Chapter 383: The Heavy Responsibility on Willy's Shoulders

Steering the White Tower, the White Dragon Lord flew brazenly through the airspace above the Tower of Evening Flame, passed over the ruined Tower of Resounding Winds, and headed straight for Sea-Calling City.

After firing the Metamagic Railgun in limit mode, the White Tower required a thorough inspection to ensure no minor issues would crop up during the next battle. In the unforgiving chaos of combat, even the slightest malfunction could cause the entire frontline to collapse.

The White Dragon Lord landed the White Tower inside Sea-Calling City and used magic to amplify his voice.

"Good work, everyone. You are free to move about, but do not leave Sea-Calling City. If you wander off alone, you risk being ambushed."

"Understood!" they replied in unison.

The ancient gold dragon led the legendary powerhouses out of the White Tower.

Aside from the perimeter alerts and a few basic functions, the White Dragon Lord deactivated all of the White Tower's magic arrays, allowing the structure to cool down naturally.

Once the White Tower finished cooling, the White Dragon Lord issued a command through his Gold Finger.

"Tower Spirit, scan the White Tower for anomalies."

Pale blue magical energy gathered before the White Dragon Lord, condensing in the blink of an eye into a slowly rotating miniature model of the White Tower. The projection was flawlessly detailed, perfectly capturing even the exact curvature of the runes etched across the exterior.

"Scanning..."

"Power supply system scan complete. No anomalies detected."

"Energy conduit scan complete. No anomalies detected."

"..."

A short while later, the Tower Spirit finished scanning all of the White Tower's functions. Everything was operating perfectly. The White Dragon Lord breathed a sigh of relief; the White Tower's staggering construction cost had certainly been worth it.

Should he go ahead and wipe out the Tower of Evening Flame now?

With that thought in mind, the White Dragon Lord dialed in the Raven Council's communication frequency. A blurry projection of Grimos Raven flickered into existence before him.

"Lord Amos, I owe you a favor for this."

"Allies should look out for one another, Lord Grimos. What is the situation with the Raven Council?"

"We didn't lose many legendary powerhouses, but nearly twenty percent of our army fell in battle. The floating tower was overloaded, causing minor issues with the energy transmission conduits, but it will be a quick repair."

"Good. Notify me once the floating tower is repaired, and we will move together."

Grimos Raven nodded.

Not giving the Titans a chance to jam the signal, the White Dragon Lord proactively cut the connection and gazed out the window. On the horizon, the sun had already begun to pull back its brilliant rays. Night was falling.

Though the darkness would hardly hinder the White Dragon Lord, the minor malfunction within the Raven Council's floating tower was a major problem. This was no time to launch an offensive; he could only spare the Tower of Evening Flame for now.

...

Early the next morning, after receiving word from the Raven Council, the White Dragon Lord steered the White Tower and its many legendary powerhouses toward the Tower of Evening Flame.

Just before crossing into the Tower of Evening Flame's visual range, the White Dragon Lord activated the cloaking magic arrays.

At this stage of the war, a stealth ambush wouldn't instantly decide the battle, but it could still secure a solid advantage for their side.

After approaching the Tower of Evening Flame under the cover of invisibility, the White Dragon Lord slammed the White Tower into a full-power sprint while simultaneously activating Moon's Protection and a series of other trump cards.

Unsurprisingly, the Titan defenders spotted the White Tower and instantly retaliated. A volley of multi-colored Spears of the Titans streaked through the air toward the flying tower.

As the White Dragon Lord cast spells to intercept the barrage, he felt something was strange. The Tower of Evening Flame was directly adjacent to the main tower of the Magic Tower Defense System, and it had always been controlled by the Lord of Red Lotus's core subordinates.

The subordinates the Lord of Red Lotus trusted most were undoubtedly his own kin, meaning the defenders garrisoned here had always been magma Titans. Yet, the incoming volley didn't just consist of Magma Spears; there were many Spears of the Titans bearing entirely different attributes, and the sheer number of them wasn't right.

"Something is wrong! There are too many Titans in the Tower of Evening Flame!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The White Tower's Metamagic Railgun and the legendary powerhouses intercepted the volley of spears. The White Dragon Lord immediately changed direction and retreated.

The sudden surge in Titan numbers left the White Dragon Lord deeply unsettled. He needed intelligence to confirm his theory. The moment he steered the White Tower out of the Tower of Evening Flame's surveillance range, he activated the cloaking magic arrays and flew toward the closest neighboring structure, the Tower of Netherfire.

After probing the Tower of Netherfire, the White Dragon Lord discovered that its Titan garrison had also swelled beyond normal levels. He instantly understood that the Lord of Red Lotus had called for reinforcements from the Sincaro Titan World, and he immediately piloted the White Tower back to Sea-Calling City.

"The Raven Council is requesting a transmission."

At the Tower Spirit's prompt, the White Dragon Lord hurriedly accepted the call.

"Lord Amos, I've noticed the number of Titans in the magic towers is off. Did the White Tower discover anything?"

"The Titan garrisons in the Tower of Netherfire and the Tower of Evening Flame have multiplied. The Lord of Red Lotus called in reinforcements!"

The White Dragon Lord and Grimos Raven both felt a headache coming on. The first signs of their worst-case scenario had appeared.

The Lord of Red Lotus was the power occupying the Muxinge Plane. When White Castle and the Raven Council had originally strategized, they determined the ideal scenario was fighting only him and his subordinate forces. The worst-case scenario was going to war against the entire Sincaro Titan World.

While their current situation wasn't exactly a war against the entire Sincaro Titan World just yet, it was trending in that direction. Both faction leaders felt a deep sense of unease.

"Lord Amos, we need to have a serious discussion. Do we continue, or do we retreat..."

The already blurry projection abruptly vanished.

"That damned Magic Tower Defense System! Damned Titans!"

Anger solved nothing. The White Dragon Lord quickly tried to figure out how to reestablish contact with Grimos Raven. The Titans could rely on the Magic Tower Defense System to jam their communications at any time, which meant they could only negotiate in person.

However, the Titans could launch an attack at any moment. The White Tower needed a powerhouse familiar with magic towers to hold the fort, so the White Dragon Lord couldn't leave. The same was true for Grimos Raven at the Raven Council.

"It seems I'll have to ask the main body for help..."

Suddenly, a ripple of magical energy surged from the White Tower's Teleportation Chamber. Tapping into the White Tower's vision, the White Dragon Lord saw a lone raven standing on the Teleportation Platform.

"How could I have forgotten about this..."

A moment later, the White Dragon Lord hosted Grimos Raven's familiar—the black raven—in the White Tower's main hall. A cup of water and a plate of specialty fish snacks from the Afiaiv Kingdom were set out in front of the black raven.

"Caw, caw, caw! Lord Amos! The Lord of Red Lotus's rallying power has exceeded my expectations, caw! If this keeps up, the Titans' combined strength will surpass our two sides. It is time for us to make a choice."

The White Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow as the raven's sharp beak continued to clack open and shut.

"In light of our current situation, I propose two options. The first is to abandon the campaign and withdraw our forces back to Nordhill, caw, caw!"

"I think I'll hear the second option first."

"Caw! The second option is to scrap our previous agreement on allocating spoils based on battle contributions. We concentrate the power of our two floating towers to focus fire on one magic tower at a time, destroying the Titans' magic towers one by one. This is the only way we stand a chance at victory, caw, caw!"

The White Dragon Lord nodded. There was no denying that Grimos Raven's idea was correct, but it was also somewhat shortsighted.

"Lord Grimos, have you considered that by destroying these burdens, the Titans will be free to concentrate their forces and crush us with their sheer numbers? Right now, the Magic Tower Defense System is the Titans' advantage, but it is also their drag."

Far away, Grimos Raven fell silent in thought, and the raven took the opportunity to peck at the fish on the plate.

Just as the White Dragon Lord had said, the Magic Tower Defense System was both the Titans' advantage and their drag. The advantage lay in their control over the plane and its intelligence; the drag was that too many magic towers required garrisons, leaving the Titans unable to concentrate their forces.

"Let's calculate the numbers."

Magical energy flew from the White Dragon Lord's fingertips, weaving ice-blue numbers into the air. The feasting raven raised its head, the ice-blue color flashing in its ruby-like eyes.

"Right now, excluding the main tower, the Titans' Magic Tower Defense System has eighteen magic towers. Calculating based on the Tower of Evening Flame's personnel, there are five Titans in each magic tower. Eighteen magic towers mean ninety Titans. Add in the Titans following the Lord of Red Lotus and the Mother of Lightning inside the main tower, and their total number is no fewer than one hundred and twenty."

"The Titans have one hundred and twenty legendary Titans, two high-tier legends, and one floating tower. Our two sides combined have thirty-five legendary powerhouses, three high-tier legends, and two floating towers. In terms of strength, the Titans have already taken a slight lead over our alliance."

The raven flapped its wings in obvious agitation as the White Dragon Lord continued his analysis.

"I imagine the Lord of Red Lotus is currently very conflicted over whether to abandon his costly magic towers or concentrate his forces to drive us away. In a slightly worse scenario, he is still waiting for new reinforcements, attempting to crush us with a sheer numerical advantage."

"Caw! Lord Amos, what do you think? Do we retreat? Or..."

"There are currently two options. The first is to increase the size of our army. The Titans have a fatal flaw: they don't lack legendary powerhouses and master-tier combatants, but they have a gap at the high-tier and intermediate-tier professional levels. We don't lack subordinates at those tiers, so we could simply overwhelm them with numbers."

"But if we do that, the casualties among our intermediate-tier and high-tier professionals will be an astronomical figure, caw! Professionals are the foundation of any faction. Achieving victory that way would mean sacrificing our faction's potential. I don't approve of that approach."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"I feel the same way. But if we don't do that, our only remaining option is to give up a portion of our profits to attract more allies."

"Caw, caw, caw! Lord Amos, given your influence among the dragons of Nordhill, you could absolutely rally the Nordhill Dragon Race to join the battle."

"I refuse!"

The White Dragon Lord's tone was resolute.

"Our alliance is invading the Muxinge Plane for profit. This is my private affair; how could I drag my entire race into it?"

Of course, the sparse population of the Nordhill Dragon Race was also one of the main reasons the White Dragon Lord refused to do so.

"Very well. Do you have any candidates for new allies, Lord Amos?"

"That is exactly what is giving me a headache. The Abyss Blood War has started, and many of the Council's factions have poured their forces into the Abyss and cannot pull away. Furthermore, the danger level of this battle is very high; factions without a floating tower cannot participate. I did the math, and the only factions with the strength to join this battle right now are the Nine Eyes Alliance, the Emerald Tower, the Black Robe Wizard's Association, and the Holy Sanctuary."

Grimos Raven also felt a headache coming on. The Nine Eyes Alliance represented the good-aligned factions and would not participate in an invasion of another plane. Merlin Heavenly Principle's Emerald Tower firmly upheld the Council's rules and would similarly refuse to help invade another plane. That left only the Black Robe Wizard's Association. As for the Holy Sanctuary, which was dedicated to worshipping gods and purging evil, Grimos Raven completely ignored them.

"To be honest, I don't want to cooperate with the Black Robe Wizard's Association. They..."

"Lord Grimos, you might have misunderstood something. I believe our most suitable partner is the Nine Eyes Alliance."

"Caw?! Lord Amos, I must remind you that the Nine Eyes Alliance never invades other planes. They abide by the rules and uphold good intentions."

"Yes, that's correct. The Nine Eyes Alliance does uphold good intentions, but the situation in the Muxinge Plane is different."

The White Dragon Lord leaned back in his chair and shifted into a more comfortable posture.

"The people here are enslaved by the Titans. Striking down the evil Titans does not violate the Nine Eyes Alliance's philosophy. Furthermore, the Metallic Dragons are the second-largest race in the Nine Eyes Alliance after the Elves. The Metallic Dragons also despise the Titans and hold core speaking power. As long as we handle it properly, I think there is a great hope the Nine Eyes Alliance will participate."

After a moment of silence, Grimos Raven thought it through.

"Alright, you've convinced me, caw. But I suddenly remembered that we actually have other candidates for allies."

The White Dragon Lord felt a bit puzzled. He was certain he hadn't missed a single faction on the Nordhill Continent.

"Who?"

"The sea races! Caw, caw, caw!"

The raven's eyes gleamed sharply.

"The ocean region of the Muxinge Plane is our bargaining chip to attract the sea races. I suspect Naga Queen Evangeline Carter and Mermaid Emperor Namelodo might be interested in this proposal. As for whether we can actually attract the sea races to participate, that depends entirely on how much of a share you are willing to give up, Lord Amos."

According to their previous agreement, land-based interests were allocated based on battle contributions, while the oceanic resources were fully developed by the Afiaiv Kingdom, with White Castle taking a seventy percent share and the Raven Council taking thirty percent.

"Alright. We only have a chance to fulfill our agreement if we take down the Muxinge Plane. If the sea races are willing to participate, I will have a good talk with them. Let's split up and act now. White Castle has ties with the Metallic Dragons, so White Castle will take charge of persuading the Nine Eyes Alliance."

"Caw, caw! The Raven Council will be responsible for contacting the sea races."

The brief meeting of a few minutes ended, and the raven returned via the Teleportation Platform. The White Dragon Lord then summoned Willy.

"Willy, I have an important mission for you. This task will directly determine the outcome of this battle for the Muxinge Plane."

Seeing the White Dragon Lord's serious expression, Willy's heart grew heavy.

"Alright, brother. What is the mission?"

"I need you to return to Nordhill and find the Silver Dragon Scholar, Jetesla Nashudine. Explain the situation in the Muxinge Plane to him and ask him to help persuade the higher-ups of the Nine Eyes Alliance to join the battle for the Muxinge Plane. You only have one day, because the Titans' forces are continuously growing, and I have no idea when they will launch their general offensive."