In the North IJssel Plain, the city of Saint Theo is the second largest city in the divided duchy. It is named after Saint Theo, the former Amaunata Church.
At this time, the sky was exceptionally clear and cloudless, but people's hearts seemed to be shrouded in a thick layer of haze.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, in just a few days, the Ember Empire crushed their defenses.
Those daunting steel behemoths roared on the ground, flying dragons roared in the sky, and the frenzy of artillery fire left the ground riddled with holes. Under such a situation, the remaining soldiers fled to the city to seek shelter.
On the towering city wall of San Theo City, a man wearing bright silver armor and white wings on his back said angrily: "An army of tens of thousands was wiped out in three days!
Amaunata high in the sky, we are the brave Fadelans! Even if 50,000 lambs were put out, they wouldn't be able to catch them all in three days! ”
He is Karen Ferguson, a crony who followed Duke Walter in the uprising, and is also the Divine Marquis stationed in San Theo City.
These god-born nobles were sent by Duke Walter to garrison in various cities, while he himself sat in Corinth City, facing the fiercest impact of the Ember Empire.
But no one expected that before they could set up a complete defense line, the Ember Empire had already launched a surprise attack and was advancing incredibly fast.
"Master Karen, you don't have to be so pessimistic, we haven't lost yet.
The key to determining victory or defeat is not those ordinary soldiers who are insignificant, but the gods like you and the powerful beings who stand at the top of the material world invited by Lord Walter. ”
A man wearing a white robe and holding a scepter appeared next to Karen. His name was Zaran Alves, and he was a reinforcement sent by the City of Ten Thousand Laws.
He raised the silver scepter, and the sight of the Ember Legion crushing Aethir's soldiers appeared in front of him.
"The army of the Ember Empire is more ferocious than I imagined. I never expected that such a force would appear in just a dozen years."
Karen looked into the distance, worried: "More than a hundred years ago, the Fadland Empire suddenly rose with the support of His Majesty Amaunata. I'm worried."
"Buzz——"
Suddenly there was a piercing scream above his head. The sound came from far and near, rudely interrupting his words.
Karen and Zalan couldn't help but look to the sky, and the people in the city also raised their heads with doubts on their faces.
"Did you hear that? What was that sound?"
"Amaunata bless."
"Could it be the army of the Ember Empire? But why did this voice come from the sky?"
I saw a black dot suddenly appear in the distant sky, and they cut through the sky with a low roar, getting closer and closer to Sansio City.
And Karen relied on her golden pupils filled with divine energy to see clearly the uninvited guests in the sky - they were a group of bipedal flying dragons!
This group of weird flying dragons have broad wings made of steel, with black metal ellipses tied under their claws, and carrying a half-dragon knight behind them.
They flew across the sky rapidly, tearing the air with their steel wings and leaving white streaks on the blue sky. The target of this group of flying dragons was the city of San Sio.
"Enemy attack!"
Karen waved her wings, flew into the air, pulled out the golden sword from her waist, and raised it high.
"The crossbowmen are in position and shoot down these flying dragons!"
The soldiers quickly manipulated the crossbows on the city wall and loaded their bows with arrows, but by this time it was too late.
With the blessing of special rigid wings, this group of bipedal flying dragons glided at an extremely terrifying speed. They could be called dragon-shaped "bombers" and arrived above Sansio City in an instant.
Their shadows stretched long on the ground, like a harbinger of death, which made people feel chilly.
In Sansio City, everyone, whether they were men, women or children, raised their heads with difficulty, focused their eyes on those ghostly figures, and couldn't help but exclaim.
"This, what on earth is this?"
"What do they want to do?"
These people who had never experienced a new era of war could not predict what was about to happen - they just looked up at the sky in fear and amazement.
The players on the dragon's back smiled wildly and cheered excitedly.
"I'll treat you to barbecue!"
"Eat my bomb!"
The dragon knights pressed the bomb button without hesitation, and bombs fell from the dragon's claws one after another.
"Whoosh——"
The ear-piercing scream echoed over the city of Theo, like the howl of death, making people feel terrified.
A series of bombs drew arcs of death, carrying the power of destruction, like black raindrops, falling towards Sansio City.
"Boom!"
In an instant, the explosion was deafening, and fierce flames shot into the sky.
The city of Theo was filled with smoke and dust, and everything around seemed blurred under the light of the fire.
House after house was shaken by the explosion, and finally collapsed, throwing up countless gravel and rubble, and also buried many city residents in the ruins.
The statue of Saint Theo in the square was blown to pieces, flames spread on the ground, and thick smoke enveloped the city.
"O Gods"
"Help me! I'm trapped under the slab!"
"Ah! My arm!"
"Amauna Tower, please, please send a miracle, save my child——"
People on the streets were panicked, running in all directions, exhausted.
The people who were caught in the explosion were scorched black all over. The luckier ones lost their arms and legs and howled in pain, while the unlucky ones could no longer see their human form.
There was also a mother holding the charred remains of her child, kneeling on the ground in despair, sobbing loudly.
At this moment, under this ruthless bombing, life seems so fragile, and the pungent smoke and the smell of death permeate every corner.
People cried, roared, and wailed, praying to the gods they believed in, hoping for a miracle to happen, but all to no avail.
The dragon group - more accurately, the air force of the Ember Empire, after completing the bombing mission, quickly raised its altitude and disappeared into the distant sky. All that is left is a burning ruin, and endless death and sorrow.
Karen hovered in mid-air, flapping his wings, overlooking the citizens of San Theo who were struggling and crying in the ruins, his golden pupils showing grief and indignation.
"Damn Ember Empire I will make you pay."
Immediately, he ordered his soldiers to go to various parts of the city to rescue the affected people and calm their emotions.
With the city residents unprepared and inexperienced, the bombing directly caused the death of thousands of people and the collapse of countless buildings.
More importantly, it caused a psychological shadow in the hearts of the city residents that far exceeded the death toll, causing them to lose their sense of security in the city and their confidence collapsed - just like the collapsed statue of San Theo.
"O Gods"
"It, they will come back."
Such pessimistic sounds filled the city, and there were even illusory buzzing sounds in people's ears, which made them flee subconsciously, and the order in the city was in chaos.
Karen returned to the tower and asked with a serious expression: "Zalan, do you have any way to deal with this kind of attack?"
Zalan smiled bitterly, but did not respond directly. He just said: "A scholar once said this - the Ember Empire will take the shape of war, and it will make war more efficient and bloody.
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We thought this was alarmist talk, but we didn't expect that the reality was almost the same as what he said. ”
Karen sighed, looked at the ruins all over the city, and said: "If this continues, Sansio City will not be able to survive."
Zalan thought for a moment and said: "Sir, you should send people to move the people to a stronger fortress, or let them stay in their basements to prevent explosions.
In addition, my colleagues in the City of Ten Thousand Laws and I can weave a temporary magic net to stop those bombs in mid-air. ”
Karen picked up the long sword, waved the wings on his back, jumped into the air, and said in a fierce tone: "If those dirty monsters appear again, I will kill them all."
Zalan and several mages in white robes raised their scepters and recited incantations. Flashing light appeared above the city of San Theo. The luminous threads intertwined and gradually weaved a big flashing screen. The net shrouded the entire city of San Sio.
People were hiding in basements or in the fortified Amauna Tower church, praying constantly for God's protection.
At this moment, the ground began to tremble slightly, a dull sound came from the distance, and dust, broken tiles, and stones fell from the ceiling, causing people to crowd together in panic again, shivering, and feeling terrified.
"Boom——"
Karen flapped her wings and flew to the towering city wall again. Looking outside the city, a look of solemnity appeared on her fair face, and she murmured to herself:
"Damn Ember Empire..."
On the horizon in the distance, thick gray smoke swept in, almost blocking the sun in the sky. Mountain-like steel behemoths roared and roared, moving rapidly towards the direction of Sansio City.
Immediately afterwards, tanks loaded with giant artillery, firearms and imperial soldiers appeared behind the steam tanks. Their speed was also extremely fast, and the rotating tires kicked up bursts of dust and left messy ruts.
Some cars were even equipped with speakers, from which came majestic and majestic music, and a sonorous and powerful voice: "We are the army of the Burning Ember Empire, the supreme and ever-victorious Burning Ember Emperor - Kaixiu His Majesty's family, we are here to save the people of North IJssel and create a more fair and reasonable world
People of Aethiel, those god-born nobles fight endlessly for their own selfish desires and treat you as nothing, but you should not suffer the disaster for this. I urge you to see the situation clearly and surrender as soon as possible, otherwise you will face greater disaster.
The empire does not promise to provide you with immediate safety, but it can guarantee that your lives will no longer be threatened, provided that you choose to surrender and submit to His Majesty Cassius! ”
This sound spread throughout the city of San Theo. The people hiding in the basement and crowded in the church had different expressions. Some were trembling, some were yelling, and some had subtle expressions...
"Here we go again..."
"The army of the Ember Empire is coming again. I don't want to go through that horrible experience again in my life."
"Surrender, if you surrender..."
On the towering city wall of San Theo, Karen's hand holding the sword trembled violently, and his rather perfect face became a bit ferocious. He swung his sword in the air angrily and let out a low roar.
"Shameless! Extremely shameless!"
"This group of barbarians from the north are clearly confusing right and wrong! We are the protectors of North IJssel, the true successors of Fadland, and they - are just despicable dragon descendants, brutal and shameless invaders! ”
Harsh screams and roars were heard again in the distant sky, and the disaster-causing dragons were seen hovering over the Imperial Army, waiting for the next attack.
"Those things again!"
"O Eternal Amaunata...please save us!"
Hearing the wailing voice of the god of death, the people of San Theo City instantly recalled the nightmare not long ago, and felt their hair standing on end, terrified, and some even collapsed and knelt on the ground, fainting on the spot.
Karen raised his sword high, hovered in mid-air, and said toward the city of San Theo: "Everyone, don't panic, don't be afraid, and don't listen to their temptations. We are French people! The darlings of the sun!
As a divine descendant, Duke Walter will protect you, and I will protect you. Victory, in the not-too-distant future, we will drive these brutal dragons out of North IJssel——"
"Boom!"
The explosion was deafening and filled the sky.
A tank thousands of meters away suddenly opened fire. The shells drew beautiful arcs in the air and hit the tall and thick city wall of San Sio City, causing the entire city wall to shake and countless rubbles to fall down.
The magic circle carved in the city wall suddenly lit up, creating a barrier that kept flickering on the surface of the city wall. With slight ripples and flickering of light, the barrier actually withstood the explosion, leaving the city wall intact.
Karen became angry and pointed his sword into the distance: "Damn it, shoot through those iron lumps!"
The extraordinary soldiers on the city wall used all their strength to spin the roulette wheel quickly to fully draw the crossbow on the Sun God bed. The giant arrow as thick as an arm lay on the crossbow stand, and the three pairs of nearly six-meter-long bow arms bent backwards. , accumulating terrifying kinetic energy.
"Fire the arrow!"
"Whoosh——"
In an instant, several giant arrows dragging the sun's rays pierced the air, penetrating the sky like white rainbows, forming arcs of light in the sky, flying towards the steam tank a thousand meters away.
These Sun God crossbows were the weapons used by the former Fadland Empire to hunt dragons and giants. They possess terrifying power, with a range of up to two thousand meters, enough to make adult red dragons fall from the sky.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by the howling wind, a giant arrow dragging light pierced through a steam tank instantly like a divine punishment falling from the sky, creating a violent explosion that turned the giant steel beast into a burning wreckage.
However, this weapon is powerful, but also extremely precious, requiring the high priest of the Amaunata Church to draw the magic circle himself.
Looking at the entire city of San Theo, there are only twenty-five Sun God bed crossbows, and what they are about to face is a firepower frenzy composed of more than a hundred steam tanks, two hundred heavy cannons, and three hundred bombing dragons. (End of chapter)