Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1325: Chapter 1324: Medical Aid

The Dawn of the Mortal World sky fortress battle group entered the battlefield, commencing a rapid and saturated purification against the aberration legion besieging Ruby City. Tons of rail cannon shells rained down like a Meteor Fire Rain from those gigantic anti-gravity citadels, creating a surge of explosions and shockwaves on the northern defense line of Ruby City. Those towering and robust ”monsters,” as intimidating as siege engines, became as fragile as paper in the face of such vast fortress artillery. The ordinary aberrations surrounding the beasts were instantly turned into scattered fragments in the sky.

Yet, these fearless monsters did not scatter and dissipate after a round of bombardment like the noble armies of the past; they did not lack anti-air measures—countless special monsters quickly responded amidst the black tide.

Firstly, the ”monsters” that survived the first round of shelling, these long-range units equipped with ray guns, quickly anchored themselves to the ground using bone spurs. The parallel charging structures on their backs aimed at the sky, and as hums of beam charging filled the air, hundreds of dark red beams reached for the large, conspicuous floating platforms.

Next, a type of monster never before seen on the northern battlefield emerged. They had bloated, water-bag-like large heads with deformed, mutated brains that swelled and wriggled within their translucent skulls. These monsters clearly possessed levitation and more powerful spell-casting abilities. They rose into the sky using some sort of Anti-gravity Magic, swinging their multi-segmented arms to summon flames and lightning, targeting the seemingly clumsy and unavoidable Dawn of the Mortal World.

They faced the ”swarm” carried by the Dawn of the Mortal World.

A series of unlocking mechanical sounds echoed as the hanging devices on both sides of the sky fortress opened up. A multitude of Dragon Cavalry Fighters, ready for battle, detached from the mothership. These agile anti-gravity aircraft soared through the sky like banshee wails, swiftly filling the space between floating platforms. Mini Ray Guns and Arcane Missile Launchers wove a precise net of fire, followed by rain-like filthy, charred flesh falling from the sky.

But the ”swarm” carried by the Dawn of the Mortal World did not only include Dragon Cavalry Fighters— as more and more aberrations poured into this battlefield, a section of the Dawn of the Mortal World’s central hatch slowly opened. As the strong wind rushed into the combat bay, one by one, gigantic figures leaped out from the open hatch, unfolding their mighty wings in the blood-red twilight.

They were the first wave of dragon expeditionary army from Talronde and Dragon Descendant Mercenaries from the Sacred Dragon Kingdom—either crossing the boundless sea or traversing the vast mountains, under a sacred alliance contract. These warriors from distant lands boarded the human empire’s anti-gravity sky fortress, arriving at this battlefield on the continent’s western line.

Under the encroaching night sky, the blazing flames and magical glows made the entire world as bright as day once more. Morak watched in shock at the unimaginable scene before him. After a long time, he glanced at the distant dragons and warcraft soaring through the sky and murmured to himself, ”It seems I am truly old... Is modern warfare like this?”

”...No, it’s just that the style of the Cecil Clan is always a little different from everyone else’s...” Camilla muttered instinctively, then turned to the holographic projection emerging from the Magic Web Terminal, ”Princess Rebecca, thank you very much for your support...”

”You’re welcome, you’re welcome, it’s also thanks to you that you’ve held on until now,” Rebecca stood in the control room of the Dawn of the Mortal World, waving one hand towards the communication device while speaking rapidly, ”Our biggest worry before was that Ruby City would fall. If those monsters spread out in the heart of Augari, the situation would be uncontrollable; even with the Dawn of the Mortal World, it might be difficult to control the situation—thankfully, you’ve held the line...”

As she spoke, she glanced at the surface image projected by the Main Brain, where the roaring flames in the Ruby Forest Sea filled nearly half the screen. Instead of being spectacular, the blazing sea of fire inspired awe and shock. Before arriving, she had heard about the basic situation of the beastmen’s territory from Lady Venna Baizhi, yet she never imagined, the Ruby Forest Sea would be burning fiercely before her eyes.

This fire couldn’t have been started by the aberrations; though the monsters could attack with flames, they wouldn’t deliberately block themselves with a fire. This blaze was set by the beastmen themselves—to obstruct the enemy.

Rebecca was no military expert, but the commanders and strategists on the Dawn of the Mortal World told her this tactic was very effective. Without this fire, the monsters rushing in from the northern defense line and those from the east would converge in Ruby City, possibly even bypassing it, entering the heart of Augari from several southern forks. Worse still, the entire land would become ”wastelands” in an extremely short time. At that point, though strong, the Dawn of the Mortal World couldn’t cover such a vast battlefield. In the worst-case scenario, she might only be able to float with the fortress in the sky, helplessly watching the entire kingdom become an extension of the Gondor wasteland...

Rebecca shook her head, focusing on the task at hand: ”Great Chieftain Camilla, what’s your current situation?”

”The situation in Ruby City is still good; we’ve held off the main force of the enemy, and the city itself has not been attacked—but I’m very worried about the situation on the northern defense line of Wolf Spine Mountain,” Camilla said rapidly, gazing at the distant horizon from the city wall, where human King Wickcliff’s troops were stationed. ”The monsters are surging in from the direction of the northern defense line. We’ve already lost contact with the human brigade stationed there; unlike Wolf Spine Mountain and the mountain barriers, there aren’t any significant natural defenses there... Princess Rebecca, whether the defenders there still exist or not, we must close that gap.”

”Understood, we’ve already dispatched a force to support.” Rebecca replied swiftly, and as her words fell, two ”Gorgon” floating citadels near the Dawn of the Mortal World slowly departed from the group, accelerating towards the northern part of Wolf Spine Mountain. Several dozen Dragon Cavalry Fighters followed in a swarming escort, receding into the sky.

Seeing this, Camilla on the city wall finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, in the northern passage of Wolf Spine Mountain, the ancient fortress group had already been razed to the ground by the ”black tide.”

A mud-like torrent of the aberration legion rampaged across the land, dividing and shattering the flags and towns that represented civilization’s splendor underfoot. After the last resistance force here collapsed, the entire region became the playground of the aberrations. Now, the filthy, dark purple-black clouds were gathering in the sky, and the soil and rocks began to take on an ominous gray, dilapidated tint. Anyone familiar with the wasteland would immediately recognize—the number and duration of the aberrations in this area had surpassed the critical point, and the foul powers they brought were affecting the entire region’s magic-pervasive environment. The Gondor wasteland was stretching into the realm of civilization.

The transformation began.

The night descended, yet, ironically, the black tide on the ground surged even more rampantly; within this darkness, only a final glimmer of light remained amidst the ruins of the ancient fortress ”Falm.”

Wickcliff and his last warriors huddled within the magic barrier; a Longsword with a golden guard stuck in the ground nearby, its blade shattered; and numerous fragments levitated in mid-air, maintained by magic. Gentle light burst forth from between the fragments, sustaining the last barrier within these ruins—Wickcliff knew this would be the last time his regal blade emitted its glory. After the barrier was exhausted, the sacred artifact, a legacy from the Gondor era representing the West Line human expeditionary army, would reach the end of its mission.

But he felt neither sorrow nor joy about it, and moreover, he personally no longer needed that Longsword.

The Human King’s right hand was empty, and his entire arm was gone. Healing Magic sealed the wound, but nothing more.

Chaotic roars and spine-chilling whispers echoed across the land as the aberration legion surged past the fortress ruins like a tide. The last soldiers and mages, exhausted of Magic Power, leaned against the collapsing walls. Their eyes devoid of any expression, only pure numbness remained.

Wickcliff knew the monsters surging around the ruins were aware of his presence. If they concentrated their force, the barrier he propped up with the sacred sword wasn’t invincible. Yet, these monsters, possessing no intelligence, driven by instinct, would do just that. At this moment, they simply surged past, ignoring the last survivors in the ruins.

This indicated the commanders behind the monsters no longer cared about the faint light within the darkness—the mere hundred humans left on the vast battlefield were meaningless. Attacking the barrier here would only slow the legion’s pace. The commanders merely needed to maintain the siege until the barrier exhausted.

The battle here was over, and the survivors within the darkness were merely breathing their last breaths.

”Your Majesty,” a one-eyed officer suddenly broke the silence, ”give the order. We charge out. You might still...”

Wickcliff raised his remaining left hand, interrupting the officer with a low voice, ”Retreating is meaningless, impractical. We’ve failed to hold the line, and the land behind us has become an aberration nest—continue recovering strength within the barrier, recover as much as possible. When the barrier extinguishes, we charge out, and kill as many as we can. Since death is inevitable, let us die rightly.”

The legion silently gazed at their king. After several seconds, he nodded lightly, solemnly returning to his resting place.

But a soldier suddenly raised his head, gazing confusedly at the dark sky, ”Did you hear something?”

”Sound? Just the sickening howls of those monsters...” Another soldier murmured, ”Beyond that, I heard nothing.”

”No, I really heard it, from the sky...” The soldier who spoke earlier stood up, looking at the distant sky through the fractured wall. ”There really is a sound... Look, it’s bright over there!”

A low hum was indeed coming from the sky, and even Wickcliff, contemplating, heard the strange commotion. He slowly stood from the ground, stared at the sky in bewilderment, searching for the source of the sound. But before his gaze could focus, a sharp whistling suddenly tore through the cold winter night.

A ball of fire plummeted from the distant sky, whistling down onto the open ground outside ”Falm” fortress. After a resounding explosion, a sea of flames erupted into the air!

Wickcliff’s eyes widened, within his dark pupils, Meteor Fire Rain descended from the sky.

Successive fireballs fell from the distant sky, mixed with great white masses of light. In an instant, the previously dark and cold night sky was bright as day. Those fireballs illuminated the darkness and physically ignited the whole mountain pass wildland—in front of the land’s remaining guardians, the unstoppable ”black tide” was suddenly obstructed by the fire rain and light masses from the sky!

And this was only the beginning.

From the dark night sky, two palace-like colossal steel fortresses draped in faint glow barriers emerged from the clouds. One rained down Meteor Fire Rain along its path, while the other was equipped with countless massive magic symbol arrays at the edges. Sacred white masses continually fell to earth, vaporizing the aberrations from the wasteland like fog. After the heavy fire ”obstacle clearing,” numerous smaller fighters began diving and bombing the surface, instantly clearing an exceptionally broad area. In Wickcliff’s astonished gaze, the fortress releasing the sacred glow even began descending toward the earth—

Under the cover of another airborne firepower platform, the fortress landed near ”Falm” fortress ruins. The open flat land still had many aberrations in motion, but their feeble resistance couldn’t even damage the anti-gravity fortress’s steel side. Hundreds of monsters were directly crushed under the fortress’s support structures or roasted to charcoal by the scorching airflow emitted from the cooling grilles.

Accompanied by a heavy tremor from the earth, the great object landed, Wickcliff finally saw the upper structure—he saw a magnificent cathedral cast in steel, standing at the platform’s center, above which a glorious light curtain projected the dual emblems of a fist and a ring, a sword and a plow. Surrounding the cathedral were countless turrets, spikes, and heavy additional armor plates, several large scripture banners hung from the cathedral’s top. In the spotlight’s illumination, these scripture banners exuded an endless sense of purity under the night sky.

The next moment, the scripture banners were suddenly lifted by a mechanical device atop the cathedral, the armor plates etched with sacred prayers slid aside. Dark nozzle mouths protruded from the cathedral’s base, holy flames surged, the surrounding aberrations, regrouping but surviving the previous bombardment, had no time to react and turned into logs within the endless inferno.

”Boom!”

A loud noise echoed in the night sky, the cathedral’s heavy steel door opened. An armored White Knight stepped forward. Behind him were equally thickly armored White Knights and Combat Staff-wielding War Nuns, leaving heavy tanks adorned with scripture banners on turret tops and barriers etched with Holy Light prayers thundering from the cathedral’s sides, ”Holy Arsenal”. These medical personnel in the dark landed in Falm fortress, and Wickcliff heard a resonant, muffled voice emanate from among them:

”The doctor is here!”