Sovereign of the Ashes

As soon as the Rank Four knight, Brendek Satorra, appeared in the sky above the battlefield, the space fortress hovering above the main base fired dense energy beams in all directions.

These energy beams were shot by the magic cannons of the space fortress, following a pre-determined attack pattern.

Thousands of them struck the western front of the camp, helping the knights and mages ruthlessly repel a wave of Thunderfall World creatures.

However, the majority of the fortress attacks were concentrated on the east, north, and center of the main battlefield.

For an order of the knights, using fortress fire on this scale was an absolute luxury.

Even the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame could only sustain such a high frequency of magical strikes with the assistance of numerous mages on the combat platforms inside the fortress.

One relied on mages to release elemental energy, while the other was simply burning their money.

There was no comparison between the two!

Thanks to this wave of support from the space fortress, the pressure on Sein and the knights and mages stationed at the fortress base was immediately reduced.

When Sein and the others were finally able to catch their breath, the clash between the two Rank Four beings had already begun on the frontline battlefield.

Since Sein was too far away and had his own mission to complete, he could not observe the battle between the Rank Four beings closely.

He only vaguely sensed that the Rank Four creature of Thunderfall World, Violet Thunder, seemed to be a relatively rare elemental creature.

“Coordinates: 267,331 need fire support!” A Rank Two knight’s shout rang out from the crystal ball in front of Sein.

Although Sein did not know who he was, he immediately focused there and adjusted the direction of the magic towers’ attack upon hearing the message.

The wall of the fortress in that direction had been blasted through by the Thunderfall World creatures, creating a gaping hole.

Although many knights and enslaved creatures had already rushed to support, more Thunderfall World creatures gathered outside the fortress!

A wave of elemental energy from the space fortress temporarily repelled the Thunderfall World creatures’ offensive momentum.

However, after this covering fire, the space fortress in the sky fell silent.

In contrast, the fighting spirit of the Thunderfall World creatures remained unshaken by the elemental strikes, bolstered by the appearance of the Rank Four Violet Thunder Guardian.

For the knights and mages stationed at the main fortress base, the pressure of this war intensified significantly instead of decreasing!

Before the war, knights like Kelman, who had suffered minor injuries, were assigned to defend the fortress base for safety reasons.

Now, the frontline battlefield seemed safer than the main fortress base.

Aside from the absence of Rank Four creatures, the main fortress base and the frontline battlefield faced the same number of Thunderfall World’s native creatures.

The key difference was that one was on defense and the other on offense.

Sein quickly concentrated three laser beam spells to support the target point.

Rows of Thunderfall World creatures were shot by the beams, forcing the enemy at the fortress wall into retreat.

Yet, countless Garths at the rear continued charging forward, stepping over the corpses of their comrades.

Even Sein was exhausted by the prolonged conflict, not to mention the Rank One knights and mages who were even weaker than him.

Sighing, Sein lamented, “Looks like the Viridian Venom Flame World War I experienced was an interplanar war with a crushing advantage. I wonder if situations as tough as this is common in Magus Civilization’s foreign expansion.”

Despite his weariness, Sein maintained his pace of releasing magic.

Sein’s crystal ball, war badge, and the Surveillance Eye inside the fortress faithfully recorded his kill count and combat performance during the war.

The kill count would be converted to mission points to calculate Sein’s wages after the conflict ended.

Given the intensity of the war in Thunderfall World, Rank Two mages like Sein, who had participated in the war for over ten years, would earn enough to fund their experiments for the next one or two hundred years.

***

On the thirty-seventh day of defending the fortress, a new crisis emerged.

A dazzling purple lightning streaked across the sky over the Thunder Plains, accompanied by loud thunder.

Four-fifths of the Surveillance Eyes and other surveillance magic used by the Magus World across the entire battlefield were either damaged or deactivated.

Seizing this opportunity, the Thunderfall World creatures abandoned their primary attack on the eastern side of the fortress and redirected their main force to assault the western defense line while simultaneously maintaining their assault on the northern line.

Not only did the pressure on the western side of the fortress suddenly increase, but battles also began to erupt on the southern side.

However, the creatures attacking the southern side were not the ones that had circled around the fortress.

Instead, they were sporadic attacks from the direction of Thunder Marsh.

It became clear that the Thunderfall World creatures had established hidden outposts in Thunder Marsh.

Thankfully, the number of creatures emerging from Thunder Marsh was limited; otherwise, the fortress base would have faced even greater peril.

Whoever said that extraplanar creatures were synonymous with stupidity and ignorance was mistaken.

The Garths of the Thunderfall World demonstrated notable talent in tactics and strategy.

Their unexpected abandonment of the eastern assault caught the knights and mages stationed in the fortress by surprise.

This maneuver showcased the advantage of being the attacking side.

As the defenders, the knights and mages of the Magus World could not afford to redeploy all the forces from the east to the west in one go.

Without accurate detection of the Garths’ movements using the Mage’s Eyes, the command center dared not overly commit troops to support the west side in case this was the enemy’s trap!

The purple lightning in the sky was undoubtedly caused by the Rank Four guardian—a relatively rare means of interference.

The moment the purple lightning appeared, seventy percent of the magic towers within the fortress fell silent.

The temporary silence of the magic towers, coupled with the massive deployment of Thunderfall World’s native creature army, increased the pressure on the western side of the fortress where Sein was located to an unprecedented level.

After holding out for a day and a night, the strong wall on the west side of the main fortress base was finally breached!

Under the relentless assault of the Thunderfall World creatures, the once-imposing outer fortress wall weakened, riddled with holes.

Following orders from the command center, the knights and remaining enslaved creatures on the fortress’ periphery began to retreat toward the fortress’ interior, forming a new line of defense.

This marked the shift of the battle from outside the fortress to inside.