CHAPTER 442: CHAPTER 26: SLAUGHTER_2

After Yilin left, Mallet finally let out a slow breath. He exchanged a glance with Carl and said, "I think Little Richie is stronger than his father, really."

"But I don’t think Lord Lich King would be pleased to see him take this approach," Carl responded softly. "Of course, there might not be a better way."

...

Riding through the streets, Yilin asked Abi Robbs, who was riding beside her, "Do you think it’s Gray who returned?"

"It’s possible," Abi Robbs answered. "Miss Yilin, did you notice Mallet Captain’s leg? He’s missing one, which indicates something happened before. He just didn’t tell us."

"It’s good he’s back," Yilin’s lips curled into a slight smile, seemingly relieved. "Let’s finish the fight first. After that, we can go see Gray together."

...

Gathering and organizing the troops was no easy task. Although the Southern Lords had done their best, it still took a full thirty minutes for the first batch of troops to cross the city wall and enter Black Dragon City.

At the same time, the Undead Army mobilized, moving even faster, crossing the walls in numbers several times greater than the Human Army.

This could be said to have given the Human Lords some confidence. But of course, it was just confidence. The undead did not immediately rush to engage the dragons, instead watching from a distance. The bone dragons circled in the sky.

Still, not a single lich appeared.

With his back to the slowly opening space portal, Augustsburg gazed quietly.

"I’ve been thinking about something. They can’t possibly be unaware that we’re opening the space portal. Logically, if they wanted to stop us, they should have immediately rushed to engage us. In that case, they might still have a slim chance of stopping us. But they didn’t. And..." Looking towards the restless Human Army, Augustsburg said, "It seems they want to use the humans as the vanguard."

"So what? We’re back to the original question—how many liches support him?" said the Dragon Clan Girl beside him.

"Exactly." Augustsburg nodded, sighing helplessly. "If it were before, I would have thought that not many liches supported him, and I would have stopped the space portal immediately and rushed to engage them. But now... *Honestly, the previous tactic impressed me deeply, and I’m afraid it’s the same trick again. They just want to lure us into a fight.*"

"Maybe he shouldn’t have used that tactic so early."

"Maybe not. If they hadn’t used that tactic before and made us wary, we wouldn’t have opened the space portal to retreat. As a result, they wouldn’t have this opportunity to make us think they ’seemingly lack strength.’"

The girl turned her face to glance at Augustsburg.

With a deep breath, Augustsburg continued, "Alright, you all prepare to leave. This place isn’t worth holding onto anymore. We don’t need to change our plans because of their actions."

...

Richie still stood in the study, gazing quietly.

"It has started." Sarina silently approached him from behind.

"I know." Richie lowered his head, gently caressing the hilt of his sword. "Let’s depart."

With that, he turned and left the room.

...

"Roar!" The space portal had not yet fully opened when one of the spell-casting black dragons suddenly screamed, as if it had been struck by something heavy and fell backward.

"See what’s happening!" Augustsburg shouted urgently.

A black dragon flying in the sky hurried over to the fallen one, landing beside it.

"Your Highness, it’s nothing, just a misremembered incantation."

"An incantation so important, and he could still mess it up?"

The black dragon returned to the edge of the magic array, continuing to pour magic power into the array while chanting the incantation.

...

Another half hour passed.

More and more Southern Alliance soldiers had crossed the walls, while the Undead Army had also crossed. Countless troops from all directions began to converge along the streets toward Gustav Palace.

On the outskirts, the black dragons responsible for the rear guard revealed their dragon forms, confronting the Human Army and the Undead Army.

Many black dragons spread their wings and flew into the sky, circling back and forth, wary of air attacks from the Undead Army.

"Isn’t it done yet? Didn’t they say an hour would be enough?" Augustsburg swung his massive dragon head around.

Beside him, the poisonous dragon in charge of opening the array seemed visibly flustered. "I... I don’t know, maybe the calculations were off. The required magic power is more than expected. It’s still not done."

"Are you joking? First the wrong incantation, now a miscalculation of magic power?" Augustsburg roared in anger.

The poisonous dragon became more panicked. "It should be done soon! It should be done soon! Even with the miscalculation, the difference shouldn’t be that big! Please rest assured, Your Highness!"

Augustsburg was nearly beside himself with rage. He couldn’t understand how he ended up with such incompetent subordinates. Still, now was clearly not the time to punish anyone. He had no choice but to suppress his anger and wait quietly.

...

"Charge—!"

"Kill—!"

"For justice!"

The Southern Alliance’s charge had begun. A large number of cavalry, riding their horses, charged down the narrow streets towards the massive black dragons.

At the same time, the Undead Army was also mobilized. The skeletal warriors, frail in appearance, gripped various weapons and began their slow advance.

The black dragons lifted their heads, and soon, scorching Dragon Breath swept down the streets. The vanguard troops turned to ash without exception, but more troops kept charging forward, wave after wave.

Amid the shouts, massive fireballs launched by catapults outside the city drew parabolas in the sky, landing directly on the plaza.

The black dragons in the sky intercepted the catapult attacks with their bodies.

The bone dragons surged forward, engaging in aerial combat with the black dragons.

Giant elephants, spiders, zombies, stitched abominations, and various other undead creatures also appeared on the battlefield.

The battle was fierce, but not yet at its peak. The black dragons still seemed to have the upper hand. However, Augustsburg was clearly anxious. Another half-hour had passed, but the space portal had not yet opened.

"Is it not done yet? Do I have to do it myself?" he roared angrily.

Beside him, the poisonous dragon hurriedly responded, "It’s done, it’s done! Just about done!"

...

"Why hasn’t the space portal opened yet? What are they doing? Hasn’t the scheduled time passed?"

"Could something have gone wrong?"

"It shouldn’t have. Augustsburg wouldn’t mess up something like this. The space portal is still in the process of opening, which means the incantation is still ongoing. They should be fine."

On the outskirts of the Dragon’s Peak, in the icy and snowy terrain, countless black dragons waited silently.

The black dragons crouched in various corners of the snowy mountains, making themselves clearly visible.

At this moment, at the focal point of the black dragons’ attention, on the empty hillside, a small black dot was hovering, crackling with energy. This was the sign of the space portal about to open.

But this sign had persisted for over half an hour without opening...

...

"Finally!" the poisonous dragon responsible for opening the space portal shouted at last, feeling almost drained.

...

Simultaneously, the flickering black dot on the outskirts of Dragon’s Peak slowly expanded into a massive black hole.

The observing black dragons all seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

...

"Move quickly!" Augustsburg glanced toward the distant battlefield.

"Yes!" The Dragon Clan Girl who had been by Augustsburg’s side spread her wings and was the first to rush into the space portal. Following closely behind, the other black dragons quickly followed, one after another.

...

Dragon’s Peak.

All the black dragons widened their eyes.

The space portal was already open, but no black dragons emerged...