Many people always refuse to give up until they reach the Yellow River. They dare to challenge the Dragon with Dark Wings, relying on their large numbers, but soon they realize how foolish their actions were.
Piercing screams echoed across the sky, and the airspace fell into chaos.
“What’s going on? Do you need help?”
“Found the rogue Nieyan, keep your distance and don’t come over!” Chonglou urgently shouted in the team chat.
“What’s your situation?”
“Answer quickly!”
A Wind-Eroded Mistbird spat out a mouthful of black mist, spreading thick, dark fog in all directions, immediately reducing visibility.
“Nieyan Boss, I can’t see anything!”
“Everyone be careful, don’t hurt our own people!”
Nieyan activated True Sight, locked onto several mounts attempting to flee, and charged toward them.
The chaotic battle lasted over ten minutes before the black mist gradually dissipated, leaving only members of the Bullman Tribe nearby.
“Report the results!” Nieyan said in the team chat, looking into the distance as several mounts flew farther away, beyond pursuit.
“We took down a total of sixty-three flying mounts; some managed to escape.”
“If it weren’t for that black mist reducing visibility, not a single one would have escaped!”
“What a pity!”
The Bullman Tribe members were deeply frustrated. With their combat strength, they could have completely wiped out the enemy.
“What kind of mount spat that black mist? Its range was huge,” Shuisesantou asked in the team chat.
“It’s a Wind-Eroded Mistbird. Our guild has them too. They aren’t strong in attack, being more of an auxiliary flying mount. Their black mist ability is really annoying. At its strongest, it can cover an area over three hundred yards in diameter,” Badboy replied.
“Be more cautious if we encounter them next time,” Nieyan said. Most flying mounts possessed unique skills, and unexpected abilities must be guarded against.
“Hurry down and collect the crystals before someone else takes them!”
The members descended rapidly to gather the crystals.
Nieyan pulled out a handful of dark-element crystals from his backpack and tossed them to the Dragon with Dark Wings. The dragon bit into them a few times and swallowed them directly.
Checking the Dragon with Dark Wings’ status, it was still far from reaching ninth tier. To it, these dark-element crystals were like snacks—consumed without any noticeable effect.
Nieyan knew from experience that feeding dragon crystals now would be ineffective. He should first feed it dark-element crystals, and only when the Dragon with Dark Wings reached the peak of eighth tier should he feed it dragon crystals!
Nieyan grabbed another handful of dark-element crystals and tossed them to the Dragon with Dark Wings.
“Did you collect all the crystals?”
“All collected.”
“If anyone has extra dark-element crystals, hand them over,” Nieyan said in the team chat. The Dragon with Dark Wings was a massive consumer of dark-element crystals. Ordinary flying mounts needed only one or two crystals, taking one or two weeks to digest them fully. But the Dragon with Dark Wings could never seem to get enough.
“Nieyan Boss, what should we do next?”
“Split up and clear all the flying mounts from the skies above Okolen City!” Nieyan said. War was about to erupt, and securing air superiority was absolutely essential.
“Alright, let’s get to work!”
“You two groups will split up; I’ll go with Yaoyao,” Nieyan continued. Dividing their forces would help expand the search area. Other flying mounts from the Bullman Tribe had already headed to the frontlines, so they had to rely on themselves here in Okolen City.
Soon, the teams were divided.
After assigning teams, Nieyan noticed Cui Can Daoguang looking worried and asked, “Daoguang, something wrong?”
“There’s been no sign of the main aerial forces of Angel Empire on any fronts. It’s strange that only these small fry are flying above Okolen City,” Cui Can Daoguang replied.
Nieyan smiled slightly and said, “Your concern has some merit, but this is Okolen City—it’s our territory. If we encounter any trouble, immediately retreat within the range of Okolen’s long-range weapons, and we’ll be safe.”
“We’ve split into three teams, which spreads our strength thin. I’m worried something might go wrong,” Cui Can Daoguang expressed concern.
“Daoguang Boss, you’re overthinking. No problem. On Okolen’s soil, we’ll kill whoever dares to show up!” Badboy replied confidently.
The group’s morale was high, so Cui Can Daoguang didn’t want to dampen spirits. He turned to Nieyan and said, “Nieyan, I must remind you that Angel Empire and Century Financial Group have invested far more in aerial mounts than we have. Moreover, you haven’t summoned the Dragon with Dark Wings for quite some time. Their aerial forces shouldn’t be fewer than ours.”
Nieyan nodded and said, “I understand, but since their flying mounts have already arrived in Okolen, we should definitely show them a thing or two!”
Guo Huai sent word that there were nearly seven aerial units from Angel Empire here, totaling over seven hundred flying mounts, mostly of low tier. Eliminating them would significantly reduce pressure on the ground battlefield.
Since the widespread use of area-effect magic bombs, aerial bombardment had become a major tactic, making air superiority increasingly important. To prevent these enemies from throwing area-effect magic bombs and creating chaos once the battle began, they needed to eliminate them first.
Nieyan looked down from above. Below, the mountains and plains were filled with Angel Empire’s forces. Suddenly, a red signal flare shot into the sky, soaring over a hundred yards high before exploding with a loud bang, casting a red glow.
This was the signal to begin the attack!
“Boss, they’re getting ready to strike!”
“We don’t have much time. Everyone, move quickly!” Nieyan said in the team chat.
The three flying mount teams split up to search for Angel Empire’s aerial forces. Soon, the skies erupted into battle once more, with flying mounts frequently plummeting—most of them belonging to Angel Empire.
On the ground battlefield, advanced ballistic catapults began bombarding Okolen City’s walls, while goblin arcane cannons on the walls returned fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Iron projectiles flew back and forth between both sides, causing immediate chaos upon impact.
Both sides’ siege machines would likely exchange fire for several dozen minutes before players could take action.
In the Angel Empire ranks, some shamans and paladins began chanting spells to create small anti-magic fields. These fields could protect warriors charging forward, shielding them from enemy magic attacks within a small radius—approximately two to three yards. However, these fields couldn’t block projectiles like arrows.
From above, Nieyan could clearly see the entire battlefield. Below, the intense exchange between the ballistic catapults and goblin arcane cannons was spectacular, with the impacted areas completely engulfed in dense flames.
“Guo Huai, report our losses!” Nieyan messaged Guo Huai.
“We’ve lost over fifty goblin arcane cannons and over ten ironclad catapults. Angel Empire likely lost over twenty ballistic catapults!”
In terms of cost, goblin arcane cannons couldn’t compare to ballistic catapults, which were the most expensive war machines. Therefore, the losses on both sides were roughly equivalent.
Amidst the intense artillery fire, thousands of warriors charged toward the walls under the cover of shamans and paladins, like a tidal wave, accompanied by siege machines like ladders.
“All mages use area attacks; everyone else, use city defense ballistae to kill the paladins and shamans!” Nieyan instructed in the guild chat.
Countless arrows rained down on the players rushing toward Okolen’s walls. Upon impact, players were lifted and pierced through by the arrows.
Even Nieyan, with his high defense, wouldn’t dare to take a direct hit from these city defense ballistae, let alone ordinary players.
Most of the targets of these city defense ballistae were paladins and shamans. Once they were eliminated, the warriors and other units clustered around them were immediately exposed to mages’ magic. With successive area attacks, many were knocked down. Only a fraction—less than one-tenth—managed to reach the city walls.
One by one, siege ladders were set up against the walls, with warriors climbing them.
“Mages, use fire-based area attacks. Pour hot oil and drop logs!” Nieyan calmly continued directing after glancing down.
Flames rained down, engulfing the siege ladders in fire. Giant logs crashed from above, sending players flying.
Angel Empire’s first wave of attacks was repelled, and both sides entered a temporary ceasefire, expecting the next wave soon. The deadliest mage spells—cataclysmic curses—had yet to appear. This was merely the beginning of the war, with the real battle still ahead.
It seemed Angel Empire was waiting for something. Nieyan was certain that since Angel Empire dared to attack Okolen City, they must have some deadly tricks up their sleeves.
Flying mount teams led by Cui Can Daoguang, Shuisesantou, and others had already engaged in fierce combat. In terms of mount levels, they held a certain advantage. Combined with excellent coordination, they were utterly crushing Angel Empire’s aerial forces.
Everything was moving in a positive direction.
“Nieyan, we’ve spotted Angel Empire’s flying mounts over there,” Xie Yao urgently reported.
Nieyan looked in the direction Xie Yao pointed and indeed spotted a team of over a hundred flying mounts—Angel Empire’s forces!
“You assist me; we’ll intercept them!” Nieyan said. With the eighth-tier Dragon with Dark Wings’ combat capability, he could easily handle ordinary fifth- and sixth-tier flying mounts. The more they sent, the more they’d just be throwing themselves away, especially with Fenghuang assisting Xie Yao.
“Okay,” Xie Yao nodded in agreement.
Possibly having spotted Nieyan and Xie Yao, those Angel Empire members fled northward. The Dragon with Dark Wings’ massive form was too conspicuous. Upon seeing it, they immediately lost all will to fight.
Nieyan urged the Dragon with Dark Wings to accelerate and charged toward those flying mounts.
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