Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 449 Fight to the Death
"Your Highness." A flying dragon guard quickly landed in front of Lucia. After his body changed from dragon form to half dragon form, it could be clearly seen that two crossbow arrows had pierced his shoulders, and his injuries were extremely serious.

"Just as you judged before the battle, I encountered reinforcements from the Southern Regiment while tracking the enemy's retreating main force. The enemy was powerful and was flying the banner of the Fifth Ancestor, Vikia."

Lucia raised her hand and used dragon flame to extinguish the arrow on the guard's shoulder. She also used golden prayer to stop the wound for him and comforted him, "Take a breath and talk slowly."

The reason why he sent less than twenty Flying Dragon Guards to scout the front-line battle situation instead of scouts was because Lucia attached great importance to the opportunity brought by Esti's self-explosion and had to get the most accurate feedback at the first time.

"Yes..." The guard adjusted his breathing, sorted out his thoughts, and continued, "You mentioned two possibilities before. One is that Vigia's sense of smell is sharp enough. Not only does it always lag slightly behind the enemy's main force, but it can also lead its troops north to provide support as soon as the front line is defeated. The other is that the generals under Kalelius are smart enough to send the reserve troops to use Vigia's flag to prevent our army from pursuing."

"According to my observations, it is basically the former. During my reconnaissance, I encountered a special formation of a thousand people. Unlike ordinary giants, they are not huge and use their physical advantages to fight. Instead, they are equipped with a large number of enchanted weapons. Their coordination is also quite similar to the elite of the three dynasties. My left wing was injured by them."

"If the intelligence we collected earlier is correct, these people should be the 'Shadow Weavers' beside Vigia. They are traveling 50 to 100 miles outside the main army, much farther than ordinary scouts. Their purpose seems to be to kill our scouts and cause our army to misjudge the situation on the southern front. Vigia is very likely to set an ambush on the retreat route of Karelia's army and seize the opportunity when our army is eager to hunt down the enemy chieftain to turn defeat into victory."

"Very good analysis." Lucia gently stroked his chin with his thumb. This was the reason why he had been working hard to cultivate his personal guards and close ministers.

From Orvens to Anaxia and Rosalind, from Eggkiss to Guirel. Except for Guirel, to these flying dragon guards, these people were either from the Sky City Guards who accompanied him to the royal capital, or from the Ancient Dragon Temple and the Sky Temple. Their loyalty was naturally flawless.

When he has trained them sufficiently in terms of martial arts, tactics and even strategy, they can become the most capable mid- and high-level generals, intelligence directors and military advisers around him. Once the guards with the blood of the upper dragon are temporarily sent to the front line as scouts, they can also serve as a very sensitive hub for collecting, analyzing and processing enemy information, greatly improving the combat efficiency of the entire army.

"This Fifth Ancestor is really a tough guy," Lucia chuckled. "From their perspective, with 300,000 troops surrounding us, it would be easy to wipe us out. Since the first generation, who wouldn't want to rush to the front and grab my head? But he can hold back. He has clearly emptied out all the resources of the Southern War Group, but he can still follow behind calmly and provide another insurance for Karelius. In this way, our plan to take advantage of the situation and kill Karelius directly is likely to fail."

General Hilbert on the side sighed: "Those who are good at fighting do not have glorious achievements, that's probably the case."

Celine was more sensitive. She noticed that ever since His Highness sent out that extraordinary incarnation, there had been a mad fire burning in his pupils, but now it inevitably dimmed.

If there was a glimmer of hope, His Highness would have really planned to turn back and fight to the death, taking advantage of the fact that the Giant King was seriously injured and the Eighth Ancestor had fallen, to kill Calerius in one fell swoop, but it was obviously impossible now.

On the other hand, the situation of the Southern Expedition Army was also not good.

These 8,000 men were already an exhausted force. No matter how strong their will was, their wounded and tired bodies, their depleted weapons stock and their impending supply cuts could only sustain them for one last battle.

If this last blow can kill Calerius, the royal court will be in chaos. Even if they have to go deep into the southern part of the northern border, they can return to freedom like a fish leaping into the sea. But if they can't hit the dying Calerius' head, they can only turn around and hit Mocero in the face. The three ancestors and the 100,000 neatly organized giant army are in the front, and it is unknown whether there are other ancestors blocking the rear. There is no way to take shortcuts in this battle, it will only turn into a real fight to the death.

"Get ready..." Lucia exhaled lightly, her eyes rekindled with fighting spirit, "The battle in the south is over, it's our turn to fight for our lives. Before tomorrow morning, we must kill the 100,000 people in front of us and reach the Sacred Tree Forest."

As the words came out, all the generals heard the heaviness in them, but no one hesitated at all.

At this point in the battle, how to fight and whether they can win are all issues that His Highness has to consider. The only thing they have to do is to execute the king's orders to the death and follow His Highness's will to swing this desperate blow.

Half an hour later, the Southern Expeditionary Army officially engaged in a firefight with the Giant Western Regiment.

Of course, it is not accurate to say that this is the Western Corps. This army of more than 100,000 people is a mixture of the Third Legion of Mocero, the Fourth Legion of Hilber and the Tenth Legion of Adonis. Most of the troops are from the Western Corps, and a small part comes from the Northern Corps, the Holy Land Corps and the Central Corps. In terms of strength, it may be slightly inferior to Kaleris's personal army, but it is still the real main force in the royal court's military sequence.

On the nameless plain in front of the Holy Tree Forest, the army of one hundred thousand giants did not rush up directly, but slowly spread out in an arc shape. The formation was thickest on the side facing the Holy Tree Forest. The slightly thinner wings kept enough distance from the Southern Expedition Army and slowly surrounded both sides.

This distance is exactly where the Southern Expedition Army's charge will run out of steam. Mocero does not intend to rely on his military superiority to crush Lucia in a head-on decisive battle, but is determined to use this 100,000-strong army to block all escape routes for the Southern Expedition Army.

The front battlefield is only left to the three ancestors.

In the spiritual perception of Lucia and a group of heroes of the Southern Expedition Army, three terrifying pressures that stretched from the sky to the earth appeared in their frontal field of vision.

The three ancestors were all in human form at this time. Hilber lagged behind a little, riding in a beautifully decorated sedan chair, with hundreds of guards around him holding giant weapons over ten meters long. Mocero and Adonis were on his left and right, without any guards accompanying them, and walked in front step by step.

"It's a smart move," General Leville commented. "If we charge with a large army, our army can still rely on our elite troops to break through the formation and use the chaos to find an opportunity to break out. But now the armies on three sides are only defending and not attacking. Unless we break through the three of them head-on, there is no way to break out."

Hilbert drew the long sword from his waist and glanced at the clear blade, his eyes reflecting a cold light. "Translate, what they mean is, you can't leave unless you kill them?"

"Then kill them."

Serin had no interest in saying anything more. She raised her staff and threw out a comet Azrael that was as thick as a water tank!
The boiling magic energy penetrated the sky, instantly pushing the intensity of the war to the extreme!
(End of this chapter)