The Crushing Force of Steel

At the northernmost point of the Aisel Plain, where Aisel meets Carterpa, lies the Kawano Valley.

A scouting force of several hundred men is stationed here, closely monitoring all the movements of the Embers of the Burned Empire and ready to defend themselves at any time.

They once belonged to the Thrace Kingdom, but a few months ago, Wilhelm granted the entire North Aisel to Duke Walter, and they pledged allegiance to the renowned "Wings of Fadlan".

They still wore the winged Sun Holy Emblem of the Thrace Kingdom, led tall horses, and carried long-barreled double-fire muskets—undoubtedly imported from the Embers of the Burned Empire.

In recent years, the war between the Three Great Kingdoms has become increasingly fierce, and the people of the Feanso Continent have also realized the advantages of these guns and cannons: long range, high lethality, and very low barrier to entry.

As the situation changed and the war raged, people began buying weapons from the Embers of the Burned Empire from greedy Waukeen merchants in order to protect themselves, and muskets became quite common in Fei An Suo.

These former Fadlanites were unaware that the Gold Coin in their pockets had flowed into the Embers of the Burned Empire's Klaubo Wu Military Industrial Group, becoming funds for the research and development and production of more advanced and lethal weapons.

And it will soon be applied to themselves, becoming their nightmare.

Piotr McGrath remains the captain of this scout unit, which nearly clashed with the advance party of the Embers of the Burned Empire several years ago.

"Gentlemen, the situation is likely to become increasingly tense."

The extraordinary Fighter raised his silver sword, pointing the tip north, his expression extremely solemn.

Look, since the day before yesterday, Wyvern, giant eagles, and ugly beasts I've never seen before have been circling over Tahan City.

And from within the city came a muffled sound I had never heard before, like the growl of some terrifying monster.

In recent days, even the ground nearby has been shaking and trembling abnormally, and I have a bad feeling about it.

His adjutant said with some concern, "Boss, do you think it might be their emperor—that Red Dragon —coming?"

Piot shook his head calmly. "It shouldn't be that fast yet. The homeland of the Embers of the Burned Empire — the Anzeta Great Wasteland— is far from North Aisel, and there are mountains and hills in between."

They want to transport all their troops and supplies to Tahan City and complete all preparations for war, which will take at least another one to two months.

By then, the aid Lord Walter had requested had arrived from all over the world: angels from Mount Paradise, the mage order from the City of Myriad Laws, and, it was said, an incomparably powerful Golden Dragon dragon, revered as the ' Dragon of Dawn,' had descended upon Colin City.

Piot gripped his scout's silver sword tightly, gazing southward with unwavering determination and a steady, powerful tone.

"Lord Walter is one of the few divine nobles who remembers the glory of Fadlan and follows the old emperor's teachings. I believe that the side of justice will surely prevail. No matter how powerful that Red Dragon is, it is ultimately outnumbered and outmatched."

"Boss, boss."

Suddenly, the adjutant beside him looked up in terror, pointing tremblingly at the sky as if he had seen something horrifying.

"What's wrong?"

Piot noticed the adjutant's unusual expression and quickly turned around. Then, he too froze on the spot.

"What exactly is this?"

Above the distant Tahan City, hundreds and thousands of Dragonkin, Wyvern, and Chimera soared into the sky, flapping their wings haphazardly and gathering into rolling clouds that cast dappled shadows on the ground.

"Aww—"

A series of hoarse, cacophonous roars erupted as the monsters in the sky seemed to have noticed the scouts and began to howl at them.

"Amanata!"

"They've spotted us!"

The soldiers cried out in panic, some of them scrambling to their feet.

Peter mounted his horse, raised his silver sword high, and shouted, "We retreat! Make sure the message gets to the south!"

As a seasoned soldier, Pieteau's actions undoubtedly stabilized the morale of the troops. The soldiers quickly gathered their necessary equipment, mounted their warhorses, and galloped across the flat and open Aisel Plain.

The horses' hooves pounded the ground in a chaotic, crisp, and rapid sound, while Pieteau was at the very front, controlling the direction of the procession.

Just then, the ground began to tremble, the warhorses neighed in panic, and some even lifted their front legs off the ground to stop, throwing the less skilled riders off their backs. The scouts' ranks were thrown into disarray.

"Ah!"

"Help! Stop!"

"Damn it, the horse's hoof is about to step on me!"

Peter pulled on the reins and turned around abruptly. He knew very well that the trembling of the ground could not have been caused by a herd of horses.

However, he opened his mouth, his expression blank, a hint of despair even appearing in his eyes, muttering to himself, " By On Amanata, how could this be?"

"Boom--"

In the distance, the ground trembled, dust billowed, and thick smoke obscured the sun. One after another, enormous, incomparable steel beasts roared as they broke through the smoke and charged toward them.

Everything in front of the steel behemoths—rocks, trees, wild animals, and even earthen slopes—was mercilessly crushed, offering no resistance whatsoever.

The adjutant, watching the steel behemoths approach, cried out in terror, "Boss! How can there be such monsters!"

"Amanata!"

"A natural disaster! This is practically a moving natural disaster!"

"Damn it! There weren't any monsters like this in Tahan City a few years ago!"

Despite the general chaos in the army, Pieteau forced himself to remain calm and observed the situation with composure.

He knew that he absolutely could not panic now, otherwise not only would his troops suffer annihilation, but the entire North Aisel would face a terrible threat.

After a brief moment of thought, Pietro brandished his silver sword and, amidst the deafening roar, shouted with all his might, "Full speed retreat! This is no monster we can Contend Against!"

He gritted his teeth and roared, "Afar, take fifty men and head southwest! We'll split up and make sure to get news of the Embers of the Burned Empire's attack to Lord Walter!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The officer, clad in bright silver armor, brandished his whip, pulled hard on the reins, turned his horse around, and led his elite cavalry to the right, preparing to enter the narrower valley to the southwest.

There, although the cavalry's marching speed would be affected, those steel behemoths would also find it difficult to squeeze in. Even if the entire army were wiped out, Pieteau wanted to send a message out so that Duke Walter could prepare for battle.

However, at that moment, the Steam Tank turret quickly turned around, and the thick cannon barrel also rotated, with the muzzle pointing directly at the elite cavalry.

Staring at the dark, gaping muzzle, Pieteau suddenly had a bad feeling—he thought of the cannons that the Thrace Kingdom had purchased from the Empire.

"Afar! Get out of the way!"

He hurriedly reached out his hand, almost shouting himself hoarse, but it was too late; Afar's cavalry detachment had already entered the valley.

"Boom!"

The steel behemoth let out a Earth-Shattering roar, and the enormous recoil caused the vehicle to violently move backward, even shaking the ground.

Intense flames erupted from the muzzle of the cannon, followed by a cloud of thick black smoke.

"No--"

Pete drove madly in that direction, wishing he could sacrifice himself to block the cannon's muzzle.

But the shell had already flown out of the cannon, emitting a piercing whistle as it cut through the air, drawing a very low arc in mid-air, spanning a distance of hundreds of meters, and finally landing precisely on the steep cliff face.

"Boom!"

Another extremely powerful explosion occurred, accompanied by intense flames, flying debris everywhere, and dust and sand filling the air.

The cliff face suddenly collapsed, and huge boulders crashed down with a deafening roar, burying the elite cavalry of fifty men.

No, no

Peter was pale and shook his head in despair.

The cavalry unit that carried the hope of delivering the message has been completely wiped out, and behind them, those steel behemoths are getting closer and closer.

He could smell the pungent smell of Gunsmoke, feel the dust it kicked up, and see black smoke and steam enveloping them in the sky.

These steel behemoths did not use the terrifying cannons they had just used. They simply followed behind the cavalry, approaching at a steady speed accompanied by the roar of their engines, yet they seemed unstoppable.

Their objective was clear—to crush these vulnerable human cavalrymen in a simple and brutal manner, without wasting a single shell.

"Ah!"

"Boss, help!"

"Gods! It, it's coming!"

The soldiers' cries of agony and the neighing of warhorses rang out one after another, the sounds of flesh and bone shattering being drowned out by the roar of the engines.

Riding on horseback, Peter couldn't help but turn his head and watch helplessly as his trusted men, who had followed him for a long time, were caught up by tanks and then crushed into dust along with their horses by the hard tracks.

Before the steel behemoth, the cavalrymen were no different from the roadside stones and vegetation, except that their tracks would be stained with blood.

Pete's face was also covered with a layer of soot, but he looked bewildered and muttered to himself, "Could it be... that rumor is true? Has His Majesty Amanata really abandoned us?"

As Fighter of extraordinary caliber, Pito also fought for the Holy Fadlan, battling powerful demons and monsters, but these steel behemoths brought him unprecedented despair.

Pieteau greatly admired the Duke of Walter and supported his vision of restoring Fadlan civilization and reminiscing about the glory of the emperor.

—But for some reason, he sensed something new in these War Machine, something that could truly overturn the Holy Fadlan.

More accurately, it is a new civilization and a new order that is completely different from the former Fadlan.

"No, this shouldn't be happening. I... I absolutely cannot allow this to happen! I can't just watch my comrades die, much less die a cowardly death while fleeing. This is not what a proud Fadlanites should do!"

Pete, his face covered in soot and contorted with rage, suddenly leaped off his horse, turned around, and mustered his courage to face the steel behemoth.

Just as he had done countless times years before, Pete pointed his silver sword forward, challenging the oncoming steel behemoth.

At that moment, he resembled a knight charging at a windmill, appearing both brave and ridiculous.

This is the Empire's "Great Red Dragon" class Steam Tank, which is also the largest and most imposing model. It is 15 meters long and 4 meters high, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is a moving hill.

"Boom--"

Before the tanks even arrived, a powerful sandstorm swept in, slashing Peter's face as if it were being cut by knives and blurring his vision, leaving him only able to see a huge black shadow in front of him.

He gripped the silver sword tightly with both hands, raised it above his head, leaped nearly five meters high, and let out a heart-wrenching roar, " For the For Holy Fadlan— "

Peteio leaped down from mid-air, and the silver sword swung down with a whistling wind, unleashing extraordinary power in an instant.

"Whoosh—"

A piercing explosion rang out, and Pietro's sword actually pierced deep into the front armor of the steel behemoth!

"You monster! Prepare to die!"

He gripped the silver sword embedded in the armor, wanting to continue his attack and find the behemoth's weak point. He had already realized that it was a construct similar to the Iron Golem.

But before Pietro could rejoice, a strong repulsive force appeared, and the force field shield violently repelled the unsuspecting superhuman Fighter, sending him tumbling forward.

Pete crashed heavily to the ground. Before he could even react, a dark shadow enveloped him. He looked up and could only see the monstrous body of the beast hurtling toward him.

No, no

Immediately afterwards, the 100-ton "Great Red Dragon" class tank rolled over with the force of a catastrophe, and no matter how much the extraordinary Fighter struggled and resisted, it was all in vain.

This is a crushing defeat in terms of size and scale, like a mortal arm wrestling with a gigantic dragon—no matter what, the mortal cannot win.

The crunching sound of flesh and bone being crushed was drowned out by the roar of the engine, while the steel behemoth continued to rampage across the plains, causing the earth to tremble.

As for crushing these cavalrymen? That was just a side effect.

Even the powerful and experienced superhuman Fighter only had a tiny scar on his front armor, which was barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

Inside the cockpit of the "Great Red Dragon" class tank, Steel Frenzy was beaming with pride, his laughter particularly unrestrained.

"Hahaha, driving a tank is so much fun! Especially this monster-level tank! Eight pairs of wheels against four legs, isn't this a complete annihilation?"

Suddenly, Steel Frenzy looked at his panel with some surprise and muttered to himself, "Wait... when did I kill a mini-boss?"

[You killed [Scout Captain - Peteo (Challenge Rating: 9)] and gained 5000 XP.] He felt extremely bewildered, yet also somewhat surprised and delighted, much like he had just received a small snack.

This is Challenge Rating 9 boss, which in the previous version required a whole team to barely defeat. Now, it was easily crushed by the Steel Frenzy and I almost didn't even notice it.

"My lord, times have changed!"

"Steel Frenzy" remarked.

For Aisel's scouts, this was a terrible disaster comparable to an earthquake or a tsunami, an absolute catastrophe.

But for the Imperial soldiers driving the tanks, it was just a routine march, with a few enemies eliminated along the way.

The tank convoy cruised across the vast plains, their true target being the unprepared cities of North Aisel.

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