Chapter 536: The Ground Assault Begins
(Planet Koral, Zone 6 military base)
*Land*
The Cult ships quickly landed on the scorched Earth below them, as their hulls opened with a thunderous hiss, releasing waves upon waves of armored soldiers into the smoke-filled warzone.
*SHUA*
*SHUA*
They charged out like a dam had burst, shouting in unison as their boots pounded the cracked earth, war cries echoing through the burning base while the air pulsed with mana, bloodlust, and static-charged fury.
The first to launch their assault were the mages and archers, stationed near the ship exits, their eyes glowed with deadly focus as they raised staves and bows in sync.
*FWOOSH*
*CRACKLE*
*THUNK*
Blazing orbs of fire spiraled through the air as arrows laced with mana whistled overhead, falling upon retreating ground forces like guided death.
"ARGHHHH—"
*Thud*
Entire squads were engulfed before they even reached their hovercrafts, their screams drowned under the constant thunder of mana detonations.
"GET TO THE TRANSPORTS! HURRY!"
Soldiers of the righteous faction scrambled like ants across Base 6, boots slipping on blood-slick concrete as they pushed cargo aside, revved engines, and tried to secure fast exits.
Some climbed into half-open hatch doors, while others shoved injured comrades into transport vessels already lifting.
But the Cult’s vanguard reached them first.
Tank class warriors in plated mana armor marched at the front with large shields crackling from enchantments, as they shrugged off arrows and minor spells sent by the righteous faction defenders like they were mosquito bites.
Behind them, rogue-class fighters dashed forward in blur-speed zigzags, cutting down stragglers and engineers before they could react.
*CLANG*
*SLASH*
"GHKK—"
Blood painted the metal walls of storage containers as two soldiers were gutted beside a stack of fuel crates, their bodies twitching for a moment before going still.
A swordsman followed behind, his blade coated with frost as he brought it down in a vertical arc, splitting a retreating Captain through his shoulder and out his side.
*SHRKKKKK*
Inside the largest hovercraft, a young Lieutenant pounded the interior console with his fist, cursing.
"Come on... come on... start, dammit!"
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
It was too late.
*BOOM*
A fireball hit the rear thrusters, igniting the back end and sending the hovercraft into a burning spin.
Screams erupted as the hovercraft crashed into the adjacent barracks, killing everyone inside instantly and collapsing the nearby roof in a storm of ash and metal.
Meanwhile, across the open grounds, the Cult foot soldiers overwhelmed every flank with ruthless coordination.
Transcendent warriors incinerated defensive cover with sweeping sword arcs, while Grandmasters destroyed the roads leading out of the military base, as they made it harder for the righteous faction soldiers to run off and retreat.
"TURN BACK! FIGHT! WE WILL DIE LIKE DOGS AT THIS RATE—!" shouted one Zone 6 Lieutenant from atop a supply crate, only to be struck by a lightning bolt to the chest that exploded his heart mid-sentence.
*ZAPPPPPPP*
*THUMP*
The righteous defenders faltered.
They were skilled, maybe even brave, but they were taken out by surprise today, and were not prepared to push off an enemy attack.
The Dragon’s Army, on the other hand, moved like a single breathing organism—brimming with rage, pride, and victory already written on their faces.
They didn’t wait to be shot at. They pushed forward with no regard for life or structure, cutting down wounded men and destroying every escape path they found.
By the fifty five minute mark, only a few transport crafts had lifted off the base, and even those were chased by mage attacks and arrow volleys.
*FWOOOOOOOM*
One burst in the sky before it could even leave the field of battle, its smoking wreckage falling like a dying hawk.
As down below, the Dragon Army’s flag had already been raised, stabbed straight into the ground by a smiling rogue with blood dripping down his cheek.
Here on Zone 6 military base, victory was not declared. It was taken.
—-----------
(Meanwhile, Space Surveillance Outpost, Planet Nemo’s Outer Orbit)
It was only now, when the situation on the ground at Koral had become irreversibly dire, that Su Bal finally grasped the Cult’s true strategy.
"They played us... They must’ve already known who our spies were within their ranks and deliberately fed us false intelligence to distort our judgment."
He clenched his fists as he whispered the words, jaw tight with restrained fury.
"Clever... disgustingly clever."
This time, he had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by the Cult, and there seemed to be no hope any longer of saving Planet Koral.
"Commander... sir," a junior officer called hesitantly. "The ships that turned back toward Koral are requesting your orders. They’ve lost all communication with Commander Su Pei, and all twelve Zonal Bases have gone dark. Completely neutralized."
The officer’s voice shook slightly. "What are your orders? Should they proceed and fight for their land... or retreat?"
Su Bal’s chest rose and fell with a heavy breath.
*Sigh*
"Tell them to turn back," he said at last, voice low but firm. "The battle for Koral is already lost."
He stepped closer to the central screen, gaze fixed on the floating icons representing friendly ships. "A defensive fleet is only as strong as the systems that support it. Without on-ground defenses or skilled allies in the skies, they’re nothing more than birds flying into fire."
"They have half a fleet. No ground coordination. No backup. If they fight the Cult now, it’ll be nothing but a blood trade... thousands of their lives exchanged for only a few hundred enemies, with no strategic gain."
"Tell them to return to Nemo. Koral is gone."
Su Bal’s voice trembled with rage, not at the Cult, but at his own helplessness.
Because in war, numbers weren’t enough.
You could have ten thousand troops, but if you sent them one by one into a meat grinder of ten thousand enemies, you’d lose every time.
Even sending them in clusters, two hundred here, five hundred there, would do little more than delay the inevitable, for in war, victory did not come from total strength alone.
It came from timing, coordination, and concentrated force.
And that, above all else, was where the Cult had outshined the Su Clan today.