bookbashuk Chapter 66, the second most beautiful human woman
Chapter 66, the second most beautiful human woman
Yi Yin was panting heavily, and his pace quickened, turning from a brisk walk into a jog.
How could Ilya fly so far in such a short time?!
Yi Yin was certain that he was on the right track, but when he flew over, it was a straight line, but the way back was through hills and mountains, with ups and downs and many twists and turns.
He ran until he was sweating profusely and his legs were weak, but he could finally vaguely see the spire on the mountainside in the distance, which should be the gray rock castle.
Just as he was certain he could make it to the battlefield, countless thorns suddenly sprouted from the unfamiliar greenery on both sides, completely blocking his way.
A beautiful green-haired woman descended from the sky, thorns made way for her, and flowers and grasses cheered for her.
Each strand of her hair curls and lifts, gradually changing from dark green to emerald green.
Her eyes were like amber, and her pupils were constantly brimming with new life.
Her upper body was a strapless dress made of thousands of leaves, the edges of which unfolded and closed with her heartbeat and breath.
The flowing moss was woven into a translucent long skirt, swaying and dancing in the air.
As her long, fair legs touched the ground, her semi-transparent dress parted automatically, revealing her smooth toes. Moss-covered hem, resembling dandelion seeds, floated and rolled behind her.
"Nice to meet you. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Astraea, the second seat of the Council of Hearts and Souls, and the Twin of Glory and Decline. Yongge."
Yi Yin lowered his head guiltily, muttering to himself, "Ilya's jinx, is there really a Council of Hearts watching whether I've joined the war?"
Astraea saw the well-fitting silk robe on Yi Yin and immediately recognized it as Ilya's work. She looked around guiltily to make sure Ilya wasn't there before letting out a sigh of relief.
This straight woman, who had never been in a relationship, kept reassuring herself.
Ilya said she never wanted to see this man again in her life, so why was she panicking?
But she didn't know what it meant to be hypocritical. Life is like that; what you fear most is what will happen to you.
Feeling guilty, the two simultaneously turned their gazes to each other, their eyes meeting in mid-air.
Astraea scrutinized the handsome man before her, thinking, "So this is what a man looks like. What a pity..."
Yi Yin's eyes flashed with amazement. This was the second human he had encountered since his transmigration. This green-haired beauty was stunningly beautiful, no less so than Ilya. Were all humans great beauties?
Yi Yin coughed and spoke cautiously.
"Hello, hello, my name is Yi Yin. What do you want with me?"
Astraea's curiosity gradually faded, a hint of regret flashed in her eyes, and she revealed a chilling smile as she spoke.
"You know perfectly well why I'm here. Of course, I'm here to kill you, the otherworldly king summoned by the last Mankik."
As her words fell, the surrounding thorns instantly sprouted sharp spikes, and a murderous intent spread through the jungle, making Yi Yin feel a chill run down his spine.
In the distance, Ilya, who was still cursing and wiping away tears, suddenly sensed something and looked up in the direction where Yi Yin had left.
"Astroia...you..."
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Below the limestone castle, a passageway was created by filling in a fifteen-meter-wide moat.
The oak fences, buried two meters deep, were secured with ropes one by one. The clan cats lashed the rumps of a row of short-tailed reindeer, and the animals, in pain, strained to pull out the deeply buried obstacles.
On the high ground, Chief Blackhand coldly surveyed the battlefield before him.
The noble reinforcements from Eagle's Beak Pass have arrived at the edge of the battlefield. The clan cats now in charge of the feint attack are vassals of his Black-Eyed Clan: the Skull-Mocking Clan, the White-Claw Clan, and the Bone-Eater Clan.
Even though it was a feint attack, the nomadic cats put on a very convincing show, looking almost exactly like the real thing, because they had more troops.
The rubble hills follow the traditional feudal aristocratic mobilization model, with all nobles of the knight class and above serving as soldiers, accounting for 0.5% to 1% of the cat population.
The remaining knights, squires, conscripted soldiers, and other troops account for 0.5% to 2% of the total cat population, while male cats of appropriate age account for 5% to 10%.
That is to say, the 100,000 cats in the rocky hills had about 500 to 1,000 knights and nobles with titles, all of whom were soldiers.
Male cats make up 50% to 60% of the cat population, which is about 50,000 to 60,000. If you remove older, sick, or disabled cats, the number of cats of appropriate age is about 30,000.
Most of the able-bodied cats are engaged in production and transportation and cannot join the battlefield. At most, only one-tenth can be mobilized to participate in the war, which is three thousand troops.
Therefore, the mobilization capacity of the scree hills during wartime was approximately 3000 to 4000, of whom about one-fifth were nobles or knights.
Of course, in a life-or-death situation, it is possible to mobilize 3% to 5% of the total cat population, which is equivalent to mobilizing another 3,000 to 5,000 male cats. However, such mobilization is difficult to sustain.
The nomadic cat invasion was too swift, leaving no opportunity for the Rocky Hills to conduct a full mobilization. As a result, the combined forces of the noble armies on both sides amounted to approximately three thousand cats.
The Snowclaw Duke's army at Grayrock Castle has more cats, probably less than two thousand.
The reinforcements brought by Marquis Iron Oak quickly headed south, and after accounting for the number of cats that fell behind along the way, their forces were now less than a thousand cats.
The soldiers mobilized under the feudal system had little combat power; if they could withstand the enemy cat's charge without running away, they were already considered to have done their duty to the lord.
Therefore, the main force of the two noble armies actually consisted of more than a thousand nobles, knights, and knights' squires, who formed a standing army.
The core fighting force brought by Marquis Iron Oak's reinforcements consisted of more than three hundred cat knights and their knight attendants.
On the other hand, the nomadic cat population, although only numbering around 100,000, is a nomadic system where everyone can be a soldier.
In order to protect the elderly, women, and children behind them, guard the outposts along the way, and ensure hunting production, the nomadic cat population can only allocate about five percent of its eligible cat population to participate in the battle.
That translates to roughly three thousand clan cats, but these clan cats are warriors who have participated in hunting, raiding, and fighting year-round, making them far superior to the conscripted soldiers of the Shattered Hills.
This is why the nomadic cat pack didn't take the two noble armies seriously and wanted to annihilate them in one fell swoop.
While it appears that the two sides are evenly matched with 3,000 each, the actual comparison of core combat strength is 1,000 to 3,000.
The nomadic cats can confidently boast that with a 3-1 advantage, they have the upper hand and are certain to win this battle.
At this time, the high-ranking members of the Nomad Cat Clan were observing the siege of the three vassal clans—the Skull-Mocking Clan, the White Claw Clan, and the Bone-Eating Clan—from the high ground behind.
The true clan elites were organized into reserve forces, ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any time.
Grom squinted at the battlefield for a while, then grinned at Chieftain Blackhand.
"These little brats fought well, but are you sure the Marquis of Iron Oak will really charge into battle?"
He's a seasoned nobleman soldier; we've never gotten the better of him at Eagle's Beak Pass.