Chapter 944: Entering the City
The city gate was blasted apart, leaving a gap dozens of meters wide. Inside, the Blazeforge Orcs understood they couldn’t let their enemies charge into the fortress. The orc Wolf Riders, mounted on flaming giant wolves, were the first to storm out, with more than a dozen thick-skinned Kodo Beasts leading the charge.
Hundreds of Bladewalker Alchemical Golems dragged their twin arm-blades, transforming into a torrent of steel that surged forward without hesitation.
In an instant, endless blades flashed, the cold gleam of steel forming a blinding wave as it collided fiercely with the orc Wolf Rider legion.
The torrent of blades swept forward. At the very front, a seven- or eight-meter-tall Kodo Beast opened its massive jaws, trying to devour the Bladewalker Alchemical Golems ahead. But in a heartbeat, the torrent of blades surged past its sides, and hundreds of narrow wounds erupted across its body as if by explosion.
In less than a second, the gigantic Kodo Beast was torn to pieces. From afar, it looked like a burst of blood blossomed as the torrent of blades swept through, only for the blood to vanish in the blink of an eye.
A spray of blood erupted, followed by furious roars and screams from behind. The torrent of blades crashed into a river of blood, sending waves of crimson splashing wildly. In this clash, the torrent rampaged, kicking up a storm of bloody spray.
The torrent of blades charged without pause straight into the fortress. The remaining half of the orc Wolf Riders saw over two hundred spellcasting Alchemical Golems ahead, their arms raised as if opening a portal filled with countless spells.
A raging tide of spells swept forth, engulfing the surviving Wolf Riders and Kodo Beasts completely...
After three seconds of this raging magical tide, not a single Wolf Rider remained. The ground was carved into a massive trench, dozens of meters wide and hundreds of meters long.
The Spellcaster Alchemical Golems marched in perfect formation, following the Bladewalker Alchemical Golems as they charged into the fortress.
Suddenly, a massive scarlet battle-energy slash appeared, sending two Bladewalker Alchemical Golems flying. The Ninth-Rank Orc Sword Saint had arrived.
Hubert grinned savagely, gripping Slaughter. His waist bent slightly, and then, with a thunderous boom, the ground beneath him collapsed into a pit over ten meters wide. Hubert’s body, however, had already leapt more than a hundred meters into the air, heading for the fortress.
The Ninth-Rank Sword Saint, his face covered in markings, looked ferocious as he watched Hubert descend from the sky. Without hesitation, he charged forward, swinging his great axe wreathed in flames at Hubert’s waist, as if to cleave him in two.
Hubert gripped Slaughter with both hands, his face flushing red as steam began to rise from his body. He didn’t dodge—he roared and swung Slaughter down with all his might.
Slaughter collided with the great axe, and in an instant, endless detonations thundered. Rings of white shockwaves, sharp as blades, erupted outward in all directions.
From afar, it looked as if a white circle had suddenly expanded in midair to hundreds of meters across. The violent force forcibly emptied the nearby air, and the rushing air slammed back together, forming vast clouds and thunderclaps. Bolts of lightning flashed within.
Within the mist, a blurred figure struck the ground at a speed beyond anyone’s ability to react.
Boom...
In an instant, a pit over ten meters wide appeared on the fortress floor, filled with fist-sized rubble. Lightning-like cracks radiated outward from the edge of the pit.
At the bottom of the pit, the Ninth-Rank Orc Sword Saint lay there, eyes wide open. His body was covered in cracks like shattered porcelain, limbs twisted grotesquely, and his great axe had exploded into fragments.
He died with his eyes open...
Even in death, disbelief lingered on his face—he had no idea how it ended like this...
Hubert, clutching Slaughter, crashed down into the fortress like a rampaging tyrannosaurus. A three-story building, ten meters tall, was flattened beneath his landing.
From the ruins, Hubert emerged, hefting Slaughter, baring his teeth as he strode toward the other Blazeforge Orcs. Passing the pit, he spat out a contemptuous curse.
"Idiot. A broken axe, and you dared to go head-to-head with Lord Hubert and the warhammer Slaughter, which surpasses even legendary magic weapons. Apart from the great Archmage Leon, I'm invincible—well, except for those freaks at Sky Rank..."
The fortress was filled with the sounds of battle. Anderson and the Patchwork Golems also entered.
These two, like walking spell turrets, entered the fortress like dragons in a flock of sheep. Whenever they spotted Blazeforge Orcs, they unleashed a wild storm of spells, leveling everything—orc and building alike.
Reina floated in midair, watching quietly. There was still a Ninth-Rank Title Archmage-level orc warlock inside—whether he had fled or was lying in wait was unknown.
Suddenly, a swirling black cloud of fire appeared above Reina’s head. A massive meteor, over ten meters across, trailing a long tail of black smoke, hurtled toward her.
Reina blinked, her eyes suddenly turning into icy sculptures of frost, pupils narrowing to slits. With a gesture, an endless blizzard formed around her, swirling with terrifying frost runes. Nearby, it was as if a dragon murmured in ancient tongue.
Reina pointed at the rapidly descending meteor, and endless frost runes instantly converged into a torrent—a surge of ice-blue light rushing upward.
In a heartbeat, the ice-blue torrent collided with the massive meteor.
Instantly, a layer of frost swept across the burning meteor like a ripple.
In less than a second, the nearly twenty-meter-wide meteor was frozen into an ice sphere—even the flames and thick smoke inside were locked in ice.
The plunging meteor became a falling ice sphere. Reina looked toward a distant building, pointed, and the massive ice sphere shifted direction, hurtling with crushing force toward the structure.
The building, over ten meters high, was instantly destroyed by the ice sphere. A figure flew out from the wreckage—Reina extended her palm and gently blew.
A small flurry of ice chips shot out, crossing dozens of meters in an instant and striking the figure. The stunned, furious Blazeforge Orc was immediately frozen into an ice sculpture.
Three Ice Walls then struck the airborne ice sculpture, shattering it into fragments...
In the sky, fifty battalion mages became a cloud of fire, chasing a group of Orc Wind Riders. The once arrogant wyvern-riding Wind Riders now fled like beaten dogs, driven by fire spells that lashed out in hundred-meter-long whips.
From time to time, a wyvern was shot down, and the Orc Wind Rider atop it was incinerated by flames before even hitting the ground...
The Wind Rider legion, once over a hundred strong, now had only sixty left. Seeing the battle below turn one-sided, with the Blazeforge Orcs unable to resist, the Wind Riders grew desperate. Outmatched in battle and unable to escape, their only hope was to break through the battalion mages for a chance to flee.
Led by their commander, the sixty-plus Orc Wind Riders turned and charged the battalion mages.
Poisoned spears whistled through the air toward the mages.
Kurum sneered, raising his Dragon Scale Staff. Instantly, elemental flames surged in the sky, turning hundreds of meters into a sea of fire.
The battalion mages scattered to dodge the barrage of poisoned spears.
This seemed to give the Wind Riders hope—they charged straight in, trying to break the mages’ formation and buy time to escape.
When the Orc Wind Riders were just thirty meters away, nearly close enough to reach the mages in a blink, a crimson glow began to shine from Kurum’s Dragon Scale Staff.
Unbeknownst to them, the battalion mages had formed a surrounding circle. The hundreds-of-meters-long fire zone now resembled a bowl, waiting for the Wind Riders to leap in.
Suddenly, the sea of fire spread, enveloping the sixty-plus Orc Wind Riders. Blinding flames erupted within the inferno.
It was like a hollow sphere of fire, covered in crimson-gold flame patterns and runes. The fifty battalion mages stood on its surface.
"Inferno!"
Kurum shouted.
All fifty battalion mages raised their staffs, and instantly, six massive fire vortices, each over ten meters wide, appeared on the surface of the hollow fire sphere.
Endless flames erupted from the fire vortices, filling the sphere with destructive fire almost instantly.
The sixty Orc Wind Riders had no chance to resist—they were instantly engulfed by the flames. Unlike the mages, they couldn’t transform into fire elementals and could only rely on battle energy for defense.
But these were the flames of inferno, endless and unyielding.
The screams lasted only a few seconds before fading. When the flames vanished, not a trace of wyvern or Wind Rider remained—not even bones.
A dozen minutes later, the battle was completely over.
Outside the fortress, Leon, who had been analyzing spells all this time, finally stopped his calculations and stepped inside.
Inside the fortress, Hubert eyed Slaughter, dragging a battalion mage along as he bragged loudly about his own prowess, boasting how one swing had smashed a vicious and terrifying Ninth-Rank Orc Sword Saint to death...
The Weilan brothers joined Kurum, and a group of battalion mages, acting like bandits, enthusiastically scoured the fortress for resources and wealth...
Anderson floated in midair, laughing heartily, then turned solemn, lamenting how weak the orcs were—no challenge at all. Next moment, he was boasting again about his own legendary exploits...
On the side of the Alchemical Golem Corps, it was a noisy bustle. A team of specialized repair golems swiftly replaced damaged parts on the battle golems, while broken units were hauled away to be dismantled for spare components.
It was an easy victory capturing the fortress—everyone was in high spirits.
At that moment, Leon strode over.
Seeing Leon, Hubert immediately dropped the disgruntled battalion mage and rushed over.
"Lord Merlin, I'm wounded! I'm dying! Give me a bottle of healing potion..."