System's POV

Chapter 1311: The War That Would End All Wars [Part 1]

“Airships detected!”

The Guard Captain stationed on the city wall shouted, informing everyone to spread the word.

He had also started to toll the bell, making sure that everyone knew that the enemy had appeared over the horizon.

Rhovan and the Naga Patriarch exchanged a glance. They unanimously understood that they might not live to see another day if the enemy were to reach their locations.

“Just trust me and do your jobs properly. If you guys die, I will also die, so what’s the point of worrying?”

Hearing the voice behind their backs, the two turned around to look at the teenage boy, who had also arrived at the most important outpost in the city.

The projection of the airships that numbered nearly two hundred paraded in front of them.

They had seen this scene many times already, but today was different.

There was a different kind of tension in the air, and everyone understood that the siege that would be happening today wouldn’t be like the other sieges that they had endured so far.

Just as everyone had prepared themselves for battle, the Flagship of the Rebel Army started to advance.

“Damn, they really plan to charge and break through by force!” Rhovan clicked his tongue as he made hand seals to intensify the power of the shield that protected the city.

The magical cannons of the Defenders all started to bombard the incoming flagship, whose shields were raised to the max.

Rana narrowed her eyes because their enemy’s desperate charge proved that they truly planned to fight the decisive battle today.

’Fortunately, Zion held a meeting earlier,’ Rana thought. ’Otherwise, everyone would have been clueless on what those old farts planned to do.’

Still, she couldn’t help but worry. A nagging feeling persisted at the back of her head, knowing that Zion purposely left parts of the city unprotected so that he could lure the invaders into teleporting in that location.

As the Celestial who would serve as their last line of defense, Rana forcefully calmed herself down and prepared for the worst-case scenario.

———

In the Flagship of the Rebel Army…

“Raise the shields!” Castor ordered. “Do not falter! Ram the city walls if you have to, but do not decrease our speed!”

Regulus had already activated his relic, spreading the magical formation to everyone in the deck of the flagship.

The Celestial heightened his senses, ignoring the sights and sounds around him, and putting all of his concentration on the relic that rested in the palm of his hands.

He started analyzing the city, meticulously contemplating which coordinate they would teleport to.

’Hmm?’ Regulus was surprised. There seemed to be some kind of restriction preventing his relic from finding a place to teleport to inside the city.

Seconds ticked by. The closer they drew to the city, the more intense the bombardment raining upon them grew.

“Everyone, brace!” Castor shouted when they were only hundreds of meters away from the city wall.

He didn’t mind sacrificing his flagship as long as they would be able to breach their enemy’s defenses, which had given them a lot of trouble during the past few weeks.

“What’s taking you so long, Regulus?!” Castor shouted.

“Don’t rush me!” Regulus shouted back. “Just get ready to be teleported any second from now!”

Regulus was desperately scanning his surroundings, looking for a place that would allow him to teleport inside the city.

They were only a few seconds away from crashing into the shield, and those who were on the deck of the ship were starting to feel anxious, doubting whether their plan would really work.

Suddenly, Regulus’s eyes sharpened as he found a breach he could exploit.

Before anyone could blink, he, Castor, and everyone on the deck of the ship disappeared completely.

A few seconds later, a deafening crash reverberated in the surroundings as the flagship of the Rebel Army collided with the shields of the city, breaking past four of them before coming to a complete stop.

The front of the flagship burst into flames, and those inside evacuated just as they were told to do so.

———

On the western side of Velgrande…

A fluctuation rippled in the surroundings.

Suddenly, the space around it tore apart, and a hundred beings materialized on the spot.

Castor and Regulus took a good glance around them and immediately recognized where they were.

“The smithing district!” Castor clenched his fists in triumph. “You did well, Regulus!”

“Yes. And now, we finish what we started,” Regulus declared.

Just as they were about to charge at the Royal Palace to kill the King of Artem, a magical formation expanded beneath their feet.

Before they could even understand what was happening, dozens of magical cannons all fired in their direction.

At the same time, golden swords that were ten meters long materialized above them and started to descend at great speeds.

This was the Great Killing Array that had been set up in the capital city of Velgrande, which was being controlled by Thirteen, Rhovan, and the Naga Patriarch simultaneously.

When Castor and Regulus realized that they had fallen into a trap, their first reaction was to fly away.

But to their surprise, they found themselves stuck in place, unable to leave!

“Damn!” Castor cursed as he hurriedly activated his artifact, creating a barrier around him.

Regulus did the same, and together, their shields managed to tank most of the attacks that rained down upon them with vengeance.

A drop of blood streamed down from Thirteen’s nose because he was the one controlling the formation that was holding the Celestials and their elite army in place.

He knew that he could only trap them for a few seconds at most, so this bombardment was very crucial to the first part of his plan.

The entire city shook as the Smithing District was covered in flames of war.

Suddenly, a powerful shock wave burst out, extinguishing the flames that had tried to devour them.

“I’ll kill you first!” Castor roared angrily as he flew towards Thirteen, whom he had recognized as the greatest thorn of his life.

“I won’t allow you to hurt my son!”

A powerful shout reached Castor’s ears, and the next second, he felt a fist hit the side of his face, which sent him flying toward several houses, destroying everything in his wake.