The might of a National Artifact (Part One)

The battle was direct, savage, and brutal.

Enemy forces blotted out the sky and earth, advancing by land and air like swarms of ants ceaselessly gnawing at an enormous meal, slowly enveloping it.

Countless Huan Army soldiers were concentrated mainly along the four city walls and at the countless arrow towers, archery towers, Heaven-Sacrificing Altars, and other military installations within the city. Tens of millions of civilians hid inside buildings, not daring to venture outside.

Only Huan Army soldiers, reinforcements, volunteer warriors, and the like ran through the royal city's streets and alleys, shouting and roaring...

Every moment, thousands of soldiers on both sides fell. Lives were worth no more than blades of grass.

Birds like black clouds crossed the hundred-zhang-high walls and plunged into the city, then swooped down, attacking with sharp claws and hard beaks or dropping ferocious beasts from the air.

Throughout Fanyu Royal City, every thousand-square-meter area had an elevated military strongpoint—an arrow tower, an archery tower, a Heaven-Sacrificing Altar, a pavilion, a palace, or something similar. All served as air-defense positions.

Densely packed birds swooped down, and each elevated military installation responded with volleys of arrows and powerful crossbow bolts, shooting down many of them outright. Then the birds reached the defenders, tearing them apart or knocking them away and injuring them.

The arrow towers and archery towers were built from stone, timber, and similar materials. Countless towers packed throughout the city were smashed apart by giant birds, collapsing one after another. The Heaven-Sacrificing Altars, pavilions, and palaces, however, were enormous. Even giant birds hundreds of meters across could not knock them down or tear them apart in a single blow. The Heaven-Sacrificing Altars remained largely unmoved, while the roofs of many pavilions and palaces became such wrecks that no one could stand on them!