Chapter 138: Chapter138-The Worsening Battle Situation
Ironkeep.
This is the most critical natural fortress located on the border between the Kyrik Kingdom and the Azure Kingdom.
Standing over ten thousand feet high and built into the mountains, it stretches for hundreds of miles like a massive barrier coiling above the mountains, blocking the fierce winds sweeping in from Kyrik.
It also keeps out swathes of terrifying spellbeasts.
It has always safeguarded the peace of the Azure Kingdom.
Ironkeep is the most vital strategic stronghold that the Azure Kingdom guards—a genuine strategic chokepoint.
If this fortress falls, the dozens of cities it protects in the Azure Kingdom will be left defenseless!
With the expansive plains, the spellbeasts and cavalry of the Kyrik Empire could advance unimpeded!
They might even directly threaten the safety of the capital.
Knowing the importance of Ironkeep, after other towns had fallen and been captured, General Stanley decisively adopted a strategy of holding onto what remained.
He gathered all the available elite forces here.
However, like General Stanley, the Kyrik Empire also placed immense importance on Ironkeep.
At this moment, both the 100,000 elite troops of Kyrik and their elite unit of seventeen terrifying Crimson Dragons were gathered here, continually launching assaults on Ironkeep.
“General Stanley, the Azure royal family has already fallen. Why persist in fighting to the death for someone who killed the royal family?”
High above Ironkeep, a female general clad in golden armor, wielding a broad sword and standing in mid-air, coldly watched General Stanley as he fought fiercely below.
She couldn’t understand why Stanley, who had previously led his army to the Azure Kingdom’s capital to seek justice for the Azure royal family against Leslie, now fought relentlessly.
Even when injured and bloodied, he showed no intention of surrendering or retreating, choosing instead to resist her, the grand general, and her four deputies single-handedly.
The four deputies standing beside the female general also gazed solemnly at Stanley, who fought like a blood-soaked dire wolf.
Stanley was now a diamond-tier level 6 mage, extraordinarily powerful.
Even the female general, Grace, was only diamond-tier level 5.
In terms of tier, Stanley had the upper hand.
Moreover, Stanley had mastered a nascent domain. Even with the combined efforts of the four deputies, who were also diamond-tier mages, and Grace, they could only barely suppress him.
If it were a one-on-one fight, they wouldn’t stand a chance against Stanley.
Each of them was a seasoned warrior, having fought through hundreds of battles and killed countless powerful spellbeasts.
Yet compared to Stanley, they fell short.
Even as his opponents, they had to admit that his talent and strength were unparalleled among Kyrik’s generals.
However, as their expressions grew more solemn, their excitement only increased.
Stanley was infamous as a butcher in Kyrik, and if they could take his head back to Kyrik, they would be hailed as heroes!
Under their increasingly fervent and excited gazes, Stanley’s expression grew even darker.
If he were only facing the female general Grace and her four diamond-tier deputies, he might be at a slight disadvantage.
However, given the chance, he could potentially break through their formation and slay them one by one.
But the situation at Ironkeep was dire, and time was running out. The longer they dragged on, the worse it would be for them.
The dozen or so Crimson Dragons flying in the sky were like meat grinders on the battlefield.
Their scorching breath burned deep pits into Ironkeep’s walls, leaving them charred and showing signs of breaking through the fortress.
Some of the flames fell on the shield formed by hundreds of mages, shattering it and severely injuring the mages within.
Wherever they went, the elite troops of the Azure Kingdom were forced to retreat, surrounded by screams of terror and despair.
These Crimson Dragons’ level and strength were incomparable to the elite soldiers.
While battling Grace and the others, Stanley also had to divert his attention to attack the Crimson Dragons, trying to mitigate their impact on the battle.
Every time Stanley divided his focus, Grace and her deputies would exploit a weakness, injuring him and worsening his wounds.
Finding an opportunity to kill Grace and the others became increasingly difficult, let alone holding his ground against them.
Below Stanley, some of the Azure Kingdom’s generals knew the situation was dire and launched all-out attacks against the Crimson Dragons to prevent further destruction.
However, many magical attacks were dodged by the Crimson Dragons.
Even when some attacks were about to hit, they were partially deflected by the mages riding on the dragons.
The remaining weakened attacks barely scratched their armored hides and posed no mortal threat.
The Crimson Dragons’ assaults continued to push them back relentlessly.
“General, what should we do now? The formation of Ironkeep is full of holes and is about to be breached!”
Suddenly, a mage maintaining the Ironkeep formation spoke with pale, parched lips.
In the massive assault by Kyrik, both the number of elite soldiers and top-tier powerhouses far exceeded those of the Azure Kingdom.
Especially with the Crimson Dragons fighting as reinforcements, the battle situation had become extremely unfavorable for them.
Even with Ironkeep as a natural fortress and the Heavenly Dou Formation pushed to its limits, they still suffered heavy casualties.
Once Ironkeep was breached and the formation shattered, they would lose all fighting capability!
Hearing the reports from the soldiers and mages maintaining the formation, a female general clad in blood-stained armor furrowed her brows slightly.
She gazed at the massive, cracked, semi-transparent formation that reached from the earth to the sky, a hint of despair flickering in her eyes.
Kyrik had brought nearly all their elite forces this time, even deploying the Crimson Dragons as their trump card.
Their ability to hold on until now was largely due to the natural fortress, the formation, and the blood-soaked efforts of General Stanley.
Now, with Stanley divided in his efforts between fighting Grace and the four deputies and occasionally attacking the Crimson Dragons, his injuries were worsening, and he couldn’t hold out much longer.
Ironkeep and the Heavenly Dou Formation had also reached their limits after these days of fighting!
“General, when will our reinforcements arrive?”
Some soldiers, desperately fending off the spellbeasts’ attacks, gripped their blood-stained swords with faces full of exhaustion and despair.
Their arms had grown numb from the constant swinging.
Yet beneath Ironkeep, Kyrik’s elite troops continued their assault under the cover of the Crimson Dragons, attacking like waves that grew stronger with each surge.
They truly couldn’t hold on any longer!
Thud, thud!
Some wounded soldiers were struck in the neck by the elite forces of the Kyrik Empire, producing the sickening sound of flesh being torn, before they fell backward, never to rise again.
In that moment, their faces showed no pain, only a hint of resigned despair.
And this was only the beginning, as General Stanley struggled to hold on and the Crimson Dragons became increasingly active.
Whenever the Crimson Dragons detected the Azure Kingdom’s soldiers resisting stubbornly, they used their aerial advantage to unleash fiery breaths, reducing dozens of Azure Kingdom soldiers to ashes.
Even though the formation’s defenses grew stronger as they neared Ironkeep, with the advancing forces of the Kyrik Empire, the heavily damaged protective barrier of the formation could no longer hold. It shattered like a sky collapsing, disintegrating into countless glimmers of light and vanishing.
With the shattering of the Heavenly Dou Formation, the power boost and the determination it provided to all the soldiers vanished in an instant.
Every soldier and mage of the Azure Kingdom present was momentarily stunned, watching the descending points of light as if witnessing their own demise.
“Why? Why does the Kyrik Empire have more reinforcements while ours are nowhere to be seen?”
At that moment, the exhausted soldiers of the Azure Kingdom were consumed by this thought.
If they had reinforcements, they could continue to hold their ground against Kyrik’s elite forces.
But now, several days had passed with no sign of reinforcements, and with the Heavenly Dou Formation shattered, their last shred of resolve had disintegrated into nothingness.
This shift was even more apparent to Kyrik’s elite troops.
The once fiercely resolute soldiers of the Azure Kingdom were now gradually retreating!
Clearly, with the formation broken and reinforcements nowhere in sight, their morale had crumbled!
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