Ashen Dragon

The battle on the right flank of the battlefield came to an abrupt halt with the surrender of the nobles, leaving only a few players chasing down the routed soldiers. Meanwhile, on the front lines, the fierce battle between the two behemoths and the thousands of combatants continued.

"Roar——"

The Chimera's three heads roared in unison.

The dragon head spewed scorching flames, once again knocking down an Eagle Guard in front of it.

"Monster, die!"

Aiden, captain of the Northwind Eagle Guards' first regiment, shouted angrily as he thrust his spear into the Chimera's goat head.

With a shrill wail, the goat head reared back high, blood splattering everywhere.

This three-headed monster had already killed more than a dozen of his subordinates. Aiden was so determined to kill the Chimera that he even ignored the threat from above.

However, just as Aiden thrust his spear, an excited shout and a resounding dragon's roar came from behind him.

"Noodle, go for the Dragon's Roar Charge directly!"

"Here comes my two thousand experience points!"

First came the sound of metal clashing, then the soft sound of piercing flesh.

The six-meter-long lance impaled the unsuspecting Aiden, still in the motion of thrusting his spear, along with his Eagle Guard. Even the finest plate armor couldn't withstand the terrifying force of the lance diving from a hundred meters in the air.

Aiden, captain of the Northwind Eagle Guards' first regiment, died at the hands of a player.

The message "You gained 2100 xp" refreshed on Mantou's panel.

"Damn, took down an elite monster in one hit!"

Mantou tossed aside Aiden's corpse, cheered exuberantly, and then urged his wyvern to ascend again.

...

In the command camp, Robert watched the increasingly intense situation. Whether from tension or heat, sweat continuously streamed down his face.

He wiped his face dry with luxurious silk, his expression grave as he said to the staff officer beside him, "This can't go on."

"At this rate, the soldiers won't hold out for long."

"We need to take the initiative to break the deadlock."

The staff officer contemplated for a moment before asking, "What do you mean, sir?"

Robert said solemnly, "You go and ask Sir Schroeder to take action and support the frontline troops."

The staff officer was surprised and said, "But didn't you say that unless the Red Dragon appeared, Sir Schroeder need not cast spells?"

Robert said, "We have no choice but to reserve the Dragon-Slaying Ballista as our final trump card. If Sir Schroeder doesn't support the front lines, I don't know how much longer our army can hold out."

He paused.

"Aiden has already sacrificed himself..."

"Yes, my lord." Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

The staff officer understood his meaning and quickly nodded in agreement, going to request the chief mage.

Soon, a man in a gray robe arrived on the front lines under heavy guard from the allied forces. He was the Grey Hawk of the Arcane Priory, as well as the chief court mage of the Rackman Duchy—Schroeder.

An armored general stood by respectfully, saying:

"Lord Schroeder, that's the situation."

"We hope you can cast spells to support the frontline troops."

Schroeder looked at the monsters, clawing and biting, fighting with the allied forces in the distance, and said in a hoarse voice, "Scions of the Red Dragon's flame, huh..."

"I understand."

He gazed at the high ground where the Dragon Vein monsters were gathered, squinting slightly, and slowly raised his magic wand.

[Ice Storm]

In an instant, vast cold clouds appeared in the sky, first scattering tiny ice shards, then gradually forming hail, raining down many rock-hard ice chunks.

The hail pummeled the Dragon Vein monsters, not only hitting them but also bringing a biting chill.

"Bang!"

Hail struck a Dragon Vein Lizardman, its movements becoming increasingly sluggish, the once hot dragon blood freezing, ultimately turning it into an immobile ice sculpture.

This was happening repeatedly within the high ground area, as the monsters scrambled to escape from this region. Many of them were turned into ice sculptures, even frozen in their fleeing postures.

These monsters, bearing the scorching hot Red Dragon bloodline, would rather die in combat than be inexplicably frozen to death by this spell.

"Damn it, it's an Ice Storm!"

Dolores was also unfortunate enough to be at the center of this spell's range.

Although he used his Bloodfire Battle Axe to block the hail from above, his movements gradually slowed, and his blood turned cold.

Realizing the dire situation, Dolores roared with all his might:

"Ramp! Did you die back there or what?"

"There's a spellcaster on the other side!"

"Boom!"

The ground quaked loudly.

The six-meter-tall Dragon Vein Ogre used Flight Magic to reach the front lines and landed with a crash.

Despite his numerous conflicts with Dolores, he couldn't just let him die here; it would be hard to explain to his master later.

With this in mind, Ramp calmly adjusted his gold-framed glasses and raised his paper-thin magic wand.

[Force Wall Technique]

An inclined, invisible force field wall appeared above the high ground.

The hail fell and struck the force field wall, but it was all blocked and directed down its slant, falling onto the allied forces' positions instead.

Immediately, the allied forces screamed and suffered heavy casualties.

Schroeder's face changed drastically, quickly casting a Shield Spell to block the incoming hail.

But the soldiers guarding him weren't as lucky, either being smashed to death by the hail or turned into ice sculptures.

Schroeder used Misty Step to retreat to the back of the line.

He looked up at the invisible force field in the air and murmured, "Damn, it's the Force Wall Technique. Only the Disintegrate spell can destroy it. There's such a high-level spellcaster on the other side."

Disintegrate was a Sixth Tier spell, and even Schroeder found himself helpless against this force field wall.

Meanwhile, on the monster legion's side, Dolores was panting heavily, gritting his teeth as he "thanked" him:

"Ramp, you came just in time; I almost froze to death in that spell!"

His tone grew more furious.

"I'm fighting for my life up front, and you were nowhere to be seen!"

Ramp looked down at the Great Goblin with disdain, speaking in a flat tone, "Captain Dolores, think about it. You are leading the best troops of the Ashen Nest, and yet you were pushed to this point by mere humans."

Ramp's tone carried a hint of mockery.

"You said you would easily crush them. Those were your exact words, so I gave you the chance to prove it. But look now—why do you need to ask me for help?"

"Ramp, you..."

With Ramp's sneering, Dolores's face grew even redder, unable to find a retort and had to swallow his anger.

Ramp raised his wand and looked towards the battlefield.

"Watch closely, this is what it means to easily crush them."

[Fire Wall Spell]

A wall of fire, stretching tens of meters, appeared on the battlefield.

Ferocious flames mercilessly burned the unprepared allied soldiers, causing waves of wails and screams.

Meanwhile, the Ashen Nest retainers, bearing the Red Dragon bloodline, were unafraid of the fire. They surged into the fire wall, pursuing the unfortunate, burning enemies.