The Horn of War

This day was no different from any other day.

No, or perhaps that's not quite right. Although people continued their daily routines—working, resting, and going about their business—the cities were now filled with figures rarely seen on ordinary days: fully armed warriors and paladins. Their faces were solemn as they carefully inspected every street and area. Even the bustling marketplaces seemed quieter in this somber atmosphere. While people continued with their routines, perhaps unaware of what was happening, their instincts sensed an ominous premonition. Though the sky remained clear, a gloomy cloud hung over their hearts, a gloom that even the enthusiastic hawking of vendors couldn't dispel.

Some time has passed since the Casablanca City, and people have begun to talk about it less, or try to avoid it. Unlike those in power, ordinary people don't want to know or care about these things. Although they are very concerned about who had the power to massacre a city, as time goes by, people begin to choose to forget, as if as long as they don't talk about these things, those events, the murderers, and the city will no longer exist in this world.

The Five-Nation Alliance's search made little progress. Ever since the Vila Federation lost its 100,000 regular troops, they dared not send even a single person to explore Casablanca City. An official blockade was issued, sealing off all roads leading to Casablanca and forbidding anyone from discussing the matter. Fortunately, others seemed even more eager to forget the incident than the officials themselves. Although there were always a few disobedient individuals, most had chosen to remain silent and refrain from uttering another word.

It was as if they feared that if they uttered even a single more word, their city would suffer the same fate as Casablanca City.

"This damn weather."

Gazing at the desolate market before him, the paladin looked up and wiped the sweat from his brow. It was truly bizarre; despite it being winter, the sun had been unusually hot these past few days, feeling as if it were summer—a truly strange occurrence. This had also dampened the spirits of everyone else; the once bustling market now resembled a dead fish lying on the shore, listless and lifeless. Even the vendors' cries sounded less energetic than before.

"What on earth is going on? Almighty God, what has happened to this world?"

Despite his complaints, the mission had to continue. With that thought, the paladin decided to look away and re-examine the crowd in front of him. However, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted several glittering points of light in the blue sky.

What is that?

The paladin hurriedly looked up again, carefully observing the bright spot. It wasn't his imagination. Moreover, the bright spot grew larger and larger, eventually transforming into a gigantic metal monster that charged straight towards him!

"Get down on your stomach!!"

The paladins quickly ducked to avoid the massive metal object. The strange thing swept past them, crashing heavily onto the open ground not far behind them. A deafening roar, a gust of wind, and flying pebbles and dust immediately enveloped the entire area. Faced with this sudden turn of events, the market fell silent for a moment, then erupted into chaos again—screams and panic becoming the dominant sounds.

"What the hell is this thing?"

The paladin scrambled to his feet and looked behind him. Amidst the billowing dust, he could see a tall, cone-shaped object standing upright on the ground. The ground around it had already cracked open from the violent tremors. And the strange object was still faintly shimmering with light.

"Everyone be careful, we don't know what this is!"

The paladin drew his longsword and slowly approached the strange object, while his teammates, after a moment of panic, quickly regained their composure and moved forward.

Just then, the strange thing suddenly began to spin wildly, its light growing brighter and brighter. Then, as it abruptly stopped spinning, a layer of yellow light ripples burst forth from its body, spreading rapidly in all directions.

The light wave was harmless; in fact, when it passed through the paladins, they didn't even feel anything. But soon, the paladins found that their movements were no longer as agile as before. The armor that had been tailored to their bodies was now so heavy that it was almost suffocating them and making it impossible for them to move.

Around them, those who did not flee also did not escape the calamity; their movements became unusually slow, and they could not even control their bodies well.

Nobody knows what happened.

But soon, they won't need to know anymore.

Ringwraith City, a flurry of activity was underway.

"Reporting, Master, all thirty-six slowing projectiles have hit their targets and are taking effect!"

"Immediately begin loading. Type: Death Cloud Bomb, Quantity: 48! Ensure coverage of the entire operational area. Five seconds after launch, load with Chain Fireball for indiscriminate target bombardment!"

"Yes!"

At Li Lin's command, the mages sprang into action. One by one, metal missiles gleaming with an eerie light were moved into the magic circle using spells. Then, with the effect of the magic circle, the missiles immediately disappeared and reappeared in front of the twelve satellites floating in the sky by their "cores". Then, Gale Spell was cast, and with the activation of the magic, powerful energy propelled the heavy and huge objects, roaring towards the ground.

A green mist enveloped the land, and a deadly magic slowly spread, covering those unable to escape due to the Slow, mercilessly claiming their lives. Faced with this deadly fog, people struggled desperately, tearing at their throats and writhing in agony. Mothers pressed their children beneath them, and men pulled their wives, trying to escape as far as possible. But it was all in vain. The magic bound their movements and limbs; they could only watch helplessly as death advanced slowly and relentlessly, reaching them, entering their bodies... leaving only pain and death.

This was precisely the new type of magical weapon that Li Lin had previously developed. Using the magic array etching method from the Magic Empire era, he successfully created these ballistic missiles capable of long-range attacks. Moreover, they were far more powerful than missiles on Earth. Due to the different spells, Li Lin could easily create missiles with different effects, unlike on Earth where only biological warfare poison gas bombs and large explosive bombs could be produced. The moment the missiles landed, the triggered Slow was enough to cover a large area of land, rendering all living things on it unable to move freely. The lethal nature of the Cloudkill also ensured sufficient destructive power; even if someone was lucky enough to escape, the subsequent Chain Fireball would reduce everything to ashes, leaving nothing unscathed.

"Even without gunpowder, I can still blast you back to the Stone Age."

Gazing at the patches of ground on the map that began to change color, and the bright spots gradually disappearing under the Life Detection Spell, Li Lin sneered coldly.

At that very moment, the second round of bombing had ended.

On the illusory map before Li Lin, the glimmer of life had almost completely disappeared.

"Prepare for the third round immediately! Begin transmitting the Chain Fireball!"

Yi Aier quickly issued the order.

Unlike slow-moving and death cloud projectiles, the Chain Fireball projectiles are much smaller, even only the length of a sword. Considering that Chain Fireball themselves have considerable area-of-effect deterrence, and that filling too much area would increase adverse reactions, Li Lin ultimately decided to manufacture such small projectiles that could be fired in close bursts.

If the previous bombings were just scattered raindrops, then what follows is a torrential downpour of bombing.

Countless missiles hurtled towards their targets, erupting in bursts of flame. The magic arrays etched into the missiles were triggered one after another, unleashing blinding fire and intense heat that engulfed everything. The ground was already shrouded in smoke, with only the flickering flames visible. Vast amounts of energy raged across the earth, causing even the hard ground to tremble slightly. The twelve areas monitored by the twelve satellites were almost simultaneously plunged into Hell of fire, death, and intense heat.

"Very good, stop."

Gazing at the illusion, Li Lin issued another command after a long while, then closed his eyes and activated Telepathic Communication.

Angela? The rest is up to you. Ignore the other remnants and charge straight into the heart of the Vila Federation. Destroy everything there. Once the Vila Federation is destroyed, the Five-Nation Alliance will no longer be able to carry out its integration efforts.

Received, my master.

Angela opened her eyes, and before her lay Hell. Fiery red light illuminated the sky, and the once bustling city was now nothing but ruins. Corpses were everywhere, and behind Angela, pairs of crimson eyes flickered as if reflecting the flames of this Hell destruction, revealing a mad obsession. To plunder all life and destroy everything was its sole thought and its only reason for existence.

"I love war."

Angela stepped on a woman's head, but the woman made no protest. Judging from her painful struggle and contorted appearance, she had already died in the previous Cloudkill.

"Destruction, bloodshed, death—war is not about who kills the most enemies, but about who survives... This is the law of the world; the survivors are the victors. The losers face only annihilation, with no other way out..."

As she spoke, Angela smiled and extended her right index finger, pointing towards the distant horizon shrouded in smoke. Her white hair fluttered in the fierce, hot wind, like the cloak of a goddess of war.

"By order of my master! Those who stand in my way shall die! Slay the enemy on sight! Whether old or young, man or woman! All shall perish! This is the clarion call of war! This is the true beginning of war! My most beloved pawns! Charge! Tear apart those living bodies, pluck their blood and lives! Annihilate everything! Slay the enemy on sight! Slay the enemy on sight! All living things shall die, without exception!"

At Angela's command, the naked Ghoul crawled forward at breakneck speed, flames burning their skin and revealing the muscles and bones beneath. But all of this meant nothing to the dead. They were not afraid of fire, nor of poison gas; they were not afraid of death, nor of life itself. They formed a tidal wave of death, a dark cloud, launching a complete invasion into the world of the living.

The front lines are in dire need of attention!

Along with the bombing, the Five-Nation Alliance also received almost identical distress calls. Although their contents differed, they all conveyed the same message: all the cities and military fortresses on the front lines had been completely destroyed, with no survivors.

At that moment, everyone realized that the Magic Empire's counterattack had finally begun.

"Immediately dispatch troops to defend!"

Upon receiving the news, the Speaker of the Vila Federation Council immediately issued an order.

"All troops are on high alert! They must not be allowed to breach our defenses!"

"Report!!"

A soldier rushed into the parliament hall, adding fuel to the fire in the already chaotic hall.

"A strange army of about 100,000 has been discovered at Kasel Fortress! Contact is imminent!"

"!!!"

The hall fell silent immediately, then descended into chaos once more.

"Are you kidding me? Kasel Fortress is deep within the Federation, our third line of defense. How did they get past the first two lines? Why didn't we receive a single tip?"

"Their target is clearly us! Evacuate immediately, evacuate from here!"

"Tell the commander in Kasel to hold the line at all costs! Failure is absolutely not an option!"

Faced with this chaotic situation, the old council speaker let out a long sigh. He looked at the councilors who were arguing and issuing chaotic orders at the same time, and sighed deeply.

We can't leave.

The old council speaker's voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears.

"We are the Vila Federation Council, and this is the council hall, the center of our Federation. We cannot leave here, otherwise, we will have already lost. We were all elected by our beloved people to sit here..." As he spoke, the old councilor slowly moved his gaze, sweeping over everyone in the hall.

"And now, we're going to abandon them and leave? I don't know what you're thinking, but I can't do it... If any of you want to leave, then go ahead. I won't go... I'll stay and resist the invasion of the Magic Empire. This is our land, our home, and we will absolutely not allow those invaders to act with impunity!"

At this point, the old council speaker slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone.

"... Those who want to stay and help me, please stay. The rest of you who want to leave, please leave. After all, you have your own considerations and judgments. I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I feel that this is the only way I can do it."

"..."

Silence.

Gradually, some people stood up, bowed to the old council speaker, and left without looking back. Others remained seated at the table, motionless. They watched everything unfold before them, with no time or opportunity to think. Right now, time was everything. They were unaware that although Li Lin could use the floating city to descend directly above them, Li Lin had decided to use the oldest and most direct method to tell the Five-Nation Alliance that the debt they had incurred needed to be repaid in a more direct way.

Finally, only one-third of the people remained in the huge council hall; the rest had already left.

"So... you're all mentally prepared?"

The old council speaker looked at these faces, some young and some old, and couldn't help but smile.

"I'm already old, and I'll die anywhere anyway. At least dying for my country will earn me a good reputation. You guys are so young..."

"I don't want to be recorded in history books... as a deserter."

A young general, smiling, interrupted the old councilor.

"I don't want to hear future generations talking about how 'the old council chairman single-handedly resisted the invasion of the Magic Empire, while his generals ran away faster than rabbits.' Besides, I am a general, but before that, I was just a soldier... Soldiers exist to defend their country."

"You little rascal..."

The old council speaker shook his head helplessly, looked at him with a wry smile, and then asked with a solemn expression.

"To be honest, what are our chances of winning right now?"

"It's hard to say, I can only say I don't know."

The general immediately straightened his expression and replied.

"We never knew what methods or soldiers the Magic Empire would use in battle. But all we know is that their primary target is definitely here. The Federation Council... If they destroy us, the Five-Nation Alliance will be rendered meaningless. Without us and without the Federation Council, the Five-Nation Alliance will immediately collapse. Therefore, I believe this is why they launched their attack on us so swiftly."

Do you have any good suggestions?

"Gasel Fortress must be defended at all costs. We must mobilize all available troops to heavily defend all routes from Gasel Fortress to here... and... Your Excellency the Speaker of the Council."

With that, the general stood up.

"I think we must use what our ancestors left us."