Ashen Dragon

"This is exhilarating! I hit the jackpot with this wave!"

High in the skies, Mantou stared at the densely packed experience notifications refreshing on his panel, and he couldn't help but exclaim in delight.

"I feel like I've forgotten how to count—ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... Holy crap, how much experience is this?!" Mantou squinted at the numbers on the panel, almost doubting his own eyes.

Just from a few rounds of bombing, Mantou had already obliterated thousands of Orcs, and countless more succumbed to the fiery inferno left behind.

Faced with the densely packed Orc horde, the Empire's various new bombs unleashed their devastating power with abandon.

Although most of the Orcs had low Challenge Levels, their sheer numbers still brought Mantou a massive haul of experience, enough to push him past the Tenth Level threshold.

Mantou spoke into the intercom: "Singo, how much experience did you get?"

"Twenty-three thousand."

"What the hell, that's insane! How is yours even higher than mine?" Mantou was incredulous.

"You're such a rookie. This is exactly the efficiency of Empire-era warfare. You probably don't know this, but the senior Bishops of the Mechanical God Cult maxed out their experience ages ago." Singo replied indifferently.

Twenty-three thousand experience—normally, you'd need to kill a powerful boss with a Challenge Level of over 15 to earn that much.

But all they had done was ride the wyverns, follow standard operating procedures, and listen to unified commands to drop bombs—and just like that, the rewards were theirs.

If it weren't for the level cap restrictions, Mantou even suspected he could have farmed experience to Full Level amidst this endless Orc horde.

As the thought came to him, Mantou gazed down at the flood-like sea of Orcs covering the ground, the eagerness in his eyes revealing he didn't see savage, ugly enemies but rather a walking army of experience points.

"Better make the most of this chance—grab as much as I can!"

"Whizz—"

The alloy-covered Dragon Wings sliced through the air, emitting a piercing screech, while vivid bursts of flame flared from the steel pipes at the end of the Wing Armor.

"Everyone, ascend rapidly! Prepare for the next round of bombing, using solidified gasoline bombs again."

The commander's voice came through the headset.

"Copy that."

Mantou, Singo, and the other Wyvern Knights quickly responded.

Then, with practiced ease, they adjusted the throttle, increased the attack angles, tweaked the armor fins to manage lift, and maneuvered their Bipedal Wyverns into a steep ascent.

Most of these riders had spent substantial experience to unlock [New Style Riding Skill] Proficiencies. Mantou had initially felt the cost to be agonizing but had reluctantly burned through 5,000 experience to reach +6 on Singo's urging.

But compared to the current gains, that initial investment was almost negligible—a single wave of solidified gasoline bombings was enough to recover it all. Mantou's biggest regret was not maxing out the skill back then.

Singo, on the other hand, had pushed [New Style Riding Skill] Proficiencies straight to +18, performing awe-inspiring aerial maneuvers as effortlessly as drinking water.

"Roar—"

The Bipedal Wyverns climbed higher, their bodies thrilled by the sensation of tearing through the air and the powerful thrust from behind, letting loose a joyful howl.

Mantou muttered, "For some reason, I feel like the commander's voice sounds familiar..."

Singo replied, "You've met him before. The commander for this mission is Curtis, the Bishop from the [Source Return Sect]."

"Him? Wasn't he..."

"Curtis is well-versed in the precise parameters of various bombs and had a hand in the design of Skyfire Armor, so naturally, he's qualified to lead this bombing operation.

That said, we better tread carefully—this guy's a paranoid maniac, a complete psychopath."

"Watch your mouth—what if he overhears you?"

"We're on one-way communication, not the shared aviation fleet channel. Should be fine."

"Heh, gossiping about others is never a good idea. I suggest you all focus on your task at hand."

Curtis's voice suddenly emerged in Mantou's headset, calm and even-toned, leaving a faint sense of unease.

Mantou was startled, breaking into a cold sweat. He hurriedly responded, "Yes, sir."

"This lunatic definitely left himself a backdoor connection!" Mantou thought nervously to himself.

By now, the Bipedal Wyverns had already ascended to the high point, turning gracefully under their riders' control, carving elegant arcs in the ten-thousand-meter-high skies.

Curtis's emotionless voice came through the headset: "Maintain level flight. Drop the solidified gasoline bombs."

Upon hearing the order, all the Wyvern Knights pressed the bomb release buttons simultaneously. In an instant, the bomb bays on the Bipedal Wyverns' undersides opened, and the payload rained down once more.

"Whoosh—"

The bombs plunged like raindrops into the Orc horde below, exploding with brilliant bursts of light that swallowed everything in their vicinity.

The flaming, combustible materials scattered like heavenly fire, gradually creating vast seas of raging flames...

Another successful bombing.

The sounds of wailing, roaring, explosions, the howl of heated winds, and the crackle of burning flames echoed across the wasteland. Thick smoke blanketed the sky, piercing up to the heavens, while the ground was ravaged by monstrous fire dragons.

Those heavy-armored Bipedal Wyverns slicing through the skies resembled grim reapers' scythes, swinging over and over again to reap the lives of the Orcs relentlessly.

It was a grand feast of slaughter.

Thanks to the extreme density of the Orcs and the terrifying power of the new bombs, the Wyvern Knights didn't even need to calibrate their parameters. They could drop bombs blindfolded and still annihilate swathes of Orcs, creating devastating casualties.