*Boom—*
Amidst the thunderous roar of engines, steam tanks advanced in tight formation like moving mountains, billowing clouds of dust rolling in their wake.
Behind the armored division, the imperial infantry battalions pressed forward at high speed under the tanks' cover, closing on the walls with orderly precision.
Up in the sky, wyverns beat their wings and screeched, wheeling back and forth like dense storm clouds that spread across the heavens toward Evindeldan.
The plain before the walls of Evindeldan was completely overrun by the Cinder Legion. The imperial assault rolled forward like a terrifying natural disaster, looming over the dwarven stronghold from every direction.
"Damn it all..."
"These... these bastards really..."
Confronted by such an overwhelming display of might, even the traditionally valiant dwarves could not help swallowing hard. Shock and dread broke through their bearded, rugged faces.
By now, Ed had returned to the battlements under the reverent gaze of his subjects. His heavy plate was spattered with blood, and his metal warhammer dripped crimson with wyvern gore.
"It's His Majesty Ed!"
"Praise the Lord of the Mountain!"
"Did you see that? His Majesty slew over a dozen imperial reptiles single-handedly!"
"Truly our King! Long live His Majesty Ed!"
At the sight of Ed's return, the dwarves' morale surged, and cheers erupted across the wall.
Upon this smoke-choked, fire-scorched battlefield, the dwarven king stood tall atop the ramparts of Evindeldan. His piercing gaze cut through the haze of war, his broad shoulders seeming capable of bearing the hopes of the entire realm.
Even as he looked out upon countless enemies, there was not a trace of fear upon his face, his eyes gleaming with unshakable resolve.
It was a scene just like fifty years ago, when Ed had stood alone against the armies of Fadlan.
Yet now, the flame of Ed's life flickered low. His calloused hands no longer held the Hammer of Bedrock, and Evindeldan was left with barely nine thousand dwarven warriors...
Their present predicament was far more desperate than fifty years ago. The dwarves had no choice but to place their final hopes in their king.
Ed's voice rose, deep and powerful as the rumble of the mountains, echoing along the stone ramparts.
"Kinsmen, today we face a trial unlike any before! Those arrogant invaders dream of trampling our land beneath their iron contraptions and turning our homes to ash with their flames!
"Tell me, then—have the courage and resolve of the dwarves been swallowed by fear?"
The dwarves shouted in unison, "Never!"
The bombardment raged on, but Ed paid it no heed. He merely looked down from his high perch, his steadfast gaze sweeping over the face of every dwarf below.
This was a battlefield, and imperial snipers cared nothing for so-called chivalry.
Seizing the chance while his attention was turned, they squeezed their triggers. More than a dozen sniper rounds whistled through the air, aimed straight at the dwarven king's head, heart, and other fatal points.
Immediately after, several artillery shells plummeted from above, hurtling toward the parapet where Ed stood as if guided by invisible eyes.
"Look out!" a dwarf cried in alarm.
Yet Ed did not even glance their way. Raising his warhammer high, the phantom image of a colossal mountain manifested behind him, intercepting every incoming bullet and shell.
Explosions detonated in rapid succession behind him, but Ed ignored them completely, his voice booming over the din:
"Well said! We will die before yielding the land of our ancestors to these greedy wretches!
"Our hammers shall smash their claws! Our fury shall melt their iron plate! Long live the Mountain Kingdom! Evindeldan shall never fall!"
The dwarven warriors gripped their weapons, tears welling in their eyes. Their spirits were instantly set ablaze by their king's words, and they let out a deafening roar.
"Evindeldan shall never fall!"
"Long live the Mountain Kingdom!"
"Victory!"
Ed's words struck like a sledgehammer, pounding deep into the heart of every dwarf.
They knew that Evindeldan behind them was their lifeline, their only home, the place where shield dwarves had lived and thrived for thousands of years.
For this stronghold, and for their king, they were ready to give everything.
The dwarves' voices resonated across the smoke-filled battlefield, weaving with the distant gunfire into a tragic, soaring symphony.
Yet their battle cries could not halt the advance of the Cinder Legion. Ed had timed his address perfectly; by the time he finished, the legion was on the verge of entering dwarven firing range.
Rallied by their king, the dwarven defenders quickly regained their spirits and threw themselves into feverish preparations for the fortress's defense, plunging once more into the crucible of war.
*Boom!*
*Boom! Boom!*
As they advanced, the front line of steam tanks roared and fired, their main cannons relentlessly pounding the outer perimeter of the walls.
The shells produced a succession of violent detonations. Ripping ripples across the magical ward protecting the ramparts, the sustained bombardment caused its bright yellow radiance to dim and flicker erratically.
Yet the dwarves showed not the slightest hint of fear. They brought the ramparts' defensive armaments into play—heavy steel ballistas, trebuchets, and stone-throwers—launching a fierce counteroffensive.
"Smash them flat!"
"Show these dragon-spawn what we're made of!"
"All units, by my command—fire!"
Over a thousand dwarven archers drew their bows to full draw and loosed volleys of fire arrows, sending a dense rain of flaming shafts hurtling downward.
Against orcs, such incendiary arrows were devastatingly effective. But striking the cold iron armor of these steel beasts, they failed entirely to pierce their plating. They left only faint white scratches before ricocheting away with sharp metallic clangs.
"What a pathetic counterattack..."
"Is this all the great Mountain Kingdom has to offer? Looks like we'll be back in time for the Coronation Festival."
"Hahaha, a spit from my grandmother packs more punch than that!"
"Charge! Slaughter them all!"
The imperial tank drivers sneered in mockery. They did not even bother expending energy to activate their protective forcefields, indifferently barreling ahead under the arrow storm.
How could arrows fashioned to slaughter creatures of flesh and blood ever pierce their machines of war?
*Rumble—*
The steam tanks' treads churned at high speed, carving deep ruts into the plain as they drew steadily closer to Evindeldan.
"Curse it, these iron lumps are hard as obsidian!"
The dwarven commander cursed in exasperation, yet refused to despair, quickly shouting orders to the other garrison troops.
Atop the towering ramparts of Evindeldan, masterwork steel ballistas crafted by dwarven artificers were already locked onto the advancing tanks.
Dwarven crews loaded massive bolts and strained at the winches to wind them back. Pouring all their strength into the mechanisms, they bellowed at the top of their lungs, "Loose! Skewer their iron hulls!"
*Whoosh—*
A piercing shriek ripped through the air as two-meter-long ballista bolts tore across the sky like streaks of silver light, hurtling straight toward the steam tanks.
*Thwack!*
Carrying horrifying kinetic force, a cross-tipped arrowhead punched straight through the thick composite armor, pinning the driver to his seat and killing him instantly. The tank sputtered out on the spot, churning up pluming gray smoke.
*Crash!*
"Damn it, rotten luck!"
Another massive bolt struck a track dead-on, instantly crippling the vehicle and leaving it stranded.
Combat engineers following close behind rushed forward to repair the damage and fit a spare tread, while the dwarves seized the opportunity to rain down sniper fire.
*Thwip—*
An imperial engineer in the middle of replacing the tread was pierced straight through the heart, yet another stepped up immediately to take his place.
As the communal home of dwarven master craftsmen, Evindeldan was bristling with ingenious siege engines designed to torment any invader.
From the stronghold's soaring towers, the dwarves operated trebuchets meticulously engineered by Master Trillant, hurling flaming iron spheres fused together from discarded molten weapons.
Tracing graceful arcs across the sky with shrieks of air displacement, the blazing iron spheres crashed violently into the imperial armored columns.
*Boom!*
Flames erupted and metal shrapnel flew in every direction. One unfortunate steam tank was crushed flat, its engine catching fire before exploding with earth-shattering force.
Thick steam drifted over the plains as the tank was reduced to a charred wreck, vomiting billows of dark smoke.
Having finally drawn blood, the dwarves cheered in triumph and continued hurling flaming iron shot down at the cursed iron monsters.
With another booming crash, a second steam tank took a direct hit, detonating on the spot and sending up dense plumes of smoke.
Witnessing this, Dror knitted his brow and barked furiously into his communicator, "Do not underestimate the enemy! Those tanks are imperial property!"
"Understood, General!"
The drivers hurriedly acknowledged the order. Faced with the dwarves' fierce retaliation, they finally cast aside their imperial arrogance and threw everything into the siege.
"Not only do they refuse to surrender, they dare strike back?!"
Staring at the distant tank wreckage, Bill slammed his fist down onto a button inside the cockpit of *Emperor's Wrath* in a furious rage.
As a fanatical devotee of steam tanks, seeing one of his prized machines destroyed was far more agonizing to the dragonblood goblin than seeing his own kin slaughtered!
For these dwarves to destroy such an exquisitely engineered war machine with crude, primitive weapons was an unmitigated insult!
It was utterly unforgivable!
*Hum—*
Runes within the steam tank flared brightly, pulsating with light as an impenetrable forcefield barrier materialized around its heavy hull.
With a whistling howl, another massive ballista bolt sliced through the air, but this time it struck the forcefield and snapped in midair.
Bill's face twisted with venomous rage. "Trying to scratch my baby, are you? Damned dwarves, blast the hell out of them!"
*Boom!*
*Boom! Boom!*
Like wild stallions breaking their reins, the steam tanks unleashed furious salvos from their main guns in rapid succession, their barrels glowing red-hot.
Under this concentrated barrage, shells pelted the walls like hail. The ward outside the ramparts flickered violently, spiderwebbing with fine cracks.
*Shatter!*
As the final shell struck, the dwarves' magical barrier could bear no more. It shattered into countless glittering motes of light and dissipated into nothingness.
The imperial ogre artillerymen had been waiting for this moment.
Having precalculated their firing angles and zeroed in on the massive defensive engines atop the walls, they loaded their shells and held their fire, waiting only for the barrier to fall to concentrate their barrage.
*Boom—*
The next instant, hundreds of heavy cannons spoke in unison. The earth shuddered, and fire and smoke consumed the imperial lines.
Over a hundred heavy artillery pieces opened up together, countless shells arcing through the sky with trailing plumes of fire to rain down upon the dwarven defenses.
*Boom! Boom!*
"No! They're targeting the trebuchets!" the dwarves cried in panic, powerless to stop it.
Detonations erupted as stone fragments and dust flew everywhere. The wall shook violently, and even the surrounding mountains echoed with the thunder.
In the blink of an eye, the trebuchets Master Trillant had so painstakingly built were blown to splinters. Even the tower supporting them collapsed, burying over a dozen dwarven fighters in the rubble, their fates unknown.
Explosions followed in rapid succession. The walls of Evindeldan trembled continuously, threatening to crumble.
None of the defensive engines on the ramparts—the dwarven steel ballistas, arrow towers, and catapults—were spared; all suffered precise, concentrated bombardment from the imperial artillery.
*Boom!*
The steam tanks had advanced to within a hundred meters of the walls. Roaring and belching smoke, they fired shell after shell, blasting massive breaches into the city gates.
Machine guns kept up a continuous sweep, spewing torrential squalls of lead that mowed down the dwarven defenders atop the ramparts, sending bodies tumbling from the parapets.
Behind the armored division, imperial engineers and infantry units advanced swiftly, with armored siege vehicles equipped with assault ladders rolling up from the rear.
The Cinder Empire's offensive was methodical, layered, and executed with almost artistic precision.
The imperial general staff detested throwing away soldiers' lives—it was terribly inefficient. They preferred using steel and firepower to break the enemy's will and confidence first, making the subsequent capture of the city an inevitability.
Looking at the shattered defenses, the dwarven commander sank to his knees, murmuring in grief, "No... that was our city... generations of our people's sweat and blood..."
*Boom!*
A bomb landed squarely beside him, blasting the dwarven commander into the air. His fate was left uncertain.
Dark, grotesque shadows swept over the battlements once more—the wyverns had returned!
*Boom!*
Amidst billows of kicked-up dust, a massive, menacing silhouette crashed heavily onto the wall. As the dust cleared, the figure slowly rose to its feet.
The humanoid creature stood over three meters tall, completely encased in bio-armor made of scales and an external carapace. Beneath that armor bulged muscles as dense as solid iron.
Mounted to its left arm was a bloodstained chainsword, while its right hand gripped an oversized, monstrously proportioned 27mm boltgun.
The brute pulled back its lips, its scale-covered face twisting into a savage grin. "Hahahaha! For the Cinder Emperor and the Empire!
"Repent before us, dwarves! The flesh is weak!" The chainsword revved at blinding speed, screaming with a deafening screech.
What had descended onto the ramparts of Evindeldan this time was far more than bombs—it was a terrifying humanoid weapon, the pinnacle of imperial biotechnology: a Vitagis Dragonscale Marine!
Chapter 647