Whoosh—Boom!!

A Cinder Shell the first strike of the Valley defensive battle.

A low-flying blood wyvern immediately flew back to inform its kin of the enemy's exact location. The hammer drakes promptly took formation and unleashed Cinder Shells in succession.

This was the first time the Ryton men had witnessed such an attack firsthand. The fiery energy spheres arced high like ancient siege engine ammunition assaulting a citadel.

"Hold fire! Attempt to intercept with flak cannons!"

The Ryton's officers issued the order. The gunners could only stifle their inner panic and operate the flak cannons beside them, tracking the incoming energy spheres and counterattacking with forceful barrages.

In an instant, the human forward positions erupted in a dense crossfire attempting to detonate Cinder Shells.

The effect was significant - over sixty percent of the shots detonated prematurely, billowing black smoke and dispersing ash.

However, nearly half still impacted ground around the infantry, instantly devouring any soldiers in the vicinity. Ryton's advance slowed to a crawl.

The defensive line comprised over a thousand hammer drakes - a formidable foe raining unrelenting death from afar. Their extreme range prevented the Ryton men from even glimpsing the enemy before suffering heavy casualties.

"Sir, the enemy's firepower exceeds our expectations!"

General Paine spoke into the communication orb: "The aerial battle has also reached a stalemate. Demoniac dragon and his golden dragon ally are immensely powerful - the battle dragons and griffon knights can barely suppress them. But the griffons' stamina pales compared to these dragons. If this continues, the air battle will collapse, followed by the annihilation of the ground forces! We won't be able to retreat in time!"

"Hold this position. Maintain that valley within range of our mana cannons to return fire!"

Paine had no choice but to accept the order and began directing his troops to form defensive lines.

Inside Valley:

Milmos paced anxiously in the upper courtyard as the blood wyverns relayed constant updates.

"The humans aren't retreating? Instead they're enduring the hammer drake attacks and retaliating with mage cannons?"

It was growing restless.

The ideal scenario was for the humans to be overwhelmed by casualties and forced into retreat to regroup another day. Then Valley could utilize the previously constructed supply lines through Pillar Mountain to prepare for a protracted siege, awaiting Alvis' successful ambush before fully committing their forces.

But now the humans showed no signs of leaving. At maximum exertion, a hammer drake could unleash around one hundred Cinder Shells before lacking even the strength to eat.

So typically they only used around fifty, conserving stamina by capping at seventy shots.

If the humans could endure past this limit, Valley would lose its greatest asset.

Before Milmos could devise a strategy, explosions rang out from outside the valley.

"What's happening!" it cried out.

A terrified blood wyvern flew in reporting: "The humans are attacking from afar, enduring Cinder Shells to retaliate."

"Have they gone mad?" Milmos shook its head.

While the hammer drakes would be unharmed, any humans struck by a Cinder of Oblivion were sure to perish. This direct trading of blows clearly favored the dragon kin.

As Milmos pondered why the humans seemed to have a death wish, another scout wyvern arrived with a new report:

"Human forces have been spotted outside Boden Forest near Pillar Mountain!"

"That place…I remember that's where…"

Milmos suddenly recalled - that was where he had killed Lilica, slain Gimio, and led the capture of lady and her company.

"Do they intend to march directly on Pillar Mountain? Quickly deploy a contingent of hammer drakes and kobolds to intercept! And alert all the supply forts along the route to prepare for battle."

Paine's split force plowed through the forest.

Suddenly a shadow appeared to the left, and several soldiers immediately swiveled their bowguns and fired uranium-tipped bolts.

It was only a wooden marker with a border warning, now blasted into splinters.

"Why is there a clearing here?"

A young Ryton soldier pointed at the long open strip along the tree line.

An old veteran answered, "This used to be the border between the Dragon Domain and the Kingdom of Morey. The other side was once Morey's Northern Army's garrison, but it lost purpose after the demon dragon occupied Oakenburg."

Before he finished speaking, a Cinder of Oblivion struck nearby, incinerating both the old man and youth into ash.

"Under enemy attack! Scouts, report the enemy position!"

Commander Andalos immediately ordered his troops to disperse and take cover.

"Reporting, approximately northwest of our position. Likely reinforcements from Valley."

Andalos considered pulling back, but instead held their ground to retaliate.

"Quick! Adjust firing arcs!"

The artillery crews scrambled into action. Without a precise target location and only a general direction, the five-kilometer range mana cannons became their primary weapon.

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The mana cannons thundered relentlessly, expending their mana crystals and physical payloads within minutes. The artillerymen scrambled to reload as Cinder Shells exploded in the distance, obliterating swaths of forest.

"It seems the enemy only knows our general direction as well," Andalos observed, noticing many of the hammer drake attacks had missed wide.

"Air defense squads, watch for those blood wyverns trying to pinpoint our location. Engineers, construct hasty fieldworks for a buffer."

Issuing a series of orders, Andalos' split force gradually found its footing.

…

Fels Town

The Ryton strategists were meticulously analyzing the current battle situation.

"Paine is leading five legions - fifty-four thousand - in the frontal assault. He has detached Andalos with twenty-two thousand troops to penetrate from Boden Forest."

Their fingers traced the map. "Based on our analysis and reconnaissance, this area should be an expedient route connecting Pillar Mountain and the Dragon Domain. If the demon dragon needs to rapidly redeploy its kin, this path is essential - perhaps even a retreat route. Conducting a feint with this split force could prove quite effective."

The communication orb chimed, and Andalos reported his latest circumstances.

The strategists couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing his troops had come under long-range dragon kin fire almost immediately after insertion.

Not out of schadenfreude, but in acknowledgment that their stratagem had succeeded.

"As expected, this area is crucial to the demon dragon. It has no choice but to extend its defensive line and commit reinforcements."

Facing the tough nut that was Valley, Ryton naturally hoped to disperse its garrison - probing its weak points with detached forces was one method.

"Now Hessman's twenty thousand have penetrated Valley's rear!"

The strategist pointed to the northwestern corner of the map. "Five minutes ago, forward scouts reported the lead infantry transports successfully crossed the northern zone undetected. They passed many farms, ranches, and roads under construction without incident or mines - the enemy remains unaware."

"In this manner, we've formed a pincer attack and seized demoniac dragon's jugular!" he concluded.

The three legions on the map converged like pincers, closing on Raphael's vital areas.

…

The infantry assault vehicle corps had already reached the underground city's vicinity. Had the dragon kin not evacuated beforehand, they surely would have been captured.

"Sir, scouts have entered that underground space," a signaler reported to Hessman. "It's not a fortress - just an intricate, elaborate city. Our bowguns could easily demolish those structures; they lack defensive value. Seems to be a residential area."

Hessman held the rank of lieutenant general and had served in the allied legions with a doctoral mastery of alchemical studies, previously overseeing the War Ministry's Depleted Uranium Kinetics Division.

"Is that so?" He clenched his gloved fist pensively. "Continue reconnaissance in case of an enemy ambush."

Then he raised his binoculars, surveying the looming Valley ahead.

"No more than four kilometers by my estimate. Adjust the formation - we attack in ten minutes!"

The original intent behind infantry assault vehicle was to rapidly deploy ground troops. Their reinforced alloy armor could withstand bowgun uranium rounds, while high mobility allowed them to evade field mage cannon strikes, preserving the soldiers' stamina rather than marching.

Soon, a hundred transports - each carrying elite infantry - formed a line abreast and accelerated forward. The remaining foot-mobile infantry followed behind as the field mage cannon batteries adjusted and opened fire on the hammer drake lines outside Valley!

Volley after volley slammed into the dragon kin defensive positions.

With the blood wyverns' numbers severely depleted and Milmos lacking foresight, they failed to anticipate a whole Ryton legion would encircle to their rear.

"What's happening? We're under attack on two fronts?"

The upper courtyard took several mage cannon hits as well, instantly decimating half of Nana's painstakingly tended icebloom bushes in billowing flames, ash and irradiated debris.

Milmos nearly perished by blast before being evacuated to the middle level chambers by rat dragon guards and the big blood wyvern Mary.

With the blood wyverns still absent, a soot-stained, one-armed kobold staggered in, drenched in smoke and gore.

"Humans have appeared to our northwest! Just like the frontal force, they're bombarding us with cannon fire. Without the hammer drakes' suppression, their warriors are about to charge our lines!"

Milmos knew dire circumstances loomed. Once the humans enveloped their rear, the scattered hammer drakes would be forced to reorient and counterattack, reducing pressure on the frontal human forces and allowing their advance. Both fronts would plunge into a grueling stalemate.

More crucially, another human legion had appeared in Boden Forest. The dragon kin forces detached to intercept had yet to report back success or failure. Their supply lines and retreat routes now hung precariously.

"What do we do?"

The injured kobold, Mary, and Henry all looked to Milmos, but under its autocratic reign, they merely awaited orders rather than offering solutions.

"Alvis…what would you do in this situation?"

Milmos felt utterly lost. Their aerial master remained locked in stalemate, unable to address the ground battle. As the sole decision-maker remaining, it racked its mind.

Then a fleeting thought turned towards Alvis, currently outflanking the imperial allied forces' vitals.

"Prepare to evacuate, but not immediately!" It finally decided to abandon Raphael's old lair to preserve strength for the coming greater battle.

"Henry, take the northern dragon kin warriors and stem those humans encircling our rear at all costs."

"The rest of you handling logistics - pack up our belongings immediately. Burn anything too large or heavy. Detach a contingent of hammer drakes to cover our retreat to Pillar Mountain."

Issuing the orders, the dragon kin scattered to execute them.

"Our domain is utterly lost…we must start anew…" Milmos sighed, recalling how years ago as a human, it had secretly mapped this area, then a verdant forest rather than the scorched wasteland before it now.

…

The infantry transports had reached outskirts of Valley. The Ryton soldiers could clearly see the small mountain's towering scale, the withered vines outside hinting at its formerly lush forests.

"Enemy in sight!"

The dragon kin along the ridgeline and on the ground were their targets!

The infantry assault vehicle boldly accelerated, their mounted bowguns peppering the conspicuous hammer drakes with bolts.

By now the drakes had expended much stamina bombarding the frontal human forces. To conserve strength, they chose to leap towards the armored vehicle rather than using shell.

Boom!

But the rear mana cannons, guided by scout griffins, relentlessly adjusted their arcs to accurately pummel the charging hammer drakes.

The vehicles repositioned towards the flanks, prolonging their bowguns' and dismounted troops' firing time on the steadily accumulating drake injuries.

Crack!

Finally one infantry infantry assault vehicle was smashed by a drake's hammer. However, this lethal proximity enabled the surrounding Rytonians to pour unrelenting fire into the behemoth until the combined bolt barrage and accumulated wounds dropped it.

Rat dragon lord Henry arrived, entering a secure position within the valley to observe through slitted windows.

"Have the hundred and thirty-six hammer drakes to the rear unleash Cinder Shells targeting the human mage cannon batteries. Hammer drakes to the front - do not leap but assume tortoise formations in wedge arrays to countercharge the infantry's center mass. Kobolds, utilize the gullies and Valley's natural defenses to engage those iron carriages at close range!"

Recalling Alvis' battle tactics, Henry boldly commanded an offensive posture.

The human commander Hessman immediately spotted the enemy's organized movements through his scouts, griffins, and binoculars.

Suddenly fiery energy spheres streaked down like meteors from above.

"Disperse!"

Officers at all echelons issued the order. Any Ryton artillery crews within the blanket area had to abandon their mana cannons to evade the barrage.

"General Hessman!" One of his staff officers gestured excitedly. "Look ahead!"

Hessman squinted, then murmured, "Wedge formations?"

Three hammer drakes staggered forward as the spearhead, flanked by two to the left and four to the right in layered, staggered ranks - charging straight towards the advancing infantry.

This ensured multidirectional defense and offense.

"Pull back the vehicles. Infantry, assume dispersed encirclement as trained. Use thunderblast bomb at close range."

Initially the hammer drake wedges seemed unstoppable, easily trampling the lead Ryton units unable to outrun them.

But the remaining humans swiftly coordinated into staggered firing lines, saturating the drakes with bolt fire from all sides - which proved ineffective against their tortoise stances.

Until one soldier retrieved a cylindrical charge from his pack and lobbed it underneath a drake.

The unassuming canister went unnoticed, crushed underfoot, before detonating in a pure thunderstorm engulfing the beast.

Arcing electricity invaded every crease to ravage its internal organs.

With a defiant spray of black ichor, the drake collapsed, mortally wounded despite lacking visible trauma.