Chapter 1324: Chapter 1323: Bloodline at Dusk

The giant sun set in the west, and under the gradually slanted blood-red sunset, the ancient forest had turned into a sea of fire. The firelight, as bloody as the sunset, rose and spread over the ancient land of the beastmen, almost dyeing the entire Gravel Plains and the towering walls of Ruby City a deep red.

The city walls were engulfed in a deadly silence, with everyone’s minds seemingly gripped tightly by the blood-red scene spreading across the plains, until a tribal warrior on the wall let out a loud shout, finally breaking the silence: "The Great Chieftain is back! Open the gates!!"

The heavy purple steel gate slowly rose under the action of chains and pulleys, and amidst the creaking noises, Camilla and the last group of retreating tribal warriors rushed into the ancient main city of the beastmen. As the heavy gate closed once more, a false and temporary "sense of security" was thus established—but this "sense of security" did not lighten Camilla’s steps in the slightest. She only walked heavily step by step up the city wall, heading toward her general and soldiers.

The tribal warriors who came to guard the city walls and the militia temporarily armed crowded on both sides, with many pairs of anxious or weary eyes quietly watching her in the sunset. Camilla never imagined that the gaze of her fellow clansmen would weigh so heavily on her. She walked forward in silence, feeling the power brought by her bloodline talent gradually dissipate, as injury and poison began once more to torment her nerves and will, with waves of weakness hitting her.

Just then, a somewhat nervous and timid young voice suddenly emerged from among the warriors: "Great Chieftain, uncle and aunt say what you did was right..."

Camilla’s steps involuntarily halted as she looked toward the source of the voice, seeing a small beastman girl standing in the corner courageously looking at her. Her ears were still covered with soft dark fur, and the battle tattoos had not yet grown on her cheeks and neck. She held a small axe in her hand, and seemed shorter than the soldiers’ waists—even by the standards of "Sahada Law," she shouldn’t be standing on the city wall.

Camilla’s expression changed slightly, and she came to the little girl, bending down to press her forehead against the girl’s, until the warmth of blood transmitted through the fur. Only then did she stand up and look at the nearby warriors: "Where are this child’s parents? Why let such a young child onto the city wall?"

She asked twice in succession, with no one nearby responding to her. Realizing the situation, she lowered her head to look at the girl standing among the warriors, holding a small axe. Bending down again, her voice was hoarse yet gentle: "You are a brave child... You must follow the tribal warriors, and someone will come to tell you where to go."

After receiving a definite response from the little girl, she rose once again and crossed the ramp. On the city wall, she met General Morak, who had a bandage wrapped around his arm.

"Arrange for the children, scholars, and part of the young craftsmen to leave the city, retreating to Ancestral Peak," Camilla said softly to the old beastman as she came to Morak’s side, "Also, there’s a child on the city wall without her battle tattoos grown yet, take her with them as well."

Morak gazed at Camilla with a complex expression: "Great Chieftain..."

"We have nowhere to retreat, and must defend here to buy time for the people from other tribes. This is the mission of warriors and chieftains—but it should not be the fate of our entire tribe," Camilla shook her head, "The mission of the scholars, craftsmen, and children is to survive. We need heirs to rebuild this land, and even if the entire Augari ultimately fails to escape the fate of destruction, we must leave some seeds, keeping a hope alive in the long future history."

Morak was silent for a few seconds before finally lowering his head slowly and saying solemnly: "Understood, Great Chieftain."

The old beastman quickly completed the arrangements, and the Great Chieftain’s orders were executed. After giving the instructions, he returned to Camilla’s side, silently gazing at the blazing Ruby Forest Sea for a long time without speaking.

Flames soared in the forest sea, with black smoke and explosions occasionally erupting in the depths of the dense forest. A purple-black gas mass attempted to gather over the forest sea, but was repeatedly dispersed by the tumultuous flames. Feeling the turbulent magic power and elemental forces in the air, Morak couldn’t help whispering, "Your plan has worked, the main force of those monsters is being consumed by the Forest Guardians’ flames."

"Only a delay—the flames cannot completely destroy the monsters emerging from the wasteland. The Ruby Forest Sea is not an impenetrable barrier," Camilla, however, shook her head and said in a low voice, "The strength of the Forest Guardians is limited, but those aberrations come endlessly."

She raised her head, looking toward the direction of the Ruby Forest Sea: "I noticed upon retreating that those monsters had begun to emerge from the north and south mountain paths of Wolf Spine Mountain. With command, they are not entirely mindless—they know how to scout, divide forces, and encircle. Under such circumstances, blocking part of their vanguard with the Ruby Forest Sea is already a great achievement."

Morak fell silent, the old beastman seeming unwilling to accept the reality of sacrificing the entire Ruby Forest Sea yet only temporarily hindering the enemy’s advance. However, reality would ultimately not bend to his will. He could only let out a sigh: "At least we’ve stopped the entire land from transforming into a wasteland environment—the burned land may one day be inhabitable again." freⅇ

Camilla nodded silently, and just then, she suddenly noticed something seemed to be rising within the burning depth of the Ruby Forest Sea. She looked in astonishment toward the depth of the blaze and smoke, witnessing a massive shadow condensing, rising, and quickly transforming into a cloaked, vague apparition!

It was the image of the Forest Guardians, a phantom that had condensed. This phantom rose from the forest, gazing distantly in the direction of Ruby City. After a moment’s observation, it raised an arm composed of smoke and dust, pointing far toward the north of the Ruby Forest, and after making a gesture of warning, this massive illusion suddenly shattered, turning into dust that filled the sky.

And in the moment when that dust was blown away by the wind, the flames in the Ruby Forest also surged to their peak, yet there was no longer any will supporting it—what remained was merely an ordinary forest fire.

The Forest Guardians were liberated, another ancient and mysterious entity on Augari’s land had become part of history. However, neither the Great Chieftain nor the general on the city wall had the luxury to lament this. Morak stared wide-eyed in the direction where the massive illusion last pointed, his tone growing tense: "Great Chieftain, the Forest Guardians seemed to want to tell us something—that direction is..."

"Prepare the warriors on the city walls for battle and have the evacuation team leave the city immediately," Camilla spoke swiftly, having already thought of the worst possibility, "That’s the direction where the human Fourth Mountain Corps is stationed... the northern front might have been breached!"

The forces within Ruby City were swiftly mobilized, with warriors and all military supplies in the city being sent to the walls, while the evacuation team began to gather at the city’s west side gate. Not long after, Camilla’s dire premonition was confirmed.

A dire black cloud rose from the northern sky of the Ruby Forest Sea, with the unusually gathered clouds bringing immense pressure. The soldiers who had experienced the successive fierce battles were all too familiar with this sensation—it was the impure aura emitted by the aberration Legion gathering momentum, a sign that the entire land was transforming toward a wasteland environment.

Just as Camilla said, the Ruby Forest Sea alone cannot stop all the enemies. When Augari’s various lines of defense were destroyed one by one, the formidable aberrations could launch attacks on the surviving cities from any direction on this land—of course, the great fire of the Ruby Forest Sea was not meaningless; it blocked at least more than half of the aberrations. But correspondingly... Camilla and her warriors now have to face the remaining enemies.

"Perhaps today is the day of our destiny," when that familiar "black tide" appeared on the northern horizon, surging towards the towering fortress walls of Ruby City along the edge of the great fire in the Ruby Forest Sea, Morak tightened his grip on the chipped Chopping Axe in his hand. He turned to look at the Great Chieftain beside him, "I am honored to have you witness this."

"Today we shall all be witnessed by our ancestors," Camilla grinned, her sharp fangs glistening blood-red in the dusk, "at least we’ve held on till the last moment."

On the fortress walls, the weary warriors gathered once more, clutching their chipped weapons and damaged Magic Wands. All eyes faced that dark tide surging towards Ruby City. Meanwhile, in the direction of the Ruby Forest Sea, the towering flames continued to blaze fiercely. The aberrations on the other side of the fire were also prepared for their assault, merely awaiting the slight dimming of the flames to swarm forth.

However, at this moment, a fiery light, like a meteor, suddenly pierced through the blood-red dusk. Accompanied by a sharp, chilling whistle, this "meteor" plummeted straight into the densest area of the northern "black tide."

"Boom!!"

A terrifying explosion rose skyward, shaking the walls of Ruby City with its tremor of the whole earth.

This initial Skyfire seemed like a signal or a calibration test. After several seconds since the explosion soared into the horizon, a series of sharp whistles began to pierce through the air. In front of Camilla, the ground where the black tide was located seemed to be instantly swept by explosions and a sea of fire, as if the whole land was overturning under this terrible power. She felt her fur stand on end in an instant—in this formidable force, she couldn’t sense any emotions like "bravery," "hatred," or "slaughter" that belonged to the living. There was only pure destruction. This bloodless, tearless, cold, precise power of slaughter made her instinctively glancing at her general, but she only found the same shocked and speechless expression in his eyes.

"What is that thing?" General Morak exclaimed in disbelief, looking towards the direction where those "meteors" fell, yet he could only see thick layers of clouds under the sunset and the continuous lights flashing within them. But soon, the clouds began to change—something enormous and frightful emerged from them and started gradually approaching Ruby City.

It was a city floating in the sky, as if a palace made of steel. It was held aloft in the sky by glowing magic rings and a dense, complex supporting structure. Surrounding the city were Giant Cannons and platforms loaded with warriors. It descended from the clouds, pouring destructive flames and explosions across the whole land, with a low humming sound emanating from the depths of the steel construct, like the rumbling from the belly of a monstrous beast.

Soon, more smaller flying platforms appeared around that "city," each equipped with Giant Cannons capable of launching Skyfire and various weapons, encircling the sky city like a pack. The blood-red twilight reflected on their surface and cannons, while the shredded clouds scattered outward in the sky—

These colossal constructs slowly advanced in the sky, executing precise bombardments and strafing across the entire land like machines in a factory. Though their pace wasn’t fast, this very slow advancement suffocated all creatures on the ground beneath them with its overwhelming momentum.

This wasn’t the kind of battle the beastmen were familiar with—this wasn’t a "fight" at all.

This was a cleansing and purification of the land, a "governance measure" for the pests corroding this land.

"Ancestral Peak..." Morak inhaled deeply, seemingly trying to combat the immense pressure he felt, "What is that? The elves’ Sacred Stars Temple? But even the Sacred Stars Temple hasn’t had such a fleet..."

"Look to the sky—that’s the mark of the Cecil Empire," Camilla suddenly noticed the giant holographic projections floating between those colossal constructs. These projections were being dispatched from both sides of the largest fortress, seemingly specially projected for people on the ground to recognize, "It’s reinforcements! The alliance reinforcements have arrived!"

With Camilla’s voice, a portion of the massive platforms slowly lowered their altitude, casting various caliber shells onto the ground. A more precise and efficient "cleansing" unfolded subsequently.

Then, a thunderous broadcast rang out over the entire city, but it was a lively young girl’s voice: "This is the Cecil Empire Western Expedition Army aerial unit, ’Dawn of the Mortal World’ Aerial Combat Group, repeat, ’Dawn of the Mortal World’ Aerial Combat Group in the field—I am ordered to support you, I am ordered to support you..."

It was a familiar voice.

When this voice echoed, Camilla couldn’t help but relax. Her face even showed a trace of a smile, but General Morak standing beside her had a surprised expression: "Such a young-sounding voice? Those terrifying aerial fortresses are actually commanded by such a young girl?"

"That young girl you speak of is one of the few qualified to change the order of our world, General Morak," Camilla gently exhaled and said, "I didn’t expect her to personally come, but it’s not really surprising..."

Morak hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something more, but was interrupted as the broadcast from high in the sky continued: "This is Rebecca, calling Ruby City, calling Ruby City—Great Chieftain Camilla, please open your communication device for conversation."

Camilla was taken aback for a moment, then quickly reacted, looking towards those beside her: "Communication device—bring the communication device!"

A tribal warrior swiftly dashed away, and before long, a portable Magic Web Terminal was brought to the fortress walls. For a long time, this device couldn’t connect to the distant communication stations due to the interference across the land. But at this moment, the light representing signal availability brightened on its base.

Undoubtedly, this was related to those giant fortresses floating in the sky.

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