Ashen Dragon

On the eastern front, Saint Michael City fell in just a few days.

The commander of the Eastern Front Army, Imperial Marshal Derol, led the main force through the Radiant Mountains, like a sharp longsword, directly penetrating the heart of Thrace Kingdom, advancing towards Augustus with unimaginable speed.

Meanwhile, the Western Front Army was also assembled, charging across the vast plains, ruthlessly tearing apart Thrace's defenses, leaving those scattered cities to the Starfallen Army.

In just seven days, under the Empire's lightning-fast offensive, Thrace Kingdom's defenses collapsed, and the legions stationed across the land were completely destroyed.

Subsequently, under Wilhelm's "Supreme Command," military forces from all over Thrace Kingdom—including the Holy Guard, Golem Army, Arcane Legion, and Angel Divine Descendants—hastily moved towards Augustus.

At this moment, all forces from both sides converged on the capital of Thrace Kingdom, known as the "City of Sunrise," Augustus.

...

Thrace Kingdom, Augustus.

The towering Sun God Tower stood at the city's center, with its body flowing with liquid sunlight-like patterns, and the emblem of the sun disk atop it continuously emanated an aura day and night.

This was both a symbol of faith and the core of the energy shield covering the entire city, with inscriptions of the Sun God Script on its surface, able to continuously convert sunlight into a barrier against attacks.

The Angel Divine Descendants, commanded by Duke Tirenna, guarded around the tower, their wings forged like molten gold, holding Judgement Blades, patrolling the skies.

Tirenna swung the longsword, roaring at the Angel Divine Descendants: "The fate of Fianso will be determined by us!

We are the warriors chosen by the Sun God—for Thrace, for Holy Fadlan, and for the great Amanata, we must not let Augustus fall! Let not this land bathed in sunlight fall into enemy hands!"

At the top of the tower were three hundred Holy Sect Soldiers, they too bore wings, but their flawless faces remained expressionless, like holy statues.

"Heavenly wings, burning eyes, blazing swords, armor tearing; Holy chanting brands, divine eyes like torches..."

The Holy Law Chanting Group stood around the sun disk on the tower top, singing holy hymns, continuously fortifying the barrier with this power.

The city wall system fused the dual powers of Arcane and Divine Arts.

The outer layer was a gray-and-white rune barrier tens of meters high, with costly Alchemy Matrix inlaid in the masonry, automatically revealing a composite defensive magic array under attack, dispersing physical impacts underground while absorbing 30% of the magic energy to supply the Arcane Army.

The inner wall was densely lined with fifty-yard-high Prism Towers, with crystalline prisms at their tops controlled by Great Arcanists, capable of converting absorbed energy into Annihilation Beams or Wide Area Shields.

Behind the battlements stood thousands of golems silently, towering nearly ten meters high, their shells forged from meteorite iron, with cores being alchemical devices imprisoning souls, ready to become relentless killing machines disregarding pain once war erupts.

Throughout the city's streets, officers and soldiers hurried about, driving panicking commoners into shelters to prevent any from escaping.

"Quickly, everyone at the back, hurry up! Walking so slowly, do you want to get whipped?" A Thracian officer on a tall horse shouted fiercely at the refugees.

A ragged woman holding a child mustered her courage, softly saying: "Sir, my child hasn't eaten in days, it's really..."

"Snap!" The whip cracked on the woman's back, drawing a faint groan from her.

The officer didn't even glance, only shouted angrily: "Shut up! Do you want to watch Augustus get breached? Do you want to become food for the evil dragons?

If anyone else acts foolishly, be careful I label them a traitor! Have them lose their lives!"

The child in the woman's arms clutched his mother's slender body, crying: "Mom, I'm not hungry anymore, we won't eat, we won't..."

Under Wilhelm's order, all the food and houses in Augustus were requisitioned to sustain the troops from all over gathered here.

Seeing such a scene, Dayev, who had just entered the city, sighed deeply, muttering: "I never thought... the situation inside the city would be so dire, the people can't even eat."

Thinking of this, he took a piece of black bread from his pocket and tossed it to the crying child.

"Thank you, sir," the child sobbed as he spoke.

Hearing this voice, the officer on the tall horse turned his head angrily, but upon seeing Dayev's official uniform embroidered with the Holy Emblem, he said nothing further, continuing to whip the refugees.

Dayev walked along the street, heading to the kingdom's intelligence department to report on the military situation from various regions.

He looked at the troops coming and going on the streets, the refugee corpses casually discarded along the roadside, feeling deeply as he thought—this once holy, radiant city, has it really become like this?

From the day he was sent to Isdalia, Dayev had a premonition: the Ashen Empire would bring earth-shattering changes to the kingdom and even the entire continent.

But he never imagined, this day would come so quickly, within just a few short years, the Ashen Empire's army had reached Augustus.

"By Amanata above..."

"Oh, God..."

"Look quickly, it's His Majesty Wilhelm! What a divine presence!"