Nilly pulled her dagger from the back of the demon warlock's neck, flicked the blade clean, and looked up toward the direction of the royal palace.
The Abyss fissure hung in mid-air, dark red light pouring from the crack, dyeing the palace dome into a massive piece of blood amber.
The fissure was pulsating.
Thump, thump, like the heartbeat of something.
"Huh, what's that?"
Yano saw it too.
He stood on the battlement of the southern city wall, the greatsword in his hand still dripping blood.
The gargoyles folded their wings and landed behind him, their eerie green eyes swiveling in unison toward the same direction.
The fissure was expanding, inhaling like a lung, then exhaling. With each exhale, a mass of dark red substance would fall from the crack, dropping deep into the streets and alleys of the royal capital.
Just then, Chen Yu's voice came through the Gel Network.
"Everyone assemble, the demons are coming again."
Eastern city wall.
Ark and Lide successfully forced back two demon generals and, with the help of the Gargoyle Legion, successfully breached the wall, entering the royal capital.
On the Eastern Kingdom Boulevard, Lide's rapier was pulled from the eye socket of a horned demon, the tip bringing out a stream of black blood.
He let go, allowing the corpse to slide down on its own, then raised his head.
The fissure was right in the center of his vision.
The dark red light reflected on his face, clearly illuminating the contours of his cheekbones.
Ark stood a few steps away from him.
This Iron Cavalry demon was now uneasily pawing at the city bricks with his iron hooves, his eyes fixed on that fissure, pupils constricted.
"No, that's impossible."
Lide flicked the blood clean from his rapier.
"What are you talking about?"
Ark didn't answer immediately. His gaze was nailed to the fissure, as if caught by something, a low growl rumbling in his throat.
"Hurry."
Ark's voice suddenly rose. He turned around, his iron hooves stamping out a series of urgent sounds on the city bricks.
"Reform the legion!"
His roar pierced through the surrounding battle cries. Several Broken Sword Legion knights who were chasing routed soldiers reined in their horses and looked back at him.
Lide frowned.
"Didn't the Burning Legion already collapse?"
As he spoke, a hellhound lunged out from the shadows of the wall, pouncing at Lide's side.
He didn't even turn around. A shadow sword sprang up from the ground, piercing through the hellhound's lower jaw and out the back of its skull.
Before the corpse even hit the ground, the shadow sword had already retracted. From start to finish, his eyes never left Ark.
"What's going on?"
Ark looked at him.
"The Burning Legion has collapsed."
"But these aren't demons from the Burning Legion."
He looked up at the fissure overhead, his tone turning grave.
"These demons come from deeper places in the Abyss. The Burning Legion, orcs, slimes, humans... they're all the same to them."
Lide's frown deepened.
He understood.
Casaric never counted on these demons to hold the royal capital for him.
He just needed time.
As long as enough demons poured out from the fissure, enough chaos, enough to drag the allied forces' footsteps, that was enough.
Once the coronation ceremony was complete, once that crown was placed upon his head, everything would be over.
Lide's gaze shifted away from the fissure, turning westward.
The banners of the orc army were advancing deeper into the royal capital. The frost wolf war banner of the Orc Palaver flickered in and out of the smoke.
He could hear the battle cries coming from that direction, could see the sudden blizzard descending.
Then he looked south.
The banners of the Slime Legion were already planted all over the southern city wall. He could see the moving treetops of the Treant War Band, the silver oak leaves gleaming with a cold light in the remnants of the morning glow.
What will you do? Lide wondered.
Below the southern city wall.
Nilly emerged from the shadows, landing on Peachy's back.
"What now?"
Nilly sheathed her dagger back into the leather scabbard at her waist, looked down at Chen Yu ahead, and asked a question Lide had also pondered.
"Charge straight in?"
Louisa looked toward the direction of the royal palace. The light from the Abyss fissure reflected on her face, making her expression appear even more grave.
"Correct." She answered for Chen Yu.
"We must break through these demons' obstruction within today."
"But first—"
She raised her staff, pointing deep into the royal capital.
"We have to get past the inner wall."
Nolan walked up from behind. His gaze followed the direction of Louisa's staff.
The royal capital's inner wall stood deep within the city, about two miles from the southern city wall.
That wall was shorter than the outer wall but thicker. The white stone took on a dirty pink hue under the illumination of the Abyss fissure, like congealed grease.
A strange aura drifted over the top of the wall. Harpies flew out like a flock of birds.
Louisa explained, "The White Horse Royal Capital wasn't this big before. The earliest city district only reached the inner wall. Later, when the city expanded, they built the outer wall. Inside the inner wall is the old city district. The royal palace, the grand cathedral, the noble district—they're all inside."
"If we could besiege it for a few days, those demons might disperse on their own. An Abyss fissure can't hold that long."
"But we don't have the time."
"Not even a day. Maybe not even half a day."
Her gaze shifted from the inner wall to the Abyss fissure. The fissure was still pulsating, faster than before. Each pulse spat out more dark red substance.
"If Casaric is to undergo the Trial of Kingship, the coronation ceremony must be completed within the royal palace. He dares to connect the fissure to unknown depths of the Abyss, which means he's only one step away from completion."
"He'll be waiting for us there."
Clearly, the orcs had also realized this. Before Louisa even finished speaking, Karl launched his army toward the direction of the inner wall.
Karl knew this battle would cause heavy losses for the Orc Palaver.
But he had no other choice.
Once Casaric became a legend, the entire north would fall.
Demons would turn this land into part of the Abyss. By then, the orcs wouldn't even have a chance to retreat to the icy plains.
This was absolutely unacceptable to the orcs.
Similarly.
Chen Yu would not allow it either.
He launched the Slime Legion.
The Treant War Band walked at the forefront, their roots pulling out from the bricks and stones, then settling down again, causing the ground to tremble.
The Dragon Cavalry and Poison-stinger Wasps swept over the heads of the treants, clearing demons from the streets.
The Slime Knights also rode on small beetles, clattering through the streets, cutting at any demon ankles they saw.
If it weren't for Ark's demon legion not being on this side, even allied comrades would have been slashed all over.
The entire legion operated like a wound-up machine, rumbling into motion.
But the machine soon encountered obstacles.
Too many demons were pouring out of the fissure.
They fell from the sky, crashing onto rooftops, onto streets, into the plaza's fountain.
Some broke their legs upon landing, but they didn't care. If their legs broke, they crawled with their claws. Shouting about freedom and food, they joyfully pounced toward the Slime Legion.
Only, before they could even leap down, they were corroded by the vampire clan magic of the Poison-stinger Wasps.
Chen Yu crouched on Peachy's back.
His small eyes scanned both sides of the street.
Fighting was happening everywhere. The legion's advance was meeting significant resistance.
But the Slime Legion was advancing much faster than the orcs.
The Gel Network connected everyone.
Treants held the front, Dragon Cavalry controlled the sky, Poison-stinger Wasps suppressed the rooftops, Slime Knights and human knights cleared the ground battlefield, the artillery corps bombarded dense demon clusters, golems roamed and protected... Efficient communication linked different races and different corps into a single entity.
Leveraging their respective advantages, compensating for each other's weaknesses. Everyone knew what they should do and what others were doing.
Like a river.
The river water doesn't need to discuss where to flow. It goes around rocks, falls down drops, accelerates through narrow sections.
Every droplet is doing its own thing, but the entire river flows in the same direction.
In comparison, the orcs relied more on tactics of trading wounds for wounds. Even under Karl's leadership, they still suffered heavy losses.
Karl's battle axe was already chipped.
He had just pulled the axe from a fire demon's chest. The blade was covered in cooled magma, forming a layer of black crust.
An orc warrior fell beside him, and another immediately took his place. The fallen orc was dragged to the back. A shaman crouched down, carefully pouring out a healing pill and feeding it into his mouth.
The healing pill didn't work as fast as a life potion, but at least it could save some orc lives.
Even so, the orc casualty count was still rapidly increasing.
"Damn it!"
Karl gripped his battle axe, riding his frost wolf forward in a charge. Frost spread underfoot, freezing all demons along the path in place.
The fire demon's magma solidified into obsidian. Imps maintained their pouncing posture, turned into ice sculptures.
Karl walked between the ice sculptures.
His gaze pierced through the smoke, looking toward the Kingdom Boulevard.
The Slime Legion was advancing along that main street.
The oak treants' canopies moved among the buildings, like a walking forest. The Dragon Cavalry swept over the treetops; the sound of their wings flapping could be heard from two streets away.
At this moment, Karl felt not anger at the slimes' concealment, but relief that the Slime Legion was still here.
Otherwise, even if they captured the royal capital, the orc army would lose nearly half its warriors.
Orcs do not fear death, but orcs also dislike meaningless death.
Kingdom Boulevard.
This, the royal capital's widest street, stretched from the southern city gate all the way to the foot of the inner wall.
The road was paved with grayish-white stone slabs. Originally, copper strips were embedded between the slabs, forming the emblem of the Sun Church. Now the copper strips had been pried out, leaving only empty grooves.
The buildings on either side of the street were once the most respectable places in the royal capital.
White Stag Inn, Broomflower Opera House, Church Cathedral, Bell Tower, Textile Guild, Blacksmiths' Guild, Northern Merchant Square, Fountain Street, Silversmith Alley...
These names were still vivid in Louisa's memory.
She remembered the honey wine at the White Stag Inn. In winter, the innkeeper would heat the honey wine, pour it into copper cups, with a layer of cinnamon powder floating on top.
She only drank it once, secretly taken there by Celeste.
To be honest, it was a bit hard to drink, which is why she remembered it so clearly.
She remembered the church bells.
Every morning, when the first ray of sunlight fell on the dome, the bells would ring. She had grown up waking to that sound.
Now the bell tower was half-collapsed.
The remaining half of the tower leaned crookedly. The bell had fallen from the tower top, crashing through the roof of the bell tower's ground floor, half-buried in the rubble.
Louisa rode on her horse, appearing calm on the surface, but her tightly clenched fingers on the staff revealed her inner turmoil.
Celeste glided down from the air.
The giant eagle's wings flapped twice, landing beside Louisa before transforming back into human form.
"The inner wall has magic formations laid by demons, permeated with demonic curses. The entire wall is sealed. I can't get in."
Her expression turned serious.
"High-level demons are prowling beneath the wall's base. They've already started trying to organize those rabble troops. If we attack by force, we'll pay a heavy price."
Louisa didn't speak immediately.
She turned to Chen Yu.
Chen Yu thought for a moment.
"Artillery corps, probing attack. Target: inner wall."
"Yes, King!"
The Slime Artillery raised their gel hands in a serious salute and began adjusting the Goblin Rippers.
Over a hundred Goblin Rippers were lined up along Kingdom Boulevard. Their barrels aimed at the direction of the inner wall.
"Fire!" the slimes shouted.
Pillars of light shot from the barrels.
Over a hundred light pillars simultaneously shot toward the inner wall. The radiance lit up the entire Kingdom Boulevard blindingly bright. Pools of blood on the stone road reflected glaring white light.
But the attacks were all blocked by demons fleeing from the fissure. Even when occasional artillery fire landed on the city wall, it only left a charred, blackened crater at most.
Behind the wall, more demons were gathering. There were even demon warlocks beginning to counterattack.
Staffs spewed corrosive fireballs, raining down on the army's heads, only to be blocked by the rising Kingdom's Shield.
The artillery corps fired another volley, but the effect was still poor.
If they couldn't find a way to break through the inner wall, just these demon defenders would be enough to hold them back for most of the day.
They didn't have enough time.
Chen Yu was about to take action himself. Just as he was preparing to hop down from Peachy's back, he suddenly stopped. He bounced around, looking south.
"It's here."
Nilly had just kicked away an imp attempting a backstab, her dagger plunging into its eye socket. She pulled out the dagger, saw Chen Yu looking back, and also craned her neck to look.
"What's here? I don't see anything." Nilly sounded somewhat suspicious.
Chen Yu wobbled his gel.
"Of course, our secret weapon."
"We still have a secret weapon?" Nilly's tone held a hint of pleasant surprise, as if saying, 'Are we that awesome?'
Chen Yu said, "Who said only Casaric made preparations?"
"We have them too."
As his words fell, the southern clouds moved.
The gray clouds were like a piece of cloth being torn apart. A rift spread from the middle toward both sides. Something was breaking through the thick mist, approaching.
Like a mass of cold, sharp light.
No, that was the sheen of metal reflecting sunlight.
Western battlefield.
A shaman, escorted by wolf cavalry, approached Karl to report on the battle situation.
"Commander Karl, the demons are getting more numerous. The troops to the north and east are stuck in the alleys, unable to advance. Casualties—"
Karl interrupted him.
"How far have those slimes advanced?"
The shaman fell silent for a moment.
"Stopped before the city wall. They're attacking the wall, but..."
He didn't finish.
Karl understood his meaning.
Karl's gaze returned to the front again, piercing through the smoke, through the demon lines, through those buildings blackened by war.
The inner wall stood there. The white stone had already been stained a dirty gray by demonic runes. He could see the Slime Legion's light flashing before the wall. The artillery corps' light pillars were bombarding the city wall.
But the effect wasn't good.
Clearly, the slimes' attack was also hindered.
Without hesitation, Karl had already made a decision in his heart.
He turned his head to the shaman and said, "Notify the chieftains of the major tribes to temporarily take my place, command the legion, continue the advance."
The shaman's expression changed.
"Commander, you—"
"I must carve out a path for the legion," Karl said.
"Yes." The shaman knew persuasion was futile and finally left.
Karl watched his departing back, then dismounted from his frost wolf. He bent down and picked up a relatively intact battle axe from the ground.
He moved his shoulders; his bones made cracking sounds. Then he slowly walked forward, gazing at that towering royal capital wall.
"It seems it's been a long time since I've found myself in such a predicament," he murmured.
But he would not admit defeat.
Challenges and hardships had not broken his will. Instead, they made his body grow excited, as if his blood was boiling.
This is how orcs should be.
Using absolute power.
To end everything.