Ember Dragon

Chapter 702: The Empire's Loss

The imperial soldiers heard the sound of an electric explosion: "Azimuth 175, altitude 3500, ready to fire!"

Along with the sound of metal friction, the gun barrels suddenly rose up, and the ogre loader skillfully pushed the armor-piercing bullet into the barrel. The collision sound of the brass shells was as crisp as silver coins falling to the ground.

The crosshairs in the sight were aimed at the blurry figures with wings on their backs high in the sky.

The long swords in the hands of the Holy Guards were burning fiercely, fire from the sky kept falling, and divine light descended, burning the imperial soldiers on the ground like a divine punishment.

In the eyes of ordinary mortals, they are high angels, messengers of gods who can be worshipped, but in the eyes of the imperial soldiers - they are just enemies, enemies who can be converted into military merits.

"Fire!" The commander's roar and the sound of the first shell being fired exploded at the same time, and the air waves from the muzzle blew off the caps of the imperial soldiers.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

In an instant, accompanied by dense roars, countless orange-red flames bloomed in the sky, and the fragments weaved into a burning dense net among the clouds, roaring towards the Thracian Holy Guards in the sky.

In order to deal with the descendants of angels, the Empire also engraved runes specifically targeting the power of the sun on many armor-piercing bullets.

The leader of the Holy Guard, a six-winged angel, had an indifferent expression, flames surging in his golden pupils, and the mark on his forehead lit up.

"Holy chants brand the forehead, and God's eyes are like torches."

He chanted hymns in a low voice and slowly swung the flaming sword in his hand. The tip of the sword drew a circle in the air, and a red magic circle formed by sparks appeared in front of him.

The other Holy Guards followed suit, chanting hymns and drawing circles with their swords. More and more red magic circles appeared in the air, and finally gathered into an inverted pentagram magic circle with a diameter of several hundred meters, dyeing the sky orange.

"boom!"

"Boom! Boom!"

The armor-piercing shells from the anti-aircraft guns bombarded the magic circle, causing explosions again and again, but they were unable to shake the magic circle at all, only creating ripples of energy.

The magic circle was huge and complex, but it was not sacred. Instead, it was a blood-red color and exuded a strange aura.

Tal on the ground frowned and muttered to himself: "Inverted Pentagram"

The Holy Guards swung their swords, and accompanied by a dull roar in the sky, burning meteorites poured out from the magic circle and fell towards the soldiers of the Empire.

What's even more terrifying is that the bottom of each meteorite is wrapped in a constantly rotating inverted pentagram magic circle.

Even the shells were rolled into a ball, forming a huge metal ball with a diameter of nearly ten meters, falling toward the ground.

The sky trembled, the earth shook, the Holy Guards' all-out attack was as powerful as a forbidden spell of nine rings or above, and it was far beyond the ability of ordinary people to resist.

"Om-"

The imperial soldiers' eardrums were pierced by some kind of vibration that tore through the air. They raised their heads in confusion, looked at the sky, and then stood stiffly in place.

——The sky was cracked with red lines, and a fireball with a sulfurous tail crushed the clouds.

"Cassius is above"

"That is."

The doubts in their hearts suddenly turned into fear. The imperial soldiers trembled all over, their faces turned pale, and they were somewhat at a loss.

They always watch their enemies struggling, wailing and roaring in disaster.

And at this moment, under the full-force attack of the Holy Guards, they themselves became victims, and became people in despair before the disaster struck.

Looking at the meteorites falling from the sky, Tal was horrified and ordered: "Anti-aircraft guns, intercept them! Fire!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Fire burst out from the muzzles of dozens of anti-aircraft guns, and shells trailing thick smoke soared into the sky, once again interweaving into a dense net in the air.

However, these meteorites are wrapped in the inverted pentagram magic circle. Even if they are attacked by artillery shells, they will not explode in the air. They will even absorb and wrap up the metal of the artillery shells.

The hot gravel fell to the ground like raindrops, easily taking the lives of imperial soldiers and even piercing steam tanks.

Before the meteorite fell, hot air swept across the earth, the heat waves burned the skin, the dust stung the eyes, and a burnt smell filled the air.

The imperial soldiers wanted to turn around and flee, but they found that the meteorites seemed to be everywhere and had already covered the entire imperial position.

"The sinful souls are burned, and my Lord lives forever—"

The earth cracked and countless red-hot chains rose up, dancing wildly in the air, blocking the road to the outside world and trapping the imperial army.

Fear eventually turned into despair, and many imperial soldiers knelt on the ground, praying to the god in their hearts, the Burning Emperor Cassius, to save them from death.

"Great red dragon."

"With the blessing of His Majesty Cassius, we will survive!"

The half-dragon officer stared at the meteorite approaching the ground, clenched his teeth, and showed unwillingness on his face. Sweat had soaked his back.

Tal knew that once the meteorite fell completely, the mixed division under his command would probably be wiped out.

This may be the first time since the founding of the country that the empire's army has been systematically wiped out. As the supreme commander of this army, he will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

Tal picked up the rocket launcher and fired at the meteorite above his head, while shouting: "Spell protection team, hold on too!"

More than a hundred burly ogres raised the giant shields in their hands. The runes engraved on them suddenly lit up, releasing an anti-magic force field, forming a hemispherical area with a diameter of hundreds of meters, covering the position of the Burning Empire.

But soon, a huge meteorite fell and crushed the anti-magic shield easily like breaking an eggshell.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, flames shot up into the sky, and thick smoke swept across the earth, engulfing everything on the ground - whether it was imperial soldiers, cannons or steam tanks.

The heat wave that swept across the earth overturned everything, and countless charred limbs and debris flew everywhere, forming a horrific storm.

At this moment, ripples appeared in the space in the distance, and then, space cracks appeared in the sky. Dozens of airships and hundreds of flying dragons poured out from them, like surging clouds, instantly occupying most of the sky.

“Ah—”

Alger was flying high in the sky on the Dragon Vein Giant Eagle. He looked at the flames and smoke rising into the sky, and his pupils shrank sharply. "Oh no, we are still too late."

He raised his sword, pointed it at the Holy Guards in the sky, and shouted, "We must not let them leave! Avenge the dead warriors!"

In an instant, the wyverns raised their heads, roared, flapped their wings, and spewed out scorching dragon flames, rushing towards the Holy Guards like a surging tide. The elemental heavy artillery under the airship also aimed at the Holy Guards in the distance, shooting out powerful and strong beams of light, erupting with a mixture of lightning, frost, and flames.

Countless missiles flew in the air, as dense as raindrops, bombarding the Holy Guards.

After releasing that horrific meteorite disaster, the Holy Guard had very little energy left and was unable to sustain the ensuing battle.

The bodies of many members of the Holy Guard underwent strange changes. Cracks appeared on their skin, revealing bright red flesh, and even the feathers on their wings fell off and burned in mid-air.

The Holy Guard leader turned around, flapped the six wings behind him, looked at the Empire's reinforcements expressionlessly, and said indifferently: "We have achieved our goal. There is no need to tangle with them. Let's go."

"Yes, my lord."

Upon hearing the order, all the members of the Holy Guard raised their swords high in their hands. Their movements were so uniform that they were like puppets being manipulated.

"Om-"

Rays of light shot up into the sky, dispersing the clouds, like giant pillars supporting the heaven and earth.

The ethereal hymn sounded again, and the inverted pentagrams under the feet of the Holy Guards also spun rapidly. The surrounding space gradually twisted and shattered, and was shrouded in a layer of faint light.

"Damn it! They're teleporting! We can't let these Thracians escape!" Alger roared anxiously, diving faster and faster until he turned into a red afterimage.

"You try to seal the space, I will interfere with them!"

On the airship, the imperial court mages also raised their staffs, chanted spells, and constructed complex and exquisite spell models in an attempt to block the surrounding space.

【Dimension Lock】

I saw thick magic chains extending from the void, flickering with light, gradually closing together, surrounding the surrounding space.

And the distance between Alger and the Holy Guards was getting closer and closer.

"Roar--"

He came with great force, and the giant dragon eagle under his mount let out a heart-wrenching roar, exuding majestic dragon power, and even a huge and majestic red dragon shadow appeared behind it.

As the Dragonblood Duke of the Empire and one of the earliest followers of the Burning Cinders Emperor, Alger's strength is extremely terrifying. He alone can create the momentum of hundreds of Red Scale Conquerors charging with dragon roars at the same time.

In less than a moment, with a shadow passing through the sky, the distance between Alger and the leader of the Holy Guard was only 500 meters. With the speed of a giant eagle, it only took a moment to cross the distance.

"Suffer death——"

Alger roared, red scales appeared on his face, veins popped out on his forehead, and anger erupted from his dragon-like golden vertical pupils.

The leader of the Holy Guard also turned around and stared at him from a distance. His eyes were also golden, revealing an indifferent expression, and there were two inverted pentagrams slowly rotating.

Those pupils were extremely mysterious and deep, as if they could devour a person's soul, causing Alger to lose consciousness for a moment.

The Holy Guard slowly waved the six wings behind him, raised the flaming sword, pointed it at the dragon knight, and said in a cold voice: "Evil dragon minions, you will eventually be destroyed by my Lord."

One hundred meters.

Fifty meters.

Twenty meters.

When Alger swung his sword and was about to chop off the head of the Holy Guard leader, hundreds of Holy Guards were enveloped by the light and first became ethereal, like phantoms, and then disappeared out of thin air, completely without a trace.

The sound of the hymn gradually distorted and turned into a low, hoarse laughter, echoing in the sky.

"Shh-"

Alger's sword hit nothing, the blade tearing through the air, and his full-strength attack even caused fine cracks to appear in the surrounding space.

He reined in the giant eagle and hovered in the air, looking down at the charred corpses and tank wreckage on the ground, his face extremely gloomy: "Damn Thracians! They still escaped."

Alger circled and landed on the ground, carefully observing the wreckage and smelling the pungent smell of sulfur in the air.

He picked up a handful of ashes from the ground and couldn't help frowning, "The breath of the soul? This doesn't seem to be a gift from the sun god, but more like a power from hell.

This is a whole mixed division. I'm afraid the military will cause a stir." Alger sighed, and he looked up in the direction of the Western Front Command, his expression becoming more solemn.

In the Isaac Valley, at the temporary command post of the Imperial Western Front, the senior officers of the Empire who received the news from the front were in an uproar and quarreled endlessly.

This was the first time since the founding of the empire that a division-level unit had been annihilated as a whole. In a sense, this was already a historic achievement.

If this news spread to the country, it would definitely cause an uproar and make countless people in the empire angry.

"What? The Third Mixed Division was completely wiped out?"

"Cassius! That's 15,000 people, equipped with a complete armored regiment and air force regiment. How could they be eaten up by those Thracians?"

"I've said it before, that Tal is a damn idiot! He doesn't have the ability to command a division-level unit!"

"Great Red Dragon, a mixed division was completely annihilated - this is probably the first time the empire has suffered such a loss since its founding! This is a shame for the empire! How can we face His Majesty Cassius!"

"enough!"

Arturo slammed the table, stood up, and roared with a ferocious face: "It has already happened! There is no point in arguing or blaming each other!

I am the supreme commander of the Western Front, and I take responsibility for this matter!"

Arturo looked around, sweeping the officers' faces with different expressions with his sharp eyes, and then he relaxed and said through gritted teeth: "We underestimated the Kingdom of Thrace and the strength of Fadlan.

Facing the deep defense system of Thrace, we divided our forces and advanced in the same way as we did in attacking the North and Ethel, which caused the third division to be disconnected from the main force and resulted in such losses.
Their Holy Guards can unleash forbidden spell-level attacks. If there were no high-level fighters like Duke Alger and Duke Misha to resist, they could destroy one of our divisions in an instant!"

Another officer said, "We must change our tactics. As one of the three kingdoms that inherited Holy Fadran, Thrace has plenty of backup plans. We should proceed step by step and avoid unnecessary losses by rushing forward."

"But we are fighting on Thracian soil! If we advance too slowly and fall into a war of attrition, we will run out of supplies."

"Then we will leave those scattered cities to the Falling Stars, gather the main forces together, and attack August with all our might!"

The imperial officers once again fell into a heated debate, arguing with each other.

Arturo held the huge Thracian map in front of him tightly, his hands were almost bleeding, and he said hoarsely: "Holy Guards"

(End of this chapter)