Chapter 588.5: My Turn to Step In
August 10.
Ail Elven Kingdom.
Colorado Mountains, west of the Five Lakes Region.
The majestic and solid Icewind Fortress sat in the icy heart of the mountains.
Cliffs flanked its left and right, and towering glaciers loomed behind.
Whistling cold winds blew violently, adding a frosty glaze to the fortress's already snowy walls.
Yet beneath the castle was a lush and verdant land.
On a flower- and grass-covered slope, green tents and camps spread densely.
Griffons soared above, and white lions patrolled around the camp.
Over a dozen enormous trees, each twenty to thirty meters tall, stood somewhat awkwardly in front of the camp.
Their thick, sturdy roots clung tightly to the earth, their green leaves contrasting sharply with the wind-swept peaks ahead.
After barely regrouping the scattered troops, Annie promptly removed them from the combat roster and reassigned them to logistics.
Relying on them in battle would be handing your fate over to others.
Gazing intently at the growing army of Cole Elves, Annie silently counted:
"The entire force totals 800,000. There are 550,000 right here. They really overestimate me..."
Icewind Fortress may be grand and towering, but it still needed manpower for defense.
Annie, acting swiftly before the fool stationed here could flee, took control and imprisoned him. Using her identity as heir of the Silverleaf Family, she successfully took command of this army tied to her lineage.
With magical firearms from Bay Territory, she struck hard at an unprepared Cole elite ranger unit, killing over 30 extraordinary elven rangers and wounding more than 50.
Of course, Annie paid a steep price. Her personally assigned guard force lost nearly half its numbers.
Even she suffered a minor injury. Fortunately, she recovered quickly and could still lead the battle.
Her brilliant ambush reignited the garrison's morale.
She used her loyal troops to seize key positions within Icewind Fortress.
Thanks to her bold and skillful command, they successfully blocked the Cole army in front of the fortress.
Otherwise, the Cole army—victorious and charging madly—would've pierced the Ail Elves' final defense and driven straight into their heartland.
If that had happened, even with nearly two million troops, the Ail Elves likely couldn't resist the ongoing plundering and suppression.
Thankfully, Annie succeeded.
But the situation remained dire.
Icewind Fortress had only 30,000 defenders facing the Cole's 550,000-strong army—a nearly impossible task.
Fortunately, Annie had learned real skills from Bay Territory.
She promised great rewards to all soldiers, boosting their will to fight.
She also declared that the Cole Elves would never spare their families, reigniting a millennium of enmity.
That barely stabilized the situation.
Yet, facing the overwhelming tide, Annie felt suffocated by the weight and pressure.
Even she hadn't expected things to escalate this far.
She had only wanted to stage a heroic defense to earn merit and gain more control over family troops.
Bloodshot eyes now showed hints of anxiety and unease.
Staring at the war puppets and giant golems in the enemy army, Annie had the logistics team move large siege defense equipment into place.
What disappointed her was—
She had originally secured reinforcements from Bay Territory, even spending millions of gold to set up a super teleportation array.
But she had changed her defensive position and could now only watch helplessly as the enemy forces swelled.
The Cole commander gave her no time. With a blaring horn—
Massive treants swayed as they rose from the earth, trudging heavily toward Icewind Fortress.
Annie exhaled deeply, forcing herself to stay calm. Recalling Matthew's calm and indifferent expression, she instinctively mimicked him and shouted:
"Cannons ready! Concentrate fire on the two treants in front!"
The artillery commander trained in Bay Territory immediately gave the attack order.
"Fire!"
"Fire!!"
"Fire!!!"
Amidst the roaring flames, spinning shells howled toward the advancing treants.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Steel-forged shells slammed into the treants' bodies.
The massive impacts left craters on their surface.
But the treants only paused slightly, then continued striding forward with over thirty new dents.
It was as if those half-meter-wide craters hadn't affected them at all.
Annie stared at the advancing treants, her eyes heavy with concern.
These extraordinary-tier war treants were exactly why the dwarven cannons the Ail Elves had bought were now ineffective.
The siege troops could follow behind them and approach the walls without fear, putting enormous pressure on the defenders.
But this time was different.
After a few steps, one of the hit war treants suddenly froze in place.
Strange green light began to spread slowly through its body.
This effect came from a gift granted by the fearsome Catachan Demon from the Catachan demi-plane.
The extraordinary paralytic agent made from Catachan Demon venom had extremely special properties.
Any active unit struck by it would suffer corrosion and paralysis.
Not to mention these war treants—even the Dragonrider-01 Golem made entirely of steel would be affected over time.
"This stuff is expensive, but it really works!"
Annie forced herself not to think about the painful cost, just keeping one thing in mind.
As long as Icewind Fortress held, the money spent now could be earned back a hundred or even a thousand times.
If this war was lost, the entire Ail Elven race would become meat on the table of the Cole Elven Kingdom.
Steadying her mood, Annie saw the opportunity take effect and shouted without hesitation:
"Keep firing on the other treants. Throw alchemical Wildfire Oil at the paralyzed ones!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The small catapults made by Bay Territory sprang to life, hurling barrels of Wildfire Oil onto the immobilized war treants.
With a few fire arrows, blazing flames erupted and engulfed the treants.
Huff!
Their massive bodies instantly turned into towering pillars of fire.
The Cole army, just about to charge past the treants, immediately ran into trouble.
Seeing this, the elven commander at the rear gestured decisively to the elven mages.
A series of dark clouds appeared above the burning treants.
With a surge of arcane energy, thick frost and fierce winds blasted over the burning war treants.
The fierce flames shrank dramatically.
The charred gray-black bark of the war treants was revealed.
Prepared elven druids completed their spells, surging green energy flowing continuously into the blackened trees.
Thick fibers and bark quickly emerged from beneath the scorched wounds, repairing each gap on the treants.
It was such a polished combat system that it made resistance feel hopeless.
But seeing this, Annie smirked and shouted toward the third immobilized war treant:
"Use the enhanced Wildfire Oil—give them a big surprise!"
Another barrel of thick, black Wildfire Oil burst open and spread.
Over ten war treants were splashed without exception.
Huff!
Over a dozen massive bonfires erupted. Even Annie, standing 40 to 50 meters away, felt the heat.
The elven commander, scoffing, gave no new orders.
He trusted the elven mage team to resolve the situation easily.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a rising rage at Annie's resistance and snorted coldly, pretending to be indifferent:
"These damn fools. Why keep resisting? Why not join the Cole Elven Kingdom and enjoy a better life and future?"
Just as he finished speaking, the war treants engulfed in fire and frost let out agonized howls.
All the elves turned to look and saw the war treants collapsing in pain, wreathed in flame and smoke.
The Cole siege forces behind them suffered heavily.
Unprepared, many were crushed to death by the falling war treants.
Worse still, without the treants as cover, they were now exposed to Icewind Fortress's ranged attacks.
Watching the treants fall in agony, Annie's eyes flickered with relief.
The treants hadn't actually taken critical damage.
Their long lifespans and sturdy bodies, aided by the druids' continuous healing, kept them from death.
They only looked miserable—there was no real danger.
What truly caused this reaction was the enhanced paralytic toxin, which greatly amplified their perception of pain.
These war treants had never "enjoyed" such intense suffering—they couldn't help but struggle.
Seizing the opportunity, the artillery commander immediately gave the order for a saturation barrage.
Boom!
Dozens of cannons roared, catching the unprepared elven siege forces off guard.
Exploding shells tore through anything in their path.
Even high-level elves couldn't face the spinning steel shells head-on—they had to dodge.
Other elven warriors, unable to react in time, were already struck down.
Fortunately, they died painlessly!
A direct hit from a cannonball—nothing is felt before you're gone!
The attacking formation fell into chaos.
Many elven warriors were taken down by the barrage of cannon and crossbow fire.
Their siege weapons were destroyed one by one.
The first wave of the Cole attack had collapsed.
Hundreds of elven warriors were killed or wounded.
But the Cole army didn't waver—they quickly sent in a second wave.
This time, the war treants had recovered—and they were joined by over 20 large Steel Golems.
With a blank expression, Annie issued the attack order. Sensing the Cole's resolve to win, her heart sank.
They were clearly planning a war of attrition!
And she couldn't outlast them!
Even though Annie had prepared many secret weapons—
Including but not limited to a large number of high-level spell scrolls,
20 Dragonrider-01 Golems,
And 30 Dragon-Hunter Ballistas capable of destroying large Steel Golems—
It still couldn't stop the Cole army's determination to breach the fortress!
Four hours later.
Noon.
The sun was high in the sky.
A dense wave of Cole warriors had already reached the walls, engaging in close combat with the defenders.
Neither side yielded, leaving a trail of corpses.
The Cole elite warriors, coming in wave after wave, gradually pushed the defenders back.
Annie watched more and more Cole elves climb the walls, a helpless glint in her eyes.
"As expected, only true elites can stop true elites."
The Ail Elven defenders had given it their all, but against extraordinary-tier foes, holding the line this long was already a miracle.
Biting her silver teeth, Annie gave a firm command:
"Reserve forces—go!"
Dozens of tall, modified elven warriors rushed to plug the breach.
They demonstrated incredible strength, holding back even extraordinary elven rangers.
Annie coordinated long-range attacks from all directions, unleashing a barrage against the deadly ranger unit.
But at that moment, a surge of overwhelming magic appeared on the walls.
Targeted mass teleportation!
A squad of Cole warriors in black armor appeared where the teleportation light faded, exuding terrifying momentum.
Each held a shield and blade, demonstrating exceptional combat skill as they sliced into the Ail Elven line.
Every movement of their spinning, dancing blades took lives.
They charged straight for Annie!
Incredibly fast!
Brave Ail Elven warriors rushed to intercept.
But they couldn't stop them!
"Fire!"
Without hesitation, Annie ordered the gunners to open fire.
Two hundred dwarven muskets roared in unison.
Terrifying metal bullets shrieked through the air.
But it was as if they had anticipated it.
Over ten black-armored warriors raised their shields to the front, enduring the metal storm, repelled and injured—
But they successfully shielded their comrades!
The remaining twenty black-armored warriors charged straight at Annie!
Without hesitation, she tore open a teleportation scroll. A faint light flashed, and in her eyes flashed terror and disbelief:
"A Legendary Anti-Magic Scroll?!"
"Kill!"
"Hold the line!"
"Commander, run!"
"Kill..."
"Cough..."
"Ugh..."
In a flash, dozens of her personal guards fell.
Including two extraordinary-tier warriors.
Annie stared at the black-armored warriors who had broken through and understood—they were Legendary Rangers!
Gripping her longbow and staring at the terrifying enemy charging toward her, her eyes showed helplessness and confusion:
"In the end... is this as far as I can go?"
Whoosh!
The Legendary Ranger vanished from ten meters away!
When he reappeared, he was behind Annie!
A blade radiating deadly frost slashed toward her head!
Countless Ail Elves who saw it were too stunned to react. That terrifying blade had already reached Annie's head!
Boom!
Sparks flew!
Annie turned around dazedly and saw the Thunder Magic Armor slowly standing upright. Her nose tingled, and tears welled up.
Matthew looked at the cracked bracer, met a pair of cold and serious eyes, and forced a calm smile:
"Why so serious?"