Chapter 163: The Outbreak of the Great Battle 3

Watching the enemy army slowly and orderly withdraw from the battlefield, Mo Fei let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Udos walked through the Bear clan's phalanx and came to Mo Fei's side.

"Big Brother..."

"There's no need for expressions of gratitude; it was the right thing to do." Mo Fei cut him off before Udos could even begin. In truth, Mo Fei wanted to add: If only you had taken my words to heart, we wouldn't be in this mess today!

"I already warned you about the situation here, but alas..."

The main force of the Bear clan retreated into Napor City, while Udos, alongside Mo Fei, fell back with the cavalry to the docks.

...

"Big Brother, it was my fault for not keeping your advice in mind. Winning a major victory right off the bat made me fail to test their true strength. If you hadn't arrived in time today, I..." As soon as he sat down, Udos could not help pouring his heart out.

"Mm. Underestimating the enemy, advancing recklessly, and poor coordination—these are the greatest taboos in warfare! However, this might not necessarily be a bad thing for you," Mo Fei said softly.

"Big Brother, how do you mean?" Udos could not understand how suffering a defeat could possibly turn out to be a good thing.

"Just look at your troops. Putting aside today's defense of the city, look at the units you organized to sally forth—they must have learned something from actual combat, haven't they? Otherwise, judging by your earlier performances, you would have behaved just like you did back on our Empire's continent: unwilling to fight, thinking only of how fast you could run away."

Although Mo Fei's words were somewhat harsh and brought up the Bear warriors' poor showing during their previous invasion of the Empire's continent, Udos still grasped the underlying point. Wasn't this precisely one of his own goals?

"Regardless, I still have to thank you, Big Brother. I've made up my mind to transfer the one and half million troops left behind in the clan's territory. With Big Brother's army helping to guard the rear over there, I have nothing to worry about." Udos knew that not bringing in reinforcements was no longer an option. The enemy currently outnumbered them several times over; without calling in more troops, they simply could not cope.

"Actually, that is not how wars are fought," Mo Fei said leisurely. "While it is always ideal to overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers from the start, when your forces are fewer, you can fight using other methods. You cannot possibly maintain a numerical superiority over your enemy at all times, can you?"

"What does Big Brother mean?" Udos still did not understand.

"Look at our original Empire. To this day, we only have one hundred and thirty thousand cavalry. In the past, we had only tens of thousands. Even with infantry and other auxiliary troops included, our Empire's total armed forces have never exceeded four hundred thousand, and previously it was even fewer—at most just over one hundred thousand. Now, whenever we go on the offensive—except for the last time when we mobilized all our forces—in any other war, we only ever dispatch half of our cavalry and half of our auxiliary infantry, rarely exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand troops. Yet look at us: have we ever failed? Ever since the time of Misty City, our Empire's large-scale military campaigns have never tasted defeat. Do you know why?"

"I am naturally no match for Big Brother. I realized that back in the Flying Dragon Empire," Udos said, lowering his head as he carefully pondered what Mo Fei was trying to convey.

"If your intention is to forge an elite army, then bringing over another five hundred thousand men will be about right. But if you only want to defeat the enemy force right before us, you will still need to think of other ways. I have already mobilized nearly a million troops from the Empire's continent; if we had to rely solely on you now, the situation would be impossible to stabilize."

"With Big Brother's million-strong army here, everything will be easy to handle!" Hearing that Mo Fei had brought a million soldiers, Udos jumped to his feet.

"Don't get too excited just yet. That million-strong army is the Allied Imperial Coalition from our continent, and they aren't going to dispatch troops for nothing. In other words, in the end, half of this continent will belong to you and half to them. Do you understand?"

"That goes without saying. I never intended to monopolize it anyway. Now that we have joined forces, it is only natural to split it evenly." At this, Udos seemed to have a realization. "Of course, I suppose my share will be allocated by Big Brother anyway; you certainly won't treat me unfairly."

"Naturally. I have my own way of doing things, and I have no desire to station permanent troops on this continent. It would be best if this continent remains like the Demon Isle—garrisoned by your Bear clan, while we simply maintain a foothold for trade."

Upon hearing this, Udos realized that Mo Fei was still leaving the vast majority of the benefits to him. A wave of warmth washed over him, though he muttered aloud, "Big Brother, can you please stop calling it the Demon Isle? Our continent is not called that."

"Oh? It has other names? How is it I never heard the Minotaurs mention it?" Mo Fei asked in genuine surprise, given how long the name Demon Isle had been tossed around.

"Of course! Who knows what is wrong with you people, giving such a terrifying name to our beautiful continent," Udos said. "The full name of our continent is 'Teg Sunny Isle.' In the language of our continent, 'Teg' means 'beautiful,' while 'Sunny' refers to the fact that our lovely land is forever bathed in sunlight."

Hearing Udos's explanation, Mo Fei felt a strange sense of familiarity wash over him. Having stayed on the Demon Isle for so long, it really was just as Udos described—perpetually sun-drenched and blessed with pleasant weather. Combined with the coastal scenery, it was no wonder the place so easily captivated young girls like Irene.

"Beautiful Isle, Demon Isle, whatever—the name's already stuck. We can change it later, but it's too late to fix it now."

Udos could only respond with a bitter smile. It seemed that his Bear clan's two invasions were the sole reason this beautiful island continent had earned such a sinister moniker among them.

"Big Brother, didn't you say you brought a million troops?" Udos looked left and right, completely unable to see where this million-strong army could possibly be hiding.

"Aren't they right over there?" Mo Fei pointed a finger. Weren't those sixty Bear clan mages currently directing other soldiers and mages from the Magic Continent in constructing a spatial magic array?

Those sixty Bear clan mages were now capable of building magic arrays themselves, which was precisely the reason they had chosen to stay with Mo Fei. Just imagine: Mo Fei was even willing to teach them such a long-lost magic array; who knew what other, even more profound magic they might learn in the future? For those sixty mages, even if Udos were to give an order now, they would likely turn a deaf ear to it.

"Big Brother..." Seeing that Mo Fei had actually imparted such advanced magic to the mages of his own Bear clan, and knowing the immense military value of a spatial magic array, Udos was overcome with deep emotion, unable to let the thought go for a long time.

"Once their abilities reached that level, teaching them saved me a great deal of trouble. Look, I haven't had to lift a finger for this magic array from the start. Think about how exhausting it used to be. On our Empire's continent, the number of mages who can reach the level of these sixty is severely limited. It's not that they don't exist, but I simply couldn't find them. So I had no choice but to teach your mages, which allows me to be a bit lazier."

"I know, I know..." Udos kept saying he understood, but judging by the look on Mo Fei's face, Udos seemed completely oblivious to the real point.

"Young Master!"

Just as the two were chatting, an Elven scout rushed over at top speed.

"What is the matter? Speak slowly. Look at you—not an ounce of composure," Mo Fei scolded.

"Young Master, it's just my habit." Having come to a halt, the Elven scout looked at Mo Fei, then glanced sideways at Irene, and smiled a little sheepishly.

"Next time, you must approach the Young Master slowly and with absolute composure. Don't go embarrassing the Elven race again, or else I'll..." Irene said, intentionally putting on a stern face.

"Irene, that's not what I meant. I just want them to change this habit of theirs. If they followed your 'slowly' and 'with absolute composure' to deliver a report, I'm afraid the enemy would already be sitting in our main camp chewing on meat," Mo Fei said, wrapping an arm around Irene's slender waist.

"And yet you lecture my people right in front of me?" Irene threatened. "Do that again, and I really will tell them to report like that next time, hmph!"

"Princess, the Young Master didn't mean it that way. He just wants us to do better," the Elven scout said, bewildered as to how he hadn't even delivered his report yet, but the married couple had already started bickering.

Although Irene had become the Imperial Consort of the Undead Empire, within the Elven Kingdom—unless she became the Elven Queen—her kinsfolk still addressed her simply as Princess, refusing to follow the people of the Undead Empire in calling her Consort.

"Alright, spit it out. Look what you've done, making Irene unhappy," Mo Fei said shamelessly.

"You're the one who made me unhappy, not him!" Irene gave Mo Fei a sharp pinch before finally letting him off the hook. Who knew why seemingly docile girls, once married, all mastered the art of pinching people?

Watching Mo Fei's furrowed brow, the reporting Elven scout dared not laugh aloud. Although no Elf had yet been subjected to Mo Fei's disciplinary tricks, according to the Berserker brothers, the Young Master possessed a terrifying technique that could turn a person completely black. The scout had no desire to experience that firsthand.

Udos had already turned his head away the moment the two began their playful bantering. "Ah, the scenery over here is quite nice too..."

"Young Master, the enemy army is beginning to gather and regroup!"

"So soon?" Mo Fei and Udos cried out in simultaneous astonishment.

"Yes, Young Master," the Elven scout said. "The scattered deserters have all been rounded up. Judging by their movements, they might start advancing toward us very soon."

"Actually, even if I were in their shoes, I would have set off a bit earlier. Off with you—keep a close eye on them and report back immediately if anything changes," Mo Fei instructed.

"Understood, Young Master, Princess, I'm off."

"Be careful," Irene urged. She always looked upon her kinsfolk as if they were her older brothers, which was why all the Elven people adored this little princess.

"Don't worry, Princess, I'll be fine. Besides, I still want to see our future little princess!" With that, the scout bolted away in a hurry, knowing full well that as lovely as Irene was, her temper when truly provoked was quite terrifying.

"Alright, let's discuss how to deal with their next wave of attacks."