Two aerial forces clashed like a massive meat grinder, with blood raining down in torrents.
Both Angel Empire and Cowherd Tribe had become bloodthirsty, locked in a deadly struggle with no intention of backing down.
Within the City of Sin, numerous factions began scrambling for crystal cores. With such a massive aerial battle overhead, countless corpses rained down. Inside each fallen flying mount lay a coveted crystal core, making fierce competition inevitable.
This battle was destined to capture everyone’s attention.
“Boss Nian, we’ve lost over 300 flying mounts!” Elegy the Knight urgently reported in the team chat. They had brought only a little over 1,000 flying mounts in total, and already nearly 300 had been lost in just a short time.
“Angel Empire hasn’t fared well either; they’ve lost at least 500 flying mounts!” Cui Can Dao Guang (Cui Can Blade Light) replied. In terms of losses, Angel Empire suffered no less than the Cowherd Tribe. However, Angel Empire had a numerical advantage in flying mounts, making the battle’s outcome difficult to predict.
The sky was in utter chaos. Nie Yan summoned his ghost dragon as well, maneuvering both his Dark Winged Dragon and ghost dragon to continuously slaughter nearby enemy mounts. He scanned the battlefield for Archangel’s trail. He had nearly captured Silver Winged Dragon several times, but each time Angel Empire’s flying mounts protected it, allowing its escape.
The battle had reached a fever pitch when a startled exclamation echoed through the team chat.
“Look at the east!”
“It’s Angel Descent’s reinforcements! They’ve arrived!”
Hearing the shout in the team chat, Nie Yan turned his gaze eastward. A massive swarm of flying mounts approached like a colossal dark cloud. He smiled slightly. It was indeed Angel Descent, finally arriving. Judging from the sight, there were three to four thousand flying mounts!
White bones littered the sky, all belonging to undead flying mounts—an awe-inspiring spectacle!
Leading the group was a rider astride a massive blood dragon, an eighth-tier blood dragon. The rider was none other than Kuang Ao Qiang (Arrogant War Spear), who had met Nie Yan on several occasions. Duoduo himself hadn’t come, as he needed to oversee operations underground.
Angel Descent was the dominant force in the Necropolis, having established a firm foothold in the Undead Empire. Their strength was formidable!
Angel Descent’s appearance caused an uproar among the players in the City of Sin.
“It’s the Undead Empire’s forces!”
“It looks like Angel Descent. What’s going on? Could the Undead Empire be launching an attack on the Light faction?”
Many uninformed players assumed Angel Empire and Cowherd Tribe were locked in battle while Angel Descent was taking advantage of the chaos. Only a few players who knew of Angel Descent’s alliance with Cowherd Tribe realized they weren’t here to exploit the situation but were instead Cowherd Tribe’s reinforcements.
With a total of three to four thousand flying mounts, over two thousand of which were sixth-tier or higher, Angel Descent was a force capable of turning the tide of battle!
Angel Descent’s arrival caused some disorder within Angel Empire’s forces. Every Angel Empire player knew Angel Descent was their enemy. If such a force joined Cowherd Tribe, it would be a devastating blow to Angel Empire.
“Archangel, Angel Descent’s aerial forces are flanking us!”
“They have so many flying mounts!”
“Archangel, the ninth-tier Dark Winged Dragon is too fierce! We can’t hold much longer!”
Hearing the frantic cries below, Archangel sternly roared in the team chat, “Retreat two thousand yards, regroup, and prepare for the second wave of attack. Century Syndicate and Divine Tribe’s forces are en route and will arrive shortly. We are not without support!”
Following Archangel’s command, Angel Empire’s aerial forces rapidly withdrew, reorganizing mid-air. The two forces resembled two coiling dragons, merging together mid-air. Though retreating, they maintained a defensive posture, preventing Cowherd Tribe from gaining much advantage. Only Nie Yan’s ninth-tier Dark Winged Dragon proved difficult to counter. It tore through their ranks, slaying fifteen flying mounts in the process.
Nie Yan grabbed a handful of dark-elemental crystal cores and fed them to the Dark Winged Dragon. While the dragon fought, Nie Yan continued collecting crystal cores, frequently using spider silk to pull the heads of slain mounts toward him, extracting the cores before discarding the remains. He managed to collect over a dozen crystal cores this way.
The Dark Winged Dragon, drenched in blood like a demon god, struck fear wherever it went. Angel Empire’s flying mounts scattered in terror at its approach.
Archangel issued new orders: until they found a way to counter the Dark Winged Dragon, they were to avoid it as much as possible and focus on eliminating the other flying mounts of Cowherd Tribe. Once they cleared the other mounts, they could then concentrate on dealing with the Dark Winged Dragon without interference.
“Boss Nian, there’s another large group of flying mounts approaching from the north of the City of Sin. At least twenty thousand! They seem to be heading toward Angel Descent!” Elegy the Knight reported, relaying newly received intelligence.
Hearing Elegy’s report, Nie Yan furrowed his brow. How had Angel Empire managed to gather such a massive aerial force? Could Angel Empire have hidden reserves? No, if they had such a large force, Guo Huai should have received some intelligence. “Investigate and confirm the origin of this force!” he ordered.
Moments later, Elegy the Knight reported in the team chat, “The executive council has identified the force. It’s a joint force from Divine Tribe and Century Syndicate. Divine Tribe contributes about 3,000 flying mounts, while Century Syndicate contributes nearly 20,000. However, only about 2,000 of these are sixth-tier or higher. Most are fourth- or fifth-tier, even some second- or third-tier mounts used to inflate numbers.”
Hearing Elegy’s report, everyone exhaled in relief. No wonder the numbers were so staggering—they were mostly low-tier mounts. If all 20,000 were fifth-tier or higher, it would have been a devastating blow to Cowherd Tribe and Angel Descent. Twenty thousand fifth-tier or higher mounts sweeping through would have left devastation in their wake, like locusts devouring everything.
“It seems they’ve deployed all their flying mounts. They must be determined to fight us to the bitter end!”
Nie Yan pondered briefly before declaring, “Order all branches of the Cowherd Tribe, Holy Roman Empire, Radiant Flame, Garam Temple, War Madness Alliance, and War God Tribe to deploy all their flying mounts. I want to see whose side has more flying mounts! If they want a decisive battle, we’ll give them one!”
Hearing Nie Yan’s words, everyone felt his determination surge through them. Nie Yan was ready to fight, even if it meant exhausting all resources to defeat Angel Empire!
“Brothers, fight to the bitter end! Wipe them out completely!”
“Decisive battle!”
“Decisive battle!”
Cowherd Tribe erupted in thunderous roars.
Upon receiving Nie Yan’s declaration of war, over 200 strongholds under the Cowherd Tribe across more than 30 cities in the Grailand Empire—including more than 30 in the Abernathy Grasslands—along with over 130 strongholds controlled by the Holy Roman Empire, the War God Tribe, and other guilds, unleashed countless flying mounts into the sky. Like rivers merging into an ocean, they converged toward the World Barrier, their numbers and momentum swelling with each passing moment.
Cowherd Tribe and its five branches had only about 15,000 to 16,000 flying mounts because they hadn’t invested heavily in aerial forces. However, guilds like Holy Roman Empire and War God Tribe, also regional powers, had accumulated over 30,000 flying mounts, all now mobilized.
Cowherd Tribe’s massive mobilization shook the entire server. With such a scale, it was clear that Crazy Bandit Nian was determined to fight to the bitter end!
Almost simultaneously with Cowherd Tribe and other guilds’ mobilization, Angel Empire and Century Syndicate began deploying their aerial forces. Cao Xu even spared no expense, hiring over 60 major studios to send flying mounts in support. Their total aerial forces reached an astonishing 30,000, combined with the 20,000 already in the skies over the City of Sin, totaling 50,000.
Previous conflicts had been minor skirmishes, but once the battle in the City of Sin escalated, both sides lost control and committed fully.
Nie Yan knew this battle would determine both sides’ survival, a battle they absolutely could not afford to lose. As he continued slaying Angel Empire’s flying mounts, he directed the battles across all fronts.
“Nie Yan, Angel Empire and Century Syndicate have deployed all their aerial forces. Century Syndicate’s thirty-odd guilds—no one expected so many flying mounts. Be cautious,” a report came in.
“How are the suicide wind dragons progressing? How many are ready now?” Nie Yan asked. The suicide wind dragon plan was proposed by Zi Yan (Purple Smoke) and had been managed by Guo Huai. Nie Yan had invested over 20 million gold coins in this plan, making it one of Cowherd Tribe’s secret weapons.
Suicide wind dragons weren’t mounts but alchemical creations derived from a legendary item—Dela’s Magical Device Book. As Zi Yan’s alchemy skills advanced, she could now produce highly advanced items, including suicide wind dragons.
Suicide wind dragons were about the size of a typical fifth-tier flying mount, crafted from abundant magical sandalwood, mithril, black gold, and various gems. They flew extremely fast, much faster than sixth-tier mounts, requiring a fire-elementalist of at least level 120 to control. They carried five kilograms of black powder, detonating upon impact with enemies, resulting in mutual destruction.
Five kilograms of black powder had an astonishing explosive power, making it a major secret weapon prepared by Nie Yan!
“We currently have 300, en route to the City of Sin. Another 20 are nearly completed. I’m having Zi Yan accelerate production,” Guo Huai reported.
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