Chapter 622: Chapter 622: The Grand Opening
Chapter 622: The Grand Opening
"Boom!"
The steel behemoth roared and thundered, rampaging across the chaotic battlefield and firing deadly shells. Like an enraged giant, it mercilessly tore several coalition legions apart.
—That was the "Great Red Dragon"-class tank, the largest steam tank of the Ember Empire, which had shined brilliantly in the campaign against North Aether.
And behind the steam tank, George was leading his infantry regiment in a rapid advance.
They charged into the coalition’s lines through the gap opened by the tank’s assault, wiping out the remaining coalition troops and covering the tank’s charge.
"Commander, look over there!"
The adjutant cried out in alarm. George quickly looked in the direction he pointed, and his expression changed instantly.
A celestial warrior was half-kneeling on the ground, barely holding himself up with his sword. His delicate face was deathly pale, and blood flowed from his mouth.
His armor was shattered, studded with shrapnel, and his once-white wings were stained with dust and blood, hanging limply at his sides.
As if hearing their voices, the celestial warrior raised his head, glaring at George in anger, golden light swirling in his eyes.
"Mortals, leave this place! I can spare your lives."
Instantly, all the soldiers present felt a crushing pressure descend, a wave of scorching heat washing over them.
"An angel..."
George understood immediately what had happened. This was a fallen celestial warrior, wounded in battle, and without a doubt, a powerful being!
Ten years ago, George could never have imagined meeting an angel—something only mentioned in the priests’ sermons—let alone becoming their enemy.
But now, George’s hand trembled slightly as he gripped his rifle, not from fear, but from intense tension and excitement.
The wounded angel before him must be someone of great status among the celestial legions, and if he could lead his troops to kill him, it would be a colossal achievement.
The angel seemed to sense George’s thoughts and spoke in sorrow and anger: "Ignorant mortals, you have all been bewitched by evil dragons! Do you know who you are facing? I am Barni, Captain of the Silver Heaven Guards and an enforcer of justice."
"Soldiers, don’t be intimidated by his bluster. He is the enemy of the Empire!" George drew his gun, ruthlessly cutting off the angel’s words.
Then George deliberately raised his voice: "Do you all know—what it means to kill a high-ranking celestial warrior?"
At once, every imperial soldier present was filled with fervor, their breathing quickening. Of course, they knew what this meant—glory and rank!
Their commander, George the Dragonblood Baron, had risen to baron status through his exploits slaying enemy officers, beginning his path to honor.
If George could do it, why couldn’t they?
"For the Empire!"
"Kill him!"
The soldiers shouted fanatically, but did not act rashly—they knew the importance of discipline and it had long become a habit.
On George’s command, they spread out, forming a massive half-arc to surround the celestial warrior and began to close in.
The angel bowed his head, speaking in a hoarse voice: "You... will regret this."
"Whoosh—"
His broad wings snapped open, and countless bloodstained golden feathers shot out like arrows, raining toward the imperial soldiers.
George reacted with lightning speed, dropping to the ground and shouting, "Danger! Get down!"
The moment they heard the order, most imperial soldiers instinctively dropped to the ground without hesitation.
But dozens weren’t fast enough; they were pierced by the hail of feathers, their bodies riddled with bloody holes before falling dead on the spot.
"What a terrifying attack!" George, lying on the ground, was shaken by the sight of the fallen soldiers.
This angel’s power was far beyond his expectations! If they weren’t careful, the whole regiment could be wiped out!
Thinking quickly, he grabbed the radio and said in a low voice, "Enemy is extremely strong, calling for artillery support! Coordinates..."
In the distance, Barni used his sword to push himself upright and gasped, "I do not like to harm mortals. I forgive your ignorance and stupidity and have always shown you great mercy.
But now, I see the truth—followers of the evil dragon, you are beyond saving and unforgivable!"
"Clang—"
With a clear ring, Barni drew his sword from the earth with one hand and pointed it to the sky.
Immediately, blinding light shone from the sword tip like the sun, illuminating everything around as operatic music soared, like a judgment on sinners.
"Whistle—"
At that moment, with a piercing shriek, a shell screamed down from the sky, aimed right at the angel.
Barni’s face changed at once. He raised his sword horizontally and slashed, a blade of light tearing through the sky and detonating the shell mid-air.
"Boom!"
But then more shells rained down, exploding over and over with thunderous force.
Barni knew the power of these weapons and could only drag his wounded body, dodging frantically across the ground.
His wings beat, sending golden feathers into the sky, slashes of light intercepting the relentless barrage of shells.
George seized the moment and shouted, "Open fire!"
He raised his pistol, closed one eye to aim, and pulled the trigger—the bullet fired straight at the angel’s head.
The other imperial soldiers, unable to hold back, opened up with their semi-automatic rifles, hurling grenades at the angel’s position.
Several machine gunners lay prone, setting up their weapons as muzzle flashes spat fire and a flood of hot brass rained down around them.
"Damn dragon lackey!"
Barni roared, raising his sword crosswise. Golden light formed a shield, blocking the hail of bullets.
But the shells in the sky seemed guided, crashing down again and again. The nearby steam tank, having received George’s call for help, charged in and kept blasting away at the angel.
Left with no choice, Barni gave up defense. Ignoring the hail of bullets, he beat his shattered wings and launched himself into the air, dragging his battered body upward.
The next instant, his position was engulfed in fire from the explosions—shrapnel, dust, and stones flying everywhere.
Under constant imperial gunfire, Barni’s body bloomed with bloody wounds, the special expanding rounds tearing flesh and muscle with shocking brutality.
"Aaaah—"
Barni threw his head back and howled, face twisted in agony, like a beast cornered and hunted.
In just a few moments, hundreds of bullets were embedded in his body.
Holy light and searing flames circled the angel, constantly healing his wounds, but the imperial soldiers’ bullets were wounding him faster than he could recover.
Barni, under a hail of gunfire, raised his longsword and shouted, "The guilty must be punished!"
Then he slashed, sending a golden blade of light over ten meters long through the air toward the imperial soldiers with overwhelming force.
"Whoosh—"
The hard ground split open with a deep fissure. Dozens of imperial soldiers were instantly killed before they could even scream, their deaths horrific.
Using dragonblood reflexes and physique, George rolled to the side just as the angel swung his sword, narrowly dodging the blow.
Barni looked down coldly at the soldiers on the ground, gripping his longsword tight, golden fire blazing from it.
But George was unfazed, even more excited, his breathing quickening: "Don’t be afraid, my soldiers! He’s already at the end of his rope! Kill him! The invincible Emperor Cassius is watching over us!"
George grabbed a heavy machine gun from the ground. Using his dragonblood strength, he hoisted it up high.
Ignoring the recoil, he braced his powerful body and fired into the sky, roaring, "For the Empire!"
The muzzle spat fire, shells flying as bullets poured toward the angel above like a raging flood.
The surrounding imperial soldiers, fired up by their commander, also rose up and unleashed a hailstorm of gunfire into the sky.
A wild gale howled as overwhelming pressure swept in, making every imperial soldier feel the urge to drop to one knee.
Barni’s eyes flashed coldly as he said icily, "I will pass just judgment on you—death!"
"Whoosh—"
With unstoppable momentum, the celestial judge spread his wings and dove from the sky, tearing through the air in a streak of light.
Under that tidal wave of power, many imperial soldiers’ legs buckled in fear and they fell to their knees.
But George stood firm, unmoved by the onrushing shockwave.
"Good!"
He grinned wildly, red scales rising on his forehead and cheeks. This charge could cost him his life, but it was also the chance to kill an angel!
He kept the trigger down, raking the sky with machine gun fire, not caring that the barrel and action glowed red-hot.
Bullets pelted the angel, many blocked by his aura.
But soon, the overwhelming firepower shattered that aura.
Then Barni’s body bloomed with bloody holes. His neck, stomach, limbs—even his forehead—were riddled with bullets, his organs shredded—no heavenly power could save wounds like these.
"Judgment..."
Barni stared hard at the nearby half-dragon, gritting out the words through clenched teeth.
He wanted to use his last strength to slay the most wicked of the red dragon’s followers.
But now, Barni’s vision blurred, his sword arm weakening, his wings collapsing behind him.
"Boom!"
At last, just four or five meters from George, the angel crashed to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
His white feathers drifted everywhere, his body riddled with bullet holes and pouring blood, his wings twitching twice before going still forever.
The silver longsword from heaven also fell, driving deep into the earth.
The former Silver Heaven Judge, a high and mighty angel, had died at the hands of mere mortals—just ordinary infantry from the Ember Empire.
"Finally dead..."
George walked up, drew the sword from the ground, and raised it high.
"Remember, Emperor Cassius is watching over us! Fight bravely and gain supreme glory! For the Empire!"
"For the Empire!"
The soldiers all shouted in unison, trembling with excitement—after slaying a true angel together, they were afraid of nothing!
On the distant city wall, Zaran was constructing magical defenses and witnessed the entire scene.
"Lord Falni..."
The archmage, looking at the ecstatic mortals, felt a wave of absurdity after the shock—how could mere mortals dare to kill a judge of heaven?
At this moment, despair crept in. No hastily assembled coalition could beat such an army.
All he could do was lead his colleagues from the City of Ten Thousand Spells in magical support, powerless to stop the coalition’s steady defeat.
Zaran looked into the distance. A giant ogre floated in the air, wearing a short robe, eyes fixed coldly on the human archmage.
A chill swept over Zaran, his hair standing on end, his mind nearly frozen, his heart sinking to the bottom.
"Legendary mage..."
"What a spectacular battle."
Cassius climbed the hillside, overlooking the now-clear battlefield. He clapped his foreclaws together in sincere applause.
Once, the Ember Legion only dared to strut around under his wings—totally incapable of standing against legendary foes.
But now, after so many improvements, the Ember Legion fought as one and packed devastating power. Even on the whole Feianso continent, they were a force to be reckoned with.
The guns roared, steel behemoths thundered across the wasteland, and the bodies of celestials and wyverns tumbled from the sky.
Now the Ember Legion pressed closer, advancing to within a few hundred meters of Collins City, leaving the tens of thousands of surviving coalition troops huddled behind the river in a narrow strip of defenses.
Staring at the battered earth, Olivia shook her head and sighed with deep pity: "Cassius, this war is far too cruel, even in the name of justice.
For the people of North Aether, and for this land so wracked with suffering, please—end this quickly, and put them out of their misery."
The silver-haired girl raised her head, gazing earnestly into the red dragon’s pale golden eyes, her voice full of sincere pleading.
Cassius nodded slightly, turned his head, and replied quietly, "Olivia, you’re not wrong.
The Empire needs a prosperous and stable North Aether as a base for justice and order across all Feianso, not a wasteland of ruins.
It’s time... to end this."
Cassius swept his mighty wings, whipping up a hurricane across the land, and soared hundreds of meters into the sky.
The massive red dragon raised his head, unleashing a thunderous roar from deep in his throat, the sound echoing across North Aether as if to tear the world apart.
"ROAR——"
In that instant, every sound—artillery, engines, soldiers’ cries—was drowned out by that earth-shaking dragon’s roar.
For a moment, every living thing on the North Aether battlefield turned their eyes to the northern sky.
