Speaking of which, Cain and Nar were also set to depart today. Only fewer than two thousand knights remained in Brilliant City, a number that was pathetically small in comparison.
"How is the construction of Dragon City progressing?"
"The foundations for Dragon City have been laid. Lady Ligeia is currently performing adjustments. Once those are finished, the construction of the upper castle can begin."
"Mhm. This is of the utmost importance. There must not be even a single mistake."
Dragon City was the most critical core military facility; there could be no accidents whatsoever.
"I understand..."
Clang!
Suddenly, on this morning filled with nothing but torrential rain, a bell rang out from the distance!
The sound was heavy and resonant, instantly shattering the tranquility of the entire city!
It was the warning bell!
I rolled over and sat upright, standing up to head outside.
Lola followed closely behind.
As we hurried to the main hall, the nuns were clearly beginning to panic. Just then, the warning bell rang again—two strikes this time, indicating a state of high alert!
"Where is Hilda?"
Upon reaching the hall, the first thing I did was look for my personal knight.
She was currently the strongest individual in Brilliant City, so naturally, she was the only one I could rely on.
"Reporting to Your Highness! Lady Hilda has already rushed to the West Wall where the warning bell was sounded."
A guard quickly approached from outside and reported while kneeling on one knee.
"What exactly is happening? Why was the bell sounded at the West Gate??"
The guard did not rise but continued.
"Reporting to Your Highness, according to reports, an unidentified army has appeared in the western sky and is rapidly approaching Brilliant City!"
The west?
An unidentified army?
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind, and I instinctively turned to exchange a look with Lola.
"Is it them?"
Lola pondered for a moment before nodding.
"Based on the timing, it should be."
I see, so it's them... However, they are heading straight for Brilliant City without even sending a greeting.
What are they doing? Are they trying to intimidate me right from the start?
Even if they are reinforcements and not my direct subordinates, they are still fellow Temple knights. How dare they enter so rudely without even asking?
Lola seemed to have the same thought as she spoke.
"Your Highness, they likely intend to make a show of force, otherwise they wouldn't be flying directly toward Brilliant City."
Looking out at the sky beneath the torrential rain, a cold smile involuntarily played across my lips.
"Fine then. What a magnificent Wyvern Knight Corps, what a fine Kingdom of Sand. Do they really think the Kingdom of the Moon has no one left?"
I mused for a moment before turning back to Lola.
"Notify Ligeia immediately. Tell her to bring the Dragon Legion here."
"Summon Kevin and order him to head to the West Gate to bring the leader of the Wyvern Knight Corps to me. The rest of their army is to wait outside the city!"
If the wyverns are here, the skysoar dragons will deal with them. If those knights are here, the Heavenly Punishment Knights will deal with them.
I refuse to believe that a mere group of knights riding magic beasts would have the audacity to try and intimidate me when faced with the true dragon race and Heavenly Punishment Knights.
"I obey the Divine Oracle!"
A sharp glint flashed in Lola's eyes as she turned and walked out of the hall.
She immediately sent someone to find Sir Kevin, then turned and used the short-distance communication stone she held to call Ligeia.
"What!? The knights of the Kingdom of Sand actually have the gall to provoke the Saintess?"
Ligeia's voice came through the communication stone.
This item was something Ligeia had left behind specifically for emergency communications. The stone contained communication magic, but it required elemental ores to recharge after every use, making it a very expensive piece of equipment.
A single communication often cost as much as several gold coins.
Furthermore, the communication range was extremely short, with the maximum distance being no more than a hundred kilometers.
Such emergency equipment was not easy to manufacture; in most cases, only certain mages possessed them.
Even ordinary mages would not know how to craft such a thing.
"Yes. At this moment, they are less than ten miles from Brilliant City. Lady Ligeia, please hurry. Any later and they might actually enter the city."
"Fine, I'm coming!"
Ligeia, who had been inspecting the connection details of the Dragon City foundations and laying down magic inscriptions, hung up and set aside her staff.
Before her was a massive piece of magic stone.
This type of stone was specifically used to construct large-scale magic circles.
The magic stone was faintly emitting a wondrous glow, and the massive stone beams had been polished into cylinders one meter in diameter and laid into the foundation.
The stone beams were wrapped in a specialized protective film to prevent damage from pests or vibrations.
Turning her head, a bright emerald light flashed in Ligeia's eyes.
"How dare they bully my little Luo Li! A mere group of wyverns... they have a lot of nerve!!"
As she spoke, Ligeia picked up her staff and her body floated into the air.
"Mr. Momo, Her Highness the Saintess is in danger. Please lead your kin and follow me to Brilliant City to support her."
Inside a large tent not far away, the constant shaking suddenly stopped. Then, Momo, who was noticeably larger than the other skysoar dragons, crawled out of the tent.
The torrential rain dripped off his silver dragon scales and onto the ground as the stout dragon head suddenly let out a roar toward the sky!
"Awoo!"
In an instant, two thousand skysoar dragons responded in unison, their dragon roars shaking the heavens and the earth!!
"Roar—!"
Whoosh!
Over a thousand skysoar dragons flapped their massive wings simultaneously. Even the lightning in the sky seemed to back away as countless bolts of lightning swirled in the heavens.
One by one, massive silver figures soared into the sky, gathering into a swarm in the blink of an eye!
"Mr. Momo, I'm sorry to trouble you on such a rainy day."
"Awoo~"
【Following the contract is a tradition of my dragon race that has never changed since ancient times. Since the Saintess is in danger, we shall be there regardless of wind or rain!】
Ligeia nodded and turned her gaze toward Brilliant City.
"In that case, Mr. Momo, let's go! I want to see exactly who dares to bully my little Luo Li!!"
"Awoo!" 【Kin, follow me to war!】
"Roar—!"
Two thousand dragons roared in unison, tucked their wings, and lunged forward!
In front of these two thousand skysoar dragons, a figure in purple robes streaked straight toward Brilliant City!
At the same time, in the knight city being built to the southeast of Brilliant City.
Kevin had already gathered seven thousand knights. Beside him, in addition to Cain and Nar, stood a female knight.
Before the four of them, a Temple knight was bowing as he reported.
"What? You're saying Her Highness wants me to head to the West Gate to intercept the Wyvern Knight Corps?"
"Yes, those were indeed Her Highness's orders!"
"I see. It seems these reinforcements from the Kingdom of Sand haven't come with good intentions. What else did Her Highness do?"
Kevin pondered for a moment, nodded, and asked another question.
The messenger knight hesitated slightly before answering.
"Her Highness has already instructed Lady Ligeia to bring the dragon legion to the West Gate."
"Good, I understand."
Kevin nodded and turned to look at the seven thousand knights who had gathered behind him.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Cain and Nar.
"You two, lead two thousand knights each. The remaining three thousand knights will be under my direct command. We head for the West Gate immediately."
"As you command!"
"Yes!"
...
At this moment, the rain continued to pour over Brilliant City.
July in Brilliant City was the height of the monsoon season.
The wind and rain showed no sign of stopping.
Almost no households would venture out at a time like this, leaving only the knights and infantry to remain on duty despite the storm.
Now, the entire West Gate was in a state of full alert.
Hilda stood atop the city wall, shading her eyes with her hand as she looked into the distance.
From far away, a massive dark shadow could be seen in the sky about ten miles out.
Among them were ten large shadows whose shapes clearly identified them as magic airships.
Surrounding these ten magic airships were countless massive wyverns.
They possessed an appearance similar to the dragon race, yet they lacked arms.
Though they looked like dragons, wyverns were not recognized by the dragon race.
Furthermore, the understanding of all races on the continent was quite uniform regarding them.
They were... merely a group of magic beasts with a small amount of dragon blood.
In terms of both intelligence and ability, they were far inferior to the dragon race!
They didn't even have the classic dragon scales.
Their skin was almost entirely exposed to the air, which meant a wyvern's defensive power was pathetically low.
They couldn't even withstand ordinary heavy crossbows.
To avoid being wiped out by crossbow units, the Wyvern Knights of the Kingdom of Sand had prepared full sets of armor for their mounts.
While this would affect their flight speed and range to some extent,
it would at least cause the wyverns' combat effectiveness to soar!
Among them, atop the most robust wyvern, a man dressed in silver knight armor with a brown cloak draped over his shoulders looked toward the distant Brilliant City with a smirk.
"Rahman, I don't think this is a good idea. Even if the Saintess of the Moon has fallen from grace, she is still a Saintess. As Temple knights, isn't this act of ours considered insubordination?"
"Aziz! You're too cowardly!"
Rahman looked back at his comrade and couldn't help but let out a lewd laugh.
"The Kingdom of the Moon has been in decline for hundreds of years. The current Kingdom of the Moon is like a paper tiger that will tear with a single poke. What are you afraid of?"
As he spoke, Rahman continued to look toward the distant, massive, and seemingly dilapidated city.
"Look at that. That's the West Wall of Brilliant City. Just look at how ruined it is."
"Besides, we are the army coming to provide reinforcements. Shouldn't that Saintess of the Moon come out to greet us? This isn't the attitude one should have when asking for help, haha~"
Aziz's brow furrowed.
"But... she is still a Saintess!"
"Enough! Stop talking. That Saintess of the Moon actually had the nerve to demand ten magic airships from us. If I don't give her a scare this time, will she ask for the core blueprints for the airships next!?"
Rahman looked toward Brilliant City, a trace of gloom flashing in his eyes.
"A person's appetite is never satisfied. If we don't scare her this time, she will only keep pushing for more!"
Ignoring Aziz's advice, Rahman raised the lance in his hand.
A large magic circle expanded from his body.
"All units, hear my command! Accelerate forward. Do not stop. Fly directly over Brilliant City and land at the East Gate!"
"As you command!"
The entire Wyvern Knight Corps responded instantly, and the massive magic airships also began to gradually increase their speed.
Because they flew by means of magic, even the torrential rain could not stop the airships' progress.
Though their speed was somewhat slow, it didn't hinder Rahman's plan.
Seeing this, Aziz could only shake his head helplessly. There was nothing he could do... who told the Saintess of Sand to make Rahman the commander-in-chief this time?
This guy was famous in the Kingdom of Sand for being a reckless bastard, a complete jerk who was hated by almost everyone.
If it weren't for the fact that the largest merchant guild in the Kingdom of Sand stood behind him, and if his own strength hadn't reached Level 58,
Rahman would have been dealt with by the Saintess of Sand long ago.
Aziz shook his head inwardly.
'Lady Aisha, what exactly are you thinking? Sending him to lead the army is clearly just looking for trouble.'
But then he thought about it—how could a mere Guardian Knight understand the thoughts of that lady?
Since she had sent Rahman, she naturally had her reasons.
It seemed Lady Aisha likely wanted to provoke them on purpose.
Aziz just didn't understand why his lady would want to do that.
Forget it... there's no use thinking so much. It's better to just hurry up. With that lady's intelligence, it's impossible for her not to know what Rahman would do.
Since that was the case, she must have her reasons.
Thinking this, Aziz took a deep breath and also accelerated, following Rahman ahead.
But just as he raised his head to look into the distance, the wyvern beneath him suddenly became uneasy.
Immediately after, in the sky to the north of Brilliant City, a massive cloud of silver suddenly came racing toward them!
"Rahman, look... what is that?"
When he saw that massive cloud, Aziz's first thought was 'magic'!
However, that massive silver cloud looked incredibly grand and moved with extraordinary speed, reaching the skies above Brilliant City almost in an instant.
At the same time, the wyvern beneath him became even more uneasy, even starting to show reluctance to continue flying forward.
"What's wrong? Why won't you fly forward?"
Aziz reacted quickly, grabbing the reins just as the wyvern beneath him was about to turn. He managed to force it back onto the flight path before looking toward the others in confusion.
Sure enough, the other knights were also pulling on the reins of their wyverns, struggling to control their flight paths. Clearly, this was not an isolated case!
Sensing something was wrong, Aziz wanted to discuss it with Rahman, only to look up and see that in the sky above the West Gate of Brilliant City—less than two thousand meters away from their Wyvern Knight Corps—
A massive silver wall had blocked their path forward.
And when Aziz saw clearly what that wall actually was, he was stunned!
Dragons!!
Those were... true dragons!
Exactly two thousand skysoar dragons had formed a massive floating wall in the sky, blocking their path!
And at the very front of these two thousand dragons, an elf dressed in a mage robe floated in the sky, looking toward them.
"Warning to the wyvern army ahead! Land immediately and submit to inspection! If not, face the consequences!"
At that moment, the two thousand skysoar dragons let out a terrifying roar in unison!
"Roar!!"
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