Red dragon: in charge of natural disasters

“Enemy attack—”

“Amanata be praised, it's the Ember Empire! They're almost here!”

The officers and soldiers on the city wall panicked. They hurried back and forth to their respective posts among the city's defensive equipment.

“Quick! We can't wait any longer, activate the Augustan city's defense system!”

A messenger burst through the door: “Lord Dayev, you need to get over there, the Third Defense Zone is short on manpower!”

“Alright.” Dayev clenched the badge in his hand, nodded heavily, and followed the city's defending soldiers to his assigned defense zone.

Standing on the city tower, the city defense officer waved the military flag and shouted, “Listen to my command! Activate the alchemical matrix!”

“Boom—”

The soldiers below the city struggled to push the winch, activating the alchemical matrix within the rune fortress bricks. Dozens of hexagonal force field shields, each a hundred meters in diameter, appeared on the outer edge of the city wall.

Wilhelm, standing atop the Sunspire, looked at the overwhelming and mighty imperial army in the distance, his face annoyed. He raised the Spear of Final Judgment in his hand, pointing it directly at the sky.

“My subjects, war has come! They are here! Let these dragon claw lackeys witness the greatness of the Lord of Eternal Radiance—”

His indifferent voice echoed above the city walls, and the songs of the Sacred Law Choir became even grander and louder.

Under the sound of the magical network stirring, the Angelic Divine also raised their swords and shouted in unison, and rays of light soared into the sky.

“For Thrace!”

“For the Lord of Eternal Radiance!”

In an instant, the top of the Eternal Sun God Spire released thousands of rays of sunlight, creating a light curtain several kilometers in diameter above the city of Augusta, enveloping the entire city.

The light curtain was like a dome, filled with gorgeous patterns and dotted with thousands of miniature suns, each releasing dazzling light.

“A miracle! This, this is a miracle!”

“Such power…”

“Long live Emperor Wilhelm! Those Imperials will never be able to break through Augusta!”

People looked towards the sky shrouded in light, all looking at the six-winged, divinely unmatched king.

Several kilometers away, accompanied by the sound of whistles and roaring engines, the Empire's Eastern and Western Armies had converged, and expeditionary forces from various planes poured out of the portals.

Together, they formed a vast torrent, almost surrounding the entire city of Augusta.

“Roar—”

A muffled roar echoed through the sky, and the space at the top of the hill suddenly shattered. A mutated dragon beast, nearly ten meters tall at the shoulder and like a small mountain, walked out with heavy steps.

On the towering back of the giant beast was a dragon-blooded earth goblin with two wings on his back. He wore magnificent and heavy armor and was tall and burly—it was none other than Dolo, the Imperial Army Marshal.

“Soldiers! The shadow of the Dragon's Wings has covered the walls of Augusta! I can smell the fear in the marrow of the cowards, just as they trembled before the ruins of the old dynasty thousands of years ago!”

“Victory! Victory!”

The soldiers raised their arms and shouted, their iron armor clanging.

Dolo slashed the battle axe horizontally and shouted sternly, “And today, I want to ask you a question—why are we here?”

Along with his voice, the Bluefoot Dragon Serpent horn roared incessantly, making a sound like muffled thunder, and the battle flag fluttered in the air.

“To conquer, to occupy their land, to allow the Empire to continue to expand!”

“To avenge, to make those fools who dare to insult the Empire and insult His Majesty pay the price! Let the Thracians see our strength!”

“To realize the great blueprint! To repay His Majesty Keishus's kindness!”

The Empire's officers and soldiers at all levels wanted to leave a deep impression on the Marshal, so they scrambled to answer, and the atmosphere was particularly warm.

Dolo nodded with satisfaction, seemingly very satisfied with their answers.

Then, he glared and roared powerfully at the crowd: “You have all spoken well, because we are the children of iron and fire! We are the subjects of the great red dragon! We are the conquerors who flattened the north!

When the southerners wrap cowardice in silk, our children swing iron hammers next to the furnace; when the nobles of Augusta pile up lies with gold coins, our swords have already split the throats of thirteen fortresses!”

Dolo drew out the Bloodfire Battle Axe and pointed it at the distant Eternal Sun God Spire: “Look! That hypocritical tower is emitting its last afterglow, but it will soon tremble before the Empire's army!”

The heavy infantry struck their shields with their swords, booming like thunder, and the artillery in the distance also fired into the sky, making a deafening sound.

“They say Augusta will never fall? Ha!” The dragon-blooded earth goblin grinned, sneering extremely disdainfully, “Ten years ago, the Grand Duke of the North also clamored like this—until His Majesty Keishus burned them with dragon flames!

Every enemy of the Empire has clamored like this—whether it is the northern nobles, the shield dwarves, or the descendants of the North Ethel gods, but in the end, they have all turned into powder under the Empire's iron hooves!”

Dolo raised the huge Bloodfire Battle Axe: “Remember! Every brick of the city wall will be engraved with your name! The city breakers will receive gold-forged medals and unparalleled power and status!

And the souls of the cowardly will be nailed to the factory's anvil to wail for eternity!”

Dolo's battle axe ignited with dragon flames, like a huge torch, lighting up the sky.

“When the city gate collapses, I want to hear the screams of the Thracian king drown out the death knell! I want to see their gods kneel on the scorched earth and kiss the Empire's crest!”

“At this moment! As the Marshal of the Empire, I stand with you on the front line!”

Dolo pulled open his armor, tore open his robe, revealing the dense and frightening scars on his chest: “This scar is from the arrows of the Northerners! This one is from the fangs of the frost giants! This one is from the light blade of the gods, and here—”

He heavily beat the position of his heart, “It will always boil for the Empire! Burn for His Majesty Keishus! What about you?”

Dolo swung the Bloodfire Battle Axe with all his might, the axe blade cut through the air, and the deafening roar penetrated the clouds.

“Are you going to crawl back to your hometown in shame, letting your descendants spit on your cowardice? Or will you use the ashes of Augusta to build a new monument?”

“Destroy Augusta!”

“Occupy the Kingdom of Thrace!”

In an instant, the Imperial position boiled, and the war cries of the entire army shook the earth. Dragon swarms composed of wyverns, fire dragons, pseudo-dragons, shadow dragon beasts, and other sub-dragons rose into the air, all stretching their necks and roaring to the sky.

“In the name of the Imperials, the power bestowed by His Majesty Keishus! Crush these lambs cowering behind the city walls!”

Dolo shouted, “Let their blood soak your armor, let their cries become the triumphal song! Today—Augusta will turn into a ladder to eternity in our anger!

Hundreds of thousands of Imperial soldiers gathered on the battlefield also waved the weapons in their hands, making thunderous war cries, the sound resounding through the clouds, almost tearing the sky.

“Life is endless! Conquest never stops!”

Dolo waved the battle axe towards Augusta, his face hideous, and shouted hoarsely: “Open fire—”

In an instant, ten thousand cannons roared, and countless shells dragging thick smoke cut through the sky, weaving a burning net in the sky, attacking distant Augusta.

“Boom!”

“Boom! Boom!”

Countless shells bombarded the magnificent light curtain, and the fire and smoke generated by the explosions almost covered the sky, shrouding the entire city of Augusta.

Even with the obstruction of the light curtain, the city wall still trembled slightly under the strong shock wave, with gravel falling, and the Thracian soldiers in the city also looked terrified and whispered.

“This is simply a natural disaster!”

“Amanata be praised... He, they won't break in, will they?”

“It shouldn't, right? With Emperor Wilhelm's protection, we...”

Even the Thracians, who were quite familiar with cannons and firearms, had never seen such a grand scene, such dense shells, such fierce firepower.

This level of bombardment would cause a devastating disaster to any city. Fortunately, this is Augusta, the legendary “City of Sunrise”, the city where the Eternal Sun God Spire stands.

“Second volley!”

“Boom—”

Tanks galloped on the wasteland, and flames burst out from the thick gun barrels. Armor-piercing shells with extreme destructive power bombarded the city walls, causing the light curtain to flicker.

Under the unremitting research of the Machine God Sect, the power of these armor-piercing shells is no less than that of ordinary five-ring psionic spells, and each one can cause huge damage.

At the same time, the airships in the sky also began to fly towards Augusta in groups, and the elemental heavy cannons on their bellies shot out beams of light containing majestic energy.

Accompanied by the deathly screeching, wyverns wearing skyfire armor also swept over the city of Augusta, dropping dense rain-like bombs.

“Boom!”

Under such fire bombardment, even the light curtain released by the Eternal Sun God Spire flickered slightly. On the city wall, some people even lost their footing and fell due to the shock wave generated by the explosion, and countless gravel rolled down.

“Hold on tight!”

“Damn it, Kahn fell!”

Tirena raised the burning longsword, and holy light burst out in her eyes. She shouted loudly: “Angelic Divine, listen to the order, at all costs, block the attack of those dragon claw lackeys!”

Accompanied by melodious hymns, beams of light soared into the sky again, and the solar power of the Angelic Divine poured into the sacred realm, making the light curtain more radiant and solid.

Overlooking the steam tanks and armored vehicles galloping on the wasteland, and the flying dragons sweeping over the city.

“Counterattack, counterattack!”

Behind Dayev, Thracian officers were constantly roaring and roaring, but their voices seemed so weak in the roar of artillery fire, like mosquitoes.

Listening to the piercing screams and deafening roars, Dayev stood blankly on the city tower, clutching the medal in his hand, feeling an unprecedented shock.

Is this the Ember Empire's way of war?

Those Imperials are obviously weak in aura, and many of them are not even professionals.

However, relying on the Empire's extremely sharp weapons and equipment, they can explode with destructive power no less than that of psionic archmages—or even legendary mages.

However, the army here is, after all, the army of Thrace. Faced with the Empire's fierce offensive, they still organized a decent counterattack.

The rune fortress absorbed the energy generated by the explosion and transmitted it to the various elemental towers through the alchemical matrix, which was controlled by the mages of the arcane legion.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

In an instant, scorching fireballs flew out of the elemental towers, bombarding the bodies of the steam tanks, causing them to explode on the spot, turning into charred wreckage.

Immediately afterward, accompanied by a heavy muffled sound, lightning struck down, directly blasting a speeding armored vehicle into the sky, and the smoking wreckage fell to the ground.

Some elemental towers released hot pillars of fire, piercing through the steam tanks that were charging.

At the very top of the city wall, the forty-eight sun god crossbows also demonstrated terrifying power—just as they had repelled the five-colored dragon swarms a hundred years ago.

“Quick, shoot down those dragon claw lackeys! Let them see the anger of the sun god!”

“One, two, heave ho—”

The soldiers turned the winch with all their strength, aiming at the sky.

“Whoosh—”

Accompanied by the explosion of air, giant arrows dragging light shot out, drawing golden arcs in the high sky.

“Aow—”

In just one round of shooting, more than a dozen wyverns were pierced by the giant arrows. They struggled and wailed, but still fell from the sky, extremely miserable.

But in the face of the death of their kind, the dragon swarms did not flinch at all. They continued to hiss noisily, flapping their wings, and swarmed towards Augusta like spreading dark clouds.

Wilhelm looked indifferent and waved the Spear of Final Judgment, his majestic voice echoing above Augusta: “God said—to grant them destruction!”

As soon as the words fell, the Eternal Sun God Spire standing in the center of the city released a dazzling light.

The disc slowly rotated, and the entire light curtain trembled.

The miniature suns on the light curtain first shook slightly, and then fell in all directions.

“Boom!”

Those miniature suns set off countless dazzling explosions, and brilliant firelight spread across the earth, devouring the steam tanks rushing in the front like a divine punishment.

“Armored Legion, attack!”

At this moment, tall figures appeared in the smoke and dust. Giant armored soldiers holding magic force field giant shields took steady steps to advance the front line, broke through the smoke, and came to a place less than two hundred meters away from the city wall.