, the fact that the Godly Creature waves had already reached the third defensive line was terrible news in itself.

That meant the route leading there would soon become completely flooded as well.

”Increase the pace!” Roan shouted again. ”We have less than a minute before we’re completely swallowed!”

This time, even Wurshan could clearly hear the urgency in Roan’s voice.

*ROARRR!*

After that, Roan stopped issuing complicated commands altogether. At this point, no strategy could truly simplify the situation anymore. The battlefield had become pure chaos. Instead, Roan moved directly toward Rean’s side.

The twins exchanged a brief glance and nodded simultaneously.

As much as neither liked admitting it...

Their combat strength increased tremendously whenever they fought together.

’Red Death, Crimson Moon!’

’Red Life, Lightning Flash!’

The twins instantly became two streaks of destruction sweeping through the battalion formation.

Every Godly Beast that managed to break through the defensive gaps was immediately cut down by one of them before it could fully destabilize the retreat.

Meanwhile, Celis continued supporting the entire battalion from the rear.

His vines constantly retrieved Godly Crystals while redistributing Godly Energy toward the twins and the most exhausted cultivators.

Kentucky focused entirely on aerial combat alongside the remaining flying cultivators, preventing Flying Godly Creatures from overwhelming the retreating formation from above.

Death accumulated rapidly across the battlefield.

However, so did the number of Godly Beasts falling before the twins’ group.

[Godly Beast Kills: 917... 918... 919...]

*Rumble...*

The ground trembled violently.

Ahead of them, massive hordes of Godly Creatures were already converging upon the third defensive line.

The only reason those waves had not completely connected yet was because Roan’s battalion once again created another temporary gap while retreating through the battlefield.

However, unlike the earlier retreats...

This time, Roan’s battalion was suffering heavy losses. The Raven’s appearance had disrupted too much. No matter how skilled Roan’s commands were, strategy alone could only accomplish so much under such overwhelming pressure.

Rean, Roan, and Kentucky were practically drenched in slightly golden blood by now.

Even with Celis constantly helping replenish their energy reserves, exhaustion was finally beginning to catch up to them. The surrounding cultivators looked at the twins’ group with disbelief.

How could they continue fighting like this for so long? Most cultivators would’ve collapsed from exhaustion already. And yet the twins continued cutting down Godly Beasts almost nonstop.

If those cultivators learned the truth, that the twins’ group could not even use Celestial Energy, the shock would probably be even greater.

Throughout the entire battle, they had been relying solely on Godly Energy.

Meanwhile, the other cultivators constantly alternated between Celestial Energy and Godly Energy in order to conserve their reserves.

Even so...

The Godly Creatures finally managed to surround Roan’s battalion completely just as they approached the third defensive line.

”Roan...” Rean called while looking toward Roan. He already knew there was only one remaining option.

Roan also understood the same thing. ”Wurshan, pass the order.”

Wurshan turned toward him instantly as Roan continued. ”Abandon all defensive formations. Focus every force toward the rear and break through the Godly Creatures.”

Roan’s eyes sharpened. ”We’re making a full dash toward the third defensive line!”

At this point, Roan truly had done everything possible.

The fact that the battalion survived this long already bordered on several miracles at once.

Perhaps...

If they gave up all defensive structure and focused entirely on a single breakthrough point, around a hundred cultivators or so might still survive and reach the third defensive line.

That was probably the best outcome they could hope for.

But then...

*Zuuuullll...*

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

Without warning, countless explosions erupted from the ground ahead.

The earth itself split apart as massive explosive arrays activated simultaneously.

Thousands upon thousands of Godly Creatures were instantly blown apart between Roan’s battalion and the third defensive line.

A path had been opened.

Not randomly.

Precisely.

Only the explosive arrays positioned directly along their escape route had been activated. Someone had intentionally cleared a road for them!

Roan did not waste even a fraction of a second thinking about who could have done it.

It didn’t matter!

”Run!”