Chapter 215 : Chapter 215
Chapter 215. Blasting Open the Royal Capital’s Protective Barrier, the Orcs Pick Up the Spoils
Just as the faint light of dawn dyed the horizon, five Domain Giant Dragons with metallic scales appeared above the Kadiya Royal Capital. Their sky-covering shadows instantly enveloped the entire city.
Dragon Mother Daenerys stood on the back of the Red-Gold Giant Dragon at the very front. Her silver hair danced wildly in the morning wind, and flames of resolve burned in her purple eyes.
“Now.”
Her voice pierced through the clouds like a Dragon’s Roar. The five Giant Dragons raised their heads at the same time, low growls rumbling in their throats as Dragon Breath of different attributes gathered within their mouths.
Red-gold molten flame, deep-blue ice, dark-purple Poisonous Mist, ocher rock spikes, and emerald-green life-stripping rays—five streams of destructive energy, like the wrathful whips of gods, struck the Royal Capital’s Magical Protective Barrier at the same time.
HUM…
The protective barrier shook violently. The pale-blue light membrane was instantly dyed in a riot of colors. The shockwaves produced by the collision of energies swept dust into the sky, and even the earth trembled faintly.
Inside the city, soldiers and civilians cried out in alarm and crouched down, watching the layer of light overhead twist and cave in wildly like silk being torn by a violent storm.
CRACK…
A faint yet distinct sound of shattering rang out, like ice splitting open.
A hair-thin crack first appeared on the light membrane. Immediately after, the crack spread at a speed visible to the naked eye, covering the entire protective barrier like a spiderweb.
A cold smile flashed through Daenerys’s eyes, and she raised her hand in signal.
“Again!”
The five Giant Dragons condensed their Dragon Breath once more. This time, the energy was even more violent.
When the second wave of Dragon Breath fell, that crack burst open completely. With a sound like shattering glass, the Magical Protective Barrier that had lasted for several days broke apart like shattered glaze, turning into countless motes of light that vanished into the air.
The Royal Capital, now stripped of its barrier, was exposed beneath the shadows of the Giant Dragons. The city fell into deathly silence for an instant, then erupted with cries of despair.
Daenerys looked down at the panicked crowd below. There was not the slightest trace of pity in her purple eyes. In her world, the wails of the weak had never been worthy of sympathy.
“Clear the obstacles.”
She gave the order coldly. The five Giant Dragons let out deafening roars, dove downward, and began a devastating assault on the Royal Capital.
Firelight, ice, and Poisonous Mist intertwined. The city walls that had once stood firm collapsed beneath the Dragon Breath as if they were made of paper.
This city, which had held out for several days, finally reached its moment of destruction beneath the power of the Domain Giant Dragons.
At the same time, because the Royal Family had withdrawn and taken ninety percent of the nobles with them, the Southern Frontier of the Kadiya Kingdom was like a piece of discarded fat exposed beneath the fangs of the Frostwolf Clan.
There were no Noble Legions to protect it, no Magical Protective Barriers to shield it, and not even a proper resistance could be gathered.
In the villages and towns along the way, the only ones who could pick up weapons were stooped old men and staggering middle-aged men. They swung rusted farming tools, only to draw even more frenzied slaughter from the soldiers of the Frostwolf Clan.
The Frostwolf Clan’s Legion swept forward like a gray tide. When their horses’ hooves trampled across the field ridges, what rose in alarm was not birds, but cries of despair.
Their battle axes were stained with blood and mud. Wherever they passed, houses were set ablaze and granaries were plundered.
Those middle-aged and elderly people who failed to hide in cellars in time fell in pools of blood, their eyes wide open as if they were still looking at this stolen land.
“Chief, the border of the Royal Territory lies ahead.”
A Wolf Rider dismounted, then knelt on one knee before the Chief of the Frostwolf Clan.
The Chief’s armor was embedded with the skull of a white wolf. His eyes were colder than the winter wind of the Southern Frontier. He looked toward the Boundary Marker of the Royal Territory in the distance, and a cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
“Stop. Let the cubs rest.”
They had already occupied enough land. From the plains to the hills of the Southern Frontier, the farms and mines Kadiya had managed for several hundred years were now planted with the wolf-head banners of the Frostwolf Clan.
But this was only the beginning.
Three days later, the sound of hooves came from the direction of the Western Frontier.
The Legions of two other Clans arrived in travel-worn haste. They had abandoned their siege of the Dwarf Kingdom, bringing better weapons and larger forces to join the Frostwolf Clan.
“I heard you picked up a fine piece of meat here?”
The Chief of another Clan patted the Frostwolf Chief on the shoulder, his laughter shaking the eardrums of the soldiers around them.
“There are five fools keeping an eye on the dwarves. We might as well take more here.”
The Frostwolf Chief licked the blood scab on his battle axe.
“There are still plenty of good things in the Royal Territory. Those nobles ran away, and their castles are full of gold and silver.”
The Chiefs of the three Clans gathered together and spoke in low voices in the Orc language. On the map, the Southern Frontier and Western Frontier of Kadiya were carved apart by their knives, like a piece of prey being divided.
“Move faster.”
In the end, the Frostwolf Chief stood and raised his battle axe high.
“Before sunset, I want to see our banners planted on the castles of the Western Frontier!”
The horns sounded once more. This time, the three armies merged like converging torrents and crushed their way toward Kadiya’s heartland.
The roars of the Wolf Riders, the neighing of warhorses, and the cries of civilians intertwined. The tragedy of the Southern Frontier was now being repeated in the Western Frontier.
Those castles that had once belonged to Kadiya’s nobles had now become loot warehouses for the Clan soldiers.
Decorations were roughly stuffed into sacks. Valuable oil paintings were torn to shreds. Even the family crests hanging on the walls were smashed apart by battle axes.
When night fell, more than half of Kadiya’s Western Frontier had fallen.
The banners of the three Clans fluttered above burning castles, like three poisonous flowers blooming amid blood and fire.
As for the Kadiyans hiding inside the Secret Realms, perhaps they would never know what sort of calamity this land was suffering after their departure.
The wind passed through the blackened villages, carrying the scent of blood as it blew toward the Royal Territory.
There, the Legions of the Kroll Kingdom were still besieging the Royal Capital, while on the lands to the south and west, new plunderers had already raised their butcher’s blades.
Kadiya’s destruction was more complete and more tragic than anyone had imagined.
When Xilan learned that the Clans of the Orc Kingdom had seized the Southern Frontier, Eastern Frontier, and Western Frontier, he slammed the battle report hard onto the stone table.
His knuckles turned white, and the muscles beneath his armor tightened with fury. The cold laugh that escaped his throat carried a venomous chill.
“A pack of wild dogs who only know how to gnaw bones after others finish the hunt.”
Inside the tent, the Legion Commanders were as silent as cicadas in winter. Everyone could see the fury of this iron-blooded Commander.
How much blood had Kroll’s Gold Legion spilled in the Northern Frontier to tear open Kadiya’s defensive line? Yet the Orcs were like vultures smelling carrion, swallowing the Southern, Eastern, and Western Frontiers without expending the slightest effort. This was simply a slap to the Kroll Kingdom’s face.
“Pass down my order.”
Xilan abruptly drew his longsword, and the blade flashed with a fierce light beneath the firelight inside the tent.
“All siege troops are to quicken their pace. Within three days, the Royal Palace must be taken. Every inch of the Royal Territory must be planted with Kroll’s banner. As for the lands those Orcs have occupied…”
He paused. The tip of his sword pointed toward the three regions on the map, and his gaze was vicious as a wolf’s.
“Once we have purged the Royal Territory, it will be their turn. Tell the soldiers that all the spoils in the Orcs’ hands will belong to them in the future!”
“Yes.”
The Legion Commanders answered in unison. When they turned, even their footsteps carried the force of wind. Everyone knew that Xilan always did what he said.
The streets and alleys of the Royal Capital had long since become an Asura hell.
The Kroll Legions stepped over corpses and advanced toward the Royal Palace, paying a price for every step.
Kadiya’s remnant soldiers hid behind broken walls and inside cellars, resisting with bows, stones, and even their teeth. Often, in the instant before they were pierced through, they would ignite the alchemical explosives hidden in their arms and perish together with the soldiers charging at them.
BOOM…
In the plaza before the Royal Palace, an old Kadiya veteran rushed into Kroll’s formation while holding an explosive pack. Firelight swallowed his thin figure and sent more than a dozen soldiers around him flying.
When the smoke dispersed, a scorched pit remained in the center of the plaza. Beside the pit, the surviving Kadiya soldiers still raised broken spears and roared as they charged forward.
Xilan stood at the edge of the plaza, watching those figures charge at him despite knowing they would certainly die. His gaze was complicated.
He admired such courage, yet he despised such meaningless resistance even more.
Kadiya’s main force had already hidden inside the Secret Realms. These people were nothing more than abandoned chess pieces, yet they were still being buried with an empty-shell kingdom.
“Mages, begin chanting,” he ordered, his voice cold and hard as iron.
“Smash open the Palace Gate.”