Chapter 791

Chapter 791: The Battle on the Sharp Edge

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The Western Continent, Clancia.

Banners fluttered as warriors in uniform gear came from all directions, stepping into this chaotic battlefield.

Under those white banners fluttering in the wind stood a perfectly aligned silver army. The sturdy shields bore gleaming stars, and metal gun barrels were placed through the gaps in these shields, pointing towards the Black-Red Army below on the hillside.

After months of fierce battles, Clancia’s excellent mobilization mechanism began to show its strength. Countless young men who had undergone military training were organized by the state, armed with weapons and equipment, and sent to the front lines.

In the rear, the armories operated at full capacity under the high morale of the workers, producing new muskets that were then distributed to the soldiers at the front lines.

Although smoothbore muskets could not yet completely suppress contemporary archers, they had significant advantages over archers in terms of ease of use and widespread adoption due to lower training time and physical requirements.

A year had swiftly passed, and as the great army of the Crimson Empire entered the heartland of Clancia, it was like compressing a spring to its limit, facing increasing resistance. In the past, they could advance hundreds of miles in a week, but now advancing a kilometer was incredibly difficult.

November 1698

The great army of the Crimson Empire clashed with Clancia once again in the wilderness of Windhowl Province. This time, both sides deployed nearly 3 million soldiers across a front line stretching for dozens of kilometers, with smoke and gunfire everywhere.

“Advance the army!”

Under the winter sun, the commander of the empire raised his sword high, and beneath the dazzling flash of the blade, armored cavalry riding bulls began to move forward slowly, gradually accelerating.

These original Sequence 4 War Rhinos from the Central Empire were the elite private army of the Earl of Grey Peak. Each rhinoceros was clad in thick bronzium armor several inches thick. The heavy hooves of the rhinos left deep footprints on the ground, and their advance shook the earth like thunder, causing fear and awe.

Facing the ancient bronze rhino cavalry ahead, a short burst of flames lit up in Clancia’s ranks, followed by the continuous sound of musket fire.

Dense bullets struck the bronzium armor, creating sparks and sounds, and leaving tiny scratches.

“Haha, useless, useless. Such attacks cannot harm my war rhino cavalry,” laughed a nobleman wearing a red velvet cape with a white lining. He was none other than the Earl of Grey Peak, leading these war rhinos.

Since the great army of the empire had achieved consecutive victories, the nobility within the empire

The old and prominent nobles finally mobilized. Unlike the minor nobles, these were powerful families that had risen alongside the empire, maintaining their prestige with formidable private armies.

This was their source of pride and strength, symbolizing the glory and power of their lineage, ensuring their prominence remained unbroken.

With the rare great war now underway, they brought out their well-trained private armies, ready to once again prove their family’s glory on the battlefield and earn merit for the dawn of a new era.

“Trouble.”

Behind Clancia, the commanders watching the battle frowned. Although Clancia had recently reinforced its ranks with nearly 600,000 fresh troops, the后续的100万大军 from the Crimson Empire were also arriving, tipping the scales back to balance and causing the battle to stall.

“Send the mage teams to alter the terrain and obstruct those war rhinos.”

“Yes, sir,” the messenger answered loudly, then waved the command flag to relay the order to the rear formations.

“It seems our turn has come.”

A graceful female mage, understanding the meaning behind the banners and flashes on the hill, watched ahead. She wore an open-collar uniform with a white base, the cuffs and hem edged in metallic gold, her long black hair flowing softly over her shoulders, shimmering slightly under the glow of magic.

Adorning her headband was a white flower, and her wrist-length black gloves revealed slender fingers as she raised her hand. A floating magical instrument rose with it, emitting azure magic particles that began to swirl.

Tirela, Magic Sequence 7·Azure Gyro, once a mage from Rourna and a graduate of Emanas, had long been in contact with the sage of Clancia, providing the critical steam turbine designs. During the Frost Union and Star Alliance conflict, she was one of the few mages not drawn into the war.

After the war, this talented mage joined Clancia and became the leader of its mage corps. Through her research, she had recently advanced to Magic Sequence 7, making her the most accomplished extraordinary being in the realm.

“Adjust the magitech instruments to target the earth 200-500 meters ahead and cast the high-level shaping spell—Steel Spiked Earth!”

Her clear command echoed around, and mages in similar uniforms immediately responded. Under the coordination of this group of hundreds of high-ranking mages, the floating magitech instruments shot out azure beams, sweeping precisely across the ground according to their programmed trajectories.

The once barren land was suddenly crisscrossed with azure grid lines,

Dense metallic elements converged, forming sharp spikes pointing towards the sky.

These spikes were dark brown at their base, gradually darkening in color as they extended upward until the tips were pitch black and increasingly sharp.

When the war rhinos of the Crimson Empire stepped onto this steel-studded ground, many were tripped, while others had their unprotected bellies sliced open by the steel spikes, gushing blood.

Frightened by the pain, these rhinos began to panic and scream, some even defying orders and refusing to move forward. As a result, the advance of the Crimson Empire’s army was severely disrupted, temporarily halted halfway through.

Meanwhile, gunshots continued to ring out from Clancia’s ranks. Taking advantage of the chaos, bullets from muskets were fired one after another, shooting through the gaps between the war rhinos to hit the troops behind them.

“These pampered nobles who have been idle for years can’t do it after all; we still need to rely on us.” Behind the imperial army, a young man riding a red dragon shook his head and then steered his dragon to rise into the air.

Following the captain, one Dragon Knight after another rode their red dragons to catch up, and once again, the figures of the Bloodwing Red Dragon Knights appeared in the sky.

Roar—

The red dragon roared, spewing flames that poured down from the sky, sweeping across Clancia’s silver steel army.

Hexagonal light screens in pale blue rose, briefly blocking these cascading flames.

“Huh, we made it just in time.” Tierea looked at the thin light screen, took a breath, and then continued giving orders.

“Have the reserve mages prepare defensive barriers. We can’t keep expending our energy and mana countering the red dragon’s flames. Only then can we have additional means to deal with unexpected situations.”

“Yes, Chief Tierea.” Several deep blue mages bowed, pressing their hands to their chests before heading to the rear of the army to instruct the mid- and low-level mages to prepare.

In this protracted war, both sides escalated their efforts. Extraordinary Beings from both factions began converging on the vortex of war. Whether it was the descendants of mages, priests from the Holy Land, northern orcs, martial mountain dwellers, desert remnants, or tribes from the Western Plains, they would all be drawn into the tide opposing the empire’s advance.

On the other side, the old nobles within the empire led their private armies onto the battlefield, including northern forest guards, western axe-wielding heavy infantry, eastern agile cavalry, southern draconic riders, and central palace red-robed envoys. They would all offer their strength for the glory of the empire.

Blood and fire dyed the sunset, and the once beautiful wilderness was destined to become a terrifying slaughterhouse, shattering countless lives.

(End of Chapter)