193: storm

The bloody battle on the Red River Plain had raged for seven days and seven nights.

This once fertile land had now become a scorched Hell on earth. Two million troops had been locked in a brutal struggle, with tens of thousands of lives perishing every day. Rivers were clogged with corpses, and the remnants piled on the plain required three days of burning to clear. The caw of crows was the only continuous sound on the battlefield.

The Second Prince's army's front line had shrunk to less than half its original size. Of the six hundred thousand troops, fewer than three hundred thousand remained, all wounded, their morale at rock bottom. Just when everyone thought this decisive battle would end in the Second Prince's army's complete collapse—.

"Your Majesty! This is bad!" A blood-soaked knight rushed into Atos's main tent. "The Magic Corps... the Royal Magic Corps has defected!"

Atos sprang to his feet. "What did you say?!"

"It's true! Just now, as the Third Legion was attacking the enemy's left flank, rebel flags suddenly rose from the Magic Corps' positions in the rear! They turned their magic attacks on our troops, and the Third Legion, caught off guard, has... has routed!"

Before his words finished, a thunderous explosion came from outside the tent. Atos rushed out, only to see the distant Sky dyed blood-red by magic flames. That was the Royal Magic Corps' signature 'Crimson Sky Curtain.' But now, this devastating spell was raining down on the Royal Family's army.

"Gordon!" Atos gritted his teeth. "You big thief!" Atos instantly understood that Gordon was behind this.

On the battlefield, the situation instantly reversed.

The Second Prince's army, which had been on the verge of collapse, saw their morale greatly boosted upon witnessing the Magic Corps' defection. The Second Prince seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, personally leading the last reserve troops in a counter-charge.

"Kill!" He raised his blood-stained longsword. "Atos has been abandoned by all! Victory belongs to us!"

On the battlefield, the previously one-sided situation became a stalemate once more. The advantage of six hundred thousand against one million was rapidly nullified after the Magic Corps' sudden defection. Both sides were once again embroiled in a bloody war of attrition, but this time, Atos's army was in disarray... Just as the southern battlefield descended into a new round of bitter fighting, on the plains outside Holy Radiance City, the Star Sea Territory's army had completed its encirclement.

Angus's sixty thousand light cavalry merged with the three hundred and twenty thousand main forces led by Yilman, plus an additional twenty thousand reinforcements that arrived later, forming a massive army of four hundred thousand that completely surrounded Holy Radiance City. Camps stretched like a forest, and banners obscured the Sky. Looking down from the city walls, the silver-gray ocean on the plain extended to the horizon.

Monk stood on the city wall, his expression grave but fearless.

"Marshal, the enemy's strength is approximately four hundred thousand," the deputy reported. "But our army has the advantage of the city walls and magic defense formations. A full assault from them would be suicide."

Monk nodded. He scanned the enemy camps below the city, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

Four hundred thousand against six hundred thousand (four hundred thousand defenders plus two hundred thousand militia) seemingly favored the defenders. But in reality, the two hundred thousand militia were merely temporarily armed civilians with limited combat power. The true elite were his forty thousand veteran soldiers.

But even so, Monk remained confident in holding Holy Radiance City. This capital city embodied the Aolai Kingdom's accumulation of thousands of years; every stone on the city walls was inscribed with defensive runes, the number of magic crystal cannons was enough to level a mountain range, and the reserves in the granaries could feed the entire city's military and civilians for three years.

"Order all armies to hold their positions strictly," Monk said in a deep voice. "No one is to sally forth without my command. We have only one task... to delay. Delay until Your Majesty pacifies the south and returns north."

"Yes!"

The order was relayed, and the defenders on the city walls stood ready. The muzzles of the magic crystal cannons were aimed at the military camps below, the mages stood by their formation nodes, and the archers had arrows nocked on their strings.

Everything was ready.

Then, the Sky began to change color.

At first, it was just a peculiar light on the eastern horizon, like the brightest morning star before dawn. But soon, the light grew brighter and its scope expanded, eventually becoming a blue halo covering half the Sky.

On the city wall, soldiers looked up at the Sky, murmuring in confusion.

Then, shadows descended.

Giant, streamlined metal hulls slowly descended from the clouds, the deep roar of their Demonic Energy engines like the breathing of ancient beasts. One, two, three... a total of thirty airships formed a neat wedge formation, hovering a thousand zhang above Holy Radiance City.

Sunlight was obscured by the hulls, and the entire city plunged into an eerie twilight.

"What... what is that?"

"Ships flying in the Sky..."

"Gods above..."

Panic spread through the city like a plague. Civilians poured into the streets, gazing up at the steel behemoths suspended in the air, their faces filled with terror and awe. Many elderly people knelt, praying to the Sky! In their long lives, they had never witnessed such a terrifying sight.

On the city walls, the defenders' formation began to stir. Soldiers gripped their weapons, but their hands trembled. The muzzles of the magic crystal cannons instinctively rose, aiming at the Sky, but everyone knew that those warships suspended a thousand zhang high were beyond the range of most Demonic Energy weapons.

Monk's face turned ashen white at this moment.

He recognized those warships, airships, the pinnacle of continental warfare, which only great Empires with thousands of years of Legacy had the ability to build and maintain. The Aolai Kingdom had only been established for over a thousand years; although wealthy, it had always been blank in this level of strategic weaponry.

And now, the Star Sea Territory actually had thirty of them.

"Impossible..." Monk muttered. "Where did Linn get so many airships..."

His question was soon answered.

The main ship, 'star vault,' slowly descended to a height of five hundred zhang, and a hatch opened on its side. A figure appeared at the hatchway, black hair fluttering in the wind, black pupils glinting with a cold light in the sunlight.

Linn.

He stood there on the ship's rail, without using any magic amplification, but his voice resonated like thunder throughout Holy Radiance City:

"Marshal Monk! Defenders and citizens of Holy Radiance City..."

The voice contained the terrifying pressure of an Advanced Legendary Grand Magus, each word like a heavy hammer striking the heart. Civilians in the city covered their ears, and even weaker soldiers felt their Qi and blood surge.

"Open the city gates, dismantle the defensive magic formations, and surrender," Linn's voice was calm and cold. "Otherwise, I will turn Holy Radiance City into a sea of fire."

Dead silence.

The entire city seemed frozen at this moment. There was only the sound of the wind, the low hum of the airships' engines, and the suppressed breathing of the people.

Then, Monk's laughter broke the silence.

The laughter started low, then grew louder and louder, finally turning into a wild, skyward roar. The eight-hundred-year-old Legendary Expert laughed so hard he doubled over, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Linn, oh Linn." Monk wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, his voice suddenly turning cold. "Do you know that the position you are standing in right now is perfectly within my attack range?"

He raised his right hand. On the city wall, over two hundred magic crystal cannons simultaneously adjusted their angles, their muzzles pointing at the star vault in the Sky. The mages began to chant, and the glow of the defensive magic formations became even more dazzling.

"I am the Grand Marshal of the Aolai Kingdom, the younger brother of the late king, and a pillar of the Royal Family." Monk's voice echoed across the city walls. "I, Monk Olei, even if I die in battle, even if I am crushed to pieces, will never surrender to a traitor!"

He took a step forward, his Legendary Mid-stage aura fully erupting. Deep blue battle Qi shot into the Sky, condensing behind him into the phantom of a golden griffin, the totem of the Aolai Royal Family.

He turned to face the defenders on the city wall, his voice like thunder: "Soldiers! Behind you is the Royal Capital, your homes, your loved ones! Today, we will let the traitors know—Holy Radiance City will never fall!"

"Never fall!" The defenders roared in unison, their voices shaking the Sky.

In the Sky, Linn looked at the upright figure on the city wall, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

Admiration, regret, but more than that, resolve.

He slowly raised his right hand.

The Demonic Energy engines of the thirty airships simultaneously emitted a piercing shriek, and the magic runes on their hulls lit up one after another. The blue light grew brighter and brighter, eventually dyeing the entire Sky a strange blue.

"If that's the case..." Linn's voice rang out again, this time, as cold as ten thousand years of ice, "Then let Holy Radiance City!"

His hand suddenly swept down.

"Turn to ashes!"

Linn didn't need mercy in this situation; he had to forcefully unify the Aolai Kingdom.

The first wave of attack came from the combined spellcasting of five thousand mages. Five thousand mages stood on the decks of various warships, simultaneously chanting the same spell. Magic energy converged in the air, forming a giant fireball over a hundred zhang in diameter, like a second sun, suspended above Holy Radiance City.

On the city wall, Monk's expression finally changed.

He could feel the terrifying energy contained within that fireball! It was a power capable of leveling half the city.

"Full power to the defensive magic formations!" he shrieked. "All mages, prepare to intercept!"

But it was too late.

The fireball began to fall.

With the might to destroy everything, with the high temperature to incinerate all things, with Linn's merciless resolve!

It smashed down towards Holy Radiance City with a thunderous crash.

The scales of war, at this moment, completely tipped.