182: Chapter 182 The Defense Line Collapses

Commander Sargos did not have the rough scales covering his body like other Dragonmen; his skin possessed a dark golden metallic texture, and his eyes burned with two pools of molten lava that looked almost tangible.

As one of the few top-tier overlords in this airspace to truly step into the Sixth Order, his very existence was an ultimate killing machine capable of tearing warships apart with his bare hands.

"Vice Minister Stella, I don't recall this being the time for a routine report."

Commander Sargos's voice was low and hoarse.

"The front line is currently a meat grinder; you had better have something important enough to disturb me."

Vice Minister Stella trembled, dropping to one knee abruptly and bowing her head: "Lord Minister... Vice Minister Garick and Barton... have been killed in action. The two full-strength legions under their command have also been completely wiped out."

On the holographic projection, Commander Sargos's pupils, burning with molten lava, suddenly froze.

The entire command room fell into a deathly silence, where even the sound of breathing was clearly audible.

"Who did this?"

After a full ten seconds, Commander Sargos spoke slowly. There was no furious roar, but the icy, extreme killing intent made the scales on Vice Minister Stella stand on end.

"It was the remnants of the White Feather Guild, but there is a terrifying human hiding behind them. The opponent possesses two Level 6 warships, and their firepower is exaggerated..."

"A bunch of trash who couldn't even clean up a few rats in the rear."

Commander Sargos snorted coldly, the lava in his eyes burning even more intensely.

"My fleet is currently stuck in the core meat grinder at the front line, and King Dominic's Royal Legion is attempting a breakout. I cannot spare the hands to reinforce the rear for the time being."

"Vice Minister Stella, listen clearly to my order!"

"Immediately consolidate your remaining forces and cease all offensive attacks. Dispatch your most elite optical stealth reconnaissance ships to tail them from a distance and lock onto their coordinates!"

Commander Sargos slowly clenched his fist, which was covered in dark golden scales, his knuckles emitting a thunderous crackling sound:

"Once I tear through King Dominic's defensive line here and free up my hands... I will return personally to crush that human, along with that flock of winged bird-people, one by one!"

After cutting off the communication with Vice Minister Stella, the holographic projection in the main control room slowly extinguished.

Commander Sargos stood alone before the wide command console, his eyes, hot like molten lava, roiling with chilling, tyrannical killing intent. Beneath his dark golden metallic skin, the terrifying blood energy of a Sixth Order powerhouse rumbled like a volcano about to erupt.

As the most elite 4th Division of the Dragonman Guild, he originally commanded nine powerful Vice Ministers.

But what about now? Those two idiots, Vice Minister Garick and Barton, were actually slaughtered in the rear! Vice Minister Stella and the other three Vice Ministers are cowering in the rear with their remnants, and they can't be counted on in the short term.

This meant that in this "Golden Meat Grinder" front line, where the competition was most tragic and the fighting most brutal, Commander Sargos only had four Vice Ministers left that he could directly call upon!

"A bunch of useless trash; I still have to speed up the progress myself."

Commander Sargos snorted coldly, his thick fingers pressing heavily on the highest assembly button on the command console.

"Hum—"

A few seconds later, four blinding lights flashed in succession on the holographic projection table in the center of the command room. Four burly Dragonman Vice Ministers, exuding a thick scent of blood, appeared simultaneously on the big screen.

"Lord Minister!" The four of them saluted by touching their chests simultaneously, their eyes filled with fanatical fervor.

Commander Sargos's highly oppressive gaze swept over the four of them. He did not mention the shameful incident of losing two major generals in the rear, but went straight to the point, his voice sounding like a heavy hammer striking steel:

"The initial probing and skirmishing are over. Pass on my order: the entire army is to prepare, and tomorrow morning, we will launch a full-scale assault!"

Hearing the words "full-scale assault," bloodthirsty red light instantly erupted in the eyes of the four Vice Ministers.

"In this war zone, we have currently assembled a full seven thousand warships of various classes, as well as over thirty thousand of the most elite Dragonman warriors."

Commander Sargos crushed the alloy wine glass in his hand, letting the liquid drip through his fingers.

"I don't care what price you pay; before sunset tomorrow, I want you to wipe that bullshit Winged Guild of King Dominic's right off the map of this airspace!"

"Tear that flock of winged soft-footed shrimp to pieces!"

"Please rest assured, Lord Minister; in tomorrow's first wave of the charge, I guarantee I will trample their defensive line!"

The four Vice Ministers roared in unison, their violent battle intent almost piercing through the holographic screen.

Commander Sargos nodded in satisfaction and waved his large hand, cutting off the communication. He turned his head to look at the cursor on the star map representing the Winged Race's defensive zone, a cruel sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"King Dominic... are you ready to face the Dragonmen's wrath?"

...

Compared to the fanatical, sword-sharpening fervor on the Dragonman Guild's side, the Winged King's base camp was currently shrouded in a layer of suffocating despair and anxiety.

In the magnificent royal command room, the Winged King, King Dominic, wore the pure gold crown symbolizing royal power. Behind him, that pair of wide, golden wings, which should have been glistening, now appeared somewhat disheveled and dim.

He was standing before a massive holographic communication device, veins bulging on his forehead, shouting urgently at a Goblin commander on the screen:

"Gazz! We are an alliance that signed a mutual protection agreement! The heavy troops of the Dragonman Guild's 4th Division have already pressed right up to my defensive line, and you're telling me now that you can't send a single warship?!"

On the screen, that green-skinned Goblin commander wearing goggles gave a bitter smile and helplessly spread his hands:

"Respected Winged King, it is not that I do not want to help, but our Goblin and Dwarf defensive lines are also about to be smashed by the Beast Race's Mad Lion Guild! I can't even hold my own area, how can I free up hands to support you? My apologies, Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!"

"Clap!"

The Goblin cut off the communication unilaterally.

"Bastard! A bunch of treacherous scumbags!"

King Dominic was trembling with rage.

He was unwilling to give up and dialed the Elf Race's channel again, but the reply he received was equally cold. The Elf Race was fully occupied with constructing a magical defensive line and had no time to attend to anything else.

With no way out, King Dominic bit his lip, pinning his last hope on the strongest man.

He took a deep breath, lowered his posture as a king, and entered the highest-level authorization frequency for Sky City, the human base camp, attempting to contact City Lord Zhao Tianyu directly.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

After a long wait, the communication was finally connected.

However, what appeared on the screen was not that domineering human commander-in-chief, but an expressionless liaison officer.

"Your Majesty King Dominic, this is the Sky City General Command Headquarters."

The liaison officer's tone was official, even carrying a hint of perfunctoriness.

"We are truly sorry, but the City Lord is currently supervising the battle at the front line, engaged in high-intensity fire exchange with the main force of the Beast Race, and cannot personally answer your communication."

"I don't care what he is doing! Tell City Lord Zhao Tianyu that I need to speak with him immediately!"

King Dominic completely lost his composure and roared.

"If my defensive line is torn apart by the Dragonmen tomorrow, the flank of Sky City will be completely exposed! Does he not understand the principle that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold?!"

"I will convey your meaning truthfully to the City Lord. However, Sky City currently cannot spare any extra troops. Please hold your position, and good luck."

"Beep—"

Accompanied by a dial tone, the screen went completely black.

The entire command room fell into a deathly silence.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

King Dominic finally collapsed completely. He let out a hysterical roar, drew the ornate sword from his waist, and like a madman, hacked the expensive communication console in front of him to pieces! Sparks flew everywhere, and precision parts scattered all over the floor.

"City Lord Zhao Tianyu! Gazz! You damn bastards! You are all using me!"

King Dominic's eyes were bloodshot, and his chest heaved violently. Only at this moment did he finally see through this cruel game of chess.

No allies, no reinforcements.

On the supreme chessboard of the Ten Thousand Races' struggle for hegemony, he, the high and mighty Winged King, had long been tacitly treated by everyone as a piece of bait thrown out to attract the first wave of the Beast Race's firepower! He was just the meat shield cannon fodder used to consume the main force of the Dragonmen and buy time for other races to develop and defend!

He remembered some time ago, when he had arrogantly sent his deputy Weaver to recruit the White Feather Guild, wanting Grace to take the hit for him. But now, the retribution had come so quickly.

"Your Majesty..."

The commander of the Imperial Guard nearby looked at the mess all over the floor and asked with a trembling voice.

"The Dragonmen will definitely launch an even more ferocious attack tomorrow, what... what should we do?"

King Dominic threw away the longsword in his hand, its blade chipped, and slumped dejectedly onto his throne, his golden wings hanging limply to the floor.

"Notify the entire army... abandon all outer defensive lines, and retract all energy shields to the vicinity of the main ship."

...

The next morning, when the first ray of starlight attempted to pierce through the thick cloud layer, it was completely blocked by a suffocating jungle of steel.

The great army pressed upon the border, blotting out the sky and sun.

A full seven thousand warships of the Dragonman Guild, like a surging dark red sea of blood, surrounded the airspace where the Winged Race's royal warships were located, making it airtight. In all four directions, up and down, all escape routes had been completely sealed off under Commander Sargos's meticulous layout spanning half a month.

This was not a war between equals at all, but a hunt of catching turtles in a jar.

On the Winged Race's warship, King Dominic, wearing golden royal armor, looked at the dense clusters of red dots on the radar, pressing in like a meat grinder, and the last shred of luck in his heart was completely extinguished.

Despair, like a gangrenous sore, spread in the hearts of every Winged soldier.

"Hum—"

In the very center of the Dragonman fleet, on that Level 6 flagship that resembled a war behemoth, a huge holographic image reaching a hundred meters in height was projected.

The Sixth Order powerhouse, Commander Sargos!

His dark golden metallic skin shone with a cold luster under the preheating light of the artillery fire, and his eyes, burning with molten lava, looked down condescendingly at the Winged Race's warships, as if looking at a group of ants waiting to be slaughtered.

"Commander Sargos!"

King Dominic could no longer care about the dignity of a king; he also turned on a holographic projection, his tone filled with obvious trembling and begging: "We, the Winged Race, are willing to give up this defensive zone! We are willing to hand over eighty percent of our supplies, and can even sign an affiliation contract to become vassals of the Dragonman Guild! As long as you can show mercy and leave a path of survival for the Winged Race..."

"Leave a path of survival?"

Commander Sargos let out a wild laugh that shook the starry sky, a laugh filled with cruelty and mockery: "King Dominic, have you been sitting on the throne for too long, and your brain has gone bad? Do you think that the current me needs vassals like you who grow bird feathers?"

Commander Sargos's laughter suddenly ceased, and unmasked tyrannical killing intent shot out from his lava-like eyes:

"The moment the peace talks between the ten thousand races collapsed, it was destined that this was not some small squabble over territory, but a genocidal plan of life or death!"

"The Dragonman Guild does not need prisoners, nor does it need vassals. What I want is to use the corpses of your entire Winged Race to sacrifice to the war banners of our Beast Race army! Listen clearly, today, in this airspace, I will not let a single living soul escape!"

Hearing the four words "genocidal plan," King Dominic was struck as if by lightning, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

"All troops, listen to my order!"

Commander Sargos did not give King Dominic any more chance to speak, his thick arm swinging down abruptly: "Kill them all! Leave no one behind!"

"Roar!!!"

Following the command of the Sixth Order overlord, the main cannons of the seven thousand warships simultaneously erupted with earth-shattering roars. Over ten thousand elite Dragonman warriors, who had long been unable to suppress their bloodthirsty desires, rushed towards the Winged Race's warships like a black torrent breaking a dam, piloting mechs and individual flight vehicles.

A tragic massacre began in an instant.

"Rumble—"

The seemingly sturdy energy defensive shields of the Winged Race's warships, under the concentrated fire of seven thousand heavy cannons, crumbled after holding for less than ten minutes.

What followed was a brutal, extreme close-quarters combat.

Relying on their powerful bodies and heavy armor, the Dragonman warriors rolled over the Winged Race's defensive line like bulldozers.

High in the sky, severed limbs and arms, accompanied by golden feathers stained red with blood, fell like a rainstorm. The entire warship instantly fell into a sea of fire; shrill screams, the sound of collapsing buildings, and the exploding sounds of warships intertwined, composing a hair-raising symphony of death.

"Your Majesty! We can't hold! The East District barrier has been breached, and the entire First Imperial Guard Regiment has been killed in action!"

"Your Majesty! The enemy's four Vice Ministers are personally leading the charge, and over a hundred of our Level 5 warships have already been sunk!"

Listening to the bad news constantly coming to his ears and watching his subjects being wantonly slaughtered, King Dominic's eyes were bloodshot, his teeth biting his lips until they bled.

Since you won't give me a way to live, then I have no choice but to sacrifice the pawns to save the king!

"Lock the reactor output power of nearby warships to the critical point! All outer troops, abandon defense, and all of you, retract to the center for me, luring the enemy's main force deep inside!"

A flash of selfish and crazy ruthlessness flickered in King Dominic's eyes, and he turned to give a secret order to the dozens of die-hard guards at the core: "Prepare to break out!"