Ashen Dragon
Chapter 762 - Chapter 762 Chapter 123 The Besieged Saint Theo_2

Chapter 762: Chapter 123 The Besieged Saint Theo_2 Chapter 762: Chapter 123 The Besieged Saint Theo_2 And there was a mother clutching her child’s charred remains, kneeling on the ground in despair, sobbing uncontrollably.

At this moment, under this merciless bombing, life seemed so fragile, with the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke and the scent of death pervading every corner.

People were crying, screaming, wailing, praying to their gods for a miracle, but all to no avail.

The dragons–or more accurately, the air force of the Ashen Empire–after completing their bombing runs, swiftly gained altitude and disappeared into the distant horizon.

What was left behind was nothing but burning ruins and endless death and sorrow.

Karen hovered in midair, beating his wings, overlooking the people of Saint Theo City struggling and wailing in the ruins, his golden pupils filled with grief and anger.

“Damn the Ashen Empire… I will make you pay.”

He then ordered his Soldiers to head to various parts of the city to rescue the affected residents and calm their emotions.

In the unpreparedness and inexperience of the city’s residents, the bombing directly caused thousands of deaths and countless collapsed buildings.

More importantly, it cast a psychological shadow in the hearts of the city’s residents far greater than the number of deaths, causing them to lose the sense of security in their city and their confidence collapsed–just like the fallen statue of Saint Theo.

“Oh gods…”

“They, they will come back.”

Such pessimistic voices filled the city, and the hallucinatory buzzing sounds in people’s ears instinctively triggered their flight, causing chaos in the order of the city.

Karen returned to the city tower and asked solemnly, “Zalan, do you have a way to deal with such attacks?”

Zalan gave a bitter smile, but didn’t give a direct answer. Instead, he said, “There was a Scholar who once said that the Ashen Empire will change the form of warfare; it will make wars more efficient and also more bloody.

We originally thought he was exaggerating, but who would have thought the reality would be so close to what he described…”

Karen sighed deeply, looking at the ruins strewn across the city, and said, “If this continues, Saint Theo City will not be able to hold on.”

Zalan thought for a moment and then said, “My lord, you should move the people into stronger fortresses, or let them stay in their own basements to protect themselves from explosions.

Additionally, my colleagues from the City of Thousand Laws and I can weave a temporary Array of Spells to block those bombs mid-air.”

Karen gripped his Longsword, flapped his wings behind him, and rose into the sky, saying ferociously, “If those filthy Monsters appear again, I will slaughter them all.”

Zalan and several white-robed Mages raised their Scepters, chanting Spells, as dazzling lights appeared above Saint Theo City. Threads of light crisscrossed, gradually weaving a shimmering large net, enveloping the whole Saint Theo City within it.

Residents either hid in their basements or sought refuge in the sturdy Amanata Church, continuously praying and seeking divine Protection.

Just then, the ground began to tremble lightly, and a deep rumble came from afar. Dust, broken tiles, and stones fell from the ceilings, causing people to panic once again, rushing about, trembling with fear.

“Boom–”

Karen beat his wings, ascending again to the high city walls, gazing outward, his pale face marked with solemnity as he muttered:

“Damn the Ashen Empire…”

In the distant horizon, billows of grey-black smoke rolled in, almost covering the Sun in the sky, while mountain-sized steel behemoths roared and thundered, moving rapidly towards Saint Theo City.

Following the Steam Tanks were carriages loaded with massive cannons, firearms, and Imperial Soldiers’ chariots, all moving at great speed, their spinning wheels kicking up clouds of dust, leaving disordered tracks behind.

Some carriages had loudspeakers installed, from which powerful, magnificent music played, and resounding voices declared, “We are the army of the Ashen Empire, supreme and victorious. We are the kin of the Ashen Empire’s Emperor–His Majesty Cassius–and we come to liberate the people of North Aisier and create a fairer and more just world.”

The people of Aisier, those Divine Descendant Nobles wage endless wars for their own selfish desires, treating you as nothing but grass beneath their feet, yet you should not have to bear such disasters. I urge you to see the situation clearly and surrender as soon as possible, or else you will face even greater calamities.

The Empire cannot promise immediate safety, but it can guarantee that your lives will no longer be threatened, on the condition that– you choose to surrender, choose to submit to His Majesty Cassius!”

This voice spread throughout Saint Theo City, where people hiding in the basements, crowding in churches, reacted differently; some shivered with fear, some cursed loudly, and others had expressions that were subtly complex…

“Here it comes again…”

“The army of the Ashen Empire is coming again. I never want to experience that kind of terror again in my lifetime.”

“Surrender, if we surrender…”

Atop the towering walls of Saint Theo, Karen’s hand gripping the longsword trembled violently, and his otherwise perfect face twisted into something ferocious. He swung his sword fiercely through the air and let out a low roar.

“Shameless! Utterly shameless!”

“These barbarians from the North are clearly distorting the truth! We are the protectors of North Aisier, the true successors of Fadlan, while they–are nothing but despicable Evil Dragon Kin, brutal and shameless invaders!”

Once again, a piercing screech and roaring noise came from the distant sky, as the disaster-bringing flock of dragons circled over the Imperial Army, awaiting their next attack.

“Those things again!”

“Oh Eternal Armanata… please save us!”

And upon hearing that deathly wail-like sound, the people in Saint Theo City were instantly reminded of the recent nightmare, their hair standing on end from fear, utterly terrified, with some even collapsing to their knees, fainting on the spot.

Karen, holding up his longsword, hovered in mid-air, speaking to those within Saint Theo City: “Ladies and gentlemen, do not panic, do not fear, and certainly do not be beguiled by their sweet nothings. We are the Fadlan People! The favored children of the Sun!

As Divine Descendants, Duke Walter will protect you, and I will protect you. Victory is within our grasp. In the near future, we will drive out these cruel Evil Dragon Kin from North Aisier–”

“Boom!”

The sound of the explosion was deafening, resonating through the sky.

In the distance, the tanks fired suddenly from kilometers away, with shells tracing elegant arcs in the air, striking the towering, thick walls of Saint Theo City, causing the entire wall to shake and countless fragments to fall.

The array carved into the wall lit up fiercely, creating a constantly flickering barrier on the surface of the wall, and with a trace of ripples and the twinkling of light, this barrier actually withstood the blast, leaving the wall intact.

Enraged and ashamed, Karen raised his sword towards the distance: “Damn it, shoot through those Iron Lumps!”

The superhuman soldiers on the wall strained with all their might, swiftly turning the winches, pulling the Sun God Crossbow to full draw. The giant arrows lay on the rack, as thick as arms, and the triple pairs of nearly six-meter-long limbs were drawn back, storing up tremendous kinetic energy.

“Fire the arrow!”

“Whoosh–”

In an instant, several arrows dragging the glory of the sun streaked through the air, piercing the sky like white rainbows, creating arcs of light, flying towards the steam tanks kilometers away.

These Sun God Crossbows were once the Empire of Fadlan’s formidable weapons for hunting giant dragons and Giants, with terrifying power and range up to two kilometers, enough to bring down adult Red Dragons from the sky.

“Boom!”

With a howling wind, a giant arrow dragging light pierced through a steam tank like Divine Punishment from the heavens, creating an intense explosion, reducing that steel behemoth to burning wreckage.

But these powerful weapons are also incredibly precious, requiring the High Priest from the Amanata Church to personally inscribe the arrays.

Across the entire Saint Theo City, there were only twenty-five Sun God Crossbows, and they were about to face an overwhelming tide of firepower composed of over a hundred steam tanks, two hundred heavy cannons, and three hundred bombing Wyverns.