(This chapter is a bonus update for Alliance Leader Phantom Enchantress! Thank you for your strong support! All hail the Alliance Leader!)
By now, the soldiers transporting the Skyshaker Bombs had long since fled without a trace. When Evan Chu and his companions arrived, only a few transport wagons remained.
Evan glanced at the large crates on the wagons and said, "How are we supposed to bring all this back? Surely we’re not hauling them with these carts, right?"
"Boss, that’s easy! Just load them onto my back and I’ll fly them home—no big deal." Goldwing laughed.
Evan opened one of the crates to inspect the Skyshaker Bombs inside, discovering a basin-sized, pitch-black iron sphere. When he hefted it, he found it weighed several hundred jin.
Selena examined the bomb and said, "These Skyshaker Bombs are incredibly powerful, but unless we get our hands on the enemy’s launch tools, they’re just dead weight."
"No time to waste—we need to head back now. We’ve already delayed too long, and who knows how the battle is going. General Roland Lowell must be anxious. We’ll figure out the rest once we return!" Evan said.
Goldwing lowered his massive body to the ground, and Evan loaded all the crates onto his back. Evan was surprised Goldwing could still fly carrying such a heavy load.
As Evan, Selena, and Goldwing hurried back, the battlefield had already erupted into chaos.
After General Roland Lowell ordered all soldiers inside the city gate to withdraw five hundred meters, he followed General Nathan Namgong’s plan: the wall troops slaughtered pigs and sheep and staged a noisy feast, creating the illusion of a victory celebration to lull the enemy.
As night gradually fell, the Sea Dragon Empire’s stealth force still hadn’t made a move. Two defending generals climbed the city wall and looked toward the distant enemy camp. One said, "Looks like nothing’s going to change tonight."
"It’s still early. If it were you, would you attack now? At the very least, they’ll wait until midnight. Let’s just wait quietly; in another hour, we’ll send scouts to check." the other replied.
Gavin Wei, with nothing to do, joined the soldiers in eating and drinking. Still, everyone exercised restraint—it wasn’t a real feast. There weren’t many cattle or sheep slaughtered, so each person barely got a few bites of meat.
Soon the night deepened, a thin mist appeared, and gusts of wind swept through. The air was thick with the stench of blood—so intense that anyone without battlefield experience would’ve run away. Gavin was just such a person.
At that moment, he felt the food churning in his stomach, as if he might vomit at any time. He could only numb himself with wine, trying to slowly adapt to life on the battlefield.
The soldiers on the wall kept up their noisy act until late at night. Only then did the two generals order most of them to withdraw, replacing them with pre-made straw-man decoys dressed as soldiers.
Everything was prepared with tense precision. In the end, fewer than ten thousand men were left on the wall—only those forced to stay as bait. If not for luring the enemy, even these would’ve been evacuated.
No one wanted to die, but military orders were absolute. The soldiers left behind had no complaints; the heroic spectacle of two hundred thousand Heavenly Dragon soldiers fighting to the death yesterday was burned into their hearts.
If their deaths could bring peace to their families, they thought it was worth it. Each man was ready to die—though of course, surviving would be even better.
Meanwhile, in the Sea Dragon camp, Marshal Feiqing Yun paced inside his tent. Scouts reported that the Heavenly Dragon fortress troops were feasting as if celebrating. He felt something was off, but couldn’t put his finger on it.
To boost morale, Marshal Feiqing Yun finally ordered, "Launch a surprise attack with the Skyshaker Bombs—no matter what, get those war-carts within two hundred meters of the city walls!"
As soon as Feiqing Yun finished speaking, two generals left the tent and began quietly mobilizing troops, advancing under cover of night toward the Heavenly Dragon fortress.
When the enemy was still a thousand meters from the wall, hidden Heavenly Dragon soldiers spotted them and silently slipped back, scaling the wall to report to the two defending generals.
Hearing the report, one general exclaimed, "Excellent! Great General Roland Lowell really predicted everything—those bastards actually came for a sneak attack! All troops, listen up: when the enemy pushes their war-carts into arrow range, unleash everything you’ve got!"
"After they fire a few Skyshaker Bombs, slow your own attacks and then retreat—let their bombs explode against empty stone and decoys."
Gavin Wei wanted to stay and fight, but Evan had told General Roland Lowell to guarantee his safety, so naturally he wasn’t allowed to remain at the most dangerous spot.
Everyone took up hidden positions along the battlements, arrows nocked, ready to unleash full force when the enemy arrived. No one knew if they’d see dawn; they just hoped to kill as many as they could.
Soon, the Sea Dragon raiding force appeared at about five hundred meters. Seeing the eerie silence atop the wall, one general frowned, "Why are the defenders so quiet? Could this be a trap?"
"You’re overthinking it. It’s deep night, after a feast—of course they’re all sleeping. They’re not gods who can predict everything. Our raid was perfectly hidden; what could possibly go wrong?" the other general replied.
"Let’s hope my worries are unfounded. Tonight’s raid will decide the morale of the entire army—there can’t be any mistakes."
The raiders slowly advanced toward the wall, deliberately stopping at three hundred meters. When nothing happened, they continued forward.
Meanwhile, the defenders had their arrows ready, just waiting for the general’s order to turn the attackers into pincushions.
The Sea Dragon soldiers crept forward. When they were just two hundred and fifty meters from the wall, the defending general shouted, "All troops—let loose! Shoot these bastards!"
The order had barely left his mouth when thousands of arrows rained down on the advancing Sea Dragon soldiers, instantly killing hundreds.
"Damn it! Fire the Skyshaker Bombs—I want every last Heavenly Dragon dog blown to hell!" one general roared.
A deafening boom erupted from the war-cart as a gigantic fireball shot toward the wall, followed by tremors that shook the fortress.
As soon as the defenders saw the incoming fireball, every soldier near the impact zone sprinted away, minimizing casualties. The others kept firing arrows in the general direction of the war-carts.
It was so dark that no one could see the enemy clearly; they could only fire by rough direction. That first Skyshaker Bomb killed fewer than a hundred—those too close to escape.
For a moment, wounded and uninjured alike screamed and wailed, deliberately exaggerating their pain to confuse the enemy and make them think the casualties were catastrophic...