Keyboard Immortal - Chapter 2851

Chapter 1364: Who exactly betrayed us?

The Conqueror, with his army of Annihilation, watched the two sides fight from the sidelines. This was Zaun’s first time dealing with the army of the Breeders.

He finally understood why the Grand Elder’s army had suffered repeated defeats.

Individual Breeder soldiers were actually weaker than those of the Order or Annihilation, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming.

Moreover, they commanded various insectoid forces—flying and crawling—a truly overwhelming sight, a nightmare for anyone with trypophobia.

These insectoid forces were clearly more powerful. For example, the mantis-like warriors in front wielded scythes that were veritable reapers of life;

and the beetles in the rear spread their wings, their massive abdomens constantly writhing, unleashing swarms of acid and plasma like powerful energy cannons bombarding the enemy ranks, like something out of Starship Troopers.

But this wasn’t the most terrifying aspect of the Breeders; it was that anyone wounded in battle against their followers was easily infected, losing their minds and being converted into a follower of the Breeders.

Fighting such an opponent, whose forces would not only not decrease but actually increase, while one’s own side would also have to endure the psychological fear of being transformed by them; the pressure was unimaginable.

Although the Second Elder’s army was elite, it was ultimately no match and was quickly on the verge of collapse.

The Conqueror King understood this as well. He didn’t delay any longer and directly led the Annihilation Army into the battlefield.

The Second Elder’s army was greatly encouraged and fought fiercely.

Conversely, the Proliferating Army fell into chaos. The Conqueror King, having conquered countless worlds and being a master general, seized the opportunity during this confusion and led his elite troops to charge towards their main force.

He knew the Proliferating Cult’s weakness: although numerous, they were all controlled by a single brain.

And this brain was clearly Li Zicheng; once he was killed, this vast Proliferating Army would crumble on its own.

The Zerg and Human soldiers of the Proliferating Faction naturally surrounded them from all sides.

The Annihilation Faction, beings who brought apocalypse to various worlds, were like unstoppable forces.

Moreover, those killed by their power of annihilation couldn’t be transformed into zombies by the power of reproduction to continue fighting.

Zaun secretly observed that it was no wonder the God of Annihilation and the God of Death had an irreconcilable conflict.

The God of Death believed that after death, people should enter the cycle of reincarnation and have the opportunity to be reborn.

But those killed by the power of annihilation were reduced to annihilation; nothing remained, so what reincarnation or chance of rebirth was there?

This battle was truly a bloodbath, with stars falling and even the Great Dao nearly obliterated.

Individual combat power was negligible in a battle of this magnitude. Both sides had far too many powerful figures, many of whom were blasted into dust by countless magical beams before they even had a chance to unleash their ultimate moves.

In the end, the Annihilation faction was one step ahead; they had been operating in this world longer and their combat power was higher.

Although the followers of reproduction had a large number, their time in the world was too short, and they had lost many high-level experts in the previous battle with the Order faction; their new experts hadn’t had enough time to grow.

Against other opponents, this might not be a problem; reproduction could compensate for quality with quantity.

But the Annihilation Clan had been building up its strength for years; how could they afford to give them a chance to grow?

The reproduced army began to waver. Seeing that he was about to be surrounded by the Conqueror King’s army, Commander Li Zicheng had no choice but to retreat. This retreat caused the battle line to collapse completely.

What started as a stalemate turned into a one-sided massacre.

Li Zicheng led his remaining troops in a hasty retreat into Beijing. However, he did not lose faith. The characteristic of reproduction was its rapid troop production. Given a little breathing room, he could once again produce an army of millions.

He needed time!

Unfortunately, how could the Annihilation Clan give him time?

The Conqueror King led his troops south without stopping and soon arrived at the gates of Beijing.

Beijing was the stronghold of the Order Clan. The reproduction Clan had only recently captured it and had not yet fully integrated it, so they could not make full use of the defensive capabilities of this giant city fortress.

Helpless, Li Zicheng could only lead his troops westward again—at this time, the south was controlled by the remnants of the Order Clan.

Under the planning of Zaun, the Annihilation Clan began to pursue them methodically. In

the Battle of Zhen Ding, Li Zicheng attempted to counterattack the pursuing troops but suffered another major defeat, with his general Gu Ying killed in action.

Li Zicheng left Chen Yongfu to defend Taiyuan, hoping to temporarily halt the advance of the Annihilation faction with the Shanxi defense line and buy time for the Proliferation faction to rapidly build up its forces.

Unfortunately, under the dual offensive of the Annihilation faction—on the battlefield and through surrender offers—the warlords and officials of Shanxi defected en masse, and the Shanxi defense line completely collapsed.

Li Zicheng fled back to his stronghold in Shaanxi. Zu An had already re-established contact with Tang Tian’er and learned the strengths and weaknesses of the Proliferation faction.

He then ordered the Annihilation faction to split into two groups: the Conqueror King personally led the main force to attack Tongguan from the east, while he led another force to bypass the main force from the north and attack the weak points in northern Shaanxi.

Tongguan was a fortress on par with Shanhaiguan. Li Zicheng gathered his remaining main force and relied on the natural defenses of Tongguan to put up a fierce resistance.

However, now that the Annihilation faction and the Second Elder’s forces were combined, the combined strength of the Annihilation faction’s powerful warriors and the super energy cannons of the Order faction truly made things difficult for the Proliferation faction.

Even so, the breeding camp could barely hold on, but upon learning that Zu’an’s troops had broken through the Shaanxi defense line of Li Zicheng’s generals Li Guo and Gao Yigong and were already at the gates of Xi’an, the army at Tongguan finally collapsed.

Li Zicheng simply abandoned Xi’an and moved towards Henan and Huguang via Lantian.

Zu’an, with Tang Tian’er’s help from within and without, captured Xi’an.

In the Xi’an city lord’s mansion, the obese Fourth Elder Mostima glared angrily at Tang Tian’er: “So it was you, you wretch, who betrayed us!”

Tang Tian’er smiled sweetly: “Didn’t the Fourth Elder also betray the Order camp back then? How dare you use the word ‘betrayal’ to me?”

Zu’an finally understood why Li Zicheng, who had been reduced to only 18 riders by him, had quickly risen from the ashes and expanded his power to such an extent after Mostima succeeded him.

He looked at Mostima with some confusion: “Fourth Elder, you are already a top figure in the Order’s upper echelons. What benefit would you gain from betraying the Propagation Faction?”

Mostima didn’t answer his question, but instead asked, “What is your view on Order?”

“The entire universe is actually descended into chaos. Establishing order from chaos is often the process of the rise of life and civilization.”

Mostima smiled sarcastically: “That’s true at the beginning, and it was the belief we upheld. But later, everything changed.”

“Changed?”

“As the power of Order grew stronger and stronger, its radiance began to envelop every place. Everyone had to act according to the prescribed order; the slightest deviation was blasphemy.”

“This order has long deviated from its original purpose, yet the Grand Elder remains stubborn and willful, showing no intention of admonishing the True God. On the contrary, he intensifies his enforcement of everything, causing widespread discontent. Someone of my temperament naturally cannot tolerate it. It’s not that I betrayed the order; rather, it’s the Grand Elder, and even the True God himself, who betrayed the order!”

Mostima became increasingly agitated

as he spoke. Zaun was somewhat puzzled. How could he dare to blaspheme the True God? Wasn’t he afraid of incurring divine punishment?

But after waiting for a while, nothing happened.

At this moment, Mostima suddenly laughed: “Do you think I’m the only traitor? There are many dissatisfied members in the Elder Council. Sixth Elder defected to the Annihilation faction, and Second Elder followed suit. We were all once exceptionally talented individuals. Do you really think we’ll stick to the current order?”

Zaun’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, “Which factions have the other elders defected to?”

A trace of black blood spilled from the corner of Mostima’s mouth, and a strange smile remained on his face: “You’ll find out soon enough.”

After saying that, he breathed his last, clearly having taken his own life.