Beast Trapped in the Mire

The Blue Dragon Descendant legion scattered across the wind-carved dunes and ravines was buried beneath yellow sand and rubble under the Empire's artillery bombardment. With a lightning-fast offensive, the allied forces swiftly captured dozens of cities, occupied the vast Talilo Desert and its surrounding territories, and brought the entirety of western Seleucia—the Blue Dragon Cult's occupied territory—under their control.

The Talilo Desert was dry and scorching year-round, with a harsh climate. Most of its population was concentrated in the cities along the Ir River Valley. Capturing these major cities meant securing water, food, shelter, and other resources immensely precious in the desert, enough to control this vast expanse.

The ancient desert kingdom had risen in the Ir River Valley, gradually occupying the entire Talilo Desert over the course of a century. For thousands of years, dynasties had risen and fallen amid endless struggles over this fertile river valley, until the kingdom was destroyed by the rising Holy Fadlan.

Because the Blue Dragon Cult had acted with utter impunity, committing atrocity after atrocity and treating the people as sacrifices and tools, resentment had long boiled over throughout Talilo. They had only dared not resist due to the overwhelming power of the Dragon Worship Cult.

But now, the allied forces had destroyed the Dragon Worship Cult's main legions, captured one Blue Dragon Cult-held city after another, and absorbed Rebel Army forces from across the region. The local people welcomed the liberators with food and drink.

From that point onward, the allied forces had destroyed both the Green Dragon and Blue Dragon cults, reclaimed more than half of the Seleucia Kingdom's territory, and were on the verge of achieving the great goal of restoring Seleucia.

However, there was one sad fact: less than thirty percent of the allied forces were native Seleucian People.