Volume 2 chapter 32
Early Morning.
The sun had just peeked over the horizon, painting the edge of the sky in a hazy orange-gold.
Beneath that golden radiance, a sea of white robes and silver armor shattered the morning silence.
Fully armed Alliance knights gathered fifty kilometers from the Vanguard Citadel.
Grand Magi waved their staves. The earth churned like ocean waves. Buried landmines were pushed to the surface by manipulating the soil, then flung forward to detonate harmlessly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions signaled the start of the battle. The rising dust became the wolf-smoke of war.
But even Grand Magi had limits. Clearing a fifty-kilometer-deep minefield instantly was impossible. Their effective casting range was roughly fifteen kilometers—well within the overlapping fire zone of the main fortress and the citadel.
However, they had a solution.
Two Earth Grand Magi combined their powers. Drawing mana from miles around, one condensed a massive amount of soil into a stone sphere hundreds of meters in diameter. The other formed a colossal mana hand to push it forward.
RUMBLE...
The giant stone sphere rolled across the minefield, crushing everything in its path. Its massive bulk acted as a mobile shield, blocking the direct fire from the citadel's Wall Guns.
Knights formed up behind the rolling mountain, using it as cover to adjust their formations. The sharpest blade of the Alliance was about to be unsheathed.
BOOM!!!
When the knights advanced to within twenty kilometers of the citadel, the Main Fortress opened fire.
A 400mm Fortress Gun roared. The shell struck the stone sphere, blasting a crater ten meters deep into its surface.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!
Shell after shell screamed across the sky, hammering the rolling shield.
CRACK... CRACK...
The sphere began to fracture, threatening to disintegrate. Seeing this, the Earth Grand Magus immediately poured more mana into the construct. The stone sphere seemed to heal itself, rocky protrusions growing over the craters.
"Elevate the guns! Target the rear!!"
The Fortress Artillery Commander saw the futility and immediately ordered a change in targeting.
"Fire over the sphere! Hit the formation behind it!"
BOOM!!
A shell arched over the stone sphere and landed squarely beside a knight squadron. The explosion vaporized a dozen knights instantly, sending more flying like ragdolls.
More shells rained down.
Elven Grand Druids raised their hands high. A canopy of interwoven ironwood branches grew rapidly, shielding the knights from the shrapnel rain.
But under the relentless bombardment, even the wooden canopy began to splinter. The deafening explosions overhead made the knights swallow hard. They could only pray the Druids held firm. A direct hit from a Fortress Gun would kill even a Ninth-Rank Knight.
"All units! Prepare!!"
At ten kilometers out, the lead Ninth-Rank Knight Commander drew his longsword and shouted.
SHING...
Thousands of blades were drawn in unison, the metallic ring echoing across the plains. The aura of the knights began to synchronize.
The stone sphere stopped. The Grand Magi gathered their mana for one final push.
"Earth Wave!!"
The ground surged like a storm-tossed sea. The remaining mines were pushed out by the rolling earth and detonated by the crushing weight of the soil wave.
RUMBLE...
A tsunami of dirt, dozens of meters high, crashed toward the citadel walls. The citadel, already breached once and hastily patched without defensive arrays, stood no chance.
The walls were swallowed. The earth wave collapsed the fortifications and buried hundreds of demon defenders alive.
"CHARGE!!!"
As the dust settled, a flat, hundred-meter-wide road appeared between the Alliance and the ruins of the citadel. The Grand Magi split the stone sphere in two, opening the gate.
The Knight Commander swung his sword forward.
CLOP-CLOP-CLOP...
Thousands of warhorses accelerated. The mages could no longer protect them; speed was their only defense now.
BOOM!!!
A shell landed directly in the formation, blasting a corner of the square into oblivion.
The knights behind didn't flinch. They expertly steered around the crater and closed the gap, maintaining the formation's integrity.
BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!
The fourteen Wall Gun turrets on the main fortress opened fire. Twenty-eight heavy cannons unleashed a dense barrage.
The earth trembled. The sound of hooves was drowned out by explosions. Shrapnel and stone rained on the knights' armor like hail.
Every shell that landed meant the death of dozens. Smoking craters dotted the charge path—the smallest big enough to swallow a car, the largest big enough to bury a bus.
Yet, the knights charged in silence. When one fell, another filled the gap.
Their speed increased. At five kilometers out, the Charge Formation fully manifested.
Terrifying mana enveloped the knights. The Knight Commander at the tip of the spear became the focal point, condensing the collective energy into a glowing, solid lance of light.
WHOOSH...
The mana drill pierced through the ruins of the citadel wall without slowing down. It plowed through buildings like a hot knife through butter, crushing everything in its path.
In the blink of an eye, the drill reached the center of the citadel.
Here, the demons had prepared a "plaza." Beneath the camouflage lay a Mana Gathering Array... and thousands of tons of high explosives.
As the drill passed over the center of the plaza, Claire, watching from a hidden bunker, revealed a savage grin. She slammed her hand down on the detonator.
"DIE!!"
Chapter 118: The Second Sun
In that instant, everyone on the battlefield saw a second sun rise from the earth.
A colossal fireball expanded in slow motion. Then came the shockwave, visible to the naked eye, sweeping across the land and pulverizing every building and rock in its radius.
Then came the heat wave, devouring everything combustible.
Finally, the deafening roar of the explosion shattered the sky.
BOOM!!!
A massive mushroom cloud pierced the heavens, carrying dust ten thousand meters into the air and blotting out the sun.
Even far away in the main fortress, Luna felt the terrifying impact, her body shaking from the tremors.
...
"Is this... is this what you meant by 'definitely holding the line'? Claire! You planned to die with them..."
At the edge of the fortress perimeter, Eleanor sat on her horse, fists clenched so tight her knuckles were white. Her eyes were wide, staring at the mushroom cloud rising in the distance.
"No wonder you only took ten thousand troops and made me take the rest to the flank... You intended to do this all along..." She gritted her teeth, her body trembling with grief and rage.
"Commander! Call from Luna!"
The communications officer handed her the handset.
"Eleanor! What happened?! Where is Claire? Where is she?!"
As soon as Eleanor put the receiver to her ear, Luna's frantic voice screamed through.
"Luna... Claire... she... she took the Alliance down with her!"
Eleanor's voice shook as she forced back the grief.
"What?!" Luna froze in shock.
"SHE IS DEAD!!" Eleanor roared into the phone. "She told me she would withdraw! But she didn't! She's dead!"
"But I will execute my mission! I will sweep away every last human on this battlefield!!"
Eleanor threw the handset down and drew her sword.
"ALL UNITS! CHARGE!!"
She spurred her horse and charged out first. Behind her, tens of thousands of demons hidden behind the hills roared and followed.
"We are not cowards who can only charge when Her Majesty is watching! Brothers, follow me!!!"
"KILL!!!"
A black tide of demons surged toward the lingering mushroom cloud.
"Eleanor!? ELEANOR!! COME BACK!!"
From the discarded handset lying in the dirt, Luna's desperate screams echoed, only to dissipate into the wind.
Comments (1)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.