Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 713 Unafraid Of Death

"Alyssa..." Rocky's eyes shuttered immediately at the sight of Alyssa, and all emotions were wiped off his face.

"Surprised? I saw through all of your plans,” Alyssa taunted him. All the while, she had on a wide and menacing smirk that set off her lovely murderous eyes.

"How did you get here so fast? Your troops should've fallen behind a while back,” Rocky asked although he didn't expect an answer from her convoluted mind. It did surprise him that the Timber Deity Empire forces could ambush them so accurately. The enemy forces should have already been left far behind, but no, they were right there, where they shouldn't have been. The only way that the enemy could arrive earlier than them—and with enough time to spare that they could lurk around in ambush—uwas if they knew the path that they would take. But how did they know which route they would take?

"Did you think that I would fall for your petty trick?" Alyssa fixed Rocky with an icy, unimpressed glare, as one would give a misbehaving child. But although she belittled his plans, she knew that they would probably have fallen for his trick, if not for the mysterious, black-robed, spirit manipulator who revealed the intelligence to her. It happened this way: one day, a spirit manipulator clothed in black robe gave her the information about the Crimson Dragon Army. She doubted the information at first, but then, she decided to divide her army into two. She set aside one group to pursue the Crimson Dragon Army led by Rocky, while the other group was sent on a roundabout way to this route, where she predicted that the Crimson Dragon Army would pass by in their effort to avoid the defense line of the Timber Deity Empire.

"I didn’t expect that this game of cat and mouse would end so soon. But, even if you have caught me, there is no chance that the Timber Deity Empire would win," Rocky said with a cold smile. Even though they were caught off-guard by Alyssa, who had seen through their plans unexpectedly, he appeared calm and level-headed. There was no trace of anxiety or weakness in his unruffled appearance. But internally, his mind was running in circles, as he tried to figure out how Alyssa saw through their plans.

"You are wrong. If I get rid of you, the Crimson Dragon Army will fall under my control sooner or later. You were lucky that you escaped last time in the desolate village, but this time, your luck can't save you anymore!" Rocky's shoulder tensed minutely. It seemed like Alyssa was dead-set on killing him, and this time Rocky didn't have any back-up plans.

"Commander in Chief, we have no choice. We need to break through the encirclement with our full efforts,” Allen, who was standing by Rocky's side, suddenly spoke up.

At the same time, four members of the Elite Regiment at the Heavenly Stage immediately gathered and prepared as well.

"Wait... I think someone leaked information about us to Alyssa, and that's how she found out about our plans. She deliberately divided her forces into two groups and assigned one to ambush us here while the other one pursued us behind. If that's the case, she might have arranged massive forces here to wait for us, while the weaker forces are stationed behind us. She has only ten thousand forces, so things aren't as bad as they seem.” Rocky nodded to himself, as he started to realize what Alyssa might have done. He hastily turned to his men and ordered, "All soldiers! Attention! Turn back and break through the encirclement!"

As soon as they heard the order, the Crimson Dragon Army moved as one to obey.

"Head Allen, please lead the troops and open us a path with Commander Marin and the four Elite Regiment members. I'll direct the defense in the back,” Rocky ordered his trusted commanders. At that point, he needed to lead at the rear of the army, so the others must take up his mantle to lead in front.

Allen and Marin along with the four Elite Regiment members turned around quickly and stationed themselves in front of the Crimson Dragon Army soldiers, who had already turned back and were awaiting further orders from them. In the blink of an eye, they started to fight against the soldiers who were in their path.

Meanwhile, Alyssa ordered her soldiers to launch an attack on the Crimson Dragon Army from both sides. In response, Rocky immediately commanded his thousands of forces in the back to form a defense line, which would resist the attack of the Timber Deity Empire army.

The two troops engaged in a bloody and fierce battle across the narrow pathway. From far away, the colors of the troops blended into one, until everything was bathed in crimson, even the very dirt on which they fought.

The spirit manipulators and spirit-manipulated beasts of the two sides had joined the battle as well, as the soldiers of both sides fought to the death. The troops seemed of equal strength at first, but the Crimson Dragon Army gradually gained the advantage due to their harmonious collaboration. Allen, a master at the Supernal Stage, charged forward, as Rocky and Sabina fought at the rear. What one commander failed to see was covered by another, so that no hole could be punched in their strong defense and offense.

And just as Rocky had expected, the forces of the Timber Deity Empire that were blocking them from the rear were weak. Thus, once the Crimson Dragon Army turned around, they easily overtook their enemies, but the pathway was too narrow, which made it unsuitable for an all-out fight. Hence, their breakout was significantly slowed.

Of course, the Timber Deity Empire army was no pushover. Under Alyssa's command, they tried their best to stop the Crimson Dragon Army from moving too fast.

This battle was also a battle of wits between Alyssa and Rocky, a battle that would show which of them was better as a leader.

After a three-hour fighting, the Crimson Dragon Army finally broke through their enemies, but they lost more than five thousand soldiers. Although the Timber Deity Empire lost almost the same number of soldiers, they had another ten thousand forces that would arrive at any time. And so, despite their successful escape from the encirclement, the Crimson Dragon Army was in a dire situation

It was getting dark when the Crimson Dragon Army finally distanced themselves from the Timber Deity Empire army under Rocky's direction. However, the Timber Deity Empire army was still in pursuit.

"Commander in Chief, I found a secret route nearby. If we choose this path, perhaps we can finally get away from the Timber Deity Empire army,” at this time, Louis, who had been studying the topographic map, immediately reported to Rocky.

"Really?" Rocky perked up after he heard Louis’ information, so he almost ran towards the said man. He saw that Louis had drawn a line on the topographic map.

"Louis, are you sure that if we take this route, we can escape the pursuit of the Timber Deity Empire army?" Rocky asked just to be certain, for he knew that every decision he made could cost thousands of lives. In just one day, more than five thousand soldiers had lost their lives, but he couldn't save them. As the commander in chief of the whole army, Rocky felt this loss to his core. He was used to seeing blood and sacrifices in battles, but it didn't mean that he had grown callous. He still wanted to protect the surviving soldiers

"There should be no problem." Louis nodded.

"If we go directly to the secret route, we will be easily detected. We should leave some soldiers here to distract the enemy's attention to make sure everything is safe. I could take some soldiers to attract them and cover you and the others so that you can secretly leave,” Allen suggested.

"No, you don't need to do that. I am Alyssa's target, and she won't be tricked like that. It has to be me." Rocky shook his head firmly.

"You're the commander in chief of the Crimson Dragon Army. How could you be the bait? And it's a suicide mission to attract the enemy's attention,” Marin immediately protested. She couldn't just watch, while Rocky decided to do something so dangerous.

"Marin is right. Commander in Chief, please let me do it," Allen agreed with Marin.

"I am the commander in chief. I make decisions,” Rocky answered firmly before he stood up and walked towards the soldiers who were resting. He called out to them and said, "To ensure the safety of the whole army, I need fifty people together with me, to draw back the enemy. This is a dangerous mission, and I cannot assure your safety, so I won't force you. Remember, this is not an order. This is only a personal request!" Rocky studied his soldiers with an intense expression. He didn't want to risk any more of his soldiers, but he needed more people to complete this task. Meanwhile, all the soldiers fell silent when Rocky spoke, but as soon as he was done speaking, a ruckus immediately erupted. They exchanged uncertain glances, as nobody dared to stand up at first.