Melee

High in the sky, the silver behemoth at the head of the flight, shimmering with a metallic sheen, beat his broad wings in midair, whipping up a freezing gale as he unleashed a roar. "Roar—!" "Demons! You do not belong here! In the name of Melvold, get back to the gutters of the Abyss!" *Whoosh—* With a piercing howl, the biting cold wind scattered the heavy fog cast by the bulezau, exposing the grotesque fiendish forms of the goat-headed demons prowling within the mist. By now, the bulezau had also spotted the silver dragons aloft. "Awoo!" "Kill the reptiles!" Their eyes bloodshot with slaughter, they threw their heads back and bellowed, spraying foul-smelling spittle. Their rotting fur was caked with filthy blood and shredded meat, riddled with bullet holes from which purplish-black pus trickled. Under the fierce resistance of the imperial troops, they had taken wounds. Wounded bulezau entered a state of berserk fury, attacking frantically until either they or their foes lay dead. Even facing silver dragons far mightier than themselves, they felt not the slightest dread. "Bulezau after all... Troublesome brutes. "For these mortals to hold out so long without routing, and even bring one down, is remarkable in its own right." The silver dragon reached forward with a claw. Accompanied by a subtle ripple in space, he drew an exquisitely carved mithral scepter from the void. Murmuring an ancient, intricate Draconic incantation, the magic crystal embedded in the head of the scepter suddenly burst into dazzling brilliance, illuminating almost the entire high ground. Beating his wings, the silver dragon craned his neck: "Since you insist on invading the Material Plane, you shall suffer our wrath and pay the price due!" "Tomb of Light (Draconic)!" With a thunderous rebuke, over a dozen beams of light descended from the heavens, striking down upon the bulezau and forming illusory tombstones. Under the holy radiance, billowing grey smoke poured from the fiends' bodies, their pelts scorching with sizzling crackles. "Awoo—!" The bulezau wailed in collective agony, yet could not budge an inch. Their sinful nature was being judged by the spell, and their twisted, lanky fiendish forms were pinned in place by the Tombs of Light. "Now! Purge them! Show no mercy to these filthy fiends!" Roaring, the silver dragon dove from hundreds of meters aloft with unmatched ferocity. He was none other than the mature adult silver dragon from Melvold, a veteran long stationed on the front lines resisting Abyssal invasions, the "Guardian Scale"—Adrovel! *Boom!* Adrovel slammed heavily onto one of the bulezau, his massive dragon bulk pulping the fiend into mangled flesh. Leaping from the demon's corpse, he pounced upon another immobilized fiend. Swinging his massive silver claw with all his might, the silver dragon severed the ram-like head and neck in a single stroke, sending it rolling across the earth. "In Melvold's name! Purge the demons!" A slightly shrill screech sounded as another slender, serpentine dragon touched down. She exhaled a blast of frigid frost, freezing a bulezau solid into a block of ice. The silvery-white scales covering her whole body reflected a beautiful glow beneath the light. This was an adult silver dragon of Clan Melvold, the diplomatic envoy representing them in their cooperation, known as the "Pearl of Corda"—Genesis. Behind them, more silver-glimmering dragons descended from the sky, joining the swirling fray. The silver dragons pounced onto the bulezau with fangs and claws, swept their thick, powerful tails, or dove low while unleashing frost breath, encasing whole swathes of demons in ice. With the arrival of the silver dragon reinforcements, the tide of battle reversed in an instant. The once-ferocious demons proved completely brittle under the dragons' crushing onslaught; even the mighty bulezau were dismantled with ease. After all, Melvold's silver dragons, led by Adrovel and Genesis, possessed abundant combat experience and knew better than anyone how to counter these heavy foot-soldiers of the demon hordes. "Look! Commander George was right, we held out!" "Reinforcements!" "Counterattack!" "For the Empire!" The imperial soldiers entangled with the demons caught sight of the dawn of victory. Blowing the horn for a countercharge, they surged forward behind the silver dragons, violently driving back the fiends on the verge of overrunning the high ground. Many soldiers had fought until their eyes went crimson. Like beasts, they lunged at the demons, venting the fury that had been suppressed in their chests for so long. Before the silver dragon reinforcements arrived, they had fought under sheer suffocation. Relying on their powerful physiques and spell-like abilities, the bulezau had enacted a near-one-sided slaughter, heartlessly butchering comrades who had lived and trained together day after day. Now, the chance for vengeance had come. "Kill these Abyssal bastards! Wipe them all out!" "Avenge the battalion commander!" "Keep pressing the charge! Show them what we're made of!" The war cries of imperial soldiers, the shrieks of demons, and the roars of silver dragons intertwined across the battlefield. High above, Adrovel beat his wings, overlooking the chaotic fray. Watching the soldiers hack and slash frantically among the fiends and the officer lying beside the corpse of a bulezau, he could not help but marvel, "Such an army is truly..." After a long silence, he finally found the most fitting word: "Resilient." It was little wonder he felt such shock. Even if the bulezau seemed fragile before a flight of silver dragons, just how many silver dragons existed across this continent, or even the entire world? To mortals, a legion composed of bulezau was an absolute nightmare, a bringer of death. Yet this was merely one of the Empire's ordinary infantry regiments. Except for their commander who carried dragon blood, every other soldier was a plain mortal who had undergone nothing more than military training. Adrovel had weathered over a dozen demonic incursions. Mortal armies from other realms broke almost upon first contact when facing fiends of this caliber, lacking any will to resist. A bulezau could claim mortal lives with a wave of its hand; slaughtering an army of a thousand was routine work for them. Yet this army had managed to stand toe-to-toe with demons in mortal flesh—not merely by virtue of superior weaponry, but through unyielding resolve. As he pondered, Genesis's voice called out from behind him. "Adrovel... Have you noticed? The scale of this invasion is abnormal." Adrovel turned. Seeing his cousin gazing into the distance with a grim expression, he quickly followed her line of sight. At the far edge of the battlefield, amid the rolling mountains, thousands of Abyssal drakes beat their ragged wings, blotting out the distant skies. Across the earth, hulking Abyssal monstrosities—goristros, retrievers, Abyssal giants, and more—straddled the land with heavy strides that shook the ground. Behind them, millions of lesser demons swarmed forward like a surging tide, rolling toward the imperial lines. Adrovel's eyes widened, his pale blue pupils flashing with shock. "Cross-planar teleportation demands immense power. Under normal circumstances, not even a demon lord could transport demons on this scale to the Material Plane. "Unless..." In unison, their voices heavy, Genesis and Adrovel spoke the same words: "This demon lord has descended upon the Material Plane in true form." In the sky darkened by Abyssal drakes, quasits, and vrocks, dense plumes of black mist poured forth as if the celestial vault had cracked open. "Genesis, hurry and notify the clan elders! Rally allies everywhere! "The ferocity of this Abyssal incursion far exceeds our estimates. This is no longer merely an invasion targeting the Cinder Empire—this is very likely a long-orchestrated planar war meant to sweep across the Material Plane!" Adrovel roared his command, then plunged into the main battlefield alongside a dozen adult silver dragons, his draconic visage heavy with urgency and dread. If the demon lord's true body were allowed to seize the Cinder Empire, the consequences would be unthinkable! *** *Boom!* *Boom! Boom!* Artillery thundered, unleashing violent explosions amidst the packed hordes of demons. Countless bullets, arrows, and spells poured forth like a torrential downpour. The imperial defensive lines bustled in frantic haste. Messengers darted through trenches while urgent shouts of officers cut through the din of cannon fire. "Quick! Keep up the barrage! Don't let up for a second!" "Cassius above..." "Hill 26 has fallen!" Yet even this failed to halt the demonic advance. Farther out in the tide of fiends, spiders the size of bull elephants reared on four hind legs, strange light gleaming in their eyes as thick venom dripped from fanged mouthparts. Retrievers—monstrous arachnids bred from the flesh and blood of demons. Not all constructs were fashioned from lifeless stone, wood, metal, or dead flesh. In the shadowed corners of the Great Beyond, certain powerful demon lords excelled at shaping the protoplasmic flesh of the Abyss into grotesque works of art. They had no life, no emotion, and no concept of defiance—and the hideous retriever was among the most infamous of their kind. Demon lords used retrievers to hunt down those who dared betray them or flee their servitude, and to keep lesser fiends in line. To a demon lord, retrievers were precious assets, generally deployed in the relentless struggles within the Abyss. Yet now, over a hundred retrievers had appeared on this battlefield! These massive arachnid horrors advanced like mobile fortresses, crashing against the imperial defensive line with devastating impact. Within the imperial positions, Olivia, in the guise of a silver-haired young woman, raised her staff. Closing her eyes, she chanted a Draconic spell. "Dragon Stars (Draconic)!" *Boom!* Meteors tore through the sky in an instant, crashing down into the demon swarm. Beams of brilliant light erupted from the fallen stars, purifying hundreds of fiends in radiant glare as black smoke billowed and charred remains scattered. Opening her eyes, she looked toward the enormous spider-beasts scurrying in the distance—specifically their glowing compound eyes—and urgently warned, "Get clear! Retrievers!" Olivia moved to weave a protective ward, but it was already too late. *Flash—* A bizarre glow flared in the retriever's eyes, and several dark grey beams shot forth. Over a hundred imperial soldiers caught in the beam's sweep froze in their exact postures of that fleeting moment. Some had been raising rifles to shoot, some shouting with open mouths, others rushing forward on the march—yet their bodies had all turned to stone statues! Petrification rays! Olivia's mind raced, rapidly assembling the spell model to dispel petrification. Yet another retriever fired two scorching beams of fire from its eyes, sweeping directly across the swath of petrified soldiers. "No..." Olivia shook her head in sorrow, watching helplessly as soldiers who had been fighting valiantly moments before crumbled into scattered shards of stone. She was powerless to stop it. "I'll make you pay for that..." Gritting her teeth, Olivia raised her staff once more, unleashing the most powerful spell in her arsenal: Crown of Stars. "Hurry! Blow those spider monsters to pieces! Don't let them fire their rays!" "Requesting artillery support! Requesting fire support!" The imperial commanders had also recognized the dreadfulness of these retrievers. They called upon the artillery to the rear and the wyvern knights circling overhead waiting to bomb the enemy, concentrating targeted fire upon them. *Boom!* *Boom! Boom!* Shell after shell rained down, exploding among the fiendish horde, yet failed to kill a single retriever. The massive spider beasts scurried swiftly across the ground on eight legs, making them extremely difficult to hit. Fashioned from the toughest demon flesh and carapace, they possessed innate fire resistance. Unless struck directly, ordinary explosions could hardly inflict lethal damage on them. *Boom!* More fiery rays lanced from the retrievers' eyes, punching clean through thick fortifications and blasting the imperial soldiers sheltering behind into oblivion. Under the retrievers' charge, the demon legion pressed its offensive with mounting fury, completely shattering sections of the imperial defenses. In the distance, Adrovel was leading the silver dragons in a rush toward the breach, once again appalled by the sight before him. "How can there be so many retrievers...?" "This is truly unnatural." Her brow furrowed, Genesis beat her wings, soaring toward the fiercest point of combat. Adrovel called out, "Genesis, warn Marshal Duoluo! He has to deploy those blue-skins. That's the only useful thing those filthy, greedy blue dragons can do. "Our strength alone cannot hold against this many retrievers." The last time retrievers had appeared on the Material Plane was fifty years ago, when they targeted the Cassander region of Holy Fadlan—a battle in which Adrovel had taken part. Back then, the Holy Fadlan Empire was at the zenith of its power and felt no fear of these fiends. Relying on their mighty legions of iron golems, they had withstood the retrievers' onslaught head-on before the divine powers of the angelic godbloods shattered the twisted monstrosities. Yet the Cinder Empire was a fledgling realm, lacking the deep magical foundation of Holy Fadlan, and could hardly produce strategic treasures like iron colossi. Though the imperial army was formidable, in the silver dragon's view, their chances of holding against a legion of retrievers were vanishingly slim. Genesis received a reply almost immediately, her tone tinged with bewilderment. "Marshal Duoluo says... "He is already aware, and is about to launch a full-scale counterattack. He tells us not to worry..." *Rumble—* The roar of rumbling engines and the shrill shriek of steam whistles sounded as billowing steam flooded the battlefield, making the very earth shudder. The silver dragons turned toward the battlefield in unison, watching as the fortress iron gates swung open and iron behemoths burst through the heavy steam, gouging deep tracks into the ground. Those were the Empire's steam tanks!