September 5th, 7 AM.

Raphael was descending onto this final battle in the strongest form ever witnessed. His fury erupted along with his full potential, his godly power easily suppressing three purple dragons.

"A bunch of dwarves!"

Dragon's breath swept through the air as the purple dragons desperately dodged, unable to withstand it. This caused them to lose the initiative.

"Hmph!"

Raphael gave a cold laugh, flapping his four wings suddenly to disappear from the sky.

The remote artillery positions on the ground were now in big trouble, as a crimson shadow loomed over them and fire rained down, spreading and reaping lives.

Cornet, who had taken refuge in the underground fortifications, received the first-hand report from a scout scout.

"Commander, a squad of purple dragons cannot handle the dragon. They lack the firepower to suppress it, causing them to cower. Our artillery positions have been partially destroyed by dragonfire."

Cornet felt like swearing, wanting to confront the evil dragon directly and pay his respects to its maternal relatives.

"I just don't understand, Ryton hasn't even broken through Pillar Mountain yet. Why has he abandoned what is said to be a treasure trove full of gold to come fight us in a frenzy like this?"

He looked up at the other personnel in the underground command center, his mouth twitching as immense resentment built up in his expression.

The staff officer carefully responded, "Commander, I think we should focus on the battle situation now. We can discuss dragon psychology later."

Cornet said coldly word-by-word, "What I mean is, did Ryton secretly collude with the evil dragon? Conventional thinking is that this dragon should not do anything beyond its bottom line - an all-out suicidal strike. Why would a cunning evil dragon make such a choice before being truly desperate?"

The staff officers looked at each other.

"General, Ryton obviously could not have contacted the evil dragon. Are you saying this is part of its strategy?"

"Correct." Cornet felt the damp rainy weather. "Yesterday I ordered the eastern troops to retreat to Oakland overnight. Find out where they are now."

The communications soldier immediately activated the communication orb to inquire. Shortly after, he answered:

"Commander, they are stuck in the mud. The heavy overnight rain flooded the Molton River, and with no one guarding Morey's levees, the failed diversion caused flooding across the plain, turning over a hundred kilometers into a muddy mess. The wheels of our field manacrystal cannons are trapped and can't be pulled out."

Cornet asked sharply, "What about Oakland?"

Routine communication times were 11 PM, 9 AM, noon and afternoon. But Alvis' sudden attack happened after that, and the garrison's communication orb command post had already been leveled by cinder shells.

The communications soldier tried contacting several times without response, only able to shake his head in blank panic.

"Dispatch scouting griffons and ground communication troops. I need that information as soon as possible!"

Cornet slammed the table in rage. He suddenly realized the severe lack of intelligence on the dragon forces could lead to disastrous consequences. An unknown number, composition and strength of the enemy had already destroyed Karuk's reinforcement fortress, incredibly flanking around to strike at their vital point.

"Then general, what about the battle situation?" The staff officer asked fearfully. "Our reserves have been scattered. The left flank troops began taking up defensive positions per your orders, but the severe weather combined with logistical shortfalls have left them without combat ability. The main combat force is bogged down in mud, desperately fighting the sudden evil dragon reinforcements."

"With an unknown enemy force appearing from behind, the situation looks grim. If the forward battlefield fails, we'll be surrounded on three sides, with the only retreat route being west into the Karuk Forest."

To the east was the Molton River - in defeat, the crimson dragon could easily destroy any transport ships trying to cross, a dead end. Swimming across was too heroic, only allowing a tiny few to potentially survive.

"Logistics! Logistics!" Cornet growled in frustration. This fundamental issue had never been properly solved, leaving half the troops with low combat ability.

Now Oakland seemed to be in trouble as well, severing the only supply lifeline for this clustered army group - uranium was being depleted piece by piece, food dwindling mouthful by mouthful.

"The real issue is those Karuk bastards!" Cornet removed his golden eagle cap, brushing his blond hair. "Getting ambushed for some reason and not immediately informing me. It's too late to adjust formations now!"

He suddenly opened his bloodshot gray eyes. "Send out that remaining squad of purple dragons from the training grounds! Deploy all griffon squadrons to support combat. Send all our remaining munitions to the forward battlefield - we must push into Oakenburg before running out of supplies!"

The staff officers wanted to suggest retreating to regroup and call the Empire, or coordinate with Ryton's army, but refrained.

But seeing the somewhat manic commander, they wisely kept silent and began coordinating the specific allocation and plans to carry out this order.

Cornet covered his mouth, huffing and rubbing his hands. He knew that besides losing the battle, even entering the city later than Ryton would be a failure. He would likely be sitting on the cold bench at headquarters for life, as the Empire would lose public sentiment to Ryton, casting an shadow over the economy.

...

Raphael dove past the second line of the Imperial Allied forces. He raised his four wings high to decelerate, long neck bent like a teapot spout as a thick blast of searing fire spewed from his maw, incinerating all the screaming, terrified humans below - a full display of the oppressive power of a superior being.

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Though swarms of anti-air thunder missiles were fired at him, Raphael only needed to instantly soar into the clouds to evade all attacks with ease. Then from the sky, he rained down blasts of radiant breath on the artillery positions - the massive war machines toyed with by his individual agility.

On the ground, newly joined dragon kin doubled the hammer drakes to two thousand.

A doubled number meant more than double the pressure on the allied soldiers. Firepower that could previously suppress them was now inadequate. The mana cannon batteries had to retreat to avoid being decimated by the doubled hammer drakes' shells.

This left the infantry without mana cannon support, allowing the hammer drakes to attack unrestrained without fear of exposing positions to griffon strikes or human artillery barrages crippling them.

"Form defensive lines!"

Officers shouted for soldiers to enter the overnight-dug trenches, taking a defensive stance to lure out the enemy for counterattacks.

Many troops had to abandon the previous day's gains, retreating directly outside the southern suburbs where engineers had only fortified field works.

Ninth corps commander Binni watched anxiously as wave after wave of retreating troops arrived. Last night's battle was viciously failed offensive.

"Didn't expect those bastions to be so difficult to handle." He fretted, as reports said Ryton's forces had already successfully occupied the evil dragon's former lair below Pillar Mountain in the north, while the allied forces had made no gains at all.

The complex terrain dispersed the concentrated corps units. Those fortresses hidden beneath stones or occupying elevated key terrain reaped waves of lost soldiers under night's cover. Griffons and battle dragons had to prevent the evil dragon ambushes instead of fighting full force - because the other side observed a ceasefire at night near Pillar Mountain.

"Lieutenant General, the latest munitions resupply has arrived."

Binni nodded to his adjutant. "Have the logistics personnel distribute it."

The adjutant hesitated before speaking. "The battle has raged all night. Many soldiers only slept two hours and morale is quite low. Could we rotate them for rest?"

"No." Binni coldly answered, thinking of what Cornet had told him.

"We are the righteous corps reclaiming human homelands and freeing our enslaved brethren. This is a noble, selfless war. Think of our kinsmen debased into dragon's miners, working under inhumane conditions - the Morey spies say they only get four hours' rest, eating mush made from peas. We've come this far already, how can we not persevere?"

The adjutant firmly nodded after listening. "Yes sir! I'll pass your words to the troops immediately."

In any case, Raphael currently held the absolute initiative.

"But with such a long frontline, I may not be able to kill them all at once!"

He shook off the purple dragons, hiding in the cloud layer to survey the human army's formation laid out before him.

The vast corps was divided into four sections. The first continuous line of trenches harbored ninety percent of the infantry, with miniature mana cannons inserted throughout.

The second line was the artillery batteries facing both the air and forward ground. The third line was empty, meant for battle dragons and griffons to maneuver. Finally was the supply rotation area - the heart.

Raphael wanted to charge over and incinerate it with fire. But two squads totaling six purple dragons had found him.

…

"We're less than six kilometers from the enemy."

A blood wyvern flew over to report to Alvis.

Around them was the just-concluded battle. The retreating eastern corps had staggered back in separate groups, one portion clashing with Alvis' forces. They were quickly routed by the hammer drakes supported by demi-human soldiers, then massacred in piecemeal.

"What are they doing?"

Alvis looked off at the demi-human soldiers creatively slaughtering the surrendered humans, an eerie smile appearing.

The blood wyvern answered, "I didn't dare get too close. There are many griffons and anti-air batteries over there. Lots of large wagons parked with dense tent camps set up. Deep trenches are dug in the ground."

"Seems we really poked Cornet's back." Hearing the description, Alvis realized it was the crucial supply depot, only established in secure rear areas.

He looked up into the gloomy rainy skies, flashes of spell light occasionally piercing through as blurred shadows grappled and attacked on the horizon.

"Notify all units to prepare! Hammer drakes, attack in the assault formation - break through all enemies ahead!"

…

Cornet was underground listening to the latest battle reports. The forward line was locked in an agonizing seesaw battle, both sides exchanging bowgun fire across the trenches.

"What about the griffons?" he couldn't help asking.

"They're held up by a golden dragon. Its draconic magic seems to have a spatial binding effect, preventing the griffons from disengaging."

"Hmm…"

Cornet pondered for a moment, about to issue a new order.

Boom!

The entire underground command post was violently turned upside down, the intense shaking slamming everyone to the ground as thick debris and clouds of dust rained down!

"Protect the commander!"

"Where are the scouts? What are they doing!"

"How did the enemy get shots in here? Did the air defenses all take a break?"

The staff officers shouted while Cornet, covered in mud, was coughing as he was dug out and helped up, his aides quickly washing the dirt from his eyes with clean water.

"Something's not right!" he said in a low voice, an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

Soon there was another intense shaking! But this time there was no explosion roar or shockwave like before.

Before Cornet could inquire, a bloodied air defense soldier came charging down, desperately saying:

"General, an entire corps suddenly appeared from our rear! A few kilometers back, their fiery bombardment out of nowhere destroyed our defensive positions. Then those massive dragon kin and demi-humans rolled straight through here. They just passed by and are now heading to slaughter our artillery batteries."

Cornet's brain instantly went dizzy from the blood rush as he staggered and passed out.

…

The blood wyverns immediately picked off the sentries one-by-one. Then the hammer drakes caught the supply depot by surprise, demolishing it with cinder shell bombardments.

They charged straight into the rear of the clustered corps. With nearly all combat power committed to the front, there was no rearguard force to stop these thirty hammer drakes.

Like an unstoppable war machine, they quickly trampled past the dragon training grounds, tearing open dozens of breaches in the second line of artillery batteries. Not lingering for battle, they accelerated into smashing the frontline trenches.

The Imperial Allied forces fared even worse than Tokas Fortress - they had zero psychological indicator, only suddenly coming under fire and explosions from the rear. Their comrades and superiors were all panic-stricken, with no one understanding what was happening.

Chaos rapidly spread outward like a plague as the hammer drakes tore openings - long narrow breaches - but portents of defeat radiated from these, causing disarray at all levels. Soldiers didn't know why those hammer drakes had suddenly charged their positions for indiscriminate slaughter, with aerial griffons also unable to relay orders from command.

Mana cannons could effectively suppress the hammer drakes, but only at frontal firing ranges.

Watching from the Ground II, Hil witnessed the hammer drakes' sudden appearance, knowing Alvis' plan succeeded.

"It's time! Order all hammer drakes to abandon ranged attacks. Charge in and penetrate back and forth through the human lines!"

The forest soon rumbled as the two thousand main force troops emerged from the southern suburbs while the Allied forces were in disarray. The mana cannon barrage that should have rained down like divine fire failed to materialize, with only a few scattered shots inadequate to pose a threat.

Hil seized this opportunity - the hammer drakes successfully pierced into the Imperial Allied lines.

With formations shattered, both sides devolved into an ancient melee of intermingling chaotic battle. Humans completely lost all advantages, forced into direct bloody clashes of flesh against the merciless multi-story beasts. This shift in combat modes heralded the true battle about to commence!

…

Evan crawled out from the southern defensive line, the blasted breach already urgently patched by the Ground II.

It wasn't a sudden burst of courage to charge into battle that made him so bold. Instead, it was the spectacular sight of prisoners being marched into the city district queue after queue that piqued his interest to observe up close.

However, the horrific battle scene nearly made Evan vomit the dinner he just ate. The ground was covered in shredded limbs and bloody filth, crushed and disemboweled bodies torn apart into piles, the gentle rain mixed with a nauseating stench of decay.

"We won! We actually won?" Evan excitedly muttered to himself.

But the hammer drakes, kobolds and demi-human soldiers apathetically herding the human prisoners were utterly ruthless and cold, the tattered uniforms and hollow defeated gazes confirming the reality.

"Excellent! The investment paid off! Vattier family will reach the secular pinnacle in my generation!"