Chapter 651: Roaring Earth
"Boom—"
Accompanied by the roar of engines, steam tanks formed a tight formation, moving like mobile mountains. Billowing dust clouds followed behind, rolling across the land.
Behind the armored legion, the Empire's infantry corps advanced swiftly under the cover of the tanks, pressing toward the city walls in an orderly manner.
In the sky, bipedal wyverns beat their wings, screeching sharply as they circled, spreading out like thick storm clouds over Avenderdan.
The plain in front of Avenderdan's walls was already completely occupied by the Ember Legion. The Empire's offensive loomed like a devastating natural disaster, bearing down on the dwarven fortress.
"Damn it."
"Th-These bastards, seriously…"
Faced with such overwhelming force, even the usually valiant dwarves couldn't help but gulp. Their bearded, rugged faces showed expressions of shock and panic.
At that moment, under the admiring gazes of his subjects, Edd had returned to the city wall. His heavy armor was stained with blood, and the metal warhammer in his hand was dyed red by wyvern blood.
"It's His Majesty Edd!"
"Praise the Lord of the Mountains!"
"Did you see? His Majesty killed over a dozen Imperial lizards all by himself!"
"As expected of our king! Long live His Majesty Edd!"
Seeing Edd's return, the dwarves' morale soared, and cheers erupted.
Amidst the battlefield consumed by war, the Dwarven King stood atop Avenderdan's wall. His gaze was sharp, piercing through the smoke of war. His broad shoulders seemed capable of bearing the hopes of the entire kingdom.
Even as he faced an endless tide of enemies, there was not a trace of fear on his face. His eyes shone with unwavering resolve.
—This scene was just like fifty years ago, when Edd stood alone against Fadlan's great army.
But now, the fire of Edd's life flickered unsteadily. The Hammer of Rock was no longer in his rough hands. Only a little over 9,000 dwarven warriors remained in Avenderdan.
Their situation was even more desperate than it had been fifty years ago. The dwarves could only pin all their hopes on this king.
Edd's voice was low and powerful, like the rumble of a mountain, echoing across the stone walls.
"Comrades, today we face an unprecedented challenge. These arrogant invaders dream of trampling our lands with their iron monstrosities and burning our homes with fire!
But I ask you: Has dwarven courage and determination been swallowed by fear?!"
The dwarves shouted in unison: "No!"
The shelling was still intense, but Edd paid it no mind. From above, his resolute gaze swept across the face of every dwarf below.
This was the battlefield, and Imperial snipers didn't care about so-called 'honorable combat.'
Instead, they seized the opportunity and pulled their triggers. More than ten bullets sliced through the air, aiming at the dwarven king's head, heart, and other vital points.
Immediately after, several more shells fell from the sky, homing in on Edd's position atop the wall.
"Watch out!" a dwarf shouted in alarm.
But Edd didn't even flinch. He simply raised his warhammer high. A massive mountain projection appeared behind him, blocking all bullets and shells.
Explosions erupted behind him, but Edd ignored them completely and shouted, "Excellent! We will never surrender this land passed down through generations to these greedy scum!
Our hammers will smash their claws; our fury will melt their armor! Long live the Highland Kingdom! Avenderdan shall never fall!"
The surrounding dwarf warriors gripped their weapons, eyes brimming with tears. Their king's words ignited their spirits, and they roared with deafening cries.
"Avenderdan shall never fall!"
"Long live the Highland Kingdom!"
"Victory!"
Edd's words struck every dwarf's heart like a heavy hammer.
The dwarves knew that Avenderdan behind them was their lifeline, their only home, the place their shield-bearing ancestors had survived for thousands of years.
They were willing to give everything for this fortress, for their king.
The dwarves' voices echoed across the smoke-filled battlefield, blending with the artillery fire in a tragic symphony.
But their roars couldn't halt the advance of the Ember Legion. Edd had timed it well—just as he finished his speech, the enemy entered dwarven firing range.
Roused by their king, the dwarven warriors quickly recovered their morale, scrambling to prepare the city defenses and rejoin the fierce battle.
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
As they advanced, the front-line steam tanks roared and opened fire, bombarding the outer perimeter of the city wall with their main cannons.
Each shell caused violent explosions, sending ripples through the magical shield outside the walls. Under continuous bombardment, the yellow glow dimmed and flickered.
But the dwarves showed no fear. They unleashed the steel ballistas, catapults, and stone cannons mounted on the walls, launching a fierce counterattack.
"Crush them!"
"Let these wyvern bastards taste our wrath!"
"All units, fire!"
Over a thousand dwarven archers drew their longbows and fired volleys of flaming arrows that rained down like a storm.
But these flaming arrows, so effective against orcs, merely bounced off the cold steel armor of the war machines, leaving only faint marks and a metallic clatter.
"What a pathetic counterattack."
"Is this all the Highland Kingdom has? Looks like we'll be back for Coronation Festival in no time."
"Hahaha, that attack is weaker than my grandma's spit!"
"Charge! Slaughter them all!"
The Imperial tank pilots jeered, not even bothering to activate their shields. They charged through the arrows without concern.
Arrows made to pierce flesh and blood could never breach their machines of war.
"Boom—"
The steam tank treads spun rapidly, carving deep tracks into the plain as they rolled closer to Avenderdan.
"Damn it, these iron hunks are as tough as obsidian!"
A dwarven commander cursed furiously but didn't lose heart. He quickly summoned other defenders.
Atop Avenderdan's towering walls, the dwarven steel ballistas, meticulously crafted by master artisans, were already locked onto the advancing tanks.
The dwarves loaded the bolts, cranked the winches with effort, storing power as they shouted hoarsely, "Fire! Pierce those iron bastards!"
"Whoosh—"
A piercing screech sounded as a two-meter-long bolt tore through the air like a silver streak, aiming for a steam tank.
"Shhk!"
The sharp cross-shaped tip carried tremendous force, piercing the composite armor and impaling the driver inside, killing him instantly. The tank stalled and belched gray smoke.
"Bang!"
"Damn it, what rotten luck!"
Another bolt struck a tread, crippling the tank on the spot.
Engineers rushed in to repair it, swapping in a spare tread, but the dwarves seized the chance to launch surprise shots.
"Whoosh—"
One Imperial engineer was shot through the heart mid-repair, but others quickly filled the gap.
As the shared home of the dwarven craftsmen, Avenderdan was bristling with ingenious defenses, always ready to confound invaders.
In each of the fortress' tall towers, dwarves operated trebuchets designed by Master Trenant, hurling flaming iron balls—melted-together scrap weapons.
The iron balls arced beautifully across the sky and crashed into the Imperial armored formations with explosive force.
"Boom!"
Fire burst out, metal fragments flew, and an unlucky steam tank was crushed. Its engine caught fire and exploded in a spectacular blast.
Thick steam blanketed the plains. The tank was reduced to charred wreckage, billowing smoke.
Having finally landed a blow, the dwarves cheered and threw more flaming iron balls at the cursed "iron lumps."
With another loud crash, a second steam tank exploded, spewing black smoke.
Seeing this, Drol furrowed his brow and yelled into the comms, "Don't underestimate them! These tanks are Imperial property!"
"Yes, General!"
The drivers responded quickly. Faced with the dwarves' fierce resistance, they finally shed their Imperial arrogance and went all-in on the assault.
"Not only do they refuse to surrender, they actually dare to fight back?!"
In the cockpit of the "Emperor's Wrath," Bill raged as he pounded a button.
As a fanatical steam tank enthusiast, the dragon-vein goblin felt the destruction of a tank more keenly than the slaughter of his own kin!
These dwarves dared to use crude, primitive weapons to destroy such finely crafted war machines—a blatant insult!
Unforgivable!
"Bzzz—"
Runes inside the tank lit up and flickered. A powerful forcefield began to form in front of the thick armor.
Another giant bolt came whistling through the air, only to be blocked mid-flight by the shield and snapped in two.
Bill growled, "You dare harm my baby?! Damn dwarves, blast those bastards to hell!"
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
The steam tank fired like a mad beast, its main cannon blazing. The barrel turned red-hot from rapid fire.
Under the intense bombardment, shells rained down on the walls. The shield outside flickered wildly, forming hairline cracks.
"Crash!"
At last, the final shell shattered the magical shield, breaking it into flickering particles of light that dispersed into nothingness.
Imperial ogre artillery had long been waiting for the barrier to fall.
They had already calculated their angles, targeting the large defensive devices, loading shells and preparing to fire in unison.
"Boom—"
Cannons roared. The earth trembled. Fire and smoke filled the skies above the Imperial front line.
Over a hundred heavy cannons fired at once. Countless shells trailed fire as they rained down on the dwarven defenses.
"Boom! Boom!"
"No! They're going after our trebuchets!" the dwarves shouted in panic, powerless to stop it.
Explosions erupted. Debris flew. The walls shook violently. Even the mountain groaned.
In an instant, Master Trenant's treasured trebuchet was blasted to pieces. The tower collapsed, burying over ten dwarven warriors. Their fates were unknown.
Explosions continued. Avenderdan's walls quaked as if ready to fall.
The steel ballistas, arrow towers, and trebuchets were all destroyed by precise, concentrated artillery fire.
"Boom!"
The steam tanks were now less than a hundred meters from the wall, howling as they fired shells that tore massive holes in the gates.
Machine guns swept relentlessly, pouring out bullets like a storm, cutting down the dwarven defenders atop the wall and even knocking them off.
Behind the armored division, Imperial engineers and infantry surged forward. Ladder-equipped armored vehicles rolled up from the rear.
The Ember Empire's offensive was methodical, even artistic in its structure.
Imperial strategists disliked throwing lives away. That wasn't cost-effective. They preferred to crush the enemy's will with steel and fire before effortlessly taking the city.
Staring at the destroyed defenses, a dwarven commander dropped to his knees, grief-stricken, muttering, "No… that was our city… that was our dwarven lifeblood…"
"Boom!"
A bomb fell beside him, blasting the commander into the air. His fate was unknown.
Sinister shadows flitted across the wall. Wyverns! They were back!
"Boom!"
With a spray of dirt, a monstrous black shadow slammed into the wall. As the dust cleared, it slowly stood.
The humanoid creature stood over three meters tall, covered in scales and a bio-armor of exoskeleton. Beneath that armor, bulging muscles looked like slabs of iron.
On its left arm was a bloodstained chainsaw sword. In its right hand, an oversized explosive rifle with a 27mm caliber.
The creature grinned. Its scale-covered face twisted into a sinister smile: "Hahahaha! For the Ember Emperor and the Empire!
Dwarves, repent before us, you weaklings of flesh!" The chainsaw sword roared to life with a piercing screech.
This time, it wasn't just bombs that landed on Avenderdan's walls. Also descending were terrifying humanoid weapons—the ultimate creations of Imperial biotechn...