Chapter 999: The First Collision

The three-faction coalition army, a hundred thousand airborne combatants strong, was erased in an instant beneath the missile barrage of the Demonic Siege Engine.

For a brief moment, the entire world fell silent. Every player, every spectator watching the global live stream, just stared. ’That thing... what the hell even was it?’

A year ago, its sudden appearance had shattered the allied factions’ original invasion plans. As long as that monstrous siege engine remained standing, the barrier protecting Dragon City could never be broken. That much had already been proven.

But now, a full year later, it was still there, and worse, it had grown.

What had once been a thirty-meter construct had become a towering two-hundred-meter giant, a steel monstrosity looming over the border like a nightmare made real. For months, outsiders had speculated about it, wondering how strong it had become after all this time.

Now they had their answer, and the answer was absurd.

Against that kind of firepower, player bodies were no different from paper thrown into a furnace. They burned up instantly, without resistance, without meaning.

If the enemy formations hadn’t spread themselves so far apart, the Mad Engineer would’ve happily dropped a few more shells and wiped out the remaining 9.9 million troops right there.

That wasn’t empty boasting either; he genuinely would have done it.

The only reason he held back was because this time he had brought only three Demonic Focused Airburst Shells. The coalition army had spread their troops too wide, making it impossible to maximize the blast radius.

And ammunition like this wasn’t something you wasted. Good weapons belonged in the right moment. Besides, Ethan hadn’t ordered another shot, and that alone made the Mad Engineer quietly relax.

Truthfully, he’d been worried Ethan might demand he blast open a path for the advance. Each Demonic Focused Airburst Shell cost over seven hundred thousand gold to make. Sure, the money came from guild funds, but he was the one who built them. Watching one go off still felt like watching stacks of gold explode.

The anti-air missiles from earlier had hurt enough already; lately, he’d gotten a little obsessive about his inventions, hoarding them like a dragon guarding treasure.

"Boss, we’re heading out too. Leo can’t hold the front alone." At Ethan’s side, the others rose one after another. Ethan gave a small nod. "Go."

He trusted them. Everyone standing here was a pillar of the Renegade Alliance, the backbone of everything they’d built.

Markham grinned, cracking his knuckles. "About damn time." Then he leaped straight off the Demonic Siege Engine.

Mid-fall, a massive blood-red hound materialized beneath him, catching him effortlessly before surging forward through the air. Markham’s hidden class, Blood Fiend Overlord, granted him an exclusive battle companion, and unlike ordinary mounts, this beast was made for war.

Williams followed close behind, riding a golden stallion that burst forward like a streak of sunlight. One after another, the core members departed, each mounted on a different flying battle companion. Ethan watched them leave, and his expression darkened with envy.

He had been the first player in the world to reach Level 60, the first to unlock flight. And what did he get? A normal flying mount. No combat skills, no special abilities, nothing. Just transportation. Worse still, other people could ride him; literally, he could become someone else’s mount.

Every time he remembered that detail, it made his blood pressure rise. He wanted a proper flying battle pet too, badly.

"Victor, why are you still here?" After everyone else had gone, Victor remained where he was. Victor rubbed the back of his neck, looking strangely awkward. "I’m going."

Ethan frowned, not understanding. Victor inhaled deeply, steeling himself like a man walking toward execution. Then he jumped.

A moment later, Ethan’s eyes widened, and he nearly laughed himself sick. Now he understood. Under Victor’s feet was a tiny owl.

Not a fierce eagle, not a dragon, not some majestic beast. Just... a tiny, round, ridiculously adorable owl.

Its oversized eyes were glossy and innocent, darting around nervously like it had no idea why it had been summoned into a battlefield.

It looked absurd.

Ethereal prided itself on realism; everything in the game was built to feel grounded, lifelike, immersive.

Victor’s mount looked like it had escaped from a children’s cartoon; it was completely out of place, cute beyond reason.

"Pfft." Ethan covered his mouth, trying and failing to keep a straight face. The Mad Engineer wasn’t nearly as merciful; he burst into laughter on the spot. Victor’s face stiffened, and without saying a word, he kicked off and shot forward on the little owl, vanishing like a streak of light across the sky at twelve times normal movement speed.

That was the difference between a battle companion and an ordinary mount: a battle companion’s minimum flying speed was 1,200%, while a regular mount maxed out at 500%. The gap wasn’t even worth comparing. In seconds, Victor caught up with the others and descended toward the front lines.

On the ground, flying battle companions were restricted to normal movement speed, a hard-coded limitation that kept aerial classes from becoming too oppressive.

At the very front, the veteran forces under Ethan’s command were already less than three hundred meters from colliding with the enemy.

That was when the coalition army moved.

A tide of magical energy surged from their backline, followed by countless arrows darkening the sky. Four hundred thousand ranged-class players, all firing at once. The sheer scale made the air tremble. Ethan watched calmly. "Shield."

Clang! The moment the command left his mouth, every Shield Tank at the front raised their massive tower shields overhead. The advancing wedge instantly transformed into a narrow steel canopy, layers of iron overlapping into a moving fortress.

Watching from the coalition side, OneSwordBreaksArmy let out a cold laugh. "Pathetic. Shields stop physical attacks. Let’s see how they block this." Behind the arrows came the real kill shot: AoE magic, massive, layered, overwhelming, enough to bury the entire formation.

But Ethan didn’t react; his gaze stayed fixed on the battlefield. "Prepare the Demonic Immunity Shield Generators."

Another hidden card, another invention from the Mad Engineer. Unlike the expensive shells, though, these could be mass-produced. Every member of the Renegade Alliance was holding one, a metal sphere small enough to fit in the palm. Single-use, three per person.

They had received them from the guild vault before departing, with one simple instruction: Do not activate without orders. No explanation, no demonstration, just trust. Now, as the sky turned into a storm of destruction, that trust was all they had.

Flames roared, blizzards spiraled, lightning split the heavens apart. The entire battlefield was drowning in violent colors, heat, and pressure. The players charging below could feel death coming, their eyes stinging from the light, their instincts screaming at them to run. No one believed they could survive a direct hit from this. But the commanders at the front hadn’t slowed down. Neither would they.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed, calculating the timing of the incoming barrage: three, two, one. "USE IT!" His roar shook the battlefield.

Ding. Ding. Ding. WHUUUM.

The instant the arrows struck the raised shields, the entire wedge formation exploded in blinding white light. A split second later, the ocean of magic crashed down on them. The impact shook the earth, fire swallowed everything, ice storms raged, lightning tore across the ground in endless arcs. To everyone watching, the Renegade Alliance had disappeared completely.

"Is it over?" "Did they just get wiped?" "So that’s it?"

Around the world, countless viewers stared at their screens, unable to look away. Even OneSwordBreaksArmy leaned forward, eyes fixed on the storm of destruction. "Report," he said sharply. "Any kills?"

The woman beside him relayed the command. A few seconds later, the answer came back, and her voice trembled. "No... none."

OneSwordBreaksArmy frowned. "What?"

She swallowed hard. "All damage reports say the same thing." Her eyes widened as she read the combat logs. "Immune."

The coalition army below erupted into confusion.

"That’s impossible!" "What kind of item blocks this much magic?!" The woman who had mocked the Renegade Alliance earlier had gone pale, all her confidence gone. Even the global viewers could tell something was wrong now. Then someone shouted,

"Look! It’s Skyblade!"