Chapter 463: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

The command, “All forces… stand down,” echoed across the desolate plains, a pronouncement carried by the wind and amplified by a thousand speakers. It was a sound that defied belief, a sudden brake on the momentum of imminent war. The soldiers of the Northern Army, their fingers tense on their triggers, their faces grim with the readiness for death, froze in a state of collective disbelief. Their gazes shifted from the lone, unyielding figure of Erkan Kondo to their own king, Xiao Tianhao,...