Ember Dragon

"Enemy attack——"

"By Amaunator, it's the Burning Empire! They're coming!"

The officers and soldiers on the city wall suddenly became panicked. They hurried back and forth, went to various city defense equipment, and returned to their respective posts.

"Quick! We can't wait any longer, activate the defense system for the entire city of August!"

The messenger pushed the door open and walked in: "Lord Dayev, it's time for you to go over. The third defense zone is still short of manpower!"

"Okay." Dayev clenched the badge in his hand, nodded heavily, and then followed the soldiers guarding the city to his own defense zone.

The city defense officer standing on the top of the tower waved the military flag and shouted loudly: "Listen to my orders! Activate the alchemy matrix!"

"boom--"

The soldiers under the city pushed the capstan with great effort, and the alchemical matrix inside the bricks and stones of the Rune Fortress was activated. Dozens of hexagonal force field shields with a diameter of 100 meters appeared outside the city wall.

Wilham, standing on the top of the Sun Tower, looked at the overwhelming and mighty imperial army coming in the distance with an angry look on his face. He raised the Spear of Final Judgment in his hand and pointed it straight to the sky.

"My subjects, the war has come! They are coming! Let these minions of the evil dragon bear witness to the greatness of the Lord of Eternal Glory—"

His indifferent voice echoed above the city wall, and the singing of the Holy Law Choir became increasingly grand and loud.

At the sound of the stirring magic web, the angel gods also raised their swords, shouted in unison, and rays of light shot up into the sky.

"For Thrace!"

"For the Lord of Eternal Glory!"

In an instant, thousands of rays of sunlight were released from the top of the Eternal Sun God Tower, creating a light curtain with a diameter of several kilometers in the sky above the city of August, covering the entire city.

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

"A miracle! This, this is a miracle!"

"Such power"

"Long live His Majesty Wilham! There is no way those imperial men can break through August City!"

People looked up at the sky covered with light, and all looked at the king with six wings on his back, who was divine and matchless.

Several kilometers away, accompanied by the sound of whistles and roar of engines, the Empire's Eastern and Western Fronts had already met, and expeditionary forces from various dimensions also poured out of the portal.

Together they formed a mighty torrent that almost surrounded the entire city of Augusta.

"Roar--"

A dull roar resounded through the sky, and the space on the top of the hill suddenly broke, and a mutant dragon beast with a shoulder height of nearly ten meters and as big as a hill walked out with heavy steps.

On the towering back of the giant beast, there was a dragon-veined hobgoblin with wings on his back. He was wearing luxurious and heavy armor and was tall and burly - it was the Imperial Army Marshal Doro.

"It's Marshal Dolo!"

"He actually came to the front line in person!"

From the moment Dolo appeared, thousands of eyes were focused on him and the soldiers were in an uproar.

Seeing Doro coming, Drol, Arturo and the other officers of the expeditionary forces quickly put their hands on their chests, bowed their heads, performed a standard imperial military salute, and said in unison: "For the Empire."

Doro nodded slightly, put his fist on his chest, and responded: "For the Empire."

The earth elf marshal stood up from the towering back of the dragon beast, lowered his head, swept his sharp eyes over the officers and soldiers, then picked up the bloody and fire axe in one hand, and his voice was transmitted to everyone's ears through the loudspeaker.

"Soldiers! The shadow of the dragon's wings has covered the walls of August! I can smell the fear in the bones of the cowards, just as they knelt and trembled before the ruins of the old dynasty a few days ago!"

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

The soldiers raised their arms and shouted, and their armor clanged.

Doro swung his battle axe horizontally and shouted angrily: "And today, I want to ask you a question - why are we here?"

Along with his voice, the Green-footed Dragon Snake's horn roared continuously, making a sound like muffled thunder, and the battle flag fluttered in the air.

"To conquer, to take over their lands, to keep the empire expanding!"

"For revenge, let those fools who dared to humiliate the Empire and insult His Majesty pay the price! Let the Thracians see how powerful we are!"

"To realize the great blueprint! To repay the kindness of His Majesty Cassius!"

Officers and soldiers at all levels of the empire wanted to leave a deep impression in front of the marshal, so they rushed to answer, and the atmosphere was extremely lively.

Doro nodded with satisfaction, seeming to be satisfied with their answers.

Then he glared at the crowd and roared loudly, "You are all right, because we are the descendants of iron and fire! We are the subjects of the great red dragon! We are the conquerors who flattened the north!
When the southerners wrapped their cowardice in silk, our children swung hammers at the furnace; when the nobles of Augusta piled up lies with gold coins, our swords had already split the throats of thirteen fortresses! "

Doro drew out his blood-fire battle axe and pointed it at the tower of the Eternal Sun God in the distance: "Look! That tower of hypocrisy is emitting its last rays of light, but it will soon tremble in front of the empire's army!"

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

"They said Augustus will never fall? Ha!" The Dragon Vein Hobgoblin grinned and sneered with great disdain, "Ten years ago, the Duke of the North also clamored like this - until His Majesty Cassius burned them with dragon flames!

Every enemy of the Empire shouted this - whether it was the Northern nobles, the shield dwarves or the descendants of the gods of North Ethel, but in the end, they were all crushed to dust under the iron hoof of the Empire! "

Doro raised the huge blood-fire battle axe: "Remember! Every brick and stone of the city wall will be engraved with your name! Those who break through the city will receive a golden medal and gain unparalleled power and status!
And the souls of the cowards will be nailed to the anvil of the factory and wail for eternity!"

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

"When the city gates collapse, I want to hear the screams of the Thracian kings louder than the death knell! I want to see their descendants kneeling on the scorched earth and kissing the emblem of the empire!"

"At this moment! As the Imperial Marshal, I stand with you in front of the battle line!"

Doro opened his armor and tore open his robe, revealing the dense and extremely scary scars on his chest: "This scar comes from the arrows of the northerners! This one comes from the fangs of the frost giants! This one comes from the light blade of the descendants of gods, and this one--"

He pounded his heart hard, "Then I will always be boiling for the Empire! Burning for His Majesty Cassius! What about you?"

Doro swung the blood and fire axe with all his might. The axe blade cut through the air, and a deafening roar pierced through the clouds.

"Will you crawl back to your hometown in disgrace, and let your descendants spit on your cowardice? Or will you build a new monument with August's ashes?"

"Destroy August!"

"Capture the Kingdom of Thrace!"

In an instant, the imperial camp was boiling, and the war cry of the entire army shook the earth. A group of dragons consisting of wyverns, flame dragons, pseudo dragons, shadow dragon beasts and other sub-dragons rose into the air, stretched their necks and roared to the sky. In the name of the imperial people, the power bestowed by His Majesty Cassius! Crush these lambs huddled behind the city wall! "

Doro raised his arms and shouted: "Let their blood soak your armor, let their cries become the music of triumph! Today - Augustus will be transformed into a ladder leading to eternity in our anger!
Hundreds of thousands of imperial soldiers gathered on the battlefield also waved their weapons and let out thunderous war cries, the sound resounding through the clouds and almost cracking the sky.

"Life never ends! Conquest never ends!"

Dolo swung his battle axe in the direction of August, his face grim and his voice hoarse: "Fire at me——"

In an instant, thousands of cannons roared, and countless shells trailing thick smoke cut through the sky, weaving a dense burning net on the sky, and attacked August in the distance.

"boom!"

"Boom! Boom!"

Countless artillery shells bombarded the grand light curtain, and the flames and thick smoke produced by the explosions almost covered the sky and enveloped the entire city of August.

Even with the light curtain blocking the way, the city wall still trembled slightly under the strong shock wave, and rubble fell. The Thracian soldiers in the city also looked terrified and talked in low voices.

“This is simply a natural disaster!”

"By Amaunator, they won't break in, will they?"

"That shouldn't be the case. With His Majesty Wilham's protection, we..."

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

This level of bombing would cause devastating disaster to any city, but fortunately this is August, the legendary "City of the Rising Sun", the city where the tower of the eternal sun god stands.

"Second salvo!"

"boom--"

Tanks galloped across the wilderness, flames bursting from the thick gun barrels, and extremely destructive armor-piercing shells bombarded outside the city wall, causing the light curtain to flash.

Thanks to the Mechanicus's unremitting research, the power of these armor-piercing shells is no less than that of ordinary five-ring energy spells, and each one can cause huge damage.

At the same time, the airships in the sky began to fly towards August in groups, and the elemental cannons in their abdomens shot out beams of light containing tremendous energy.

With a shrill scream like the god of death, a two-legged dragon wearing skyfire armor also flew over the sky above August City, dropping bombs as dense as raindrops.

"boom!"

Under such firepower bombardment, even the light curtain released by the Eternal Sun God Tower flickered slightly. On the city wall, some people slipped and fell because of the shock wave generated by the explosion, and countless pieces of rubble rolled down.

"Stand firmer!"

"Damn it, Kahn fell down!"

Tirena raised the burning sword, holy light flashing in her eyes, and she shouted loudly: "Angels, listen to my orders, stop the attacks of those evil dragon minions at all costs!"

Along with melodious hymns, beams of light shot up into the sky one after another. The solar power of the angels poured into the sacred realm, making the light curtain more shining and solid.

Overlook the steam tanks and armored vehicles galloping across the wasteland, and the flying dragons flying over the city.

"Fight back, fight back!"

Behind Dayev, the Thracian officer kept roaring and roaring, but his voice seemed so weak, like a mosquito's hum amid the roar of artillery fire.

Listening to the shrill screams and deafening roars, Dayev stood on the city wall in a daze, clenching the medal in his hand, feeling an unprecedented shock.

Is this how the Burning Empire fights wars?

Those imperial people were clearly weak, and many of them were not even professionals.

But with the empire's extremely sharp weapons and equipment, they can unleash destructive power that is no less than that of the great suspensory wizards - or even legendary wizards.

However, the army here is Thracian army after all. Facing the fierce offensive of the empire, they still organized a decent counterattack.

The Rune Fortress absorbed the energy generated by the explosion and transmitted it to 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 from the elemental tower and hit the body of the steam tank, causing it to explode on the spot and turn into charred wreckage.

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by heavy muffled thuds, another series of thunders struck, blowing a speeding armored vehicle directly into the sky, and the smoking wreckage fell to the ground.

Some elemental towers also released pillars of scorching fire, piercing through the charging steam tanks.

At the top of the city wall, the forty-eight Apollo Crossbows also displayed their terrifying power - just as they had repelled the group of five-colored dragons a hundred years ago.

"Quick, shoot down those evil dragon minions! Let them experience the wrath of the Sun God!"

"One, two, drink—"

The soldiers turned the capstan with all their might and aimed at the sky.

"Whoosh-"

Along with the explosion of the air, huge arrows dragging light shot out, drawing golden arcs in the sky.

"Ow—"

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

But faced with the death of their own kind, the dragons did not retreat at all. They continued to roar noisily, flap their wings, and rush towards August like a spreading dark cloud.

Wilham waved the Spear of Final Judgment with an indifferent expression, and his majestic voice echoed over August: "God says - to grant them destruction!"

Before he finished speaking, the Tower of the Eternal Sun God standing in the center of the city began to emit brilliant light.

The disc slowly turned, and the entire light curtain began to tremble.

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

"boom!"

Those miniature suns set off countless dazzling explosions, and brilliant flames spread all over the earth, like a divine punishment, swallowing up the steam tanks that were in the front.

"Armored Corps, attack!"

At this moment, tall figures appeared in the smoke. They were giant armored men holding giant shields with magic force fields, advancing the battle line with steady steps, breaking through the thick smoke and coming to a place less than 200 meters away from the city wall. (End of this chapter)