The city gates are ten meters high and fifty meters wide, forged from steel and nearly a meter thick, weighing millions of jin. Opening them requires the energy of over ten thousand high-grade Stellar Stones.
No matter how the Sea Dragon Empire's army attacks, they can't do much damage to the gates themselves. But if they target the joints where the gates meet the city walls, it's much easier to bring the walls down—those spots are the weakest points.
For a while, the thunderous noise of attacking the gates and the cries of battle echoed across the land, leaving everyone in the Heavenly Dragon Empire anxious. If the Sea Dragon Empire breaks through the gates, the city will be lost.
Although the city has about as many troops as the Sea Dragon Empire, the command token is in General Roland Lowell's hands. The two generals on the walls can’t mobilize the main army; all they have are the tens of thousands assigned to guard the gates.
"Old Li, what should we do? If we can't mobilize the main army, do we just sit here and wait for the enemy to break through the gates and kill us all?" one general on the wall said.
"We don't have the command token, so we can't mobilize anyone. The main army is right here in the city, but the officers only obey the command token, not people. My hands are tied," said the general surnamed Li.
"If those idiots let the gates get breached, we're all finished. No way, I have to give it a shot. With just our current forces, we can't possibly stop an enemy this massive."
"Old Zhang, even if you go, it won't help. You know General Roland Lowell's military discipline—unless he gives the order himself, no one will listen, and barging in without permission is a capital offense.
All we can do is stall for time. I believe the Great General will arrive before nightfall. Even if he can't make it himself, he'll send the command token. He said when he left for the capital that he'd rush back as soon as the Royal Capital Guard recruitment ended," General Li said.
"Let's hope for a miracle. You and I dying is nothing, but if the enemy breaches the city, the people of the Heavenly Dragon Empire will be plunged into misery. We'd go down in history as sinners."
"Report!" A soldier rushed over and said to the two generals, "Generals, the enemy numbers are overwhelming. More than half our brothers are dead or wounded. What should we do? Please give the order!"
"Hold the line. Even if there's only one man left, we must hold out until General Roland Lowell arrives. We can't become the sinners of the Heavenly Dragon Empire," said General Zhang.
Seeing the countless soldiers on the walls being felled by arrows, collapsing into pools of blood, both generals were filled with rage and grief.
In a battle like this, Heaven Martial Realm experts don't dare to fly into the air. If the soldiers below unleash a volley of arrows, even the strongest cultivator will be shot full of holes. Otherwise, if the Sea Dragon Empire sent dozens of Heaven Martial Realm experts, the city would fall in an instant.
But if most of the soldiers on the walls are killed, then that's exactly what could happen—this is what the two generals fear most.
Even though both sides have Divine Martial Realm powerhouses, the enemy does too. If they're distracted, the gates will be breached in an instant.
All the two generals could do was try not to get hit by the arrows, forced to watch as one soldier after another fell before their eyes.
Time dragged on. The casualties among the Heavenly Dragon Empire's defenders kept rising; now fewer than two thousand remained on the walls. The crisis was getting worse by the minute.
Just then, a piercing bird cry echoed from the sky. A massive golden bird with wings over twenty meters wide appeared before everyone, leaving them stunned.
"There are people on the bird's back!" a sharp-eyed soldier shouted.
"It's General Roland Lowell—they're back! Brothers, we're saved!" a soldier cheered.
"Everyone, shoot that big bird! Don't let it get near the walls!" a Sea Dragon Empire commander roared, and a rain of arrows shot toward the giant bird.
But the golden bird seemed completely unfazed by the arrows. With a flash of its massive wings, a powerful gust scattered the arrows, even sending many back toward the enemy, injuring quite a few.
Soon, Goldwing landed atop the city wall. Four people climbed down from his back. The two defending generals rushed over, and seeing the middle-aged man, General Zhang said, "General Roland Lowell, you finally made it. Any later and the city would have fallen.
Without the command token, we couldn't mobilize the main army. Please, General, order the troops and avenge our fallen brothers!"
"You've both worked hard. This is all my fault for not planning better. I'll mobilize the army at once. Tomorrow, we'll open the gates and fight the Sea Dragon Empire head-on, show those bandits our strength," said Roland Lowell.
Evan Chu looked at the countless dead and wounded soldiers on the walls and felt a wave of emotion—war truly treats human life as nothing.
"Boss, let me go slaughter some of those bastards and show you my strength after breaking through," said Goldwing.
"Old Goldwing, the enemy has countless arrows. You'll get hurt!" Evan Chu said anxiously.
"It's fine. These arrows aren't strong enough to hurt me. I'll be careful," Goldwing said, then flew straight out from the walls toward the massed enemy troops.
Goldwing's body flashed with golden light, and countless feather-swords shot down at the soldiers below, killing and wounding hundreds in an instant.
No one had expected such devastating power—especially the Sea Dragon Empire, who never imagined the enemy would have a giant golden bird this fierce.
Every volley of Goldwing's feather-arrows brought down swathes of soldiers, though he faced tens of thousands of arrows in return.
Goldwing kept flapping his wings, knocking down most of the arrows, but a few still struck his body.
Against so many, even an elephant would be bitten to death by ants. After firing several volleys of golden feather-arrows, Goldwing was covered in wounds and had to fly back to the walls. As he neared the city, his golden light surged, and with a piercing cry, all the arrows embedded in him were shaken loose.
The arrows shot straight at the soldiers attacking the city gates, killing dozens more.
Goldwing's assault instantly killed and wounded thousands of enemy troops. Though it was a drop in the bucket compared to an army of a million, the psychological impact was huge.
Goldwing then landed on the city wall, transformed into a middle-aged man, and stood beside Evan Chu. "Boss, I didn't expect those arrows to be so strong. Some even broke through my defenses—strange."
"It's not strange at all. Clearly, Heaven Martial Realm experts on the enemy side were shooting at you. If the arrows weren't such low grade, you might've been riddled with holes by now," said Evan Chu.