Chapter 384: Chapter 248: The Joy of Victory, The Weight of Reality (Part 2)

After Balenzuo’s death, Fang Zhen secured the surrender of the mages from the original Balenzuo Legion.

Led by Chief Mage Maso, the Balenzuo Legion, numbering over five thousand, surrendered. At least 3,700 of these men were Balenzuo’s personal troops, reporting directly to him.

The remaining forces, belonging to the other nobles of the Balenzuo Duchy who had joined the war, had been positioned in the vanguard and the main army. They were almost completely wiped out.

Given the situation, any nobles of the Duchy who remained defiant—or who harbored a morbid fascination with the demon Balenzuo and still wished to stir up trouble—had no choice but to bow their heads to Fang Zhen.

Fang Zhen’s personal troops began the work of clearing the battlefield and sorting through supplies.

The aftermath of a battle involved more than just the fighting. There were many tedious tasks to be done, such as managing prisoners, treating the wounded, and burying the dead.

Untended, the wounded would die. Unburied, the corpses could easily cause a plague. These were the harsh realities of war.

Beyond that, taking inventory of and managing the captured supplies were also crucial tasks.

Fortunately, Ottis, one of Fang Zhen’s men, had experience in this area. Matthew, who had studied mathematics, could serve as his deputy, saving Fang Zhen a great deal of trouble.

Meanwhile, Fang Zhen himself had obtained several very useful Extraordinary Items.

Fang Zhen found two extremely useful Extraordinary Items left behind by Balenzuo. One was the Alien Snake Sword that Balenzuo had used while in his human form.

The blade was about the length of a standard One-Handed Sword. It appeared to be formed from several intertwined black snakes, with a protruding snake’s tongue serving as its tip. Its material was unidentifiable as any known metal, giving it a high-quality, textured appearance, and it was much heavier than an ordinary sword.

Fang Zhen tested the sword and found it to be truly unique.

When he thrusted with the sword, using only his normal strength, the tip merely had to touch a tree thick enough for a man to wrap his arms around, and the force directly blasted the trunk apart.

For some unknown reason, the sword could amplify its wielder’s strength by several dozen times, though it had its limits.

Fang Zhen tested it by channeling his Power Mountain Seal. At its peak, it could only enhance his Second-stage Power Mountain Seal by one and a half times before hitting its limit, rather than amplifying its power by dozens of times.

Fang Zhen stowed the sword safely. Near the wreckage of Balenzuo’s carriage, he also found a hand crossbow.

The hand crossbow appeared to be part of a set with the Alien Snake Sword. It was also black and looked as if it were crafted from old, twisted vines. It came with three Crossbow Arrows, identical to the black, snake-like projectiles fired from the carriage when Fang Zhen had attacked Balenzuo, and they had a similar effect.

While testing its power, Fang Zhen discovered that although the crossbow was small enough to be wielded with one hand, the speed and force of the Crossbow Arrow it fired were astonishing. At close range, it could produce an effect similar to that of an AWP sniper rifle.

Fang Zhen took both items.

As for other items, Balenzuo had possessed a few defensive Extraordinary Items, but they had been destroyed by the Mage Corps’ concentrated fire.

Two other Extraordinary Items had been shattered by sniper rifle fire.

There was nothing else of note.

However, after the Mages dissected the demon’s corpse, they discovered a large Energy Storage Stone.

The Mages identified it as a high-grade Energy Storage Stone, but its exact purpose remained unknown.

Fang Zhen was quite pleased with these acquisitions.

He was especially happy with the Alien Snake Sword, which could serve as a secondary weapon when he was low on stamina or wanted to conserve his strength. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

At the same time, he also noticed a problem.

After his battle with Balenzuo, the spearhead of his Dragon Gall Bright Silver Spear was damaged, and the shaft itself had even bent slightly under the extreme pressure.

Fang Zhen knew he had to replace his primary weapon.

This titanium-alloy spear could no longer meet his current needs. He had to replace it with an Extraordinary Item.

He had a spare Dragon Gall Bright Silver Spear, but its quality was no better, so it could only serve as a temporary replacement. When he had time, he would need to go to the Curse Seal World or use the forging function of the "Instance Dungeon Life Game" to craft a new weapon.

However, that was a matter for the future and would require time.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The night was dark, but it would eventually pass.

By the time the Augustus Army, under Fang Zhen’s command, had mostly finished clearing the battlefield, dawn was breaking.

The eastern sky began to lighten.

After the Plum Rain Season, the sun began to appear more frequently in this world.

Dawn broke in the east. The morning light was a warm, golden glow, radiating a gentle heat.

The army in the forest extinguished the last of the nearby fires and gathered the surrendered enemy soldiers to be held under guard.

Even though Balenzuo’s army had formally surrendered, they had to be kept under observation for some time and could not be immediately integrated into Fang Zhen’s forces.

It was impossible to know how many of them had yet to recover from the shock of battle, or how many remained loyal to Balenzuo. He was, after all, a male Nightmare Demon, possessed of many psychological, spiritual, and emotional methods for controlling his subordinates.

Only after a period of observation, once the surrendered soldiers were deemed trustworthy, could they be formally integrated into Fang Zhen’s ranks.

The army withdrew from the battlefield. After marching for over two hours, they returned to Viscount Keton’s territory and made camp. The Quartermaster began preparing rations while the soldiers started fires to cook their meals, ready to eat and then rest to recover from their battle fatigue.