Chapter 976: Chapter 975: Non-Directional Eruption

When Andresha heard that explosive news, all the unease in her heart and the vague suspicions that had emerged earlier instantly condensed into a rusted reality — everything was explained.

Madness, everything is mad. Centered around the Sect of the God of War, all connected branches are stained with madness!

"When did the Iron River Knights leave?" She immediately turned to the Mage who came to report, speaking rapidly, "Why was it not discovered immediately?!"

As the highest-ranking commander in the border region, having an imperial knight regiment suddenly act independently under her nose is unacceptable to Andresha — even though the Iron River Knights are not directly under her command but are a "special corps" loyal to the royal family, she is currently the person in charge of the Winterwolf Fort Defense Line!

"Not sure, at least one hour ago..." The Mage’s face was exceptionally unsightly, "Earl Mogrolok cut off the magic communication around their station, and some soldiers active near the Iron River Knights’ station were trapped by some pre-prepared magic illusion. If it weren’t for a few abandoned soldiers on foot running to the nearest sentinel to raise the alarm, the news might not have gotten out..."

"This is a premeditated act of madness..." A chill crept into Andresha’s heart, while her thoughts raced like lightning. She then abruptly looked at her adjutant, "The Winterwolf Knights should gather immediately outside the west gate, and the Combat Griffins and Mage Corps should stand by. Send a communication to Aldernon, top urgency level. The content is ’Iron River Knights out of control, have gone to attack the Cecil Defense Line, high war risk.’ Winterwolf Fortress enters full readiness, all troops prepared for action — notify Count Bitter Winter, have the Black Flag Mage Corps move to the Winterwolf Fort Defense Line."

The adjutant, having listened to the orders without missing a word, saluted and replied loudly: "Yes, General!!"

Around the towering Magic Communication Tower of Winterwolf Fortress, a huge floating circle assembled from crystals and Magi-metal began to rotate slowly. Powerful magic surged above the tower, and urgent communications were sent far away through the amplified array and circular antennas. Aldernon would soon receive intelligence on the drastic changes at the border, and before that, the entire northwest defense line of the Empire would enter combat readiness, ready to face... an unforeseen war.

Meanwhile, on the plains west of Winterwolf Fortress, an elite force with extremely powerful mobility and combat power had already gathered.

Armored and armed with Longswords, Andresha glanced back at the imposing walls of Winterwolf Fortress — the stronghold stood quietly in the dim morning light, battered by the cold winds from the north. On the walls, numerous soldiers and Combat Mages busily set up defenses, Magic Crystals activated, enchanted armor plates and barrier amplification arrays glimmering in her sight. This was clearly a scene of impending war.

Andresha had imagined the appearance of Winterwolf Fortress after the outbreak of war, but she never imagined it would happen in this form.

The sound of wings flapping arose from high overhead, as a large number of Combat Griffins flew in from the south of the city, beginning to circle above the knights. Meanwhile, gates opened from either side, and black-painted Magic-guided Vehicles drove out one after another, quickly heading towards the dark plains ahead.

Those vehicles carried Combat Mages — the Mages’ strong offensive power and the high mobility and protection provided by the Magic-guided Vehicles could complement each other. Meanwhile, the immense power of the vehicles allowed them to house crystals and arrays to augment Mana; these were originally only usable in fixed positions like walls or bunkers. Now, with new technology, they could move with the army, greatly enhancing the combat power of traditional Mage units.

With Combat Mage units now possessing high-speed mobility and stronger defense capabilities, the Typhon army also came up with more new tactics — such as using a mechanized Mage unit as the vanguard for rapid reconnaissance and position destruction, while knights, traditionally the vanguard unit, followed behind the Mages. They could unleash more potent "Thermal Cones" with longer charging times and more stable charging environments — tactics so bold they defy tradition and common sense, proven to have incredible effects in multiple simulated drills.

Andresha shook her head, casting all distractions from her mind, then raised her Longsword, pointing forward.

The entire army advances.

The biting cold winter wind began to howl, and though the high-level knights did not fear such cold, Andresha still felt the winter chill gradually infiltrating her body. She pondered on the arrangements made in the emergency and various contingency plans, tirelessly searching for any fatal flaws or overlooked aspects. At the same time, she considered how much of the current situation could still be salvaged.

The Iron River Knights were going to start a war; this was a fact placed before her. And if that powerful regiment truly succeeded in crossing the boundary and attacked the Cecil Clan’s fortress, their objective would surely be achieved — Andresha knew well the strength of the Iron River Knights. Even if they ventured deep alone, confronted with Cecil Clan’s Magic-guided Artillery and steel walls, Mogrolok and his knights could still cause substantial damage to the Cecil Defense Line. But after the destruction?

The Cecil Clan would quickly respond, and however strong the isolated Iron River Knights, they could not withstand the entire Longwind Defense Line — perhaps it would only take a fighting fortress known as the "Iron Throne" to utterly obliterate the isolated and unsupported knight regiment.

Many would die on both sides, and the current peace between the two Empires was too brief to foster stable "friendly relations." Both nations still had influential hawks who would not miss this opportunity.

Now, the only chance to stop all this is to intercept the already out-of-control Iron River Knights. Even if they have crossed the military boundary or even reached the foot of the Cecil Clan’s walls, it doesn’t matter, as long as the two sides have not formally engaged in battle, the matter is still negotiable — the only key is how to intercept Earl Mogrolok and his knights.

Andresha could hardly believe that the knight troop leader who had kindly conversed with her during the day had fallen into the same uncontrollable madness as the War God’s Clergy. But at this moment, she had to make judgments devoid of personal emotions: if she truly caught up with the Iron River Knights, then... using words to stop them might be unrealistic.

The insane are the hardest to stop — because they no longer recognize the cost.

Thus she did not dispatch a fast messenger squad but brought an entire elite knight regiment herself.

Andresha gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her gaze fixed on the direction of the Carmanta Crossroad gradually illuminated by the dawn light.

She showed a mysterious light tinge of bitterness — the last time she marched in this direction was to start a war.

.....

The immense Magic Power from the Eastern Plains quickly triggered the alarms of the border detection system, with the piercing sound echoing through Border Camp No. 22 at dawn. This defense node situated between Palamere Highlands and Longwind Fortress was suddenly awakened, and the camp commander and soldiers were somewhat confused about the imminent event.

"Detected massive-scale Magic Power fluctuation!" shouted the soldier in charge of the monitoring system, widening his eyes and fixating on the data returned by the Magic Detection Device, "Coming from the southeast direction... Moving fast!"

An observer quickly left the monitoring room and rushed to a lookout tower near the wall. In the morning light brightening gradually, he activated the complex filter of the sight device, placing his eyes against the lens polished from man-made crystals.

A twisted, scorching, massive energy cloud had already formed in the distance and was "flying" fast towards the camp close to the ground. Below that energy cloud, large barriers and the tips of flag spears were faintly visible — the black-background red-patterned flags undulating at the horizon’s edge, resembling a monster fish jumping in the water.

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"Visual contact with the Thermal Cone!" the observer shouted loudly, "The cone has already formed!

"Identification of enemy markings observed... Typhon! It’s the Iron River Knights of Typhon!!"

The camp commander was left in utter astonishment upon hearing this intelligence.

Typhon? A sudden attack? At this time?

Have those Typhon people gone mad? Is there even an ounce of logic behind this?

A shout from a subordinate emerged from the side: "Officer! Please give the order!"

The commander quickly glanced toward the distance and resolutely commanded: "Overload the barrier—stations one through four, charge and aim, everyone to the walls, open fire as soon as the enemy enters the identification zone. You, notify Longwind Fortress, the Typhon forces have initiated conflict!!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The soldiers rapidly mobilized, while the camp commander clenched his fist tightly and looked once more toward the southeast. There was only resolute determination on the face of this veteran who had experienced the rocky ridges Fortress battle and the divine disaster of the Plains of the Holy Spirits.

The Thermal Cone was fully formed, the Typhon Knights had commenced their charge, and there was simply no time left for any communication confirmation or reporting work—the enemy chose to attack without declaration, so the responsibility to defend this camp was now his and his soldiers’.

The commander had, indeed, sensed that something was amiss, the actions of the Typhon forces defied all logic, sending an elite knight corps to recklessly assault a defense line without Mage support was sheer foolishness. Even if the elite knight corps broke through this camp, what’s next? Could they possibly penetrate the entire Longwind Defense Line?

Yet at this moment, nobody can decipher this oddity—the enemy has arrived.

Surging energy flowed between crystals and metal, and the stationarily mounted Magic-guided Artillery adjusted its angle with precise gear and bearing movements, its muzzle lifted high, targeting the distant charging knight corps. After a very brief delay, the shell accelerated and burst out from the rail, its roar suddenly exploding, as the pale cyan stream of light completely tore apart the last darkness of this winter dawn.

The Magic Crystal Shell, wrapped in a pale cyan mass, shrieked through the air, tracing a long arc line. Beneath its descending path, the knight corps galloped on the plains, with raging magic power filling the space between their ranks, presenting the entire array in a surreal state—yet the whistling from above reached the ears of this transcendent army, though not a single knight distractedly looked up during the entire charge.

The shell plummeted straight into the attacking formation of the Iron River Knights, and immediately, deafening explosions roared across the plains.

Boom boom boom!

A massive cloud of explosions ascended, enveloped in shock waves, and dense ripples surged on the surface of the shields hovering above the knight corps. In some areas, white noise resembling interference patterns began to stain the shield surface—a barrier held jointly by human forces ultimately couldn’t compare to the fortresses’ shields. Even if it could withstand the power of "Skyfire" for a short time, it certainly couldn’t last long.

And how much "Skyfire" did the Cecil Clan possess?

Just a dozen seconds later, the sharp whistling rapidly approaching again from high above provided the answer.

Successive explosions continued to resound, with shortening distances enabling the camp’s small artillery to begin firing. Large and small shock waves and clouds of explosions wreaked havoc above the knight corps’ joint shields, relying on a vast number of transcendent individuals to sustain the barrier, which finally begun to show signs of breaches and extreme overload phenomena—on the battle formation’s edges, there were knights who fell from horses due to mana backlash or shock injuries progressively.

Yet they still charged forward silently, seemingly oblivious to the pain afflicting their bodies.

The Thermal Cone commenced descent, gradually syncing with the knight corps’ phalanx. The camp commander watched these events unfold, knowing that the first wave of the attack would definitely not be intercepted.

"Prepare to engage the impact—"

The next second, the camp’s shields fiercely collided with the massive, binding plasma barrier.

A grating shriek permeated within the barriers, with intense and bright sparks erupting from the Barrier Generator and Magic Capacitors spread across the walls, large patches of white noise waves appeared on the camp’s shield front. In the camp commander’s eyes, those Typhon Knights had already started reshaping their formation before the Thermal Cone arrived, letting the high-energy mass autonomously strike the shield as they dispersed into over ten successive waves, commencing attacks on various shield nodes.

The Cecil soldiers on the walls began counter-attacking with Ray Guns, Lightning Generators, and various individual weapons, but the camp commander knew this position couldn’t be held.

Just like the energy barriers supported by the Typhon Knights couldn’t match the fortress shields, this mere border camp... was not the Longwind Fortress after all.

The humming sound before the shield’s collapse resonated.

"How long until the Iron Throne arrives?"

"Commander, the mortal world Serpent has already passed Border Station No. 17!"

"Everyone—ignite the blades!" The commander gritted his teeth and unsheathed the Melting Sword from his waist, "For our country!"

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