Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 475 Red Tide Knights Charge!

A dark golden shooting star streaked diagonally across the western sky.

Augustus remained in his dragon form as he soared through the air.

The enormous dragon's body sliced ​​through the clouds, and the air currents it stirred up were like a continuous storm, crushing the forests wherever it passed.

This is the border of the Southeast Province, which is already Louis's territory.

In August's mind, this was a reckoning with no suspense whatsoever.

He would sweep across the southeast, telling the newly rising lord in the most direct way that mortals should never attempt to encroach upon his empire.

But when he looked down at the earth, Long Tong paused slightly.

Below, instead of panicked mortals scattering and fleeing, the roads were empty, the villages were closed, and the towns seemed to have been hollowed out in advance.

This made August feel slightly displeased.

Since he awoke from the ancient tomb, he has roamed the continent with the body of a true dragon, and his marching speed has long surpassed the limits that mortals can comprehend.

Even the most sophisticated intelligence network could not accomplish an evacuation of this scale in such a short time.

He felt offended, as if someone had known about his arrival beforehand.

"A rat hiding in a cave." The deep dragon's voice echoed in the air, carrying undisguised contempt. "Thinking you can escape my reckoning?"

He didn't dwell on it any longer; the calculations of mortals are meaningless in the face of true power.

August flapped his wings and accelerated, flying towards the most fortified fortress on the southeastern province's defense line.

It was a fortress built specifically to defend against heavy siege equipment. The walls were thick and the structure was complex, with metal components throughout every joint.

In the old days, this was a pass that could have cost any legion dearly, but unfortunately, he encountered a monster from a different era.

August hovered directly above the fortress, his enormous dragon mouth open.

The power granted by greed is then activated.

An invisible gravitational field of heavy metals spread instantly, covering several square kilometers.

A low hum filled the air, and the chains, rivets, and supports inside the city wall began to vibrate violently, groaning under the strain.

The next moment, a large amount of metal detached from its original position, as if being pulled into the sky by an invisible hand, turning into streams of black torrents that rushed madly into his mouth.

Just then, a signal lit up on the fortress wall.

Groups of knights were hidden on the city walls. They wore heavy beast-hide armor instead of metal, with bone buckles and leather straps at their joints.

Lambert stood at the very front, and when the dragon blotted out the sky, his heart almost stopped beating. His reason was repeatedly overwhelmed by an instinctive fear.

He forced himself to steady his breathing.

"Fire!" Lambert swung his command sword down abruptly.

Behind the city wall, catapults and magic cannons were activated simultaneously.

Heaps of grayish-black powder were thrown into the sky.

These powders are a mixture of magnetic blood powder, magnetic storm dust, and directional disintegration crystals.

The strong winds swept them up.

Under the pull of August's own gravitational field, the powder did not scatter, but quickly converged, forming a rotating, invisible tornado that precisely struck his dragon body.

August didn't notice it at first, but he soon realized it.

They burrow into the body through the gaps between the scales, resonating with the greedy circuits in the blood.

He swallowed it instinctively, without paying even a sliver of attention to discern anything unusual.

Until the moment he withdrew his power, the dragon blood within his body came into contact with the powder that had been inhaled.

The magnetic explosion was ignited simultaneously.

The dark golden dragon body shuddered violently, and thunderous muffled sounds exploded from within it.

Tens of thousands of directional disintegration crystals exploded in his blood circuits, like countless high-speed rotating blades, frantically cutting through his body.

Even a true dragon cannot ignore this level of implosion.

"Ow!!!"

The next instant, a roar of uncontrollable pain tore through the sky.

Compared to the battle with Mammon, this pain was ten or a hundred times more intense; it felt like my blood was being torn apart.

Dark golden dragon blood, mixed with broken crystals, gushed out from between the scales.

They fell to the ground.

The land below was instantly eroded, the rock layers melted, and huge craters filled with rolling lava were formed.

August rolled in the air to regain his balance.

For the first time, a clear rage appeared in the dragon's eyes, and its dark golden body undulated slightly.

But what he truly couldn't bear was not the injury.

These mortals, whom he regarded as fodder, tools, and sources of his life force, actually turned around and exploited his instincts.

The fact that he had actually been infected enraged him more than any trauma.

“…Very well.” A deep dragon voice rolled from his throat, trembling uncontrollably. “In that case, I have no need to continue toying with you.”

The last shred of patience was completely crushed, and the true dragon's might was unleashed—a suppression that directly affected the level of life.

The air seemed to be forcibly pressed towards the ground, and the space itself began to sink.

The knight who was closest didn't even have time to scream.

Flesh and blood lost their structure in an instant, and the whole person was as if crushed by an invisible giant hand, exploding from the inside and turning into a cloud of blood mist.

A little further away, the extraordinary knight knelt on the ground.

Their fighting spirit circulated wildly, but they could barely maintain their consciousness.

The bones made a cracking sound as if they were about to break, and the lungs were so compressed that they could not complete a full breath.

The situation for the top knights wasn't much better.

They could still stand, but every breath they took felt like swallowing scorching iron filings, and the edges of their vision quickly darkened.

But this was just an appetizer; the slaughter had begun.

Without any hesitation, August stopped picking targets and stopped caring about efficiency.

He advanced rapidly along the battle line, but with each dive and each swipe of his claws, he wiped out an entire group of lives.

The city walls collapsed, and the position was shattered.

August slowly raised its forepaws, and the greedy gravitational field unfolded once more. In the distance, the heavy tanks still unleashing magic explosive bombs shuddered violently.

The tracks and armor emitted a piercing metallic screech as the entire vehicle was forcibly dragged off the ground.

The next moment, the heavy steel was crumpled into a ball in mid-air.

The armor collapsed like wet mud, and short, shrill screams came from inside before falling into complete silence.

The iron ball crashed to the ground, creating one deep crater after another.

The defenses that mortals take pride in lose their meaning before a true dragon.

Just then, another dark red torrent cut into the battlefield from the flank.

The Half-Dragon Knights have arrived.

They are slightly slower than true dragons, but equally deadly.

Dragon blood boiled within him, scales covered his joints, and sharp claws and long blades left afterimages as he charged.

What followed was an efficient and ruthless cleaning.

One knight after another, who had not yet been crushed by the dragon's might, were dragged from the battlefield, torn apart, and thrown into the air.

The entire battlefield quickly descended into chaos; it was a thorough cleanup operation.

Lambert watched as familiar figures fell one by one.

That wasn't a defeat after a fierce battle, but rather being crushed like ants.

Under the dragon's might, formations are meaningless, and skills are worthless.

Those knights who once charged alongside them in the ranks were casually erased, like dust trampled flat on the ground.

His throat tightened, but he didn't utter a sound of sobbing.

Because he remembered what Louis had said.

When that kind of thing appears, there is only one correct choice.

"Scatter!" Lambert roared hoarsely. "Everyone, retreat into the forest immediately!"

The knights were stunned for a moment; this was not a command they were familiar with.

Retreat means defeat, it means turning your back on the enemy.

In this situation, scattering and fleeing is almost tantamount to being hunted down one by one.

“Grey.” Lambert didn’t explain further. He growled again, “Take the men and disperse them, as far away as possible.”

Gray stood still, his hands clenched tightly. He glanced at Lambert, then looked at the still-churning battlefield.

In the distance, the half-dragon knights were cutting into the enemy lines with ruthless precision.

He understood that staying behind would only lead to more deaths.

Gray gritted his teeth and whirled around: "Come with me!"

The knights began to scatter, abandoning their positions and disappearing into the mountains and forests, vanishing into the undulating terrain.

The dragon's might continues to exert its oppressive influence.

Some people fell while running, and others were overtaken by the half-dragons, not even having time to scream.

But many more people survived.

Lambert stood still, without turning around.

Soon, he was left with fewer than a hundred people.

They are all at least mid-level extraordinary knights, making them the strongest Crimson Tide Knights.

And they all understood the significance of staying.

"Form ranks." Lambert drew his longsword, its blade already riddled with nicks.

The knights stood silently behind him.

In the distance, the half-dragon knights turned around, their attention firmly drawn to this small group.

Higher up, the dark golden dragon's eyes descended.

August saw them as if they were a few insects that refused to disperse.

Lambert took a deep breath; he knew exactly what he was facing.

The half-dragon knight's individual combat strength far surpasses his, and the giant dragon in the sky is beyond measure.

But his hands did not tremble.

"Crimson Tide Knights." His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the chaotic battlefield. "Charge!"

Not for glory, not for empire, but for one name.

"For Lord Louis!"

The knights stepped forward in unison and charged towards the half-dragon.

The difference in strength became apparent in the very first instant.

Claws tore through armor, dragon blood and battle aura crushed defenses, and knights were knocked away, cut in half, and trampled into the mud.

Lambert pressed onward, the dark golden shadows obscuring his vision. His gaze narrowed, focusing only on what lay ahead, his sword, and then forward again.

“Laughable humans!” August’s dragon claw slowly rose.

At that moment, Lambert seemed incredibly small, heartbreakingly small.

Just as the dragon's claw was about to strike, time stopped.

The flying dirt and rocks froze in mid-air, and the rolling flames lost their shape.

The half-dragon's movements were frozen, and August's twisted, furious expression resembled a faded mural.

The entire battlefield became a still image.

Footsteps sounded.

A figure emerged from the void and stepped into this frozen world.

Louis stopped beside Lambert.

He glanced down at the knight kneeling on the ground, covered in blood but still gripping his longsword tightly.

Then he raised his head, his gaze passing over the frozen battlefield and landing on the arrogant dragon.

“Thank you for your hard work, Lambert.” Louis’s voice was soft, yet reassuring. “Leave the rest to me.”

(End of this chapter)