Ember Dragon

Gun smoke filled the battlefield, and the sky seemed to be dyed into mottled colors. The two armies faced each other from a distance, and the air was filled with solemnity.

The dwarves remained motionless, ready for battle, but the Empire did not rush to attack. Instead, it leisurely deployed its troops on the plain.

"boom--"

With dull sounds, steam vehicles carrying heavy artillery moved across the plains. Ogres dragged the heavy artillery in twos and threes. The imperial troops moved quickly like a mottled torrent, forming a fairly orderly formation.

Even the wyverns in the sky formed rows of formations, skillfully circled a few times in the sky, and then descended to the ground one after another, landing near the supply armored vehicles.

“They are”

Looking at this scene, the Dwarf King frowned.

In his imagination, the army of the Burning Empire should be like the orcs, relying on sharp teeth, hard scales and huge numbers to win. It should be a legion composed of brutal and crazy dragon-blood monsters.

But in fact, the Burning Embers Legion appeared to be well-organized, with even stricter discipline and clearer tactics than the army of the Mountain Kingdom.

Bjorn came to the side of the dwarf king and sighed softly: "Your Majesty, have you noticed that the world has changed and a new era of war has arrived.
The Harper Alliance sent us a lot of news. When we dwarves were still mining and forging iron in the mountains, the firearms of the Empire had already spread all over the world."

"Is that so?" Ed lowered his head and smiled helplessly.

The situation is more serious than expected. It seems that letting Zen lead the tribe to migrate is definitely the right choice, Ed thought.

The dwarves also talked about the Empire's military deployment, but they were not afraid. They just felt confused and puzzled.

In the traditional mindsets of these brave and reckless dwarves, whoever has greater strength, harder weapons, and is least afraid of death will win the war.

As for tactics – what are those?
"What are these damn invaders doing?"

"It doesn't matter. No matter what conspiracy these evil dragon followers have, we dwarves can smash their heads with hammers!"

"A beast raised by orcs!"

"Yes, these damn bastards, I want to avenge my dead compatriots!"

The dwarves were filled with righteous indignation. They stood on the city wall, cursing and talking at once. They used up all the vicious words in their heads, but still couldn't squeeze out many words.

But they were completely unaware that the Empire's artillery and air force bombing units had already been deployed and were ready to launch a ruthless attack on Avenderdan.

On the hillside, the hobgoblin general Dror held up the saber in his hand, and the sharp tip of the blade sparkled in the sunlight.

Delor looked very proud. He looked at Avenderdan in the distance and ordered in a deep voice: "All troops, listen to my order - open fire!"

The saber was swung down suddenly, and the clear command was transmitted through the communicator to the entire Burning Ash Legion and reached the ears of every officer and soldier.

"Fire coverage!"

The main guns of 327 heavy artillery pieces and 86 tanks fired at the same time. These steel-forged war machines let out deafening roars, and terrible flames burst out of the thick gun barrels.

"boom--"

In an instant, artillery fire roared, raising billowing dust and smoke, making the sky tremble and the earth roar.

At this moment, gray-brown trails appeared on the sky, like bloody scars left by sharp claws.

The shells were seen trailing flames, drawing graceful arcs in the air, and bombarding the majestic dwarf fortress from a distance of thousands of meters.

"Oh my god, what is that?"

"Then, what on earth is that thing? How is it possible? It's thousands of meters away!" The dwarves finally became a little panicked.

Looking up at this magnificent sight, even the battle-hardened Eddard's expression suddenly changed, and he murmured to himself: "Father Moradin, may God be above!"

At this moment, he finally understood the meaning of "a new era of war" mentioned by Bjorn.

Soon, the dwarf king realized that something was wrong. He turned around and shouted at the dwarves, "Not good! Quick, activate the protective magic circle!"

Because the enemy was still thousands of meters away, the priests and mages of the Mountain Kingdom were completely unprepared and were even waiting for the enemy's advance. They did not expect the shells to fall from the sky at all.

But by then, the shells had already reached the sky above Avondeldan and were falling rapidly towards the city walls - it was too late.

"boom!"

There was a deafening sound, and dozens of shells exploded, creating a terrible explosion, bursting with fire and smoke.

The entire city wall was shaking violently, countless pieces of rubble fell, and even large sections of the city wall collapsed on the spot. Many dwarves were engulfed in flames, and some were directly blown away.

After just one round of bombardment, many wounds appeared on the once majestic walls of Avender, and hundreds of dwarves were buried in the sea of ​​fire.

You have to know that after Zen led his people to migrate and the Road of Temperance was lost, there were only more than 9,700 dwarf warriors in the entire Avender, and the loss of hundreds of people was already considered heavy.

What's more, they haven't even come into contact with the imperial army, this is just a long-range bombardment!

No, to be more precise - it was a one-sided attack!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

One shell after another exploded. The fierce flames and thick smoke almost engulfed the city walls. The broken shrapnel could easily cut off the dwarf's arms or even his head.

"boom!"

A shell exploded right in the crowded crowd, and the explosion swallowed up the dwarf warriors who were caught off guard. When the smoke cleared, only a dozen charred bodies remained, whose fate was unknown.

King Ed witnessed this scene with his own eyes and was immediately anxious because his people were being slaughtered!

They didn't even die in a heroic battle, but were brutally murdered by the enemy's magical weapons that could create explosions!
"Damn it! I can't wait like this any longer!"

Ed clenched his teeth, pressed his hands on the ground, and his whole body emanated an earthy yellow light. He was willing to consume his remaining little vitality to activate the protective magic circle on the city wall.

"Om-"

Shelter of the Mountains!
With a buzzing sound, the ancient dwarven runes on the walls of Avendeldan suddenly lit up.

I saw the ground rumbling and roaring, and the majestic power of the mountain climbed up the city wall, gradually forming a thick shield to block the bombardment of the shells.

At the same time, Ed raised the war hammer in his hand, roared to the sky, and let out a deep roar.

In an instant, an ochre-colored light burst out from the war hammer, and countless broken rocks flew into the air, intercepting dozens of shells and causing them to explode in mid-air.

Not only the dwarf king, but also the strong men among the dwarves used various means, such as shooting arrows or throwing rocks to block the imperial artillery shells.

There was even a reckless dwarf berserker who leaped high into the air, faced the challenge head-on, and used a jumping attack on the high-speed falling shells, which blew himself up into a dusty mess with shrapnel all over his body.

However, the Empire's offensive was far from over. The shelling was merely an appetizer, and what followed was an air strike.

"Om-"

The eardrum-piercing explosion sounded through the sky, and dozens of two-legged flying dragons were seen lined up in neat rows, cutting through the sky and swooping down like sharp arrows.

The outer edges of these wyverns' wings are equipped with sharp metal membranes, allowing them to easily cut through the air and create a harsh sound.

Not only can it cause physical damage to the enemy, it can also bring psychological deterrence. To this day, many Ethel people will tremble all over when they hear this sound, and will think of the terrible bombing.

Looking at the fierce flying dragons coming from afar, Ed thought to himself that it was not good and quickly reminded: "Be careful of those flying dragons!"

"Shh-"

The wyvern flew over Avundaldan at high speed, bombs raining down on the dwarves' heads and exploding one after another.

A series of explosions occurred on the city walls. The raging flames once again engulfed a large number of dwarves, and wailing sounds echoed on the city walls.

"Moradin on top!"

"Ah, my arm!"

The protection of the mountains can withstand the shells bombarding the city walls, but it is difficult to stop the bombs falling from the sky.

By the time the dwarves raised their heads and wanted to fight back, the wyvern had already climbed high into the sky and disappeared.

As he watched his people being blown to death one by one, anger gradually accumulated in Ed's heart.

"boom!"

A bomb exploded directly beside him, but was blocked by the protective aura emanating from Ed's body. It did not hurt him at all, but made him look a little embarrassed.

The dwarf king didn't care about his blackened face. He shook his head and whispered, "No, this shouldn't be the fate of my people! They shouldn't die meaninglessly like this."

Looking at the dragons flying in formation again, Ed's eyes were bloodshot, and he was about to burst into anger: "I will make you pay with blood!"

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Somewhere on the city wall, the dwarf crossbowmen were struggling to move the exaggerated steel crossbows that were more than three meters high, and they seemed to be in a panic.

Ed walked forward with a sullen face, suppressing the anger in his heart, and growled: "You guys go away, let me do it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The dwarf crossbowmen quickly stepped aside and dared not intervene.

Ed came to the crossbow and skillfully placed the arrow steadily on the crossbow.

Then, he held the crossbow arm with one hand and aimed at the wyvern in the distance, while with the other hand he turned the huge capstan, pulling the crossbow string and accumulating a huge force.

Finally, accompanied by a shrill scream, the group of wyverns flew into the range of the dwarf steel crossbow at an extremely fast speed.

"go to hell!"

With a slight pull of the trigger, the arrow flew out of the air with huge kinetic energy and instantly pierced the two wyverns.

"Ow—"

The wyvern wailed as it fell from the sky, and the pilot behind it also fell and soon died.

However, the dragon group still maintained its original formation, and the flying dragons in the rear filled in and continued to fly at high speed in the direction of Avenderdan.

The iron wings cut through the sky, and the roar like the scream of the god of death was heard again in the sky.

"How dare you come here, damn reptile."

Seeing this scene, Ed's face was filled with anger, his eyes fixed on the dragons in the distance, his muscles tensed and veins bulged.

The dwarf king roared, and a yellowish halo emanated from his body: "Dragon's followers, I will show you what I am doing--"

"boom!"

Accompanied by a roar, dust flew up, and the city wall under Ed's feet trembled a few times, and clear footprints appeared.

Ed jumped high. With the help of the power of the mountains, this legendary dwarf warrior jumped hundreds of meters high, as if flying in the air.

He broke through the clouds and arrived above the group of two-legged flying dragons!
Facing the dragons that were coming in formation, Eddard raised his hammer high and shouted at the top of his lungs: "We dwarves are the sons of the mountains, with our power!"

The head of the metal hammer emitted a bright yellow glow, and it broke through the air with terrifying kinetic energy and power.

The dwarf king was seen falling rapidly towards the dragons, with the shadows of extremely magnificent mountains emerging behind him, as if he was carrying an entire Blackrock Mountain on his back and crushing him!

"Suffer death——"

"boom!"

The metal hammer struck the leading wyvern's chest, releasing a powerful shock wave in the sky, creating a terrible storm.

In an instant, under this terrifying force, the leading two-legged flying dragon exploded in the air, turning into blood flowers all over the sky, falling like rain, and not even a relatively complete body was left.

And this is just the beginning!
A bright yellow hurricane swept across the sky, mixed with endless sand and gravel, and continued to attack the many wyverns behind it.

"Ow—"

In this terrible storm, the wyverns screamed and flapped their wings hard, trying to break free, but they still could not escape the fate of being strangled into pieces.

Some of the bombs fired by the flying dragon were triggered and exploded in mid-air, swallowing up the bomber instead.

In an instant, under the attack of the legendary dwarf warriors, all the twelve wyverns of the bombing formation were slaughtered without any resistance.

The dragon's blood and flesh scattered all over the sky, and Ed fell rapidly from the sky, creating a deep pit on the ground.

Dust was flying and the ground was shaking all around, but the dwarf himself was unharmed. He just held his hammer in his hand and stared at the Burning Legion in the distance.

"boom!"

Loud gunshots echoed through the sky, and a bullet flew over a distance of thousands of meters and hit the dwarf king's head.

Immediately afterwards, gunshots rang out from different directions, and several bullets attacked, aiming at the dwarf's eyebrows, neck, heart and other fatal parts.

——Those are the snipers of the Empire. After years of war experience, the Empire often sets up more than a dozen sniper rifles to specifically shoot and kill the strong men on the opposite side.

In the Northern Aysir War, many extraordinary Aysir warriors died inexplicably under the concentrated fire of sniper rifles.

However, after years of experiencing power, Ed's intuition is like prophecy, and his perception is far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The dwarf king had anticipated the danger, he gripped his hammer tightly and swung it sideways violently.

Countless pieces of gravel obeyed the command and crashed into the bullets in mid-air, changing the trajectory of the bullets and causing them to deviate from their original direction.

Ed picked up the still hot shell on the ground, stared at the delicate patterns on it, and whispered: "Anti-magic rune, piercing rune."

"boom!"

Several more bullets came at him, and shells fell from the sky, but the dwarf king just raised his head calmly and raised his war hammer with one hand.
"Is it so easy to block it?"

Behind the Burning Empire's position, the hobgoblin general Dror was observing the dwarf king through a telescope, watching him easily resist the Empire's special enchanted bullets.

Dror shook his head and sighed, "Tsk tsk, as expected of the famous Lord of the Mountains, he is indeed quite capable."

Then he turned around and ordered the adjutant beside him: "Tell Colonel Mir not to send any more air force formations. There is no need to consume our dragons in this war.

Besides, the foreplay is almost over, prepare for a full-scale attack! "Drol grinned, as if he had seen his bright future of being promoted to Duke.

"Yes, General."

Under Dror's command, those huge steel beasts began to move, the roar filled the battlefield, and the ground began to tremble again.

The real siege begins! (End of this chapter)