Chapter 461 In short, let the sky burn!
"We have witnessed many impressive things these past few days."
Serena spoke first, her tone light and cheerful, "The Kingdom of Aura that you have built has exceeded our expectations in many ways."
"I have a feeling that its future will not stop here, but will develop further."
Beside her, the silver dragon Adrian took a step forward.
His long, elegant neck drooped slightly, his dragon eyes fixed on Garos, his expression turning serious.
“Garos, on our way here, we witnessed the fierce battle between the kingdoms of Lane and Sac on the Romanian plains, and all the other kingdoms we passed along the way were poised to strike.”
"The atmosphere along your border with the Kingdom of Theo is as tense as a bowstring about to snap."
"Yes, war is inevitable."
Galos nodded, admitting it frankly without any attempt to hide it.
Adrian took a deep breath and stated their decision: "We need to get Deborah out of here."
"The Romanian plains are about to become a huge vortex of war, and there is no place that is absolutely safe."
“Deborah and her unborn child cannot remain here any longer. We have already discussed it and decided that she will return with us to the Fubo Dragon Domain to give birth. It is far from the conflicts on the continent and the environment is stable, which is enough for her to safely pass through the incubation period until the hatchling is strong enough to adapt to the outside environment.”
His tone was very firm.
Upon hearing her father's words, Deborah slightly furrowed the silver-white scales on her forehead.
She glanced at Galos instinctively, a complex expression in her eyes.
Deborah knew that her strength would be insufficient to play a decisive role in the upcoming kingdom war, and that if she insisted on staying, it might distract Garos at a crucial moment.
That wasn't bravery, it was recklessness; she wasn't quite a legend yet.
Red Iron Dragon's rugged head slowly lowered, his gaze meeting Deborah's.
“Deborah, your father is right.”
He paused slightly before continuing, "In fact, there was this consideration in my invitation to them to visit the kingdom. I need to ensure your safety and that of your child, especially before the situation becomes clearer."
His implication was clear.
Even if Deborah possesses the identity of a metal dragon, once the war intensifies, the legendary powerhouses of the enemy nation will not show mercy. They might even target her specifically because of her relationship with the Red Iron Dragon Emperor, in order to restrain him.
Moreover, the Kingdom of Theo has a greater number of legendary items and possesses strategic artifacts such as the Eye of the Star.
Even in the heavily guarded royal city, Deborah is not necessarily safe. Staying away from the war zone and returning to the Metal Dragon Domain is the safest option at present.
"If I weren't pregnant, I would definitely stay here to guard the capital for you, but the safety of the child is very important."
Deborah sighed softly and said.
Red Iron Dragon stepped forward and touched Deborah's visor: "I understand."
Edley nodded slightly, acknowledging his son-in-law's rationality, then his expression turned serious.
“Garos, we know your ambition and aspirations, and we understand the situation facing the Kingdom of Aura.”
"But as your father, as a metal dragon, I must warn you that war is a beast that devours everything. Even if you are a legendary dragon, an emperor, do not let anger and the desire to conquer blind you."
"Remember, your life is not only about the throne, but also about your partner and unborn children who are waiting for you in the distance."
Serena took over the conversation, her voice even softer, and said, "We are not trying to hinder the development of the Kingdom, it's just... Garos, you have become our family."
“The Metal Dragon race values commitments and bonds. Deborah chose you, and we have accepted you.”
"Therefore, please take good care of yourself."
"Do not easily venture into a place where death is certain, and do not challenge an enemy you cannot defeat alone."
Silver Dragon stepped forward, extended its forelimbs, and gently patted Red Iron Dragon's hard shoulder blades, looking directly into his deep vertical pupils.
"Victory is important, but staying alive is more important."
Galos had almost never experienced such genuine care from an elder, and his hardened heart was gently touched.
He exhaled slowly, sending out a string of tiny sparks.
“I will keep your warnings in mind,” Hong Tielong said solemnly. “I will weigh the options carefully and will not blindly rush to my death.”
Edley's serious expression softened somewhat.
He pondered for a moment and said, "You can send me a message if you need anything."
"Metal Dragons do not easily intervene in wars between other nations, but if you are truly in dire straits, a matter of life and death... I will not stand idly by and watch my daughter lose her partner, or my grandson lose his father."
“I will provide you with assistance when necessary; this is a promise from the Stanistor family.”
Galos nodded slightly: "I will."
The moment of farewell has finally arrived.
The red iron dragon spread its wings, enveloping and covering the petite red silver dragon, its chin gently brushing against her forehead before slowly separating a few seconds later.
Surrounded by her parents, Deborah said, "I'll wait for your victory."
Whoosh!
The fairy dragon sprang out from behind a rock, circled around the head of the crimson silver dragon, and finally hovered in front of her.
"Don't worry, don't worry, with me, Vera, here, Aura will surely win!"
She said with a hearty laugh.
The fairy dragon's playful antics eased the tense atmosphere, and Deborah couldn't help but smile, saying, "Whether Garus can win or not depends entirely on you."
Silver and bronze light shone, enveloping the silhouettes of the three metal dragons.
Immediately, the giant dragon flapped its wings, soared into the sky, and headed towards the Fubo Dragon Domain, quickly transforming into a shimmering point of light on the horizon.
Galus stood atop a mountain, gazing at the empty sky.
The winds of the wilderness swept across his thick scales, carrying the smell of gunpowder.
"If war is unavoidable, then let the sky and the earth burn."
He whispered something, then turned and landed back on the ground, the roar of training resounding once more.
Late autumn of the year 341 in the Gregorian calendar.
The Iron Wall Fortress stands on the northeastern border of the Kingdom of Theo.
Harold brought his numb, frozen hands to his mouth and exhaled a puff of white mist.
He stood on the watchtower of the eastern wall of the fortress, his gaze habitually sweeping across the desolate wilderness outside the city, which was soaked in the night.
The cold autumn wind swept across the barricades like a knife, carrying the unique scent of the Serbian wilderness mixed with dust and withered grass.
He was an ordinary soldier in the Third Wall Defense Regiment of the Iron Fortress. After serving for seven years, he had long been accustomed to the monotony and vigilance of life on the border.
The Iron Fortress guards a vital passage to the kingdom.
Its thick city walls are made of limestone mixed with anti-magic materials, reaching a height of fifteen meters. They are equipped with magic crossbows and explosive magic arrays, and the kingdom's proud Sky Eye satellite provides all-weather reconnaissance.
But the weather has become abnormal in the last three days.
Thick thunderstorm clouds, like a heavy leaden-gray blanket, hung low over the border, lingering day and night.
Pale flashes of lightning occasionally streaked through the clouds, and the rumbling thunder was deep and continuous, like an ancient behemoth writhing in the clouds. The rain came in bursts and drizzles, turning the wilderness into a muddy swamp and severely interfering with visibility and communication.
"This awful weather..."
Tom, a young soldier on night duty beside him, muttered, pulling his not-so-thick cloak tighter around himself, "Can the Sky Eye still see clearly?"
Harold looked up at the pitch-black sky, dotted with flashes of lightning, and shook his head.
"The patrol reported strong interference from the overhead charge layer. The mages speculate that it might be due to abnormal weather or something else entirely from the other side." After a pause, the young warrior chuckled and said, "But it's just a kingdom established by a bunch of barbarians. They're far inferior to us. They're good at putting on a show, but do they really dare to start a war first?"
His words were not without basis.
In the internal pronouncements of the Kingdom of Theo, the opposing side is merely a crude kingdom composed of wild monsters, a motley crew.
This is what almost all the lower-ranking soldiers think; only some of the higher-ranking officers know the truth.
As midnight approached, the rain subsided slightly, but the thunder continued.
In response to the impact of climate change, the fortress garrison has recently increased its vigilance and deployed additional patrols and sentry posts along the city walls.
Harold had just finished a round of inspections and leaned against the cold brick wall to catch his breath.
Suddenly, he felt an extremely subtle tremor coming from the city wall beneath his feet.
At first, he thought it was an illusion, a hallucination caused by fatigue, but the vibrations became more and more obvious and intense, like countless heavy drumsticks striking the earth in the distance, and even amidst the rumbling thunder, they began to become hard to ignore.
"Did you feel it?"
Another soldier stood up straight, his face grim.
Harold rushed to the edge of the ramparts and strained to look out into the dark wilderness.
The rain and darkness obscured most of the view; only when lightning flashed did the world get illuminated for a fleeting moment.
Just as an exceptionally thick bolt of lightning tore through the sky...
Harold's breath caught in his throat.
In the fleeting, pale light, he saw an endless shadow on the horizon of the wilderness.
That wasn't nighttime, nor was it undulating terrain.
That was a torrent of cavalry charging forward!
A tall, centaur-like figure charged ahead, like a moving forest, followed by shadowy wolf-like silhouettes and even larger, more imposing shadows.
"Enemy attack—!!!"
Almost at the same moment, piercing alarm bells rang out mournfully throughout the fortress.
The city wall erupted in chaos. Soldiers rushed out from their rest areas, and the shouts of officers, the clash of weapons, and the trembling of footsteps mingled together.
Harold's heart pounded.
The shadow on the horizon is growing larger and closer at an alarming rate.
It was no longer a blurry outline, but the robust bodies of the centaur warriors charging at the forefront, their flowing manes, and the forest of spears and swords they held aloft.
The dull thud of hooves had coalesced into an increasingly loud roar.
Like an approaching thunderstorm, even the bricks and stones on the city wall trembled slightly.
"Magic Heavy Cannon—Ready!"
The commander on the high platform behind the city wall roared.
More than a dozen heavy magic cannons distributed along different sections of the city wall began to emit a low hum, and the magic crystals embedded in the cannons lit up one by one, causing the surrounding air to distort slightly due to the gathering of energy.
opposite.
At the forefront of the charging torrent was a striking white figure.
Ranger General, Elvie.
She charged ahead, her horse's hooves flying, her hands holding an exaggeratedly large bow almost as tall as herself. As the magical heavy cannons were being prepared, she had already drawn the bowstring to its fullest extent.
She sped off at an astonishing speed, drawing her bow as she went, her sharp eyes piercing through the rain and darkness to lock onto her target.
The arrows she shot could no longer be called arrows; they were more like small javelins! The arrows left the bowstring with a blinding red light, their trajectories were almost straight, and their speed was too fast for the naked eye to detect.
The first arrow was aimed straight at the commander above the city wall.
"Be careful, sir!"
Guards rushed forward.
But the arrow was too fast, like lightning.
It carved a gap in the shield of the Iron Wall Fortress, its power undiminished, and pierced through the steel shield raised by the guards, before plunging deep into the breastplate of the commander behind it.
The immense impact sent the commander flying backward, crashing into the wall behind him before he slid down, leaving only a horrifying, bowl-sized hole in his chest.
The commander was killed instantly.
The command of this section of the city wall immediately fell into chaos.
The soldiers' morale plummeted as they watched their commander being killed in a single blow.
Boom!
The sound of the bowstring twanging only came late in the morning, even drowning out the wind, rain, and hoofbeats.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cavalry general's arrows streaked across the night sky like shooting stars.
The second arrow pierced the skull of a spellcaster, abruptly ending his chanting, and he vanished along with the rain of blood.
The third arrow struck a magical heavy cannon in the middle of the city wall. The explosive force attached to the arrow pierced through the protective shield at the front of the ballista, shattering it into pieces.
Arrow after arrow pierced the fortress's magical shield, attacking key people and objects.
The other centaur archers also drew their bows and nocked arrows as they charged, the arrows falling with the rain of arrows. Although they couldn't pierce the shield like the general's arrows, they still splashed countless ripples across the massive magical shield.
At the same time, the heavy cannons were fully charged, and the spells of the casters began to fall one by one.
Buzz—Boom!
A blazing beam of light tore through the rainy night, shooting towards the charging cavalry ranks.
That was highly concentrated flame and impact energy, enough to blast a terrible crater in flat ground, tear through rune armor, and vaporize flesh and blood.
At the same time, all sorts of magic swept in.
However, the Centaur Legion's charging formation was not a dense square.
They operated in loosely packed wedge-shaped squads, leaving large gaps between each other. Most of the beams from the magic cannons landed on the open ground, exploding into large areas of mud and fire. Only two shots were effective, blasting both squads into pieces. The magical attacks were also of limited effect, indicating that the centaurs had come prepared.
Compared to the overwhelming floodwaters, their losses were negligible.
The speed of the charge did not slow down in the slightest.
Soon, the crimson cavalry had closed to within two hundred paces of the fortress.
From this distance, one could clearly see the faces of the centaur warriors at the forefront, their slightly reddened eyes, and the weapons gleaming coldly in their hands.
"Golem, advance! Prepare for engagement!"
The officers knew that the most brutal moment was about to arrive.
When the legion charged to within a hundred paces of the city wall, magnificent golems, like an outer wall, blocked their path.
"With the blood of the enemy, I, Aura, will be honored!"
Elvie abruptly slung her double bows back onto the saddle beside her horse and drew a gleaming greatsword with a backhand motion.
The blade is thick and wide, with a blue gemstone inlaid near the handle.
"For Aura! For His Majesty the Emperor!"
She let out a clear battle cry that resounded throughout the battlefield. Magic energy, like a tangible gale, erupted from her body, enveloping her entire body and the greatsword in her hand.
She stomped her feet on the ground, and her speed increased dramatically at the last moment, transforming into a streak of light as she soared into the sky.
"What are you trying to do? Commit suicide?!"
All the city's defensive weapons were immediately aimed at Elvie, preparing to concentrate fire and kill her.
The next moment, they understood why.
"For Aura! For His Majesty the Emperor!"
The warriors of the Crimson Iron Cavalry roared in unison.
The insignia they wore lit up, forming an invisible connection that united their fighting spirit and will, converging them towards their general.
In an instant, Elvie's aura surged, even reaching the level of the former regional king.
Her wings were fully extended, her greatsword was raised high, and the blue gems on the sword burst forth with a dazzling light like the sun!
In the next instant, she transformed into a shooting star, leaving a bluish-white trail behind her as she hurtled toward the Iron Wall Fortress.
Tear!
A fierce wind swept through, shattering the golem that was hurtling into the air, but it could not stop the centaur's advance.
"cut--!"
With a sharp shout, the giant sword, carrying the power to split mountains, slashed down fiercely!
The cyan blade light sliced through the magic shield as easily as cutting tofu, then cleaved into the thick wall.
Centered on the point of impact, countless spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread outwards, and shattered rocks shot out in all directions like cannonballs.
The entire section of the city wall was shaking and groaning violently, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
The blade's edge didn't stop; instead, it tore downwards and inwards along the wall.
As the light faded and the dust settled, the defenders witnessed a scene that terrified them.
The 15-meter-high city wall was cleaved open with a huge V-shaped gap, 7 or 8 meters wide, running from the top of the wall to the base. It was wide enough for three or four horsemen to pass through side by side!
Elvie, who had delivered this earth-shattering blow, was slightly out of breath, and the magical energy around her had dimmed a little.
But her gaze remained clear, filled with the fighting spirit of countless soldiers.
"Crimson Iron Cavalry—" She took a deep breath, raised her greatsword once more, and pointed it into the rift. "Follow me, and crush all obstacles!"
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Behind them, the long-awaited crimson torrent erupted with a battle roar like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down.
Inspired by Elvie's feat of breaching the city, the cavalry followed their general, surging into the Iron Fortress through the forcibly torn gap.
The defenders at the breach attempted to put up a resistance, but under the onslaught led by Elvie and followed by countless elite troops, any defensive line they tried to establish melted away instantly, like ice and snow under the sun.
Elvie swung her weapon, each strike bringing forth a storm of blood and gore.
She was like a red-hot dagger, piercing deep into the butter, rushing swiftly towards the core of the fortress, towards the inner city gate.
"Damn centaurs!"
A level 18 general roared, cutting down several troublesome Aura cavalrymen along the way, and charged towards Elvie from the side.
Whoosh!
Elvie stomped her feet on the ground and vanished from her spot as if by teleportation, leaving behind a whirlwind that bound the humans.
The human warriors had just torn apart the shackles of the gale when their movements suddenly froze.
Elvie sheathed her longsword, ignoring the fallen warriors, and continued to lead her troops in the charge.
In her eyes, the results achieved at this time were nothing to be proud of.
Iron Wall Fortress has no legendary garrison, nor any powerful level 20 generals. Among the enemy's many strongholds, it is not among the top, but merely a whetstone chosen by the Kingdom of Aura to begin the war.
Its rapid fall was planned.
Elvie's mission was to win with overwhelming force, giving the Iron Fortress no chance to resist, and to inspire the entire army with a swift victory in the first battle.
At this point, the city wall defense system was completely breached from one point, and this breach point continued to expand.
After the crimson cavalry charged into the city, they quickly occupied high ground or alleyway entrances, using precise arrows to suppress any defenders who attempted to resist.
Inside the fortress, the fighting had turned into an even more brutal urban battleground.
Centaur warriors rampaged through the relatively open streets and squares, while gnoll cavalry moved through narrower areas, systematically clearing out the remaining resistance strongholds.
Harold and his squad ultimately failed to receive any effective orders to retreat or provide support.
Because the commander was precisely sniped, communications had long been cut off, and the command system was almost paralyzed.
When a small group of gnoll archers spotted their watchtower and began to surround it, Harold knew it was all over.
They offered a token resistance, but arrows came from below and the sides, and their companions fell one after another.
Harold and several other survivors abandoned the watchtower and retreated along the tattered city walls toward the inner city.
Along the way, all they saw were scenes of collapse.
The soldiers were running around like headless flies, the officers couldn't find their units, and the wounded lay on the ground unattended.
Flames burned on many buildings, billowing thick smoke, and Aura's cavalry galloped through the streets.
Harold didn't know where the commander was, or whether the fortress commander was dead or alive.
His survival instinct drove him to run toward the backup evacuation route on the southwest side of the fortress, one of the few escape routes that ordinary soldiers might know in the event that the fortress fell.
The sky gradually turned grayish-white.
Dawn is approaching.
Harold, dragging a nearly unconscious companion, scrambled out of the fortress amidst a group of defeated soldiers, his condition dire.
As he rolled into the bushes of the hills behind him, he glanced back.
Iron Wall Fortress, the fortress he had guarded for seven years and which he once thought was impregnable, was now shrouded in thick smoke and flames.
The flags flying over the city walls were no longer Theo's, but rather the dark red Oralon flags.
The wind howled through the wilderness, carrying the smells of gunpowder, blood, and ashes, like the breath of a dragon.
"Barbarians. A motley crew."
Harold looked dazed, a look on his lips that seemed to be both crying and laughing.
This soldier's understanding of the world collapsed.
"What are you standing there for? Let's go! Let's go!"
A companion pulled him along, not daring to linger, and they quickly disappeared into the vast rain.
In less than a night.
The fortress garrison was either killed, fled, or surrendered. The ironclad fortress, which the human kingdom had built up over many years, was attacked by an unstoppable and terrible force before dawn on a stormy autumn day, and fell to the Kingdom of Aura.
at the same time.
The Red Iron Dragon Emperor lingered atop the mountains, gazing southwards, where he seemed to see a burning fortress.
"This is just the beginning."
He murmured to himself, and a deep, resonant voice, like the echoes of mountains, slowly rose up.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com