Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Several electric snakes were still swimming on the light barrier that covered the Giant Dragon, and it took a while before they disappeared. Molin did not expect that he would display the ‘Blazing Sun Storm’ skill he had with Gold Coin so soon. However, he was still not too pleased with their gains. The Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon’s metal mirror reflection had an added effect on his light-attribute Flash spell. It could instantly become a light ball that could blind people. This required the Giant Dragon’s ability to control its body to be very high, and a slightly uneven surface would not achieve the best results.
This trick was a special combination skill that Molin found during his long-term exploration. After using the ‘Blazing Sun Storm’ skill, non-Light-Attribute Giant Dragons would lose their sight and could only rely on the accurate control of their knights. The cooperation and trust between the pair had to reach a perfect level in order to display this cooperative skill. Otherwise, they could only be like a headless fly courting death.
In the distance, more than a dozen Giant Dragons carrying their knights rushed over following the thunderous dragon roar to chase down the black spots fleeing among the clouds.
On the ground, over forty Giant Dragons flew out from the Sland Empire’s camp and quickly joined the battle. Meanwhile, a dark cloud rose over the Tersi Empire as Griffon Knights, Thunder Sparrow Knights, Flaming Pegasus Knights, Swiftwind Giant Eagle Knights, and even the few rare Dragon Knights, nearly ten different types of flying knights, flew into the air. The aerial forces of both sides were deployed without reservation for the first time, launching an unprecedented aerial showdown.
The sky had almost become a place for the magical confrontation. All kinds of magnificent and destructive spells were staged in the sky as though it was a free show. Both sides meant to kill as the various Air Riders and their mounts unleashed their innate abilities, and the deadly moves were constantly blasting across. At the moment of crisscrossing, the Air Riders wielded their weapons and made use of the speed of their mounts to charge and kill the enemy knights and injure the mounts severely. Any slight bit of carelessness might mean being shot down by a stray magic bullet.
A Giant Dragon just bit off the head of a Griffon, and the Dragon Knight on its back took the opportunity to behead of the Griffon Knight. But in the blink of an eye, he was madly besieged from all sides by seven Thunder Sparrow Knights.
During the fight, the Dragon Knight was caught off guard by the iron claw of a Thunder Sparrow and pulled off the back of the Giant Dragon. He waved his limbs as he screamed and flew away. A few purple and blue lightning bolts hit him almost at the same time. He suddenly became a piece of charcoal and fell to the ground. The Giant Dragon that lost its knight went crazy. It tore two Thunder Sparrows and their knights into shreds, but more Thunder Sparrows and Griffons rushed forward to surround the angrily roaring Giant Dragon. Thunder Sparrows, Griffons, and their knights continuously fell. But before long, dragon blood splashed into the sky, and the exhausted Giant Dragon fell to the ground as constant lightning and fireballs continued to chase and kill it.
While Dragon Knights did not dare to claim to be invincible in this battle, often accompanying a fallen Dragon Knight combination was tens of other types of Air Riders perishing with it. Even so, in this battle where both empires were fighting all out, the Sland Empire suffered unprecedented losses since the beginning of the war.
The strategy officers of the rear command headquarters observed the battle at high altitude through the Eagle Eye spell and the Aqueous Mirror spell. Without exception, their backs were instantly drenched with cold sweat.
In merely a quarter of an hour, fifteen Giant Dragons and more than twenty Dragon Knights died. The Tersi Empire also paid a heavy price, losing almost half its aerial strength. Even its few Giant Dragon knights were wiped out.
These massive losses caused everyone to worry if the dragons would revoke the Dragon Knight Contracts of the Human-Dragon Alliance after the war. After all, it was not easy for Giant Dragons to breed. Fifteen Giant Dragons was the number of newborn dragons in the past sixty years, and they were lost in a war between human empires just like that. This was a huge blow to the dragons, who only had a population of over ten thousand.
On the ground, the millions of troops collided, causing massive bloodshed. The drums of the sky thundered, and piercing trumpets blared. The two tide-like armies charged to the front of the battle lines, and countless corpses appeared upon contact. The soldiers at the front line stepped up with their weapons in hand and charged. After a row of soldiers gradually pulled a distance away, different waves of charge lines slowly formed. The commanders took turns to order charges, and the soldiers on both sides could only march forward bravely as soldiers continued coming from the rear. If they stepped back, they would be trampled into minced meat by countless feet.
The cavalry phalanx collided with the enemy infantry phalanx or cavalry phalanx. The shouting, fighting, and screaming of the ground battle formations mixed together with the clanking of weapon collisions to weave a sonata of death as the Grim Reaper reaped souls in the blood with a grin. Magic and arrows frequently collided with each other violently. Fire, water, earth, ice, water, and even undead magic formed fireworks of death. The mages on both sides intercepted the other’s spells while doing their utmost to cast even stronger spells on the other party. When an occasional spell landed among the armies, it immediately cleared out an open space, and in the blink of an eye, another group in the midst of the chaotic fighting filled it. There was almost no need to aim. A casual throw could seize tens of lives. Powerful magic continued to plow out strips of death in the armies.
The clouds in the sky produced a vision because of the mess of magical elements. On one side were dark clouds with countless electric snakes flashing and dancing wildly, and on the other side were burning clouds like boiling magma blistering into bubbles and bursting.
“Molin, the mages are forming a forbidden spell. It’s too dangerous. Retreat quickly!” Aca’s voice came as the Fire-Attribute Giant Dragon Messiah went past the Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon Gold Coin. Following closely behind Messiah was a gigantic Black Dragon pursuing it. The two Giant Dragons were scurrying in the sky, one chasing and the other escaping. Because the Tersi Empire had some dragon flutes, it could also form a troop of Dragon Knights.
The dragon flutes that bore witness to the Human-Dragon Alliance were the ultimate strategic weapons of major empires. Almost all of them were only officially owned. The private possession of a dragon flute was tantamount to rebellion, and the disaster of family annihilation was at hand. Through constant dynasties changing, Dragon Knights were killed and plundered. Otherwise, dragon flutes had almost no other means of acquisition. The early craft of making dragon flutes had long disappeared in the long river of history. Perhaps the dragons had secret records, but it was obviously impossible for the dragons to take them out for the humans to take advantage of them.
Sensing unusual movements in the clouds and that the sky had become unsafe, the Air Riders of both empires moved toward the ground. The closer they were to the ground, the more dangerous it was. Arrows and crossbows were like rain, and there were unpredictable magic sneak attacks. The crossbows attached with long fine steel chains sporadically shot into the sky. To an Air Rider, it was like a warhorse being tripped by a chain and extremely dangerous. If they were not careful, they would be dragged to the ground and would not have time to shout before being killed by a sea of ground troops.
The Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon Gold Coin had lost a lot of weight. Having continuously shot long sharp thorns or sharp arc blades from its body, despite each shot being accurate, the Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon had consumed an enormous amount of energy.
Metal-Attribute Giant Dragons ate all kinds of metals and minerals, and they usually accumulated them in the body or attached them to the body surface as armor. During battle, they could transform into various weapons and even be used as projectile weapons for long-range attacks. Apart from controlling the Void Magnetic Field to assist them with possessing stagnation power and forming a repulsive force for protection, Metal-Attribute Giant Dragons had almost no other magic attack skills. They relied mainly on close combat. This was the fairness of the Creator. If they had an edge, then they had a shortcoming as well. The same was true vice versa.
Before long, Molin and his mount partner, the Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon Gold Coin, killed sixteen enemies, one of the best records among their companions.
The crimson forbidden spell cloud came into contact with the wildly dancing electric snakes of the black forbidden spell cloud, and a rumbling erupted in the sky. The collision of two forbidden spells caused a horrifying explosion of magical elements.
Until now, the Tersi and Sland empires had yet to order their Air Riders to retreat.
“Damn it! They actually used their Air Riders as bait in order to contain us. Quick, everyone, retreat from this battlefield!” Molin patted his mount angrily. Dragon Knights had the freedom to choose whether or not to withdraw from a battle. They were not being deserters. No monarch required their Dragon Knights to keep fighting under nigh impossible circumstances. After all, Dragon Knights were precious ultimate fighting power, and none came by easily. Thus, they could not get them to make unnecessary sacrifices.
“Molin, Molin! How are my military merits?!” Gleen, the only son of the Minister of Civil Affairs, sat on his wyvern and flew toward Molin recklessly. This fellow only knew about robbing military merits.
During the aerial battle just now, this fellow had hidden far away and did not have the courage to near the battle.
Before forbidden spells were cast, to avoid casualties, both sides would call back their Air Riders in advance. However, the party that withdrew first was prone to be more easily attacked by the other. After all, leaving your back to your enemy was disadvantageous. To the Air Riders, maintaining the momentum was the way to win. Fighting while retreating and losing the momentum was courting death. Retreating first meant greater risk. Thus, safe evacuation from the battlefield became an art among Air Riders.
The loud noise of the first collision between the forbidden spell clouds above the two camps finally attracted the attention of all the Air Riders. The large-scale scuffle immediately dispersed. At this moment, the crimson fire cloud burst into power instantly, releasing countless fireballs that dragged long white smoke trails into the Tersi camp. In the blink of an eye, the smoke enveloped the entire sky, and even the Air Riders of both sides were all shrouded by it.
Various flying creatures in the air were busy maneuvering to dodge. It was all right to be hit by a couple of these high-density fireballs, but definitely not ideal to be hit by many.
At this time, numerous black clouds of purple and blue lightning flashed above the Tersi Empire’s side, like chains of lightning weaving a dazzling grid from the sky to the ground.