"As expected of a weapon left over from the Fadlan Empire, it can easily destroy our tanks. But if that's the case, then we don't need to hold back."The hobgoblin stared at the bird's-eye view transmitted by the wyverns in front of him and sneered.
"Just like what His Majesty Cassius said - 'killing the chicken to scare the monkeys', the current Saint Theo City is the chicken that is about to be slaughtered. I will let all the people of Aesir see the consequences of rebelling against the empire."
His voice was sonorous and powerful, a fierce light flashed in his turbid yellow eyes, and cruelty appeared on his entire scaly red face.
This hobgoblin officer was the commander-in-chief of the Fourth Army in this "blitzkrieg" operation, the commander of the siege of Sansio, and the meritorious Marquis of Dragon Blood - Arturo Redridge.
As a close confidant of Duke Doro, an important member of the imperial military, and one of the representatives of the "extreme hawks", Arturo would not miss such an opportunity.
Arturo quickly drew the saber from his waist, raised it high, and roared with full force: "All troops, listen to my order - attack with all your might! Turn this city into scorched earth!"
The earth goblin had a ferocious look on his face and was spitting everywhere. The pure gold star on his shoulder was shining brightly.
And his roar was transmitted to every tank and every battle vehicle on the battlefield by the infinite electromagnetic waves generated by the magic communicator.
Before he finished speaking, the entire battlefield roared with anger, the ground shook violently, and endless flames and thick smoke rose into the sky.
The battlefield was completely boiling!
"boom--"
More than a hundred tanks fired in unison. Even the ground shook violently and collapsed under the powerful recoil. Black smoke came out of the muzzles, covering half of the sky.
Dazzling flames formed a row, and artillery shells dragging thick smoke tore through the sky, crisscrossing and forming a dense firepower network, and finally all bombarded the tall and sturdy walls of Sansio.
"boom!"
In an instant, the violent explosion caused the entire city to shake. The raging flames almost engulfed the entire city, and thick smoke enveloped the sky above Sansio.
"Amaunator! Is this the end?"
"How can we stop all this! I don't want to get involved in this war!"
"Damn it."
People looked up at the thick smoke covering the sky, witnessed this doomsday-like scene, and shouted in fear and panic.
At this moment, faced with this natural disaster-like scene, the residents of Sansio have completely lost their minds and are wandering around, and the order in the city is in chaos.
Due to the impact of the explosion, the light curtain outside the city of Sansio kept flashing, and spider-web-like cracks appeared on it. The city wall was also shaking violently, and even caused several soldiers to slip and fall, turning into meat paste.
Karen stood on the city wall, raised his sword, pointed it at the distance with gnashing teeth: "Warriors! Don't retreat, defeat them!"
The soldiers beside the Apollo Crossbow tried their best to turn the capstan and continuously load the giant arrows, but they couldn't even aim at the target under the cover of thick smoke.
Arrows of light streaked across the sky, but were only submerged in the thick smoke and dust, seemingly insignificant compared to the artillery fire from the Burning Empire.
Looking at the gradually dimming and cracked light curtain, Karen turned around and said to the group of mages anxiously: "Mr. Zalan, can you and your colleagues repair our protective magic circle?"
Zalan shook his head solemnly and sighed, "With our strength, we can only maintain the shining net above the city at best, and we don't have the energy to maintain such a complex protective array.
Lord Karen, the attack of the Burning Empire is too fierce, far beyond everyone's expectations. I don't think we can hold out for long."
Karen frowned: "You mean you want me to give up this city?
You want me to hand over the city of Sanxio, which belongs to the Fadlan Empire, to the Burning Empire? And run away like a rat that cannot stand the light of day? "
His expression was annoyed, his tone became a little sharp, and anger burst out of his golden pupils.
Lord Karen, now is not the time to be willful, please come out of your past illusions and take a real look around you."
Zalan looked up and pointed his staff at the sky covered by smoke and flames, his voice was extremely heavy.
“The fall of Sansio City has become inevitable, and we have no means to prevent it.
Lord Cullen, please conserve your strength and do not take risks. The only way for us to turn the situation around is the decisive battle in Collins City."
Karen knew that what Zalan said was not wrong. Under such fierce artillery bombardment from the Burning Empire, even he who claimed to be a descendant of God could not save the situation.
The Apollo Crossbow on the wall of Sansio was enough to bring down a dragon, but it was not enough to fight against an organized armored corps of steel behemoths.
But he still felt unwilling to give in. In his mind, Fadlan was a symbol of conquest, victory and glory. They should have conquered the world, so how could they become the invaded and lose their territory?
Karen was silent for a long time before he whispered, "Sir Zalan, I cannot give up my homeland of Fadlan."
"boom!"
There was another deafening roar, and the violent explosion caused the city walls to tremble. The armor-piercing warheads specially made by the Burning Empire with anti-magic effects finally pierced into the light curtain.
Immediately afterwards, several similar shells arrived in succession, creating a series of explosions.
In an instant, ring-shaped cracks appeared on the light curtain. Those cracks spread and split rapidly, gradually becoming dense and covering the entire light curtain.
"Crack!"
Finally, with a crisp sound, the protective magic circle built by dozens of great wizards and protecting the city for decades could not bear the burden and was completely shattered.
"No! Get out!"
Zalan's expression suddenly changed and he issued a quick reminder. Even he did not expect that the empire would break the defense so quickly.
The next moment, the mortars of the Burning Empire also roared, and the shells drew high arcs in the air, attacking the soldiers on the city wall as if they had eyes.
"boom!"
Suddenly, flames spread all over the city walls, rubble flew, and dust and smoke filled the air. The soldiers were engulfed by the explosion amid their shouts of terror and had no time to escape.
Karen flapped his wings and flew into the air. He raised the divine sword and swung it continuously, cutting off more than a dozen shells and causing them to explode in mid-air.
However, compared with the intensive firepower of the Empire, the efforts of the Divine Marquis seemed insignificant.
Although he did protect the dozen soldiers under him and maintain a section of the city wall that was several dozen meters long, the empire's artillery shells fell on all of Sansio's defensive buildings without any blind spots.
The majestic and towering city wall was already scarred, with shocking gaps appearing on it.
Another group of dragons flew across the sky, attacking from a distance, their steel wings cutting through the air, making a hair-raising scream.
Karen flapped his wings, soared up suddenly, raised the divine sword high above his head, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The Fadlans will never retreat!"
Under the dense charge of hundreds of flying dragons, Karen looked particularly small.
"Shh-"
But the next moment, a surging, dazzling golden flame emanated from the sword blade, splitting the group of dragons in half. Several two-legged flying dragons fell with a roar and exploded in the air.
The other dragons climbed and turned sharply, avoiding Karen's slashing, and flew over the city of Sansio in an orderly manner, dropping hundreds of deadly bombs.
"Boom! Boom!"
Dozens of bombs were intercepted by the mages' shining nets and exploded in mid-air, causing burning and broken shrapnel to rain down on the city.
Buildings were set on fire and people fleeing were hit by shrapnel, one of which even had half of his head cut off by shrapnel.
Then, the bombs that had been missed exploded again in the city, engulfing both people and buildings in flames and thick smoke. The survivors knelt in the ruins, looking up at the sky in despair, but they could not see the sun, only the black smoke covering the sky and the looming "God of Death".
"God, what did we do wrong to deserve such punishment?"
"Purgatory! This is simply purgatory!"
"We all bear sins. His Majesty Amaunator has abandoned us. This is the punishment He has sent us!"
In this burning scorched earth, people gradually fell into madness. The former order had been completely destroyed, leaving only desperate cries and crazy shouts.
"No, it shouldn't be like this."
Looking down at the city that was once prosperous but now in ruins, listening to the screams of flying dragons and the roar of artillery fire, and feeling the hot and pungent breath coming towards your skin.
Karen flapped his wings, confusion appearing on his nearly perfect face.
"Your Majesty Amaunator, have you really abandoned us?
Lord Walter, if it were you, what would you do? Do I really want to abandon this city and become the deserter that I despise the most? "
The descendant of God in the sky was too conspicuous. He had killed more than a dozen flying dragons and intercepted hundreds of artillery shells.
Therefore, the artillery of the Burning Empire made him the main target, and fired countless armor-piercing shells and anti-magic bullets in an attempt to shoot down this angelic-looking warrior.
The Empire's player army has arrived a hundred meters outside the city. Some of them raised their staffs and chanted spells, some pulled the magic bows and arrows, some held the latest magic sniper rifles, and some even threw magic forbidden bombs.
In their eyes, this was not just a divine warrior who made the enemies tremble in fear and avoid him, but a living example of experience and military achievements!
"Shoot this birdman down!"
"Hahaha, kill him! For the empire!
In an instant, shining arrows, flaming spears, poisoned darts, magic-destroying shells, extremely cold ice cones...dazzling attacks came from all directions and rushed towards Karen's body.
"boom!"
Along with a deafening roar, a violent explosion suddenly occurred in mid-air, cracks appeared in the space, and brilliant flames and thick smoke instantly engulfed the angel with wings on his back.
"Is he dead?"
“Who received the experience tip?”
Suddenly, two blinding white lights burst out from the thick smoke, piercing through the smoke and causing a violent explosion, instantly engulfing several players.
"Ignorant mortal!"
Everyone looked up and saw Karen holding a divine sword, his eyes sparkling and emitting flames, like a real angel descended to earth.
The white wings flapped, blowing away the smoke in front of it, shaking off the ashes and dust covering it, and also setting off a hurricane that swept across the earth.
"Who gave you the courage to challenge a descendant of the Sun God?"
Karen roared angrily and raised his sword high. The complex and exquisite patterns on the sword instantly lit up, releasing dazzling divine light.
A pillar of red-gold fire shot up into the sky, reaching the clouds, and countless flaming meteors fell, like a divine punishment sent down from heaven, which was horrifying.
In an instant, dozens of players who launched a charge and wanted to be the first to reach Sansio City were turned into ashes by the flames that fell from the sky.
This is the angelic descendants of Holy Fadlan! The terrifying army that once followed "Sun King" Aragorn I to conquer the multiverse!
"Long live Fadlan!"
Karen raised his arms and shouted, but even his voice was drowned out by the deafening explosions and the roar of artillery fire.
The death of the players did not reduce the firepower of the Burning Empire in the slightest. Instead, the bombs and shells flying towards the city of Sansio became more frequent, and the explosions continued.
"boom--"
Suddenly, there was a dull noise behind Karen, followed by people's panicked and terrified screams.
"It's going to fall! The wall is going to fall! It's going to fall down soon!"
"Get out of here!"
He turned around and saw dust and smoke filling the air. The city walls were crumbling. Under the fierce bombardment of the imperial army, the walls of Sansio finally collapsed!
The city let out earth-shaking wails and roars, and the city wall that stretched for hundreds of meters collapsed. Smoke and dust covered the sky, and countless soldiers and citizens were buried in the ruins of the city wall.
"Lord Karen, let's go! Let's go to Collins City! This is not a place to stay for long!" Zalan used the flying technique to come to the side of the descendant of God and urged anxiously.
The mages who came with him used mass teleportation to leave here before the city wall collapsed. In his opinion, the fall of Sansio City was already inevitable.
No matter how many tanks are destroyed or how many soldiers are killed, they cannot defeat the Burning Empire. Their only hope of victory is to defeat the red dragon.
"Have we failed?"
Karen was suspended in the air, flapping his wings slowly, his eyes somewhat dim.
He looked at the ruined city of Sansio, then turned around and looked at the charging steel behemoths and wyverns, confusion once again evident in his golden pupils.
"boom!"
Another explosion occurred beside him, but it was blocked by the invisible divine shield surrounding the angel god.
Under the threat of artillery fire, Zalan released a teleportation spell, his figure gradually blurred, but he still hurriedly advised: "Master Karen, we haven't lost yet!
We will win, and Fadran will win, but not here! Duke Walter needs you!"
Finally, Karen gritted his teeth, his eyes showing a hint of determination, and said word by word: "We will win."
The angel god raised the sword in his hand with one arm, a dazzling light appeared at the tip of the sword, and his figure gradually became illusory.
The next moment, countless shells fell from the sky, causing a violent explosion at the location where Karen was originally located, but the angel god had already left.
The steel behemoths rampaged across the land, accompanied by billowing steam and thick smoke, rushing at high speed towards the city that had been reduced to scorched earth and ruins, without encountering any resistance in the process.
They successfully captured the city of Sansio, or...completely destroyed this city with a glorious history.
On July 1789, 7 in the new calendar, the city of Saint-Sio, a major military town in North Essel, fell. On the afternoon of the same day, five major cities including Calvin, Farin, and Asher fell one after another.
Three days later, seventeen cities including Bertrand, Michel, and Greywood Castle were successively occupied by the army of the Burning Empire.
Until July 7, in just nineteen days, under the empire's thunderous offensive, all cities in North Aysir except Colin had fallen, and almost all important territories were controlled by the Burning Empire.
The "blitzkrieg" of the Burning Empire shocked the world. Before the various forces on the continent of Feansor could react, news of the fall of various cities in North Aysir came one after another.
The Grand Duke of North Ethel, Walter Graham, the former "Wing of Fadland", is leading the remaining troops to stubbornly garrison in the city of Collins, waiting for the final decisive battle.
"The Burning Embers Empire appeared on the stage of the Fianso continent with a lightning-fast and fierce offensive, forcefully announcing its existence and sounding the death knell for the old Fadran order."
--Todd Brown, The Fianzo Chronicles
"His Majesty Wilham told me not to worry, but I'm already thinking about heading south.
Damn it, these arrogant Fadlans are still immersed in the fantasy of the past, and have no idea how terrifying the red dragon is. They will pay the price for this."
——"Luton Notes" (End of this chapter)
