Chapter 234: Torrent of Steel

Despite his shock and uncertainty, General Roski forced himself to stay calm. He had no way back. Staring at the rapidly approaching dragons, his mind raced with frantic calculations.

Eight hundred meters!

Five hundred meters!

Three hundred meters!

Seeing the dragons slightly part their jaws, firelight flickering between their teeth, General Roski roared.

"Fire!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Massive ballista bolts tore through the air, friction generating white trails of vapor. Their sharp, barbed heads gleamed with cold light as they shot toward the three incoming dragons.

The White Dragon Lord watched the incoming bolts. With a single thought, the moisture in the air rapidly condensed, forming three Ice Shields to protect himself and his companions.

Amos did not believe these bolts could pierce the scales of dragons at the High-Tier Legendary Tier, but a lucky hit to the eyes or other fragile spots could still pose a threat.

The chances were minuscule, but a risk was a risk. Better to nip that one-in-a-million threat in the bud.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The ballista bolts struck the Ice Shields, leaving behind only faint white pockmarks.

General Roski's jaw dropped. He stared wide-eyed at the sudden Ice Shields, the sight completely defying his comprehension.

Magic?!

It was the proud general's final thought.

The Ancient Gold Dragon, Adelaide Leslie, looked at the distant City Wall. Dragon Breath surged from its jaws, and golden flames instantly swallowed the men on the gate tower.

Even the three-thousand-year-old City Wall could not withstand the Ancient Gold Dragon's powerful breath. It crumbled the moment the flames struck, sending rubble and dust flying in all directions.

Roar!

A heaven-shaking dragon roar echoed across Blade Fortress, accompanied by an eruption of terrifying dragon might. Caught in its radius, the natives of Madilan—men who were not even professionals—felt their hearts seize. Struck numb as if by lightning, they collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Soldiers stationed on the tall watchtowers plummeted like stones, falling freely to the earth below.

Surging Dragon Breath swept through the fortress, obliterating the buildings that had been specially designed for street combat.

The Dragon Breath scoured the earth.

Across the grounds of Blade Fortress, one Path of Frost and two Paths of Flames carved the city into four distinct sections.

The Ancient Gold Dragon, Adelaide Leslie, banked around to continue scouring the ground with its breath, while the Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, flew straight past the fortress.

Because of the massive troop deployment, the empty houses were nowhere near enough to shelter everyone, even though City Lord Sendra had evacuated all the civilians from Blade Fortress.

As a result, the late-arriving soldiers were forced to camp in the clearing at the end of the canyon. Their white tents stretched for a kilometer, the war flags of the Luonan Empire snapping fiercely in the wind.

Soon, however, all of it would be reduced to ash beneath the flames.

Complete chaos erupted.

Soldiers on the camp's periphery scattered on foot, sprinting for their lives. A few quick-witted men slashed the ropes at the hitching posts, vaulted onto their horses, and whipped their mounts into a frantic gallop.

The White Dragon Lord flew to the end of the canyon and unleashed his breath, raising a towering Wall of Ice that completely sealed the pass.

The soldiers who had managed to flee from the fortress collapsed to their knees in utter despair.

Blade Fortress—the bastion that had guarded the entire human empire—had been transformed into a tomb. Roaring flames and collapsed buildings were everywhere, burying everything beneath the rubble.

The White Dragon Lord soared higher into the sky, methodically slaughtering the panicked messenger eagles one by one.

Amos had waited patiently for over ten days, and now he had finally buried the Luonan Empire's elites right here. With the empire's strength severely weakened, the Orc Race finally had the power to clash with the Luonan Empire head-on.

Out on the Great Orc Prairie beyond the Orc's Throat, the gathered Orcs watched the burning Blade Fortress with surging emotions. This thorn, lodged deep in their race's throat for centuries, had finally been reduced to ash beneath the dragon's breath.

Relying on his immense prestige, the chieftain of the Blood Axe Clan, Gnosh Bloodaxe, stood at the very front of the army alongside the Orc Grand Chieftain, Sodmar Warcry.

As they gazed at the collapsed City Wall of Blade Fortress, their battle intent surged.

The prison doors were open. The beasts were finally slipping their cages.

...

The next day.

The Great Orc Prairie.

The first rays of morning sunlight cast their glow upon the Orc Grand Chieftain, Sodmar Warcry. He found the light exceptionally warm and pleasant.

Warblade in hand, Sodmar leapt atop a massive boulder outside Blade Fortress, turning to face the dense, sprawling sea of his clansmen below.

"My beloved kin!"

At his call, the Orcs fell silent. They raised their heads, looking up at the Grand Chieftain upon the boulder. Sodmar paused for a moment.

"Three thousand years ago, the Blade Emperor drove our ancestors into this wasteland with ballistae and spears!"

Sodmar pointed out toward the Great Orc Prairie, his voice rising into a furious roar.

"Here! In this cage! For thousands of years, our people have starved and frozen! We chewed on grass roots! We fought wild wolves for scraps of meat! We suffered every torment this world has to offer, yet the prairie still could not feed our numbers!"

Sodmar's face twisted with fury. With a trembling finger, he pointed over his shoulder at the smoldering ruins of Blade Fortress. Spurred by their chieftain's emotion, a suffocating aura of grief and rage spread through the ranks.

The Grand Chieftain's voice caught in his throat.

"Driven by starvation and despair, generation after generation of Orcs hurled themselves against the gates of our prison! Do you see this canyon behind me?!"

Sodmar roared, practically tearing his throat.

"Do you know why the dirt in this pass is red?!"

Trembling with fierce emotion, Sodmar swept his burning gaze across the army and bellowed.

"It was dyed red by the blood of countless generations of Orcs! Every single one of us has family buried in that dirt! Every single one of us has ancestors who bled out on those stones!"

The vast army stood in deathly silence, but their violently heaving chests revealed the sheer intensity of the rage boiling in their blood.

The Grand Chieftain's voice grew deeply mournful.

"Our ancestors fell helpless before the City Wall of Blade Fortress, butchered by the humans' ballista bolts."

Sodmar leaned forward and asked softly, "Was it because they lacked courage?!"

Sodmar straightened his spine and roared, "No!"

He jabbed a finger toward the pass behind him and shouted.

"I tell you now—every Orc who died in that canyon was the bravest, most glorious Warrior our race has ever seen! They knew they were marching to their deaths, yet they faced it without a flinch!"

"And for what?!"

The Grand Chieftain glared down at his people and roared again.

"For the survival of our race! So there would be fewer mouths to feed! So that those left behind on the prairie might live to see another winter! But most of all, they died to send the humans a message: We Orcs will never submit!"

Below him, the Orcs threw their heads back and unleashed a deafening roar, venting centuries of grief and fury into the sky.

After a long while, Sodmar raised his hand, and the sea of Orcs fell quiet once more.

"Just last night, our allies! Our Guardians! They burned Blade Fortress to the ground! And now, a chance that comes once in a thousand years stands before us!"

Sodmar hoisted his Warblade high into the air and bellowed.

"Warriors of the Orc Race! Will you ride with me?! Will you march into the meat grinder and fight until your last breath?!"

"Yes!"

The battle cries surged like a tidal wave.

Thousands of Orcs brandished their weapons, answering their chieftain's call with frantic fervor.

"Good! Today, we tear into the Luonan Empire! We will burn their cities to ash and wash away our ancestors' shame in human blood!!!"

Sodmar punched his fist into the sky and roared, "Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance!"

The masses of Orcs pumped their fists in unison.

"Vengeance!"

"Vengeance! Vengeance!"

"Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance!"

The manic roars of the Orc army shook the heavens, drifting all the way up to the cliff face above Blade Fortress, where the three dragons rested.

Looking down at the torrent of steel marching through the fortress ruins, the White Dragon Lord spoke to the two Gold Dragons beside him.

"This army... is unstoppable!"