A Brutal Siege

"Concentrate fire!" *Boom—* The gun barrels beneath dozens of airships angled upward in unison. From their muzzles erupted thick beams of brilliant light, converging into a single point and blasting directly toward the towering rampart. Immediately following, over a thousand heavy artillery pieces across the Imperial lines opened fire once more. A dense swarm of shells blotted out the sky, the dazzling glare forcing eyes shut, while acrid smoke drifted across the wasteland. In the distance, the steam tanks unleashed a volley as well, though they no longer dared charge recklessly—not with so many charred wrecks sitting beside them. Under this onslaught, amidst explosion after violent explosion, the ripples across the membrane of light churned with increasing fury, yet still no crack appeared; it remained exceptionally solid. Yet at that moment, space was torn open by tongues of fire. With a sharp tearing hiss, massive rifts split across the Imperial lines. Twelve robed sorcerers flew out from the fissures, led by a young woman. Long scarlet hair draped over her shoulders, and her eyes shone like pure gold, radiating a faint draconic majesty. Upon seeing Misha arrive, Dror hurried forward to welcome her. "Excellent! Duchess Misha, you are finally here. Our forces have been stalled here for days, completely unable to breach this rampart..." Misha looked toward the towering, majestic rampart reaching into the clouds, her eyes narrowing slightly as her gaze flickered. "So that is the Blazing Sun Rampart? What tremendous energy fluctuations..." Dror nodded in deep agreement. "It is an ancient machine left behind by Holy Fadlan, capable of storing sunlight and converting it into its own energy. Before our offensive began, that Eye of the Sun Core had accumulated nearly two centuries of sunlight. With such vast reserves of divine solar power, even a full-scale assault can hardly break it. Up until today, we have expended two hundred thousand shells and conducted more than a dozen rounds of bombardment, yet we have failed to crack the Blazing Sun Rampart's protection." Misha nodded slightly. "It is troublesome indeed. But rest assured, Marshal Dror. We possess the power bestowed by His Majesty. Even if the Sun God himself descended, he might not be able to stop it." The tension on Dror's face finally gave way to delight. "Wonderful! That is precisely what I was waiting to hear. Come nightfall, we shall launch a general assault and take Saint Michael in one fell swoop!" "Of course. Emperor Cassius will watch over us," Misha said softly. ... Night gradually fell, yet Saint Michael remained enveloped in the membrane of light, bright as day. From afar, it looked like a city built within a star. *Whoosh—* Shells trailing streaks of light tore through the night sky, slamming into the luminous barrier outside the city like meteors. Each impact triggered an explosion, setting the shield flickering incessantly, yet still unable to shake this stubborn defense. "Damned Imperials!" "It's never-ending! They keep me awake every single day with this racket!" "Amaunator above, when will we drive these wretched dragon minions out?" The soldiers stationed on the walls cursed and complained ceaselessly, but there was little fear left in their voices. For the inhabitants of Saint Michael, this had become routine. Many had grown accustomed to the roar of artillery, falling soundly asleep amidst the continuous din. "It seems the situation is far graver than we imagined. The Cinder Empire's army is... formidable." A beautiful female angelic godblood clad in silver armor flapped her wings, descending slowly atop the ramparts. She was Tirena Star Angel, Godblood Duchess of the Kingdom of Thrace and one of Wilhelm's most trusted subordinates. Tirena had originally been stationed in the south, commanding the Godblood Legion in battles against the Kingdom of Cassander and the Kingdom of Seleucia. But now, to fend off the Cinder Empire's invasion, Wilhelm had transferred even her to the north, painfully conceding vast swaths of southern territory. A human officer attended at her side, his face plastered with a flattering smile. "Duchess Tirena, as long as you are here, no one can conquer Saint Michael. What's more, we have the Blazing Sun Rampart specially bestowed by His Majesty Wilhelm. These crude, barbaric Imperials cannot fathom the greatness of the Sun God!" Tirena shook her head and tilted her chin up to look at the sky, her delicate face flickering between light and shadow under the firelight of the explosions. "No, we cannot underestimate the enemy. It must be said, these Imperials possess a real talent for warfare. In just a few short years, they managed to build such a terrifying military. It is no wonder North Aethel and the Mountain Kingdom fell to them." She shot the officer beside her a sharp look and continued, "However, you were right about one thing—these Imperials take the power of the Sun God too lightly. How dare they play with fire before me!" Tirena snapped her wings, soaring into the air. Raising her flaming longsword, she declared in a resounding, powerful voice: "The sun alone is the origin of all fire and light!" *Boom—* A dazzling column of golden light shot into the sky, coalescing into an immense orb of light high above, like a miracle sent down by the Sun God. Immediately after, twelve optical prisms rotated in unison toward the sky, focusing the solar brilliance and causing the orb high above to shine ever more brilliantly, illuminating half the sky like a genuine sun. "It's Lady Tirena!" "Amaunator above, this is truly a miracle!" Beneath the soldiers' venerating gazes, the orb of light unleashed countless radiant streams that tore across the horizon, plummeting toward the Imperial lines in the distance. *Boom!* *Boom! Boom!* The fiery light rained down, triggering violent explosions across the Imperial lines. Amidst the earth-shaking rumbles, steam tanks were blasted into charred wrecks, airships turned into colossal falling fireballs crashing to the earth one after another, and over a thousand soldiers wailed in the sea of flames. Piercing alarms blared, and the Imperial positions were thrown into chaos. "Activate energy defenses!" "Damn it, it's the Thracians!" Giant armors raised massive shields, projecting hexagonal forcefield shields a hundred meters across. These forcefields interlocked, blanketing the sky above the Imperial positions. Over a hundred wizards brandished their staves, casting spells like Create Rain and Frost in rapid succession to extinguish the inferno within their lines. At last, the fiery meteors unleashed by the orb of light were held off by the forcefields, and order gradually returned to the Imperial lines—though at the cost of seven airships, over a dozen tanks, and several thousand soldiers. "Damned Thracians!" Dror roared with a savage grimace, slamming his fist down upon the table. Wood splinters flew as the table shattered into countless pieces. "I want them dead! I will crush these Thracians and show them the true might of the Empire!!" The hobgoblin panted heavily, his eyes bloodshot. Gradually regaining his composure, he ordered the messenger, "Go! Inform Duchess Misha that I want these Thracians to pay!" "Yes, sir!" Misha flapped her dragon wings, hovering high in the air alongside eleven Dragon-Pact Sorcerers, gazing at the distant orb of light. With a grim expression, she said, "It truly is her—Tirena, the angelic godblood Duchess of Thrace, a legendary power. But before Master's might, even if your deity descended in person, it would be futile. You will only be incinerated by dragonfire!" Soon, a messenger mounted on a wyvern flew up into the sky and anxiously delivered Dror's orders to Misha. Misha nodded, then looked around, sweeping her sharp gaze across the faces of each Dragon-Pact Sorcerer. "Everyone, it is time to let these wretched Thracians witness Master's power! For the Great Red Dragon!" "For the Great Red Dragon!" The Dragon-Pact Sorcerers shouted in unison, their expressions devout like fanatics preparing for a sacrificial rite. Before the echoes faded, Misha stretched out her hand and pointed into the distance. Closing her eyes, crimson dragon scales surfaced on her cheeks. Flowing fire wrapped around her body, and a colossal dragon's majesty emanated from her. "Molten gold drifts within slit pupils; mountain ranges awaken upon his spine; magma trickles along scales into new borders—" Behind Misha, the Dragon-Pact Sorcerers kept their eyes shut, chanting Draconic hymns in low voices. The draconic aura surged even more powerfully, bordering on physical manifestation. Above their heads, a massive phantom of a red dragon even materialized, roaring toward Saint Michael in the distance. "When wings cleave through the clouds, a storm of sulfur shall engulf the entire world—" The power bestowed upon the Dragon-Pact Sorcerers by the red dragon transformed into beams of light, converging behind Misha alongside their impassioned hymns. Misha raised her finger and snapped her eyes open. Brilliant flame burst from her golden pupils, and from her fingertip erupted an incomparably thick pillar of fire! *Roar—* A dragon's roar echoed from the distant void, causing all creation to tremble. That blinding white column of fire pierced through the night like a colossal sword, cleaving the darkness apart. "Cassius above!" "What is that?" "It's Lady Misha! She wields the power bestowed by Emperor Cassius! Those Thracians are doomed!" The Imperial soldiers looked up in unison toward the pillar of fire in the sky, their faces filled with fanaticism and ecstasy. Dror, his face twisted with the sheer delight of vengeance, nearly bellowed into his comms: "Fire! Everyone open fire! I want those Thracians to pay the most agonizing price! Let them regret opposing the Cinder Empire for the rest of their lives!" Accompanied by the sonic boom of cracking air, the column of fire surged toward the distant Blazing Sun Rampart with unstoppable momentum. "Amaunator above... What terrifying power! Quick! Block that breath weapon!" Tirena's expression altered drastically. She hurriedly flapped her wings, raised her longsword, and poured her surging divine power into the Eye of the Sun Core. Over a dozen angelic godbloods took to the air one after another, raising their flaming swords. Dozens of light beams merged into the barrier, making the light membrane increasingly solid as rotating holy symbols of the Sun God manifested on its surface. "Hold it off!" "At all costs!" "For Thrace! For Amaunator!" Dozens of priests of the Sun God once more dumped gold dust infused with divine power into the Sacred Sun Urn. The liquid solar energy within the urn boiled furiously, and a sunburst totem appeared in the mirror. At this moment, Saint Michael was completely engulfed in light like a divine miracle, so radiant that mortals could scarcely open their eyes. *Boom!* The pillar of fire slammed into the light membrane. The explosion in the sky was like a detonating supernova, releasing horrific energy and unleashing a shockwave that swept heaven and earth, overturning the ground and tearing the clouds asunder. The moment it struck the membrane, the ground before Saint Michael turned translucent—the hard, dense granite vaporized in a thousandth of a second, churning into a boiling sea of magma. The golden dome groaned under the relentless bombardment of the fire pillar, and the seven hundred and twenty alchemical matrices across the Blazing Sun Rampart flashed simultaneously. The sacred runes circulating across the membrane's surface for three centuries began flaking away like molten gold leaf scattering in the void. Centered on the point of impact, the barrier flickered and trembled continuously, fine, cobweb-like fissures spreading across its surface. "We cannot let them shatter the Blazing Sun Rampart!" Tirena let out a roar, divine light erupting from her eyes as golden flame sputtered from her mouth and nostrils. Her body became translucent in the endless radiance, revealing even her internal skeleton. Glowing cracks spread across her skin, a clear sign that she had already exerted her absolute utmost. Yet the column of fire showed no sign of waning; if anything, it raged even fiercer, surging with energy of the highest order. Meanwhile, all the artillery across the Imperial positions thundered together. Countless shells trailing fire and smoke tore through the sky, slamming against the membrane of light and causing it to flicker erratically. In the past, the barrier generated by the Blazing Sun Rampart could effortlessly deflect anything, but now, battered by the column of fire, it was stretched beyond its limits, growing increasingly ethereal. "Milady, we are nearing the critical threshold!" The High Sun Priest coughed up bloody froth and shrieked, pouring every ounce of his power into the Eye of the Sun Core as the sunburst in his pupils dimmed steadily. "No—!" "This is impossible!" Tirena roared in heartbreak and anguish, two trails of golden blood leaking from the corners of her eyes, her voice saturated with unwilling despair. Yet even she could no longer stop that terrifying column of fire, able only to watch helplessly as cracks crawled all over the barrier. Finally, with a clear sound like shattering glass, the luminous barrier enveloping the city abruptly broke apart, disintegrating into countless energy fragments pulsing with solar divinity. The column of fire crashed straight into the Blazing Sun Rampart itself, melting through it to bore a massive hole over a dozen meters wide at its center, within which flowed boiling, molten red iron. "Gods..." "Amaunator above! Our rampart! It's collapsing!" *Boom—* Amidst the screeching groans of metal and the agonized shrieks of the soldiers, the towering rampart came crashing down, becoming a tomb for countless Thracians. The Blazing Sun Rampart, passed down through Fadlan for centuries—a sacred relic that had turned back countless invasions of fiends—was no more. Without the barrier to stop them, Imperial shells rained down like a tempest, bursting across the city walls and instantly claiming the lives of countless defenders, battering the ramparts into a riddled ruin. Steam tanks and armored fighting vehicles roared as they crushed the earth beneath their treads, launching a massed charge toward Saint Michael. "For the Empire!" "Long live the Great Red Dragon!" Shouting their battle cries, the soldiers surged southward wave upon wave. The counteroffensive had begun!