Ashen Dragon

"Help me—"

"Don't eat me!"

The routed soldiers of the "Legion of Honor" had already fled to the central army, followed by a surging tide of Goblins and Kobolds.

"Please, save me!"

The elite soldiers of the "Claw of the Male Eagle" stood motionless, coldly watching the routed troops being slaughtered. They held their spears tightly, forming a solid shield formation.

"Attack!"

Robert gave the order.

Horn blew, and the spear and shield soldiers advanced in unison, their movements coordinated and orderly, like a wall slowly advancing.

The tide of Goblins and Kobolds clashed against this wall.

The shields blocked the monsters' assaults, while spears thrust out from the gaps between the shields, spearing multiple Goblins and Kobolds at once.

The archers behind the spear and shield soldiers drew their bows and loosed arrows that arced gracefully through the air, raining down and pinning many monsters to the ground.

It was truly a formidable elite unit. Within mere minutes, the seemingly endless horde of monsters was decimated, the ground littered with Goblin and Kobold corpses.

The spear and shield soldiers continued their crisp, orderly march, trampling over the corpses without hesitation.

In the face of this one-sided battle, even the fearless Dragon Vein Goblins and Kobolds began to scatter in all directions.

"Good, just like that, crush them!"

"Keep advancing!"

Robert watched the one-sided battle from afar, a hint of joy finally appearing on his face.

It seemed that the retainers of the Ashen Nest were no match for a regular army. Now the only concern was that cunning Red Dragon.

"Advance! Bring the Dragon-Slaying Ballista!"

Dozens of strong soldiers pushed the massive ballista, its wheels creaking.

Over twenty thousand regular troops followed the "Claw of the Male Eagle" formation, advancing unimpeded into the Triel Valley in just one day.

Apart from clearing some scattered Kobold and Goblin squads, they encountered little resistance.

But soon, the allied forces realized they were wrong.

The weak Kobolds and Goblins were merely cannon fodder to delay them, while the true forces of the Ashen Nest were waiting in formation within Triel Valley.

"So..."

"This is their real army."

Robert gazed into the distance, his expression gradually growing serious.

The entire field of view was occupied by a gigantic monster legion.

"Roar—"

Several land dragon beasts, as large as small mountains, walked, causing the ground to rumble. They were covered in massive iron armor plates, like moving steel fortresses.

Hundreds of Bipedal Wyverns circled and glided in the sky, casting chaotic shadows on the ground as they roared.

The towering and muscular Ogres roared fervently, their rolls of fat trembling, shouting "Enemies" and "Food."

The most striking Ogre was over six meters tall, covered in red scales, wearing a patched and assembled robe, looking particularly strange.

Dragon Vein Goblins formed tight formations, the front row wielding standard metal staffs, emanating a scent of smoke.

The Lizardfolk held bone spears and beastskin shields, their vertical pupils emitting a cold glint, an indication of absolute ruthlessness towards their enemies.

Known as the "Children of the Devil," the Tieflings stood ready under the lead of the Oathbreakers, many of them full of hatred for the "Claw of the Male Eagle."

And in front of them were still hills of Goblins and Kobolds, but these troops were mostly all Dragon Veins, their combat power not much inferior to ordinary human soldiers, with quite a few Kobold Spellcasters among them.

A thousand players were mixed into this terrifying monster legion, ironically standing out as they didn't look intimidating enough.

Suddenly, stirring music echoed around—it was the Half-Goat People military band playing the pan flute.

"Roar—"

A distant dragon's roar resounded.

A massive, hideous head appeared on the horizon, followed by expansive wings that blotted out the sky, and an enormous dragon body.

Compared to it, those land dragon beasts were like tiny rats.

Robert gazed upward at the spectacular sight, dumbfounded, muttering:

"By the Gods..."

"How… is this possible?"

He even forgot to order the Dragon-hunting Crossbow to fire.

The allied forces were in an uproar, filled with terror. How could humans possibly contend with such a monster?

The Red Dragon looked down on the allied forces with undisguised contempt in its golden vertical pupils.

"Humans, I admire your courage."

But unfortunately, you misplaced your courage. You believed yourselves to be heroes eliminating evil yet only became tools for that Vampire Duke."

"Enough..."

"Since you seek war, I will grant you… total death by fire."

Robert finally regained his senses, hurriedly commanding: "Dragon-Slaying Ballista! Dragon-Slaying Ballista! Kill him!"

The soldiers, though fearful, obeyed the order and began loading the great crossbow at the rear.

"Wait!"

Schroeder reminded from the side: "Marquis, a massive dragon like that wouldn't appear on the Prime Material Plane. That's an illusion technique, projecting a pre-made image into the air. Quite a clever trick."

"But this doesn't mean much, it only shows that there's a skilled Spellcaster in the Ashen Nest, and the dragon dares not confront us directly, likely knowing we possess large-scale dragon-slaying weapons."

"So that's it."

Robert finally felt a wave of relief, letting go of his fear.

He watched carefully and noticed that the edge of the dragon seemed slightly translucent and wavering with flames.

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"Cunning evil dragon."

He felt ashamed and angry at his earlier misstep, his hatred growing stronger.

The dragon in the sky turned into a mass of flames and disappeared, leaving only its last words echoing in people's ears—"I will burn everything to ashes."

The information that the dragon was an illusion quickly spread through the allied forces, calming their fear somewhat. After all, they faced an unknown dragon.

The North had not seen dragon disasters for over a hundred years, the last being "Glacier Wing."

However, on the hillside, Dolores raised her sword, shouting: "Did you hear the master's words? Destroy them utterly! For the Ashen Nest!"

"For the Ashen Nest!"

The monsters erupted in a frenzy, cheering, roaring, howling, and shrieking. There was a newfound greed and fanaticism in their eyes as they looked at the allied forces.

The Kingdom Allied Forces and the Ashen Kin stood in opposition.

The stalemate finally broke.

War was about to erupt.