Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! - Chapter 361

Chapter 361: Northern Defense Line!
The Desolate Heaven Empire shared borders with countless rival nations, but the north was different.

It did not belong to any empire—not because no one wanted it, but because no one could claim it.

Beyond the northern frontier lay the Great Wilderness, an endless land shrouded in forests, unclimbable peaks and Demonic Beasts.

It was the kingdom of Demonic Beasts—where the strong hunted freely and the weak were consumed without mercy.

Generations of Emperors of various nations had tried to conquer it. They all failed.

Well, not exactly but the part of the Great Wilderness that they were able to claim wasn’t valuable and they couldn’t keep it for long due to the Demonic Beasts which kept on pouring.

If they want to take a part of Great Wilderness then it is better to just conquer all of it or else you will just lose it back to Demonic Beast.

But such feat might be impossible.

Records dating back thousands of years spoke of terrifying beings deep within the Great Wilderness—Demonic Beasts so old and powerful that their might might touch the realm of a Supreme Immortal or beyond.

Whether that was truth or fearful legend, no one knew. But the blood spilled in every failed expedition proved one thing, it was impossible to conquer the Great Wilderness.

No Empire expanded north anymore.

Instead, they built defenses.

Walls. Fortress cities. Watchtowers. Supply lines. Military stations.

And the most important of them all—

The Northern Defensive Line.

It stretched across the frontier like a gigantic scar, layered with powerful formation.

It was not just a wall—it was a battlefield that never slept.

And right now, that battlefield was roaring with war at a scale never seen before.

Suprisingly the Defensive Line still stood.

For over ten days, the Beast Tide had crashed against the Northern Line like a storm with no end.

Thousands of Demonic Beasts had already died.

Thousands of soldiers had already fallen.

Yet the frontline still had not collapsed.

Torches lit up the night sky as wounded soldiers were carried to the rear. Fresh troops surged forward to replace them.

Supply wagons rushed through the fortified passages, ferrying talismans, pills, arrows, and food to the endless fight.

It was chaos all around.

On a bastion tower overlooking the battlefield, Commander Wei Zongyuan stood with blood-splattered armor and a calm face.

His exhaustion was visible only in the slight tiredness around his eyes.

Despite being in the Great Ascension Realm, he has fought for so many days that it was inevitable for exhaustion to catch up to him.

A soldier approached, saluting with a bloodstained fist.

“Commander, the Third Battalion has rotated out. Fresh forces from the town garrison have taken their place.”

Wei Zongyuan nodded.

“Good. Move them in groups of three squads. Do not deploy everyone at once.”

“Yes, sir!”

Orders flew across the command platform, and runners dashed through the complex corridors of the wall to deliver them.

This was why the Northern Defensive Line had not fallen.

It was not brute force.

It was the strategy that kept them alive.

Wei Zongyuan had long realized that throwing all troops into direct confrontation was suicide.

The Beast Tide was endless—while the forces on his hand were perhaps not even tenth of Beast Tide..

Thus, he adopted an unorthodox method, Rotational Skirmishing.

Instead of standing in place and fighting to the death, his soldiers advanced in short, devastating bursts.

A squad would surge forward with full power—unleashing martial techniques, talismans, and battle formations—slaughtering dozens instantly.

Then, before the Beast Tide could counterattack with its numbers…

They retreated back behind the walls.

They waited for another period of time as another squad would replace them, repeating the cycle.

In this way, they managed to slow down the Beast Tide while keeping their casualties low.

This is how Wei Zongyuan still managed to hold their ground against a High-Level Beast Tide.

However, he also knew the truth. It wasn’t just his strategy that worked but because Demonic Beast had yet to send their Grade-10 Demonic Beasts.

If they even send 5 of their Grade-10 Demonic Beasts then the Defensive Line that they managed to hold for so long would crumble under an hour.

Another soldier stumbled up the stone steps, panting, his armor cracked and smeared with dust and beast blood.

He dropped to one knee.

“Commander… urgent report!”

Wei Zongyuan’s expression hardened.

“Speak!”

The soldier clenched his teeth, voice trembling with frustration and grief.

“Squad Forty-Three has been wiped out.”

Silence fell.

On the command platform, several officers lowered their heads.

Even though death was expected on a battlefield like this, the loss of a full squad was still a heavy blow.

Wei Zongyuan closed his eyes for a moment.

(Squad Forty-Three… your sacrifice won’t be in vain!)

The commander’s jaw tightened.

“Damn it!”

Rotational Skirmishing had kept casualties low—but low was not none.

They were fighting Demonic Beasts, after all.

A single mistake…

A moment too slow…

And an entire squad vanished from existence.

He took a slow breath, cold fury simmering beneath the surface.

“At this rate…” he muttered, “…even we will eventually be worn down.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Even with perfect strategy, even with disciplined retreat, even with well-planned formations—

They were fighting a tide.

A tide that didn’t care how many it lost.

Every beast that died was replaced by ten more pushing from behind.

A staff officer stepped forward, voice low.

“Commander… if the situation continues unchanged, our estimated line stability is less than three days.”

“And that’s assuming,” another added grimly, “no Grade-Ten Demonic Beast appears.”

Wei Zongyuan’s gaze turned to the distant horizon, where the ground itself seemed to writhe under endless movement.

If those monsters joined…

Even three…

The wall would fall in less than an hour.

He exhaled through his nose.

“Where are the reinforcements from the Capital?”

His voice was calm, but everyone heard the strain beneath it.

After all, they had been waiting for many days with so many dead, yet there was no reinforcement from the Powerful Clan and Sect.

“We have received messages that the Imperial forces and major clans are mobilizing. But Marshal… logistics across the Empire take time. Even if they march at full speed…”

“How long?”

Wei asked sharply.

The officer hesitated.

“They told us to hold on for seven days. It was two days ago.”

Wei Zongyuan’s face darkened.

Five days!

They had maybe three—and that was being optimistic.

The commander’s voice dropped to a low, bitter growl.

“If the Capital doesn’t hurry, there won’t be a Northern Line left for them to reinforce.”

A long silence followed.

The battle raged below. Screams, thunderous roars, exploding talismans, the clangor of steel—never stopping, never weakening.

Wei Zongyuan looked out across the battlefield, eyes burning with determination.

“If we fall here… the next to die won’t be soldiers.”

Behind the Defensive Line lay towns, villages, farms—

Families.

Children.

Civilians who didn’t even know how to hold a sword.

“If the beasts break through,” Wei whispered, “…they will slaughter their way straight to the northern prefectures.”

Not tens.

Not hundreds.

Hundreds of thousands would die.

Just then, an officer sprinted up the stone steps, helmet tucked under his arm, sweat mixing with dust on his face.

He didn’t even salute. The urgency in his eyes was enough.

He stopped in front of Wei Zongyuan, chest heaving, and forced the words out between desperate breaths.

“Commander, Reinforcements from the Capital had arrived!”