CHAPTER 252: CHAPTER252-SWORD AIMED AT GOLDFLOW EMPIRE

Goldflow Empire, Goldflow Bay Royal Hall.

Emperor Gregga sat solemnly on his jeweled throne, his face as dark as the sky before a storm.

The fall of Ordon Theocracy, especially the terrifying power revealed by Crossbridge Empire during that battle, felt like a divine punishment, sending chills down his spine.

At first, news from Pood Empire claimed that Veynar had several thousand Stellar rank warriors, which Gregga dismissed with a sneer.

Then came the Godfall Gorge conflict, where the enemy revealed tens of thousands of Stellar rank.

Before he could fully digest this information, the battlefield at Ordon Theocracy turned that number into a terrifying hundreds of thousands!

"Gentlemen!"

Gregga’s voice echoed in the throne room, carrying a hint of barely noticeable hoarseness.

"How should we respond to Crossbridge Empire, this beast that has already awakened?"

Most of the ministers in the hall kept their heads bowed, overshadowed by an almost hopeless sense of helplessness.

It wasn’t that they were unwilling to offer advice, nor that they lacked talent.

It was that their opponent was so overwhelmingly powerful that it exceeded the bounds of conventional warfare.

Hundreds of thousands of Stellar rank warriors!

By the Light of the Gods!

When has this land ever seen such a terrifying army?

Which force could stand alone against such a catastrophic flood of destruction?

Prime Minister Taber stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, the urgent task at hand is to immediately summon the leaders of all the affiliated duchies and factions within the Empire for a conference to form a united army."

"At the same time, we must put aside all calculations and work hard to establish a four-way alliance with Pood Empire, Selene Empire, and Filo Empire."

"Furthermore, we should urgently request that Antonio, president of the Stellar Merchants’ Guild, use his influence to contact all Overlord Rank forces in the Eastern Domain."

"Only by consolidating the entire strength of the Eastern Domain into one united front can we hope to halt, or even repel, Crossbridge Empire’s advance."

"Aurek’s methods are brutal and thorough, and all forces that have submitted to him have been scattered and restructured, losing their independence. If he turns his forces toward us, the overlords of these factions will also face destruction. Faced with the same threat of death, they will inevitably temporarily set aside their grudges and unite to resist."

Gregga listened to this analysis and was about to issue orders when a palace guard rushed into the hall, his face full of barely concealed terror.

"Your Majesty!"

The guard’s voice was urgent.

"Urgent news from the border!"

"Crossbridge Empire has gathered over ten million troops on the border! Though most of them are regular legions, their intentions to attack are already clear!"

"What?!"

In an instant, the entire hall erupted in gasps and commotion.

Gregga’s face changed drastically, and the regal authority he had worked so hard to maintain crumbled away.

Once this massive vanguard army mobilized, the subsequent devastating strike from hundreds of thousands of Stellar rank warriors would inevitably follow!

"Immediately! Immediately go to the Stellar Merchants’ Guild! Request assistance from Antonio, the guild’s president!"

Gregga nearly shouted the command.

The guard took the order and hurriedly left.

His figure had barely disappeared through the door when another guard brought in another devastating piece of news.

"Your Majesty! Selene Empire... has deployed their grandmaster rank army to assemble at the opposite border!"

"Selene!"

"What is Elizabeth thinking?!"

"Doesn’t she understand the concept of ’when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold’?!"

The ministers were filled with shock and anger, and fear spread like a plague.

Gregga sank heavily back into his throne, his chest rising and falling violently.

A deathly silence lasted for a full minute.

He suddenly stood up again, his eyes bloodshot, filled with a desperate and frenzied resolve.

"There’s no escaping now... since there’s no retreat, then we fight!"

"Even if he has 200,000 Stellar rank warriors, so what?! If Aurek dares to send them, I’ll make him pay in blood!"

Like a wounded lion, he roared out a series of furious orders.

"Immediately, order all main legions of Goldflow Empire to gather along the border and build defensive lines!"

"Command the Celestial Star Legion to move immediately to the Selene Empire border! If they dare to cross the border, we will strike back immediately without waiting for royal orders!"

"Send messages to all the noble lords, the arcane guilds, and the knight orders!"

"If Goldflow Empire falls, their lands and glory will be reduced to ashes! If they want to survive, they must send all available forces to jointly block Crossbridge Empire!"

"Send envoys as fast as possible to Skyborne Church and White Wing Abbey... tell them that Goldflow Empire is willing to offer half of its national power and treasury, seeking their assistance!"

A series of frantic royal decrees flew out from the throne room.

The entire Goldflow Empire was hastily mobilized under the threat of death, preparing for an unprecedented war!

...

Stellar Merchants’ Guild

As the oldest Overlord Rank force in Goldflow Empire, the Stellar Merchants’ Guild had a history even older than Ordon Theocracy.

Guild President Antonio was a powerful Sage rank.

He gazed somberly toward the direction of the border.

"It seems this war is unavoidable," he muttered.

Behind him, one of the council members sighed.

"The fall of Ordon Theocracy, Aurek will never allow an independent force to exist within his domain. If Goldflow Empire falls, the Stellar Merchants’ Guild will inevitably follow."

"Unfortunately... there’s too little time for the Guild and the other factions in the Eastern Domain to react."

Antonio sighed bitterly.

If there had been enough time, it might not have been impossible to gather the strength of the Eastern Domain to suppress Veynar.

"Guild President, 200,000 Stellar rank is many, but if the chairman has mastered the profound mysteries of Starlight, we may still have a chance,"

Another council member’s gaze was cold and sharp.

"We are not Ordon Theocracy, and if pressed, we can make Aurek’s 200,000 army pay a heavy price!"

Antonio knew well the depth of the Stellar Merchants’ Guild’s foundation—it was not a soft target to be easily handled.

Antonio pondered for a moment.

"Regardless, let’s arrange for the younger generation with potential in the Guild to secretly evacuate."

"Our foundation may be deeper than Ordon Theocracy’s, but facing a direct assault from 200,000 Stellar rank warriors, the consequences are hard to predict."

The council members had no objections to this decision; preserving the guild’s legacy was necessary.

At that moment,

Boom!

A massive beam of light shot up into the sky from deep within the Guild, with countless chains of pure Starlight interwoven between heaven and earth.

Antonio and the council members turned sharply toward the light.

"Is it successful?!"

The council members’ faces lit up with joy.

"Now we don’t need to fear those 200,000 Stellar rank warriors!"

Antonio let out a long breath.

"It’s the chairman! He has successfully fused with the Starlight!"

"Wonderful! Now we don’t need to fear Crossbridge Empire!"

Guild members from within the hall looked toward the beam of light, filled with excitement.

However,

Boom!

The void shook again, like the pounding of war drums.

The space around the Stellar Merchants’ Guild began to distort and collapse on a large scale!

Gigantic vortexes appeared out of nowhere, like cold eyes of the void opening.

Squads of terrifying soldiers began to emerge from these vortices, lining up in formation!