The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 569: Strategy of Search and Destroy

A one-sided battle takes place a thousand kilometers behind the Arbrus Fortress. The attackers are only a small group of a dozen cultivators, but they are the ones delivering devastating blows.

The devils are truly caught off guard, unaware that the invasion force has breached this far into their territory—and that too by a group of emperor-stage cultivators with the weakest among them is already at the middle emperor stage.

The strongest is a high emperor stage cultivator, none other than the emperor of the Vindas Empire himself.

Emperor Herman, wielding his family’s legacy weapon, the Heavenly Dragon Sword, gains a significant boost in strength and becomes unstoppable. Along with his group of emperor-stage cultivators, he wreaks havoc across the entire area surrounding the summoning formation located here.

The devils are still in the middle of the summoning process and do not have time to complete it, as they are suddenly attacked by this force. Worst of all, the strongest among them are only two middle emperor stage devils who remain behind to guard the site. With just the two of them, there is no way to stop the onslaught of a dozen emperor-stage cultivators led by a high emperor.

Slash! Whoosh!

Rumble!

Each strike from the Heavenly Dragon Sword, wielded by Emperor Herman, is devastating—cutting through the land and even slicing space itself, creating a chaotic battlefield. The devils are like fish on a chopping board, with no chance to escape. Every counterattack they attempt against Emperor Herman is effortlessly deflected by a single wave of his sword.

"Argh!"

"You bastards! Once our god descends, you won’t be able to escape! You’ll be consumed by darkness!"

The devils screamed as they were slaughtered, their body parts flying in every direction. But the invading force did not pause for even a moment. The devils’ words meant nothing to them—they continued the killing without hesitation.

The battle lasted no more than twenty minutes, and not a single devil survived, despite their numbers reaching into the thousands. The invading group suffered no casualties, having thoroughly prepared the ambush. Every one of them was far stronger than the devils present, who included only a few emperor-stage cultivators.

"Crazy bastards. To think those devils actually sacrificed so many of their own. And they even had prisoners... Looks like they’ve been kidnapping people from the empires for years to use as sacrifices," said one of the middle emperor-stage cultivators as he looked over the ruined land.

Like the one at Aldrian’s summoning site, there were many sacrifices found here too—though not as many as in Aldrian’s location.

"Luckily, we were able to stop the summoning. If not, it would have been troublesome," said another cultivator.

Emperor Herman nodded.

"Well, thanks to young Aldrian’s information, we learned that the devils had something like this behind their lines. Now that we’ve taken care of it, it’s time to prepare another ambush—this time at the devils’ camp southwest of here," he said.

When Aldrian revealed the information about the summoning sites, the leadership quickly adjusted their strategy and launched a bold plan. They formed small elite teams made up entirely of emperor-stage cultivators, with the weakest at the middle emperor stage. Each group had to include at least one high emperor stage cultivator as leader, and at least one holy-element cultivator for support.

Why this formation? Because they needed swift action in a limited time. With middle emperor stage as the minimum, the teams could move quickly and strike hard—more than enough to overwhelm standard devil forces, as long as they didn’t encounter one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

They have to infiltrate behind enemy lines first, before the main force of the alliance attacks the fortresses. Their task is simple: search and destroy. They will search for the summoning sites, according to the information, located much deeper than the fortresses and destroy them before the summoning process can be completed.

At this moment, across the border, all these groups are carrying out this dangerous task, as they are unaware whether there are any traps or large enemy forces surrounding the sites. Some of the groups even have to take detours, as they must pass around the massive armies of devils stationed in the rear areas behind the fortresses.

There are already more than a million devils spread across the border, including those positioned at the fortresses, so the infiltrators must be extremely cautious not to be detected.

But the strategy does not end there. It also takes into account the concentration of these large enemy forces. The next step, after successfully eliminating the summoning sites, is for the small groups to move toward the nearest gathering point of the devil forces and wait for the main invasion force to arrive. Once the main army attacks the devils’ massed formation, these small groups will launch an ambush or initiate a pincer attack from the rear.

With this strategy, the devils would lose focus and be forced to divide their attention, preventing them from concentrating their armies against the main force.

After successfully eliminating the devils in the area, Emperor Herman’s group proceeded to the next phase, flying toward the southwest.

At another location, a similar scene unfolded as another summoning site was destroyed. This time, it was the site behind the fortress region near the Doria Empire. Here, a mixed group of elves and humans could be seen.

Having just finished destroying the summoning site, they were preparing to move on to the next step. The one leading the group was Emperor Ladwin.

"I don’t think there’s anything here that needs our attention. Let’s move to the nearest group of devils—"

Before he could finish his words, his communication artifact signaled an incoming communication. He took it out and held it near his ear to hear what it was.

"Your Majesty, this is Elthar. My apologies, but it seems we’re slightly too late. One of the summoning sites near our area has already completed its ritual. Six beasts have emerged and are now heading toward the main invasion force," came the voice of Imperial Teacher Elthar. In the background, the rumbling of battle could be faintly heard.

"Five are land beasts, and one is an avian type. Four of them are at the middle emperor stage, and the other two are at the low emperor stage. We’re currently holding back the land beasts, but the avian one—a flying creature we’ve never seen before, at the middle emperor stage—is incredibly fast. I couldn’t keep up with it. This spiritual beast clearly specializes in speed."

"I’ve had to stop pursuing it and focus on containing the other beasts and the devils advancing with them."

Emperor Ladwin frowned at the report. Elthar had recently broken through to the high emperor stage, and his flying speed should already be formidable. Yet he had still fallen behind a middle emperor stage beast. It seemed this particular creature was indeed specialized in speed.

"Alright, focus on holding your position. Let the main force handle the one heading their way. It’s just a single avian beast—our main force should be able to deal with it," the emperor replied.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

With that, the communication ended, and Emperor Ladwin resumed their plan to form a pincer position against the devils from behind.

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Near the border area, a flying beast moved so fast that it left only an afterimage as it raced toward the main invasion force. The devils who saw the beast fly past shouted their war cries, signaling that their summoned beasts had appeared. This was a sign that they would soon move toward the nearest fortress already under attack by the alliance forces.

But their spirit and happiness did not last long. Suddenly, the avian beast was intercepted by another flying spiritual beast—much larger and stronger—approaching from the side. This newcomer had peak emperor stage cultivation! However, the devils were shocked to sense strong devil energy emanating from it.

What was going on? Was this a case of blue on blue? Why was that beast attacking its own kind?

The newcomer spiritual beast pierced the avian beast’s body, instantly engulfing it in black flames that caused the devils to shudder. The flames rapidly consumed the avian beast, turning it to ash within seconds.

The devils, numbering in the thousands, could only watch as the avian beast turned to ash. What could they do? The newcomer beast was actually peak emperor stage; there was no way they could stand against it.

The devils’ hearts shuddered as the newcomer beast turned to face them. Without any warning, it flew toward them, attacking with black flames that exuded from its body.

"Arrgh!"

"Why?"

Instantly, tens of thousands of devils perished, as the power of a peak emperor stage easily obliterated them. Even the emperor stage devils couldn’t escape.

After the devils here were wiped out, the flying beast, which was actually the golden phoenix, flew in another direction. She had been ordered by Aldrian to assist the alliance, and she intended to do so wholeheartedly. This was also her chance to stretch her muscles, as she had not had an opportunity to act since her summoning.

With this chance, she could prove her ability to her master and show that she could handle the job with a flying score.

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While the border area inside devil territory was already engulfed in the flames of war, Aldrian had moved much deeper into the devil lands. The sun had already set, and the sky was dark, making the atmosphere around him even more intense.

Night in devil territory was very different from anywhere else on the continent, filled with thick negative energy, after all.

He kept moving until he finally sensed another presences ahead of him.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺