Chapter 110: art 5)
"Help—"
"Do me!"
The routed soldiers of the "Hion" had fled to the tral army, pursued by the releide of goblins and kobolds.
"Please, save me!"
The elite soldiers of the "Talons of the Eagle" stood motionless, watg coldly as these defeated troops were sughtered. Holding their spears and keeping their shields firmly in formation, they maintained an unbroken wall of defense.
"Attack!"
Robert issued the and.
The horn sounded, and the shield-spearmen advanced in precise steps, moving like a single, well-coordinated wall, gradually closing in.
The wave of goblins and kobolds crashed against this wall.
Shields blocked the assault, and spears stabbed through the gaps, pierg multiple goblins and kobolds at once.
Behind the shield-spearmen, archers released volleys of arrows that arced gracefully through the air, raining doinning many creatures to the ground.
True to their reputation, the elite forces inflicted heavy casualties within minutes, leaving the battlefield strewn with the bodies of goblins and kobolds.
The shield-spearmen tiheir rhythmic advaepping firmly over the corpses.
Fag such a one-sided battle, even the dragon-blooded goblins and kobolds, usually fearless, scattered in all dires.
"Good, just like that—crush them!"
"Keep pushing forward!"
Watg the battlefield from a distance, Robert’s face finally showed a trace of satisfa.
It seemed the minions of Ember were no match for a formal army; now, his only was the ing and brutal red dragon.
"Advance! Bring up the dragon-killing ballistae!"
Dozens of strong soldiers pushed the massive ballistae, wheels creaking as they moved.
Following the shielded phanx of the "Talons of the Eagle," nearly 20,ur troops advanced smoothly into the Trier Valley within a single day.
Besides clearing a few scattered kobold and goblin squads, they entered little resistance.
But soon, the coalition forces realized their mistake.
The feeble goblins and kobolds were mere on fodder, buying time while the real forber waited within the valley.
"So…"
"This is their real army."
Gazing into the distance, Robert’s expression grew solemn.
His entire field of view was filled with the vast, monstrous army.
"Roar—"
Massive nd-dragons the size of small mountains lumbered forward, their iron-pted bodies shaking the ground as if they were moving fortresses of steel.
Hundreds of wyverns circled and glided in the sky, casting tless chaotic shadows across the ground.
Enormous ogres roared excitedly, their fbby bodies quivering as they ted "Enemies…food…"
One particurly striking ogre, over six meters tall, was covered in crimson scales, dressed in a patched-together robe, looking bizarre.
Hobgoblins on-blood lineage formed tightly packed formations, with the front row wieldial staves, smelling of smoke.
Lizardmen held boipped spears and wore leather armor, their vertical pupils emanating a chilling ruthlessness.
The "Devil’s Children," or tieflings, uhe and of their oathbreakers, stood ready, many filled with hatred for the "Talons of the Eagle."
And in front of them, c the hillsides, were tless goblins and kobolds—all dragon-blooded, matg the strength of average human soldiers, and among them, many kobold shamans.
A thousand pyers were mingled within this terrifying army of monsters. Their retive normality only made them stand out more among the monstrous ranks.
Stirring music echoed from he satyr marg band ying panpipes.
"Roar—"
A distant dragon’s roar resounded.
A massive, terrifying head appeared on the horizon, followed by the sight-blog expanse of mighty wings and the colossal dragon body.
In parison, even the nd-dragons seemed like mere mice at its feet.
Robert stared up at the awe-inspiring se, wide-eyed and muttering to himself:
"By the gods…"
"How… this be?"
He even fot to order the dragon-killing ballistae to fire.
The coalition forces erupted in chaos and fear; how could mere humans ever stand against such a beast?
The red dragon surveyed the coalition from above, its golden slit-pupiled eyes filled with undisguised s.
"Humans, I admire your ce."
"But unfortunately, your ce is mispced. You fancy yourselves heroes fighting for justice, yet you’re merely tools maniputed by the vampire Duke."
"Enough…"
"Since you seek war, I shall bestow upon you the gift of fire…plete annihition."
Robert snapped out of his daze, hastily , "Dragon-killing ballistae! Fire the dragon-killers!"
Soldiers, though fearful, followed orders, loading the massive ballistae at the rear.
"Wait!"
Beside him, Shroud warned, "My lord, a true dragon of this size does on the Prime Material Phat’s an illusion—a cleverly crafted proje in the air."
"But this doesn’t mean nothing; it only proves that Ember has a skilled spellcaster and that this dragon fears direct frontation with us. He must have deduced owerful dragon-sying ons."
"I see."
Robert breathed a sigh of relief, his earlier fear ebbing away.
closely, he noticed the dragon’s edges were faintly transparent, flickering with fmes.
"Damn."
"ing dragon."
Embarrassed by his earlier panic, Robert’s hatred deepened.
The illusionary dragon dissolved into fmes, leaving only its final words eg around them: "I will burn all to ashes."
hat the dragon was an illusion quickly spread through the army, slightly calming the soldiers’ fear—after all, they faced an unknown dragon.
It had been over a tury sihe Northern Kingdom st entered a dragon camity—the "Wing of the Gcier."
On a hillside, Dolo raised his sword, shouting, "Did you hear the master’s words? Destroy them utterly! For Ember !"
"For Ember !"
The monsters erupted into a frenzy, cheering, r, howling, and screeg as they looked upon the coalition with hunger and fervor.
The kingdom’s coalition and the minions of Ember faced each other in a teandoff.
The deadlock was finally broken.
War was on the verge of erupting.
FAL
