Bachor's main city, in the Dragon's Shadow Heroes' secret base. Su Yan, disguised as an ordinary human, was arranging tasks for the two to three hundred people in front of her, all of whom were members of the Dragon Shadow Heroes developed in Bachor City.
"Listen up, everyone," he began. "I've received urgent news from Darkness City. Our boss is about to lead a large army to Bachor City, and it's time for our Dragon's Shadow to shine and earn merits."
Su Yan spoke loudly, "What we need to do is disable various defensive mechanisms of Bachor City, including the city's protective barrier, and monitor all districts and the Hero Guilds of Bachor City, to facilitate our boss's takeover of this city."
"Yes! Captain!" the Dragon Shadow Heroes shouted in unison.
These members of the Dragon Shadow Heroes were local recruits by Su Yan; most of them had never been to Darkness City, nor had they ever met the legendary Demon King.
At this moment, learning that the Demon King was about to arrive with a large army both surprised and excited them. Their surprise stemmed from the fact that despite the considerable size of Bachor Duchy, the Demon King was able to directly attack Bachor City without having breached several strategic fortresses of the duchy.
How was that possible? It seemed incredible. Regardless, they all eagerly awaited this day; once the Demon King successfully took over Bachor's main city, a vast city would certainly need administrators and agents. For the Dragon Shadow Heroes, this was a valuable opportunity for advancement.
Su Yan quickly assigned tasks to her subordinates, who immediately accepted their orders and began their operations. Recruitment for the Dragon's Shadow Heroes had standards. With Bachor City's large population, which included up to about 30,000 Heroes, Su Yan and the Dragon Shadow Heroes team recruited only two to three hundred people. These recruited members were either individuals with outstanding abilities and potential or those who held a certain social status in Bachor City, making their impact significant.
Su Yan was very confident in her subordinates. Because the city's defending nobles and other significant figures had essentially been withdrawn by the empire, which had effectively given up on the southern territories. The Dragon's Shadow Heroes had long been prepared for this scenario, making the Demon King's conquest of the city almost effortless, and Su Yan's task was to facilitate this as much as possible internally.
Less than half a day after Su Yan made the arrangements, "The boss is here!"
she felt a fierce surge of energy. Su Yan quickly teleported out and from a distance, she saw the massive and unstoppable army of the Demon King approaching Bachor City with overwhelming momentum.
"The Demon King is here!"
"The Demon King is here!"
"How could they arrive so fast!"
"Impossible, this can't be happening!"
Everyone was stunned by the terrifying sight before them. The empire had just issued the order to withdraw the troops less than a week ago, and so far, only the military and nobility had left. Most other people hadn't had the chance to flee yet, but who could have expected the Demon King to arrive so suddenly?
"We're done for! We're all done for!"
"Most of the empire and duchy's forces have already withdrawn, how could Bachor now possibly withstand the Demon King's surprise attack?!"
Before panic could spread, and even before most people could react, all defensive measures of Bachor City, including the city's protective barrier and various magic towers, were deactivated. Two hundred dragons simultaneously appeared in the sky above this vast city, unleashing wave after wave of terrifying dragon fear.
Under this fearsome pressure, the military and civilians of Bachor City were immediately intimidated. Already frightened and desperate, they were unable to maintain any will to resist against such a show of force. As the will of Bachor City crumbled like a storm, countless warriors from Darkness City, descended from the sky like raindrops onto the ground.
"Citizens of Bachor City! Surrender immediately!"
"If you submit and swear loyalty to the great lord of Darkness City, not only will you be spared punishment, but you can also become a proud and free member of the Chaos Federation!"
"From now on, all who resist or attempt to flee will face the severest of punishments!"
In just a quarter of an hour, numerous tall and burly draconians, along with elves, orcs, humans, hawk-kins, and winged-folks federation warriors, entered various areas of Bachor City via airdrop. With the assistance of the Dragon's Shadow Heroes, they smoothly completed the takeover and control of various streets and key areas.
In less than half an hour, the vast Bachor City had completely lost any possibility of resistance and was entirely paralyzed. At this time, ground troops also began entering Bachor City from all directions; for a moment, the kings of giants, dwarves, and elves all acted simultaneously. It could be said that the entire process encountered almost no significant resistance.
Zhang Nu, accompanied by Nancilia, walked into the Bachor family castle, which by then had already been abandoned as the Bachor family and their guards had evacuated in advance.
"Is this the duke's mansion of the empire?" Nancilia looked around curiously. "It looks so grand, almost comparable to the castle in Darkness City."
Of course. What is the status of a duke? There are only four in the entire empire. Each ducal family's legacy, having at least a thousand or two thousand years of history, serves as the family residence and the core headquarters, naturally incomparable to an ordinary noble's castle.
Zhang Nu planned to construct a teleportation tower here. This would effectively increase Darkness City's control over Bachor City. Once Bachor City was fully occupied, the Demon King's army would use Bachor City as the center, rapidly expanding to occupy cities in all directions. With the main city breached, what could these other cities do to resist? It seemed likely that Bachor Duchy, an area with the population and strength comparable to an independent kingdom, would soon be completely occupied.
About half a day passed. Long Yi flew into the duke's castle to report to Zhang Nu: "My master, everything is proceeding smoothly. With the assistance of the Dragon's Shadow Heroes, we have essentially eradicated the stubborn forces within the city, as well as those associated with the Hero Guilds. Other family clans and factions' citizens have gradually sworn their allegiance!"
Hearing the report, the Demon King was very satisfied. The largest, most important, and most fortified city in the southern territories of the empire had been captured without any significant resistance.
Another half-day passed, and order had been mostly restored in the city. At this time, Zhang Nu received a notification:
[7.52 million citizens of Bachor City have pledged their allegiance to you!]
[You've captured Bachor City. You've gained an Exquisite Lunar Diamond Treasure Chest!]
Receiving this message, Zhang Nu smiled slightly and nodded in satisfaction. Everything was progressing smoother than anticipated; the whole process didn't even require his intervention. The empire hadn't played any tricks or plots, truly decisively giving up the southern territories.
Zhang Nu then opened the treasure chest. The quality of this chest was even higher than the one from the Void City, due to the massive scale of Bachor City. It could be said that either the Level 6 monarch-class units or the extremely important status of the main city in the southern territories contributed to its higher valuation.
The only regret was that Bachor Duchy was not an independent region. This meant that even if the entire duchy was conquered, it wouldn't generate a region-specific treasure chest reward. But this wasn't a big deal for Zhang Nu; it simply meant that the rewards for conquering the empire would be combined.
[You've opened a Lunar Diamond Treasure Chest! You've gained "Gold" x2 billion, "Blueprint: Duke's Altar" x1, "Level 5 Special Building Upgrade Scrolls" x5, and "Thirteen Elemental Gems" x100,000 each!]
Seeing the rewards, Zhang Nu clicked his tongue in amazement. A whopping 2 billion gold! That amount could summon approximately five hundred Abyssal Dragons---certainly not a small number. Moreover, this was just direct income. As for indirect income from looting and plundering, as well as the income generated from the occupation of other cities apart from Bachor Duchy's main city, the number was expected to reach nearly 5 billion gold coins.
If all 5 billion gold coins were used to recruit troops, the number of Abyssal Dragons in Darkness City would increase by over a thousand. Zhang Nu's Dragon Corps would then form an unparalleled combat force, strong enough to lead Darkness City's army to attack any city in the empire.
Regarding the "Duke's Altar" blueprint that came from the treasure chest, Zhang Nu checked it and found it to be a rare Level 6 special building blueprint, very expensive to build but very powerful in effect. Once the Duke's Altar was constructed, it would enable the summoning of imperial duke-level units. Imperial dukes were Level 6 monarch-class entities, which explained why this blueprint was ranked at Level 6.
Of course, for Zhang Nu, this blueprint wasn't particularly useful. He already had plenty of high-end units at his disposal, including the monarch-class units by his side and multiple Demonic Monarchs led by Han Kexin from Gloom City. Although the blueprint was valuable, Zhang Nu didn't plan to use it right away. The current priority was to stabilize the situation in Bachor City.
Unable to find any suitable high-ranking members of the Bachor family, he fortunately appointed the Dark Dragon King, Long Yi, as the lord of Bachor City and sent several human units, including the Holy Knight, Bai Jin, to assist him. The scale of the city and population that had been absorbed, and those that would be absorbed next, was enormous, so some time was needed to digest it all.
Zhang Nu decided to simultaneously use various blueprints to rebuild the ecology and production of the southern territories while continually expanding his army and mass-recruiting troops. This was in preparation for continuing northward to directly invade the imperial capital and prepare for a decisive battle with the empire.
Meanwhile, at the Thunder Empire's Imperial Temple, the sealed doors of the Hall of Valor slowly opened. Emperor Frelio XVI emerged, having spent a full seven days inside, and at this moment, he had undergone a tremendous transformation.
His hair had turned golden yellow. This golden hue was not a normal hair color. It looked more like strands of golden lightning and energy intertwined. Emperor Frelio's eyes shone with a golden light, like two bright bulbs, and his muscles were prominently bulging, as if he possessed endless strength, ready to burst forth at any moment. At this moment, the Emperor was like a deity exalted above all.
The empire's Chief Priest followed the Emperor. This white-haired, elderly priest looked withered, indicating that the ceremony had taken a huge toll on him, even directly damaging his vitality and lifespan.
The Chief Priest cautioned, "Your Majesty, you have now absorbed the heroic spirits of the previous emperors. Your power is greater than any previous emperor and you have obtained an almost immortal body."
"But please remember!" he continued. "This peak state can only last for about fifteen days!"
"After fifteen days, your power will gradually decline, and by the thirtieth day, it will completely dissipate. So please cherish this precious heritage of the empire!"
Emperor Frelio nodded. To counter the Demon King of the Chaos Forest, he had utilized one of the empire's trump cards. However, Frelio believed it was all worth it. With his current state, he felt that it was impossible for anyone in the world to defeat him; he considered himself nearly god-like! No matter how strong that Demon King was. No matter how troublesome the disaster of the Chaos Forest was. This time, the empire had absolutely no reason to lose.
Emperor Frelio XVI returned to the royal palace. At this moment, Marquis Gabrulain arrived with the courtiers. When they saw the emperor's condition and the aura he emitted, they were also greatly shocked. The imperial heritage was indeed terrifying.
Emperor Frelio asked, "How have things been these days?"
Marquis Gabrulain answered, "While Your Majesty was performing the ritual in the Hall of Valor, the Demon King and his minions captured Bachor City and have been striking out from there. Now, most of the cities in Bachor Duchy may have already fallen into the hands of the Demon King."
Emperor Frelio became furious and inadvertently released a burst of power, causing a violent tremor in the great hall.
"Hmph, this damned Demon King is fast in his actions, acting recklessly and boldly as if he thinks there's no one in the empire who can fight him?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!" Even Marquis Gabrulain felt overwhelmed by the Emperor's powerful aura at this moment.
He quickly wiped his sweat and reassured, "Please be assured, Your Majesty, the empire has rapidly mobilized troops and entered the highest level of combat readiness, with all the elite forces fully assembled."
"Moreover, the Sunset Empire has sent their Eclipse Legion, the prophet Primo has summoned a large number of top ranking Heroes and renowned strongmen from the continent, and other forces have also sent reinforcements and experts."
"With Your Majesty personally leading the campaign, with such terrifying forces arrayed against him, how could the Demon King possibly not be defeated? The empire will surely win!"
Hearing this, the Emperor finally nodded in satisfaction. Although a vast amount of land and population had been lost, if they could eliminate the Demon King, they would be able to reclaim what was lost. This time, the empire was sparing no effort, staking the nation's fate, and going all out!"