Lightning Country, Thunderclap City.
As the season gradually entered winter, the weather grew increasingly cold and bleak.
A vast army assembled outside the magnificent Thunderclap City, with countless siege engines trailing behind them. Packed densely together, they looked from afar like a forest of spears and sea of blades.
Whether in troop numbers or equipment, they displayed the mighty foundation of a great nation. Judging by the army's appearance alone, they surpassed the Land of Flame by several streets.
Yet the morale of this kingly army had fallen to rock bottom. Most had developed the defeated mentality of believing this battle was unwinnable, and many had little desire to fight at all.
The battle outside Lightning City had utterly shattered the Lightning Country's pride. Although most of those here had not personally experienced that war, the military reports had long since spread throughout the ranks.
Giants nearly a hundred meters tall, enormous cats dozens of meters long, attacks that casually reduced thousands to ashes—it sounded like some mythical tale. But fewer than ten thousand soldiers had escaped alive from an army of two hundred and fifty thousand. They had no choice but to believe it.
Now, the Land of Flame's army was advancing like bamboo split by an axe, nearly unstoppable wherever it went. Once Thunderlight City fell, the Land of Flame could march directly upon Thunderclap City. And if Thunderclap City could not hold either, the Lightning Country might as well change its name.
Nothing like this had ever happened since the Lightning Country's founding!
Over the past few days, panic had gripped all of Thunderclap City. Forget the ordinary soldiers at the bottom—even the high-ranking generals were considering how to bring this battle to a safe conclusion. At worst, they wanted to ensure their families' safety. None were