One-way traffic

The aftershocks of the battle just five kilometers away were enough to reduce their settlement to ashes.

There was not a trace of malice in it. These non-human races were unaware of the existence of their human settlement. Those guys... were only focused on defeating their enemies and didn't even realize that mere humans lived here.

That alone, that harmless act, like accidentally kicking a pebble on the roadside, was enough to completely destroy their home.

There is absolutely no suspense; there can be no other outcome.

This place will surely be completely affected by the aftershocks and turned to ashes.

"Ke'er, you take charge of the evacuation of the people. I will take charge of the others and make sure they bring all the necessary luggage and food out of here."

"Where should the refuge sites be planned?!"

“We spent five years finding 28 places in the area we surveyed that could be used for refuge, and then we selected the right place from there to be our next settlement.”

Prioritize planning personnel evacuation routes and layouts, as well as the areas that the upcoming battle may cover.

As the person in charge of all these actions, Rick, the young man, had to stay on the scene in person.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directed the actions of everyone present, even though this place was about to become the most dangerous place.

How long will it take to evacuate people in total?

"The enemy hasn't started the war yet. If we evacuate a few hours before they do, we might still have time."

"..."

More than two thousand people from the tribe had to be evacuated at this time.

But... even if the evacuation is successful, so what?

We might be able to avoid it this time, but what about next time? If we manage to avoid it next time, what if this danger strikes again the time after that?

There is no choice but to live in this endless cycle of days forever.

The cycle of sacrifice continues, leaving them forever trapped in a relentless cycle of hiding from pursuers.

It is wantonly violated, just like garbage.

“Rick…”

My thoughts were pulled back.

Looking to his side, he saw a petite figure holding his hand.

Long black hair, snow-white skin, and eyes as clear as rubies.

A petite girl who looked human in every way, she held Rick's hand tightly.

"Are all the people in the settlement... alright...?"

"It's alright. As Ke'er said, the goblin and dragon elf armies haven't made contact yet. As long as we evacuate the crowd in time a few hours before they start fighting, there won't be any problems."

In that instant, Rick's eyes seemed to become clear.

With a captivating air, he knelt down and gently stroked the girl's beautiful hair.

“It’s alright, Shubi…we’ll be fine.”

"Believe me."

"…Um."

The girl, who looked human no matter how you looked at her, nodded deeply after hearing Rick's words.

The life and death of this tiny human settlement will be turned upside down in the next few hours.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Time returns to the present.

At this moment, the people in the settlement realized that the war was about to begin—eight hours later.

Above the vast wasteland, hundreds or even thousands of meters above the ground.

Different forces approached from both the left and right sides.

"How far away are the goblin warships from here?"

"About one kilometer."

"Humph."

Flying in mid-air are terrifying behemoths that can traverse the vast sky and soar across the world using only their wings.

Dragon.

Like a giant race emerging from mythology, a terrifying behemoth possessing power far exceeding that of most other races.

"What laughable creatures, mere goblins."

The Dragon Spirit army consists of six dragons each.

These monsters, spanning the sky and nearly tens of meters in length, alone are enough to confront the distant fleet head-on.

The battle will begin, and all living beings in the surrounding area will become sacrifices in the clash between the two forces.

"So, how far away are the dragon spirits in the distance from us?"

"Report, approximately one kilometer."

On the other side of the fleet, the humanoid creatures were also ready.

Dark skin, and hair covering its entire body.

That is the symbol of the creatures in this world called goblins.

They do not rely solely on their physical strength to fight the enemy. Instead, they use their technologically advanced fleets, powered by spirits, to launch massive firepower attacks on the enemy.

Compared to the dragon race, the goblin race had a fleet of about several ships.

However, that does not mean that combat power will become an overwhelming advantage.

"The enemy is a dragon spirit, possessing immense strength comparable to a regular fleet... no, judging from calculations, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they have overwhelming power over us."

"But unfortunately, our fleet is not just one or two."

The captains of these fleets, this goblin, looked at the numbers displayed on the monitor screen.

Six dragon spirits.

Generally speaking, these dragons possess terrifying power that even the powerful Skywing race cannot match.

But this did not deter these goblin species from their efforts.

"Listen up, the Dragon Spirits are often surrounded by spatial distortions, which makes it difficult for us to use spatial transfer devices and spatial equivalence devices to harm them. So when you attack, just use the simplest firepower."

But even so, victory is not guaranteed.

Even the weakest Dragon Spirit species can store as many spirits in a single scale as a Skywing species can use.

Even if they are killed, the corpses of these dragon spirits can be preserved in the world, and their scales are even harder than all the minerals in the world.

This is not an opponent that can be easily defeated.

Therefore.

"If we could take down these bastards here, using a combination of various machines and strategic calculations—"

That would be the greatest glory for them, the goblins.

If even the dragon spirits, who are comparable to lower-level gods, are defeated in one fell swoop, then the reputation of the goblin race will soar to an unimaginable height.

Thinking this, the captain became somewhat excited.

"Is this a good idea, Captain?...Excuse my bluntness, but even if we really go all out..."

“I know, of course I know that.”

Even so, overcoming such a huge challenge will bring even greater rewards and fame.

In this situation, what reason is there not to take a gamble?

and.

"If we were afraid to fight because we were afraid of fighting, we wouldn't be here talking at all, would we?"

That's right.

If they were afraid of fighting from the very beginning, then they shouldn't have boarded these warships in the first place.

Although this conflict with the dragon spirits was a sudden event, in this world, avoiding battle is simply impossible.

The matter has come to this, and it is useless to say anything.

"Everyone, get ready..."

Everything is ready.

"The goblin fleet seems to be planning to take action."

"Hmph, so it's finally starting?"

In contrast, the dragon spirits showed utter contempt.

Although they did not underestimate their opponent, they still maintained the immense confidence inherent in the dragon race when the dragon spirits were about to open fire.

then.

"—All personnel, fire!!"

The light illuminated the dark red sky.

In that instant, the light of destruction emanating from the goblin fleet shot out in a straight line like a stream of water.

In contrast.

The dragons opened their mouths.

Boom! ...

Dragon breath, belonging to the Dragon Essence species.

This wasn't their ultimate move, as that would be tantamount to suicide. It was simply unnecessary for a mere goblin fleet to drag them down to that point.

This level is actually sufficient.

Then, just like those speculations about human settlements.

The dragon breath of the dragon spirits clashed head-on with the bombardment of the goblin fleet.

Power and strength shook the entire world.

The land within a radius of about three kilometers was completely reduced to scorched earth, devoid of any dust.

The aftershocks of the explosion scorched the air, causing its temperature to rise instantly to over 3,000 degrees Celsius.

This is the aftershock of the bombing at the closest distance.

So, can damage be avoided by moving at a greater distance?

—Impossible.

In the aftershocks, endless missiles and flashes of light shot out in all directions.

Those were the result of missiles fired by the fleet failing to penetrate the outer armor of the dragon spirits and being bounced off.

The distant rocky mountains were struck, then collapsed and burned out; the lakes and the land suffered the same fate.

Everyone in the human settlement was fleeing from the apocalypse.

"Quick!! Run out of here right now!!"

"A large quantity of important supplies... still hasn't been moved!"

"There's no time to worry about that... Take as much as you can, the most important thing is to stay alive!!"

If they were to all die here, it would be a huge loss.

In the human settlements, cannons roared, the earth shook, and everything around them crumbled.

This is merely the aftermath of a battle between two forces five kilometers away, not even worthy of being called an aftershock.

That alone is enough to bring them, humanity, an absolute life-or-death crisis.

Rick stood at the entrance of the cave, looking inside. There were still about a hundred people who hadn't come out.

"Take the food seeds first, then the detection instruments, and don't take anything else!"