Elven cultivators

On the plains, a gray torrent began to advance towards the Silvermoon Forest.

Leading the charge was the Stoneskin Troll.

These burly men were not wearing any protective gear.

Because their rock-like skin is the strongest armor in itself.

Ordinary swords and knives can only leave a few shallow white marks on the skin, causing no real damage.

Even when fired at close range, the arrows from powerful crossbows often get stuck in the tough muscles after piercing the skin, making it difficult for them to penetrate deeper. To their massive bodies, it's like being bitten by a mosquito.

Among the vassal armies of Krestor, the Stoneskin Trolls are the sharpest blades, playing a role equivalent to human heavy infantry in assaults.

They strode forward with heavy steps, making the ground rumble, like moving gray-brown walls pressing down on the Silvermoon Forest.

Closely following the Stoneskin Troll was a large number of Greyscale infantry.

Compared to the chaotic Stoneskin Trolls, the Greyscale were significantly more disciplined.

They formed dense square formations, advancing in perfect unison, their gray scales forming an impenetrable iron curtain under the sunlight, pressing heavily against the edge of the forest.

Further on are the thorny snake archers.

This creature, with a human-like upper body and a snake-like tail, moves like a herd of snakes gliding along the tips of grass, rather than like an infantryman, with a strange and fluid gait.

The bony spurs on their backs are as menacing as halberds, each as long as an adult's forearm, and as sharp as swords.

The Spiny Serpent People use a specially made horn bow, the bow body of which is made from the curved horn and tendons of a giant horned beast, and its pulling power far exceeds that of ordinary longbows.

Combined with the superhuman strength of the spiny snake-man, the range and power of their arrows are astonishing.

The arrowhead was also poisoned.

It is a mixed toxin extracted from the venom glands of the spiny snake, which has a strong paralyzing and blood-clotting effect.

Those struck by arrows often become stiff and sluggish within moments, ultimately becoming prey to be slaughtered on the battlefield.

Further away on both flanks, the Poison Hyena cavalry were scattered on the sides and rear of the army, like a pack of wolves waiting for their chance to strike.

The hyena-man straddled the saddle of the venomous hyena, his hunched figure exuding a fierce, poised-to-pounce aura, the scimitar in his hand reflecting a cold, bluish-gray light in the sunlight.

They wore leather armor inlaid with iron plates, and their chests and shoulders were covered with thick iron plates, enough to withstand most melee attacks.

The venomous hyena resembles a hyena magnified several times, its body covered in coarse, grayish-brown short fur, with a mane on its neck as stiff as steel needles.

Thick saliva dripped continuously from their gaping mouths, hissing as it landed on the grass, causing the lush green blades to wither and turn black at a visible speed.

This beast is a variant of the Firemane Beast. Although it is not as powerful as the Firemane Beast and only has white-level combat strength, it runs extremely fast and tirelessly, and can carry cavalry on a continuous raid for hundreds of kilometers without rest.

On the main battlefield, the Poison Hyena Cavalry's mission was to use their mobility to flank and outflank the enemy from both sides, launch surprise attacks when the enemy was entangled in the main battle, or pursue and kill the enemy when they were in retreat, thus expanding their gains.

They never confront their enemies head-on; if they miss their first strike, they immediately retreat, tearing at their prey repeatedly like a pack of wolves until the prey is exhausted and collapses.

In addition to the four main forces, there are dozens of vassal races mixed together in small squads.

There are short, ratmen who wield short blades and are adept at sneaking into gaps and launching surprise attacks during chaotic battles.

There are swamp frogmen covered in slime who can spray corrosive acid from their mouths.

There are scorpion-human hybrids, half-human and half-scorpion, whose stingers can pierce steel.

They are few in number, but each has its own strange methods, like hidden reefs beneath a torrent, ready to deliver a fatal blow to its opponent at any time.

Above the army, hundreds of bat-winged demons hovered in the low sky.

These humanoid creatures, resembling small bats, have a wingspan of about two meters, with sharp claws growing along the edges of their bony wings.

They possess vision and hearing far exceeding those of ordinary creatures, and can also emit ultrasonic waves to explore terrain and detect enemies, making them the most outstanding scouts in Dragon City.

In wartime, they act as messengers, shuttling back and forth over the battlefield to relay the commander's orders to various units at the front.

Their sharp cries rose and fell, weaving together an information network that covered the entire battlefield.

At the same time, behind the battlefield.

In a makeshift command post atop a low hill, dozens of dragonborn officers were busy around a huge sand table, with flags constantly moving across it, marking the latest positions of each unit.

More than ten huge water curtains floated in mid-air, presenting real-time images of various parts of the battlefield from different angles.

All six consuls, including Orion, stood before the water curtain, their gazes fixed coldly on the Silvermoon Forest depicted on the screen.

That lush greenery now appeared particularly glaring against the backdrop of the gray tide.

Just then, the Silver Moon Forest in the scene suddenly changed.

A layer of cyan light suddenly appeared above the forest, like an inverted glass bowl, enveloping the entire Silver Moon Forest.

The light screen was as thin as a cicada's wing and almost transparent, yet it refracted a faint blue glow under sunlight, and countless fine lines flowed slowly on its surface.

"This is... that magic circle," Walto muttered, frowning.

The other officials also immediately realized what was happening.

This layer of cyan light should be the magic array mentioned in the intelligence report, the one that even the city lord couldn't break through.

Orion didn't speak, but just stared at the light screen with a gloomy look in his eyes.

What troubled him most during this campaign against the Silvermoon Clan, besides Anton, was this strange magic array he had never seen before.

Even the city lord's dragon breath and power of law couldn't shake it in the slightest, let alone them.

The only saving grace is that even the most powerful magic array needs energy to function.

Once the light energy is consumed, the magic circle will naturally be unable to continue to be maintained.

The vassal legions were cannon fodder he sent to deplete the magic array's energy.

As for Anton...

Orion subconsciously touched the dimensional ring on his right index finger.

Inside is the trump card given to him by the city lord, specifically designed to deal with Andong.

If Anton doesn't show up, fine. But if he does, this thing will at least give them the confidence to fight head-on.

Of course, Orion felt that this trump card was most likely to be useless.

In that battle, the city lord was indeed seriously injured, but it's impossible for Andon to have come away without paying a price.

Otherwise, he would have pursued the city lord.

At this time, Anton is very likely recuperating from his injuries, just like the city lord.

By the time Anton recovers from his injuries and is able to join the battle, the city lord will likely have fully recovered and will naturally deal with him personally, so it won't be up to me to take action.

With this thought in mind, Aurelion felt a little more at ease and turned his gaze back to the screen.

Just then, the almost transparent cyan light curtain above the Silver Moon Forest in the scene suddenly moved.

It no longer enveloped the entire forest, but instead retreated inwards, exposing a large area of ​​newly grown woodland on the outer edge to the light curtain.

The officials were slightly taken aback, but quickly realized what was happening and all of them revealed cold smiles.

"Planning to use the forest as a battlefield? That's quite a clever plan."

"I thought they were going to stay in their shells forever."

"How foolish! If they had stayed hidden in the forest, they might have been able to hold out for a while. Now that they've come out on their own, what's the difference between them and courting death?"

The governors saw through the Silvermoon Clan's intentions.

The opponent clearly did not want to passively deplete the energy of the magic array, but instead planned to use the exposed woodland as a battlefield, with the magic array behind them, to hold off the Dragon City Legion and gradually wear down Dragon City's strength.

That idea is rather naive.

The small population of elves is a major weakness; in a direct war of attrition, they are no match for Dragon City.

They didn't even need to use any strategies. They could simply let their vassal legions advance relentlessly, regardless of casualties, until the elves' forces were nearly exhausted. Then, they could send in the golem legions and the radiant flame legions, and victory would be within their grasp.

In the face of absolute strength, any trickery is futile.

"Notify the front lines to proceed according to the original plan." Aurion said indifferently, "Since they want to fight a war of attrition, then we'll fight them."

The gray torrent continued to surge forward, constantly shortening its distance.

Just as the gray tide was about to hit the edge of the forest, countless bulges suddenly rose from the ground.

The soil churned and stones flew everywhere.

Countless thorny brambles burst forth from the ground, growing wildly, intertwining and entwining, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a wall several meters high.

Nourished by the energy of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array, these living thorns swelled several times in size in just a few years, becoming even more resilient.

At this moment, countless thorns intertwined, like countless giant pythons coiled together, forming an impenetrable green barrier around the edge of the entire forest.

Behind the thorn wall, the sleeping sentinel trees also began to awaken.

These sentinel trees have also grown taller and more robust than they did a few years ago.

They slowly pulled out their roots that had sunk into the ground, and patterns resembling faces appeared on their thick trunks. Their branches stretched out like arms, rustling softly.

At the same time, heavy footsteps echoed from the shadows deep within the forest.

One by one, oak trees emerged from the forest as guardians.

These beings, revitalized from ancient trees, are even larger than the Sentinel Trees, with trunks exceeding three meters in diameter and canopies that spread out like umbrellas, almost completely obscuring the sky above.

They were covered with a thick layer of bark armor, the surface of which shimmered with a pale blue light, the protection bestowed upon them by the spring of life.

The Oak Guardian's combat strength is close to that of a Silver-ranked individual.

In forest environments, they can fight even Silver-tier enemies with their tough bodies and incredible strength.

Between the oak guardians, elves clad in rune-patterned leather armor and robes silently emerged, like mist seeping from the forest, their figures almost blending into the surrounding trees.

Their gazes were calm and resolute, their hands gripping their weapons as steady as a rock, poised to strike.

The stone-skinned trolls ignored the sight before them.

Or rather, they simply don't care.

These low-IQ creatures have only one thought in their minds: to crush everything in their way.

They roared, brandishing their warhammers and giant axes, and charged faster toward the forest.

As the first row of Stoneskin trolls crashed into the thorn wall, the spiked vines immediately coiled around them like venomous snakes, constricting their thick limbs and necks, the spikes digging deep into their skin.

The stone-skinned trolls roared in anger, struggled frantically, smashed the entwining vines with their warhammers, and tore off the thorns binding them with brute force.

Broken vine fragments flew everywhere, and milky white sap spilled all over the ground.

But the wall of thorns was just too dense.

Smash one, and ten more will immediately take its place; tear off one, and even more vines will sprout from the ground.

Layer upon layer of thorns, seemingly endless, forcefully halted the Stone-Skinned Trolls' charge at the edge of the forest, reducing their speed to almost a standstill.

Taking this opportunity, the elven spellcasters behind the thorn wall raised their staffs, and colorful magical light instantly bloomed in the dark forest.

Countless spells rained down on the stone-skinned troll trapped in the thorn bushes, instantly reaping dozens of lives.

The smell of burning and blood mingled together, spreading along the edge of the forest.

The war escalated rapidly from its very beginning.