Supreme Bloodline Evolution System

Orange flames spread across several sections of the outer wall, consuming wooden platforms, siege defenses, and everything else they could reach. Magical explosions struck the towers one after another, each impact shaking the mountainside and sending enormous pieces of black stone tumbling toward the armies below. The noise reached Max even from high above, a constant mixture of thunderous impacts, cracking stone, roaring fire, and the distant screams of thousands of soldiers fighting for their lives.

The air smelled of smoke, burned flesh, and blood.

Crimson and golden light repeatedly flashed across the sky as attacks crashed against the defensive formations protecting the capital. Each impact sent ripples across the enormous barrier, briefly revealing thousands of interconnected runes stretched over the city like a transparent dome. Several portions had already cracked, allowing arrows, flames, and rays of golden light to slip through and strike the streets behind the walls.

Max slowed for the first time since leaving the border, his body remaining suspended in the air as his dark eyes widened slightly. His clothes and hair continued thrashing in the violent wind, yet he no longer noticed them. His entire attention remained fixed upon the battle raging around the mountain.

The scale of it was far greater than anything he had expected.

Two enormous armies were advancing upon the capital from separate directions, spreading around nearly the entire base of the mountain and preventing Frankindia’s defenders from concentrating their forces upon a single front.

From one side marched the soldiers of the Crimson Horde. Their blood-red armor and banners covered the land like a river of blood, while enormous war drums thundered behind their formations with enough force to shake the earth.

Siege beasts wrapped in heavy crimson plating dragged burning towers toward the mountain, and fire-wielding mages launched blazing spheres into the sky, each one leaving a trail of dark smoke behind it before crashing against the barrier.

From the opposite direction came countless warriors dressed in polished gold. Their formations were far more orderly, every row advancing at the same pace beneath the symbols of the Imperial Court Empire.

Radiant siege weapons stood behind their main force, gathering mana inside enormous golden crystals before releasing concentrated rays of light toward the capital. Whenever one struck the barrier, the entire sky flashed bright enough to force ordinary soldiers to cover their eyes.

The two armies were close enough to attack one another, yet neither side showed any interest in doing so.

They were not fighting each other.

Both armies were attacking Frankindia.

Max’s gaze slowly rose toward the burning capital at the summit. Soldiers crowded the damaged battlements, desperately carrying ammunition, dragging away the wounded, and reinforcing every section of the wall threatening to collapse. Even from this distance, he could see how exhausted their movements had become.

Another golden ray tore across the battlefield and struck one of the defensive towers.

The explosion ripped away its upper half.

Black stone, burning wood, and armored bodies scattered through the air before falling down the steep mountainside. The barrier protecting the capital flickered violently, several of its runes shattering one after another as a deep crack spread across its surface.

It was ready to collapse.

Max’s jaw tightened until his teeth ground together. His fingers curled into fists, and dark mist began to leak between them as more of his draconic features forced their way through his human appearance. The scales along his face spread toward his neck, his pupils sharpened, and his breathing grew heavier as he searched the walls, towers, and streets for even the smallest glimpse of Clotilde.

He had arrived just in time to watch Frankindia fall.

Unless he did something.

The possibility of remaining hidden disappeared from his mind. He no longer cared whether the Imperial Court learned that he had entered the human lands, nor did he care whether intervening dragged Voidstar into the war. If necessary, he would call upon every dragon, elf, and spirit beneath his rule and pull Britana into the conflict for helping him cross the border.

Caratacus had promised military cooperation. Max was ready to test exactly how much that promise was worth.

The armies below had touched something he cared about deeply, and whether they understood it yet or not, that single decision had brought King Maximus into their war.

His fists slowly opened, allowing thin streams of black mist to leak between his claws as his fury finally found somewhere to go.

If Frankindia was about to fall, then Max would simply destroy everyone trying to bring it down.

He drew in a deep breath, allowing the smoke, heated air, and metallic scent of blood to fill his lungs before releasing everything he had been holding back.

The darkness erupted.

It spread across the sky faster than the smoke rising from the capital, swallowing the sunlight and smothering the crimson and golden flashes beneath an expanding layer of black. Soldiers from all three forces gradually stopped what they were doing, their weapons lowering as confused faces turned upward.

Even the thunderous war drums of the Crimson Horde began to slow.

The Imperial Court’s siege weapons fired again, but their golden rays vanished into the darkness before reaching the capital’s barrier. Fireballs followed, disappearing one after another without producing so much as a spark.

For several breaths, the entire battlefield fell silent.

Max descended through the blackened sky, his cloak whipping violently behind him as scales spread across his face and dark claws replaced his fingers. His body remained small compared to the armies gathered around the mountain, yet the pressure flowing from him forced thousands of warriors to bend their knees.

"Listen carefully!" His voice crashed across the mountain, strengthened by mana until every soldier could hear him. "You have ten seconds to turn around and leave Frankindia."

Silence answered him.

Then the Crimson Horde’s formations began to separate.

An enormous armored beast marched through the opening, each of its six legs shaking the earth beneath it. Curved horns surrounded its broad skull, while smoke poured from between rows of jagged teeth.

A bulky warrior sat upon its back, his entire body hidden inside thick crimson armor covered in so many spikes that he resembled a living weapon. He pulled the beast to a stop and slowly lifted a massive serrated axe toward Max.

A crazed laugh thundered from beneath his horned helmet.

"Ten seconds?" the warrior roared. "You won’t survive five."