THE SYSTEM IS NOT MINE

The war resumed the next morning, and the cultivator unit assembled again along the forward line.

Yan stood among the early Foundation cultivators.

They waited for the enemy cultivator unit to appear.

But the battlefield did not greet them with cultivators.

Instead, the sky darkened.

Yan looked up.

A sharp whistle cut through the air.

Arrows. Hundreds of them. Aimed at them.

"Shields!" Mutai shouted.

Yan and the others immediately raised their shields.

The sound of metal clashing spread throughout the formation.

Mu Tai stepped forward instinctively. Wind qi gathered weakly around his arms. His shallow understanding of the Wind letter allowed him to deflect a few arrows away from himself.

Several arrows spun aside, but most did not.

Then his eyes widened. He quickly abandoned the attempt and lifted his shield like the others.

The rain of arrows crashed into the formation. Behind the volley, the enemy army advanced.

But something was different.

The enemy cultivators had not formed a separate unit this time. They were scattered among the normal soldiers.

Mu Tai realized it, but their side was busy defending themselves from the arrows.

The lines of Shin and Noir collided.

Shin cultivators struck ordinary soldiers suddenly from within their formations.

Noir soldiers fell before they even realized who they were fighting.

The war felt lost before it had properly begun.

Then a horn sounded.

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

Orders spread throughout the battlefield.

The command did not come from the commanders, but from the general herself.

General Hecta watched the messy army withdrawing from the battlefield.

---

"Damn Shin."

The old man cursed as he moved here and there inside the tent of Han Defu's unit.

"We lost," another member of Han Defu's unit arrived next to the old man and punched the layer of the tent.

"What the heck are you doing? You'll break the tent!" The old man tapped the back of the man's head.

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He turned around and raised his hand at the old man. "You old fella, how dare you hit me?"

"Do you dare to hit me?..." Old Man confronted.

"Wait till the fatty recovers" he added.

The man paused and withdrew his hand.

Meanwhile, some in the tent sat while looking at the dirt, tears flowing from their eyes.

Yan watched the camp in silence. Chen Yu glared at his hands, which were still shaking.

War rarely followed fairness.

Shortly after evening, two hours before sunset, Commander Luma arrived at their tent.

"We greet the commander."

Luma nodded.

"Yan, Chen Yu. Come with me."

Yan stood.

Chen Yu followed.

Several others joined them as they crossed the camp toward the largest tent in the garrison.

Guards stepped aside as soon as they arrived at the tent.

Inside, General Hecta sat behind a heavy wooden table as the oil lamps burned along the sides of the tent.

Her gaze moved slowly across the gathered troops.

"As you know, we have lost the battle today."

"It is a shame on Noir."

Every other person looked down.

"Do you want to accept it?" Hecta looked at everyone.

"No," the soldiers replied.

"So," she said, "we will win the war."

"And you are chosen."

Chen Yu opened his eyes wide and the others took a deep breath.

"Apart from you fifty cultivators, there are another nine hundred and fifty ordinary people."

The cultivators stiffened.

"At night you will strike the enemy camp."

"Burn their food supplies."

"And kill as many soldiers as possible."

The words hung heavily in the tent.

Chen Yu trembled and hesitated before speaking.

"But General… at night our vision will be poor."

Hecta looked at him calmly.

Chen Yu took a step back.

"The enemy will suffer the same."

Then she pointed at him.

"Aren't you from Han Defu's unit?"

"Yes," Chen Yu replied while his legs shook a little.

"Were you part of that Sunset forest raid?"

"Yes," Chen Yu replied.

"Good. You did well back then."

Hecta smiled and then said, "So... you will lead the mission."

Chen Yu stopped trembling. He looked up at Hecta but could not say anything.

The other cultivators exchanged glances, but no one dared to object.

"Do you have any issues?" Hecta stepped closer to him.

"No," Chen Yu replied.

"Then the entire Noir will be relying on you." She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Wishing you luck."

Then she turned toward the others and announced, "You can all go back and prepare for your mission."

The soldiers nodded and, one by one, they left the tent.

Outside, the air felt colder.

Chen Yu's legs trembled slightly.

For the first time, he turned and looked behind him at Yan.

Back at their unit tent, Chen Yu approached him.

"What should we do?"

Yan did not answer immediately. Then he said, "We will hunt."

Chen Yu blinked.

"…Hunt?"

"Find out what animals live nearby."

Chen Yu hurried off.

Before the sun reached the horizon, he returned.

"There are wild boars in the nearby forest."

Yan nodded and said, "We need two of them. Alive."

Chen Yu frowned but obeyed.

By the time the sun disappeared, two large forest boars had been captured.

Their heads were covered with cloth masks to keep them from panicking too early, and their mouths were tied as well so they could not make sounds.

From a distance, General Hecta observed the preparations.

Her officers reported the movements of the mission unit.

"Chen Yu has captured two forest boars, General."

Hecta raised an eyebrow.

"Boars?"

"Yes."

She leaned slightly forward.

"What is he planning?"

For the first time that evening, curiosity appeared in her eyes.

Twilight settled across the battlefield. The sky darkened slowly, but true night had not yet arrived.

Chen Yu led the thousand soldiers out of the garrison. The column moved quietly through the dim light of only small lantern that Chen Yu carried.

Soon they reached the outer edge of the Shin army's supply area. Enemy fires burned along the perimeter.

A group of grain sacks were placed and around it patrols moved constantly.

The enemy had prepared well for night attacks.

Chen Yu crouched with his soldiers in the tall grass.

The two boars waited nearby.

"Remove the masks," Chen Yu said in a low voice.

The cloth masks were removed.

Right then, the boars burst forward into the grass as branches snapped and bushes shook violently.

The enemy commander reacted instantly.

"Who's there?"

"Archers!"

Arrows flew toward the moving shapes in the grass for a while and then stopped.

At the same time, Chen Yu broke the lantern making the surroundings around him completely dark.

The enemy commander narrowed his eyes.

"Someone, go and check."

One nervous soldier stepped forward. He moved carefully toward the rustling grass.

Every eye watched him as the entire patrol focused on the soldier approaching the disturbance.

Three steps.

Two steps.

One step.

Then, behind them—

The fire went out.

Darkness swallowed the camp.