Chapter 228
Chapter 228. The Ancient Dragon Acts; Withdrawal
Deafening footsteps came from the depths of the scorched earth, like the heartbeat of the land itself.
When Dragon Mother Daenerys raised her head, her pupils abruptly contracted.
The soldiers of the Golden Legion and the Noble Legion, who had supposedly vanished in the explosions, were actually emerging one after another from the smoke and dust at the bottom of the crater. Their armor was still stained with wet mud, and their faces were filled with confusion, as though they had just awakened from a chaotic dream.
“This is...” The giant dragon beside Daenerys let out a low rumble, confusion flashing through its eyes.
Just then, an aged and majestic voice rang directly in her mind, carrying the aura of ancient dragon breath.
“The debt owed for the Reverse Scale is repaid today.”
Daenerys abruptly clenched her fists, her nails sinking deep into her palms.
She understood. It was the sleeping Ancient Dragon on Dragon Island who had acted! The other party had used spatial magic to transfer the soldiers to a safe place, preserving the last of their surviving forces.
“It was worth it. It was more than worth it.”
She growled under her breath, her eyes instantly reddening as the despair from before was replaced by wild joy.
She grabbed Xilan from beneath the broken bricks, the force of her dragon claw nearly crushing his armor.
“Wake up. Organize the retreat at once.”
Xilan coughed blood and swallowed the metallic sweetness in his mouth. After downing three High-Grade Healing Potions in succession, a tingling itch spread from his fractured bones.
He struggled to stand steadily. Then his Dou Qi erupted, and his voice exploded over the crater like thunder.
“All soldiers, heed my command. Retreat immediately! Our destination is Ridgewood Fortress. I repeat, abandon the Land of Resilience and retreat at full speed!”
The bewildered soldiers seemed to awaken from a dream. The officers of the Golden Legion were the first to reform their ranks, raising their long spears and forming a defensive line.
The mages of the Noble Legions set up Levitation Arrays and carried the wounded onto stretchers.
Amid the smoke and dust, the scattered formation gradually gathered once more. Footsteps, shouted orders, and the clash of metal intertwined, forming a slow yet resolute current that moved toward the edge of the crater.
Daenerys circled in midair atop a giant dragon. Golden dragon breath swept across the flanks, clearing away the remaining fragments of the explosions.
She looked down at the army being reborn below, then turned her gaze toward the orc encampment. It was deathly silent, clearly still unable to react after witnessing the might of the “Blooming Rose.”
“Hurry,” she roared toward the ground. “The orcs will catch up soon.”
She looked back at the scorched earth that was still smoking. The Land of Resilience had already been wiped from existence, but as long as its people remained, hope still survived.
A dozen or so minutes later, the main force finally walked out of the crater and set foot on the road to Ridgewood Fortress.
Sunlight pierced the smoke and dust and fell upon them. The reflected gleam of armor mingled with bloodstains, making them seem like a silent, stubborn river slowly flowing into the distance.
The Dragon Mother looked at the backs of the departing ranks, then raised her head toward the direction of Dragon Island and whispered, “Thank you.”
A faint dragon cry came through the wind, like a response, and like a sigh.
The orc Domain powerhouses sensed that something was wrong. They rose into the air together and hovered above the scorched earth, the lingering smell of smoke curling around their noses.
Their perception spread like an invisible net, capturing the life auras that had suddenly surged from the depths of the crater. They were dense, vivid, and numerous enough to form an entire legion.
“Something is wrong.”
A Domain powerhouse of the Blackrock Clan abruptly tightened his grip on his battle axe, his scarlet pupils filled with shock and suspicion.
“That explosion just now clearly... How could there be so many survivors?”
Another shaman priest holding a bone staff looked grave, the Runes at his fingertips flashing continuously.
“This is not natural recovery... It was spatial transfer. Someone hid them in another space at the instant of the explosion.”
“Spatial transfer?”
Someone cried out in disbelief.
“To accomplish it on this scale, they must be at least a Demigod.”
Those words were like a boulder cast into still water. The seven orc Domain powerhouses fell silent at once.
A Demigod was an existence above the Domain, one who could tear apart mountains and overturn seas with the slightest movement.
They might not fear the Dragon Mother. They might dare clash head-on with a Behemoth. But they absolutely did not dare provoke a Demigod lightly.
“But why would a Demigod interfere?”
A Domain powerhouse from Guzhanla gritted his teeth and said, “Was the Demigod of the Eastern Continent not imprisoned long ago by the Ancient Council in the deepest depths of the Eastern Continent?”
No one could answer.
The life auras on the scorched earth were already moving farther away. Clearly, Kroll’s army was retreating.
Should they pursue, or should they not?
If they pursued, they might be able to annihilate the remaining enemy forces in one stroke, completely seize the throat of the Eastern Continent, and then advance to occupy the entire Eastern Continent.
But if the Demigod who had acted had not yet left, then these Domain powerhouses would be nothing more than prey delivering themselves to the hunter’s door.
If they did not pursue, a victory already in their grasp would slip away.
The previous sacrifices and those seven “Blooming Roses” would all have been for nothing.
The wind swept scorched earth across their armor, carrying the tremors of the distant army’s movement.
The powerhouse of the Blackrock Clan stared fixedly in the direction where the life auras had vanished. In the end, he slowly shook his head.
“Withdraw.”
“But...”
“There is no but.”
He interrupted his companion, his voice carrying a trace of fear so faint it was almost imperceptible.
“The thoughts of a Demigod are not something we can fathom. If we anger that being, then forget taking the Eastern Continent. Whether we can even survive will become the question.”
The other Domain powerhouses glanced at one another, and the unwillingness in their eyes was gradually suppressed by reason.
They could gamble, but they could not gamble with the Domain powerhouses of the Seven Great Clans.
More than a dozen figures slowly retreated, disappearing once more into the clouds.
Above the scorched earth, only the howling wind remained, along with that cooling crater, like a silent eye watching the departing army and the war now shrouded beneath the shadow of a Demigod.
No one knew that the so-called “intervention of a Demigod” had been nothing more than a spatial spell cast by an Ancient Dragon.
Yet this accidental deterrence won the most crucial time for Kroll’s remaining troops to retreat.
On the distant horizon, Xilan’s army had already vanished into the outline of the mountains and forests.
Meanwhile, the orc camp remained shrouded in fear of the unknown and did not move for a long time.