Three armored catapults advanced slowly, making Nieyan increasingly anxious. Siege weapons like armored catapults were the natural enemies of pets and flying mounts.
The armored catapults posed a significant threat to both the Golden Earth Dragon and the Darkwing Drake.
After Nieyan completed a spell incantation, he recalled the Golden Earth Dragon. At this moment, the Darkwing Drake had already entered the attack range of the armored catapults.
Hearing Kuangfa’s command, fifteen iron projectiles soared into the sky, tracing arcs through the air before raining down toward the Darkwing Drake.
Nieyan nervously maneuvered the Darkwing Drake to dodge. The dragon flapped its wings and swiftly dodged sideways.
One by one, the iron projectiles whistled down from the sky. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Five or six of them landed near buildings, erupting into blazing flames that reduced the structures to ruins. Others struck the street, leaving behind terrifying deep craters.
Three glowing-hot iron projectiles hit the Darkwing Drake’s chest and shoulders. The dragon let out a painful cry as several patches of its skin were scorched black. The tremendous impact from the projectiles forced it to stagger backward. Although only lightly injured, the Darkwing Drake appeared somewhat fearful of the powerful armored catapults.
As the armored catapults approached, players from the Mage Alliance near the Darkwing Drake quickly fled into nearby alleys to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Nonetheless, many players still perished under the catapult bombardment.
“Continue advancing the armored catapults. Kill the Darkwing Drake! Everyone, charge!” Kuangfa shouted excitedly, clenching his fist. If they could eliminate Nieyan’s Darkwing Drake, it would be a huge gain!
The armored catapults moved forward, launching more iron projectiles. Powerful firepower suppressed the area. As the Darkwing Drake was about to be hit by over a dozen projectiles, Nieyan leaped onto a relatively stable spot on a rooftop, closing the distance to the dragon. He issued a command, and the Darkwing Drake flapped its wings and soared into the air.
With a thunderous explosion, fifteen iron projectiles struck the spot where the Darkwing Drake had previously stood. The area was instantly reduced to a devastated landscape, leaving behind a deep crater spanning over thirty yards in diameter.
This was the terrifying power of the armored catapults. Had the Darkwing Drake been hit directly by so many projectiles at once, it would have been severely wounded, if not outright killed.
The Darkwing Drake was an aerial combat unit. When diving from above, few units could withstand its assault. However, on the ground, under the overwhelming bombardment of the armored catapults, the Darkwing Drake couldn’t unleash its full potential and was easily targeted. The Mage Alliance had deployed armored catapults—Nieyan realized it was time to retreat. If anything happened to the Darkwing Drake, it would be a major loss.
As the Darkwing Drake took off into the sky, Nieyan leaped and landed on its back, riding it upward at high speed.
Just as the Darkwing Drake reached midair, several nearby arrow towers targeted it, unleashing a dense volley of arrows. Many of the arrows lost momentum due to the long distance and were simply blown away by the dragon’s wings.
Dozens of arrows struck the Darkwing Drake. The arrowheads hit its skin, which was as hard as iron, producing sharp clinking sounds like striking steel plates before falling from the sky. The distance was too great for these crossbow bolts to maintain their penetrating power.
Nieyan looked back. Kuangfa and the others were growing farther away. Now that the Darkwing Drake was in the air, few units could threaten it.
“Sorry, I’m leaving first!” Nieyan smirked with a teasing grin. This time, the Mage Alliance had suffered a major loss. Running away after scoring a win was Nieyan’s usual style.
Seeing the Darkwing Drake fly beyond the range of the catapults and arrow towers, carrying Nieyan further and further away until finally vanishing into the horizon, Kuangfa was furious. He hadn’t expected that even then, Kuangzei Nieyan had still managed to escape.
“Sun, King, return now,” Nieyan said through voice chat. It was time to withdraw from Edgeton Fortress.
After Sun, King of the World, and others eliminated a few more Mage Alliance players, they gradually used random teleport scrolls to leave Edgeton Fortress.
One by one, they departed safely, leaving behind a scene of ruins.
The news of Nieyan and the others’ safe departure was immediately posted in the Bull Man Tribe’s guild chat. The players of the Bull Man Tribe let out a collective sigh of relief—finally, their leader had returned safely.
Soon, the news of Nieyan and his team’s massive slaughter in Edgeton Fortress, followed by their safe escape, spread like wildfire across the entire Glirenn Empire, with red headlines flooding the forums. Posts like “The War God Returns—Kuangzei Nieyan’s City Slaughter!” “The Lost Mage Alliance!” and “The Mage Alliance’s Shame—The Fall of Edgeton Fortress!” filled the internet. This incident became an indelible humiliation for the Mage Alliance. The videos circulating online made it impossible for Mage Alliance players to face the public. In this event, the Mage Alliance suffered over 1,300 casualties, including Kuangfa, the guild leader, being killed twice, and Saint Flame, the leader of the Sacred Guardians, being killed once. If such an event had occurred in the wilds, it wouldn’t have been particularly surprising. However, Edgeton Fortress was the Mage Alliance’s stronghold, the most heavily fortified location under their control. For Kuangzei Nieyan to enter it as if it were his own home and kill so many people was an enormous embarrassment.
The video evidence was irrefutable, leaving the Mage Alliance unable to offer any defense.
Players began to realize that while the Mage Alliance had a large number of members, many of them were mediocre. In contrast, the Bull Man Tribe was composed almost entirely of elite players selected from thousands. Not even mentioning renowned figures like Cui Can Daoguang (Cui Can Swordlight), Shui Se Yantou (Water-colored Cigarette), and Sha Bu Si De Hua Dan (The Undead Joker), just the five individuals who appeared that day—could the Mage Alliance or Sacred Guardians even find one thief capable of matching any of them?
This was a real gap. When skilled players performed well, wiping out thousands of opponents wasn’t difficult.
Just like when King of the World previously ambushed and killed over a thousand members of the Zhanda Xue (Bloody Blade) guild single-handedly, the true combat power of the Bull Man Tribe’s 60,000 members remained to be thoroughly assessed. Meanwhile, the actual strength of the Mage Alliance and Sacred Guardians’ 700,000 troops was highly questionable.
Players couldn’t help but reflect: a guild’s strength couldn’t be measured merely by numbers.
The Mage Alliance had been branded with the mark of shame. Edgeton Fortress had become an indelible stain on their reputation, leading players to question the strength of both the Mage Alliance and the Sacred Guardians. Some Mage Alliance players began to feel pessimistic, and morale plummeted.
Kuangfa was extremely anxious upon learning the situation but had no solution. Taking advantage of their momentum, the Bull Man Tribe, a day later, deployed their Frost Armored Catapults outside the Mage Alliance’s Dannels Fortress, with 60,000 troops surrounding the fortress. They continuously bombarded the walls with the Frost Armored Catapult, and the 100,000 Mage Alliance troops inside the fortress dared not charge out, trapped within the walls. The sheer power of the Frost Armored Catapults terrified the Mage Alliance players. Fifteen Frost Armored Catapults represented a devastating force. From within the city, they could hear the walls groaning under the relentless bombardment.
The Mage Alliance was utterly humiliated, being overwhelmed by the Bull Man Tribe while hiding inside the city walls, their reputation completely shattered.
The Bull Man Tribe was commanded by Knight’s Elegy, who was highly skilled in troop command. Under his leadership, after nearly two hours of intense bombardment, the walls of Dannels Fortress collapsed with a thunderous roar.
With such a massive breach in the walls, the Bull Man Tribe could have easily charged inside. However, Shui Se Yantou remained calm, ordering the fifteen Frost Armored Catapults to advance gradually, spending several hours completely flattening the walls and arrow towers before methodically pushing forward, leaving the Mage Alliance players with no chance to resist.
This positional warfare, relying on overwhelming long-range firepower, was the most unstoppable strategy, and the Mage Alliance suffered greatly from it.
After seven hours, Dannels Fortress was reduced to rubble. The city was left in ruins, with nearly a quarter of the walls destroyed. After leaving behind nearly 10,000 corpses, the Mage Alliance players evacuated entirely through the teleportation array. It was a glorious victory. Except for a few unfortunate individuals killed by arrow tower bolts, the Bull Man Tribe suffered minimal casualties, keeping their losses below a hundred.
After capturing Dannels Fortress, the Bull Man Tribe’s morale soared even higher. The fifteen Frost Armored Catapults quickly moved toward other cities controlled by the Mage Alliance.
The Bull Man Tribe’s forces advanced like an unstoppable flood, conquering cities and fortresses without resistance. Along the way, they encountered resistance from the Mage Alliance and Sacred Guardians, but those forces quickly disintegrated under the intense bombardment of the Frost Armored Catapults.
Everything was progressing favorably. Nieyan monitored the battlefield while directing the overall strategy, mobilizing troops from allied guilds such as the Holy Roman Empire and the War God Tribe to pressure other Mage Alliance fortresses.
Out of the Mage Alliance’s total of twenty-one fortresses, five had fallen into the Bull Man Tribe’s hands, one was destroyed, and three others were drawn into chaotic battles. The entire Moonlight City had become a battlefield.
The Mage Alliance was retreating continuously, and the situation looked promising. Although the Bull Man Tribe was outnumbered compared to the Mage Alliance and Sacred Guardians, their unity and high morale played a crucial role in the massive war.
“Has the Mage Alliance made any moves?” Nieyan asked Guo Huai. The Bull Man Tribe had already reached their doorstep, and the Mage Alliance wouldn’t remain passive forever—they were bound to launch a counterattack.
“The Mage Alliance is consolidating its defenses and reinforcing the walls of Edgeton Fortress. They’re likely planning to make a final stand there!” Guo Huai replied, checking the reports from various fronts. His mood had also lightened somewhat.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage