200: unified

The sounds of battle lasted from the middle of the night until dawn, and from dawn until noon. The Red River Plain, a land already ravaged by the flames of war, was once again soaked with the blood and flesh of a million-strong army. The deafening roars, the screams of the dying, the clashing of blades, and the shrieks of magic... all intertwined into a cruel symphony of war.

The chaos of the night and the advantage of the surprise attack gradually waned as the Sky brightened. After their initial collapse, Atos's Royal Army—relying on their numerical advantage and the desperate organization of loyalist officers—briefly constructed several circular defense lines in the core area, putting up a desperate and tenacious resistance. The battle entered its most brutal phase of attrition, with every inch of land contested at the cost of countless lives.

The Legendary siege in the Sky was even more heart-pounding. The Aulai Epic Old Ancestor was like a dying but even more ferocious lion, lunging and parrying amidst the encirclement of five Legendary Experts. Every swing of his withered palms carried the power to shake mountains; a single moment of carelessness could lead to a fatal opening, resulting in heavy injury or even death. Clay, Usachi, and the others were already wounded, and Gordon's injuries were quite severe; they relied entirely on exquisite coordination and tenacious will to hold on. They were like a pack of brave hunters, hunting an aged but still deadly old dragon, fraught with danger yet refusing to let go.

Just as the battles on both the ground and in the Sky fell into a stalemate, with both sides exhausted—

On the eastern horizon, a roar that made the earth tremble rang out!

The sound of hooves—heavy, rhythmic, like the footsteps of a giant beast! Then, banners fluttering in the wind appeared on the horizon: a black background with stars surrounding a sharp sword—the war flag of the Star Sea Territory!

The first to come into view was a silver torrent; every man wore silver armor, carried a bow on his back, and held a spear. Angus's Eastern Wasteland Army had arrived!

Following closely behind was a red torrent! It was the Dragon Scale Knights! Both knights and mounts were clad in red scale armor shimmering with magical luster. Their lances were like a forest, reflecting the cold light of the rising sun. They were the sharpest spearhead of the Star Sea Territory, the ultimate embodiment of assault power.

"Eastern Wasteland Army! Advance!"

"Dragon Scale Knights! Charge!"

Angus and Evan, the two most capable generals under Linn's command, personally led this fresh force of over a hundred thousand men. Like tigers released from a cage, they crashed into the exhausted Royal Army's flank and rear with unstoppable momentum!

This well-rested, well-equipped, and high-spirited reinforcement became the final straw that broke the camel's back. The already tottering Royal Army defense line, under the impact of such a fierce fresh force, shattered and collapsed instantly like porcelain struck by a heavy hammer.

"Surrender and you shall not be killed!"

"Kneel to live!"

Angus's thunderous voice spread across the battlefield. Accompanied by the heavy, rhythmic advance of the Eastern Wasteland Army and the devastating charge of the Dragon Scale Knights, the wave of surrender spread rapidly. Countless Royal Army soldiers, who had long since lost their will to fight, dropped their weapons in droves and knelt on the ground.

The battle in the Sky also reached a decisive turning point.

Three powerful auras tore through the air and joined the fray!

Elise, the Legendary Grand Archmage, swept a brilliant and deadly torrent of elements toward the Epic Old Ancestor with a wave of her hand. Sebastian, the commander of the Floating Fleet, piloted an exquisite Magitech Armament, launching fierce magical attacks from uncanny angles. Yilman, the Army Commander and a Mid-stage Legendary Warrior, struck at the Old Ancestor's vitals with his cold, sharp sword light!

Eight against one!

The Aulai Epic Old Ancestor, who was already barely holding on, saw his pressure increase tenfold as he faced the siege of eight Legendary Experts! These newly joined legends were in perfect condition, their attacks sharp and their coordination seamless.

"You... you go too far!" The Old Ancestor let out an unwilling roar, his withered body erupting with a final burst of light as he tried to make a desperate last stand and take a few down with him.

But how could the eight legends give him the chance? Clay and Usachi met him head-on to draw his fire; Gordon, Elise, and Sebastian bombarded him with long-range Spells; while Batu, Ocean Jack, and Yilman roamed and harassed him, searching for openings.

The battle entered its final and most tragic stage. Eight Legendary lights were like eight chains, tightly binding the struggling but increasingly dim Epic radiance in the center. Every collision made the Sky tremble; as the energy aftershocks swept across the ground, they plowed deep furrows into the earth.

Finally, after a high-intensity siege that lasted nearly an hour, a sigh filled with endless weariness and resentment seemed to drift from ancient times.

That cluster of Epic radiance, like a candle in the wind, flickered a few times and suddenly went out.

The Aulai Kingdom's final pillar of stability, the Epic Old Ancestor, fell after fighting to the point of exhaustion in the Sky above the Red River Plain. His body turned into countless points of light and dissipated in the wind, as if he had never existed.

The fall of the Old Ancestor completely crushed the Royal Army's final spiritual pillar. The resistance on the ground collapsed entirely at that moment.

Linn's figure had, at some point, quietly appeared suspended high in the center of the battlefield. He did not act, but merely looked down calmly at the bloody battlefield below as it gradually grew quiet. With several hundred thousand infantrymen—most of whom had not even truly entered the fray—this decisive battle for the kingdom's fate was settled.

By mid-afternoon, the war had basically come to an end.

The sight of corpses littering the fields and rivers of blood could not even begin to describe the tragedy of the Red River Plain at this moment. The air was thick with the smell of blood and charred remains that refused to dissipate.

The tallying and cleanup work quickly began.

Atos, the young King of Aulai, did not die in battle or take his own life as many had expected. After almost all of his personal guards had fallen, he was dragged out of a hidden cellar by a squad of fierce Orc soldiers and brought before the temporarily erected central command tent.

His hair was disheveled, his royal robes were torn, and his face was covered in blood and grime. His eyes were hollow, having long since lost their former brilliance, leaving only numbness and despair.

Linn slowly descended from the Sky, stepping onto the blood-stained earth, and walked up to Atos.

The two looked at each other. One was the victor, with a composed bearing and eyes as deep as the sea; the other was a fallen monarch, wretched and with a heart as cold as dead ashes.

"The Aulai Kingdom, from this day forward, becomes history." Linn's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone around him, striking Atos's heart like a final judgment.

Atos's body swayed, and his mouth opened as if to say something, but in the end, no sound came out. He merely lowered his head in dejection. Linn, that low-born youth, had finally become the dragon.

The preliminary casualty statistics were also quickly reported: the Aulai Royal Army had over two hundred thousand dead, countless wounded, and about two hundred thousand surrendered. Under the "defection" orchestrated by Gordon and Usachi, the Southern Army suffered relatively small losses of about fifty thousand, with most of the rest being incorporated. On the Star Sea Territory's side, the vanguard forces under Clay and others, along with the reinforcements brought by Angus, had a total of about eighty thousand casualties, including nearly thirty thousand killed in action. For a decisive battle of over a million men, this was already an incredibly brilliant victory.