Silence.
The reactions of the warriors were mixed.
On one hand, they were happy that they had such a powerful warrior on their side.
But on the other hand, they felt a cold shiver when Jerald had ordered the execution of not only the surrendering Mages but even the warriors.
These warriors had been their comrades just one hour ago.
Nearly everyone knew each other, and now, these warriors had died.
Yes, they had fled to the enemy, but their lives had been on the line.
Staying here would have seemed like a death sentence.
But a good portion of the warriors also felt vindicated. These traitorous warriors had been willing to leave their former companions to fight for themselves!
They deserved death!
Up on the walls, Mervin glanced at Shang with a smile, but when he looked at Jerald, his expression turned to concern.
He had never seen Jerald this angry and cold before.
"The enemy's forces have been eradicated," Jerald proclaimed as he turned to the warriors again.
"Now that they have been weakened, it is time to claim what is ours!"
"Today, we will take back the Empress Cobra Zone!" Jerald shouted with a heroic voice.
"And to achieve victory, I have something for each and every one of you!"
At that point, 65 books appeared above Jerald, and each book hovered over to one of the warriors.
The warriors looked with surprise at the books, and they opened them.
A couple of seconds of silence passed, after which the warriors exclaimed in shock.
This was possible?!
"This was the last present of the first Dean of the Warrior Academy, my dear friend George," Jerald announced. "He has created this technique, but it hadn't been completely finished. I have finished it in the last decades, and now, it's time to take revenge for him!"
At that moment, something appeared beside Jerald, and he grabbed it.
It was George's spear!
Some of the warriors recognized the spear. After all, George had been a legend to all of them. Sixty years ago, there had been only a single True Path Stage warrior, and every warrior knew about him.
All of the True Path Stage warriors standing in front of Jerald were over 100 years old, and they all remembered George's legend.
"For too long have I needed to keep the true cause of his death a secret, but now, I can finally tell you all!"
After that, Jerald recounted George's last moments inside the Empress Cobra Zone, and he didn't hide the truth.
He told all of them about the ugly reality that was George's death.
The warriors grew furious when they heard that, and their eyes narrowed.
They could accept that George had lost to a High Mage in a fight, but they couldn't accept the despicable manner in which he actually died.
"Learn the Weapon Flying Technique. You have an hour," Jerald ordered.
The warriors immediately opened the books again and read through them.
The concepts weren't easy to grasp, but all of the present warriors were experienced True Path Stage warriors. Comprehending the technique in an hour was possible for them.
Jerald had kept the Weapon Flying Technique hidden until now, specifically because he knew that some warriors would flee to the enemy. If the Skythunder Kingdom performed Mind Reads on the warriors, they would know about the technique.
In fact, none of the warriors had known anything about their battle plan until now for exactly this reason.
While the warriors were comprehending the technique in silence, Jerald assigned new positions. After all, many powerful warriors with illustrious positions had left.
The two most powerful warriors, Mervin and the general of Jerald's army, would command half of the army each. Originally, Mervin was not in a leadership position since he wasn't interested, but since the third most powerful warrior had left, he now had to step up.
The general of Jerald's army was the very officer that had protected Shang during his first Day of Chaos.
His name was Perov.
Below Perov and Mervin were all 63 True Path Stage warriors, and there was no squad leader or something like that. They would all directly follow the commands of Perov and Mervin.
If necessary, the two of them could name temporary squad leaders for missions.
Shang received a separate role. His authority would be on the same level as Jerald's, but he wouldn't control the army under normal circumstances. He would leave everything for Mervin and Perov, but he could take control if he wanted to.
The three High Mages also left their isolated building and joined Shang.
Without the Magic Circles, they couldn't refill Shang's life energy and Mana, but they could still keep the augmenting Spells on him active.
The three Mages received authority above the normal True Path Stage warriors but below Mervin and Perov, but that also wasn't really important.
The three Mages would follow Shang most of the time.
About an hour later, all the warriors had comprehended the Weapon Flying Technique, and they were ready to go.
Jerald handed out additional Communication Crystals to everyone, which would replace their old ones.
The soldiers could contact Mervin and Perov, while Mervin and Perov could contact the soldiers, Jerald, and Shang.
Shang could contact everyone.
Mervin and Perov left 15 of the weaker but more experienced warriors in the Storm Eagle Zone in case something happened.
The others would join the assault.
At that moment, Shang left towards the northeast with the three Mages following him. He was traveling at barely 100 kph, which was slow enough for the Mages to follow him without needing to use Mana Step.
They kept the augmenting Spells on Shang active all the time in case there was an emergency somewhere.
If Shang left their location, his augmenting Spells would be able to keep running on their own for a bit more than five minutes.
That would give him enough time to reach any place inside the Empress Cobra Zone.
Of course, Shang wasn't planning on attacking anything right now. He was only here in case something went wrong.
While Shang and the Mages traveled toward the northeast, the warriors all jumped on their weapons.
Due to their terrifying fighting instincts, they very quickly got used to keeping their balance while their weapons were flying around below them.
Flying like this cost some Mana, but they could keep flying for several hours without any issues.
Mervin and Perov flew in front of their respective units.
Then, they gave the order to charge.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
50 warriors shot into the sky, past the layer of clouds above the Empress Cobra Zone.
Everything in the Empress Cobra Zone seemed as peaceful as always.
Yet, no one had any idea that a proverbial rain of arrows had just been launched at the Empress Cobra Zone.
