Douluo 2: This Dragon God has too much martial virtue

Chapter 582 Siege
At the same time, the Xingluo royal family's request for help to the Douling Empire finally received a response, but the news shocked the emperor and all the ministers.

Not only did the Douling Empire offer no support to Xingluo, its current emperor publicly declared the Tianhun Empire the legitimate successor to the former Tiandou Empire and announced a merger with it. Thus, the Douling Empire, once one of the three kingdoms of Douluo Continent, was annihilated, becoming a vassal of the Tianhun Empire. Only a remnant of less than 100,000 soldiers, led by the former princess Xue Lingxun, escaped from Douling territory. This news brought no comfort to Xingluo Emperor Xu Jiawei. With an army of less than 100,000, including ordinary soldiers, the number of spirit masters was sparse, and spirit guides were even fewer. They had virtually no spirit guides to support the war. Compared to the hundreds of thousands of spirit guides of the Sun and Moon Empire, they were little more than cannon fodder.

The news of this tragedy spread throughout the Xingluo Empire. Everyone knew that the Tianhun Empire had already made it clear that it would not support the Xingluo Empire, and the fall of the Douling Empire meant that the Sun-Moon Empire would soon mobilize its entire military force to attack Xingluo. With Xingluo's current strength, it was simply unable to contend with the Sun-Moon Empire, and its demise seemed only a matter of time.

To make matters worse, Sun Moon Empire Marshal Juzi deliberately spread rumors that Dai Hao had angered the Heavenly Soul Empire, leading to their withdrawal. This statement not only sparked discontent among the royal family and nobles, but also among the people of Xingluo.

The Sun-Moon Empire also adjusted its tactics accordingly, no longer pursuing a frontal assault. Instead, it dispersed its forces, even using the Celestial Soul Empire as a route to encircle and compress Xing Luo territory from the Sun-Moon mainland, the Celestial Soul Empire, and the Douling Empire. They were not in a rush to launch a general offensive, but rather gradually eroded Xing Luo's territory.

Large swathes of the southern Xingluo Empire had already fallen, and other areas had also been lost. Currently, the Xingluo Empire only had actual control over a small area centered around Xingluo City. Over 80 percent of the territory had fallen into the hands of the Sun-Moon Empire.

Half a month ago, the army of the Sun-Moon Empire launched three fierce attacks in succession, and finally completed the semi-encirclement of Xingluo City.

After years of war with the original Douluo Kingdoms, the Sun-Moon Empire's soul guides have gained absolute dominance on the battlefield. With the invention of sealed, rechargeable soul guides, even ordinary people without soul power can now use them. In the near future, all ordinary soldiers will be equipped with a soul guide, all thanks to the development of high-energy compression array soul guides and their light energy utilization technology.

The Soul Guidance War was a battle of attrition, a competition between the two sides in the number of Soul Guidance Devices, energy reserves, and resources. Although the Xingluo Empire temporarily withstood the offensive, it was essentially using the strength of a single city to fight against the top military force of almost the entire continent.

As the Sun and Moon armies pressed forward, the millions of soldiers and civilians within Xingluo City lived in an atmosphere of extreme oppression every day. Fewer than 400,000 Xingluo troops remained; the remainder had either been annihilated or surrendered to the Sun and Moon Empire. The Sun and Moon Empire's troops besieging the city totaled a million, including eighteen Soul Master Corps, including the five elite "Hands of the Nation"—the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Master Corps, the Imperial Dragon Soul Master Corps, the Evil Lord Soul Master Corps, the Fire Phoenix Soul Master Corps, and the Terrorclaw Soul Master Corps—who formed the main force of the siege.

A large number of soul guide positions had already been deployed outside the city, including eight small high-energy compression array soul guides. For the past two weeks, they had been continuously storing light energy, ready to launch a devastating attack on Xingluo City at any time.

Xingluo City, the Royal Palace.

The hall was utterly silent. The Xingluo Emperor sat on his throne, his face pale and his eyes dull. His cracked lips and dark circles under his eyes betrayed the immense pressure he endured. Standing beneath him were the Xingluo Empire's civil and military officials, as well as Princess Jiujiu, a weary-looking woman in military uniform.

Princess Jiujiu was equally pale and haggard. Watching her homeland being devoured by the enemy, the pressure she endured was unimaginable. She regretted not marrying Princess Xu Yun to Dai Luoli back then; his elder brother, Huo Yuhao, held a prominent and influential position in the Dragon Pavilion. But Xu Yun, due to her arrogance, had spoken recklessly to Huo Yuhao, mocking Dai Luoli as a good-for-nothing. This not only failed to secure the marriage but also created enmity.

At this moment, Xu Yun herself finally realized this. As the most beloved little princess of the Xingluo royal family, at this critical moment of life and death, she rushed to the emperor and tearfully expressed her willingness to marry Dai Luoli.

"Alas... it's too late." The Xingluo Emperor sighed and slowly stood up from the throne. Even if they wanted to marry now, the other party might not accept.

"Your Majesty!" All the civil and military officials bowed at the same time, their voices trembling unconcealably.

Emperor Xu Jiawei waved his hand and said gravely, "We need not deceive ourselves any further. It is only a matter of time before Xingluo City is conquered. My dear ministers have assisted me over the years and have made great contributions. The failure of this war is due to the changing times. I consider myself diligent in government affairs, but the gap opened up by thousands of years of complacency is something we are aware of but unable to reverse. As the monarch, I alone bear the responsibility for these mistakes. My dear ministers, please stand up. You can leave Xingluo City with your families and join the Sun and Moon Empire. I will never blame you."

"Your Majesty!" A white-haired old minister cried out in grief, falling to the ground with tears streaming down his face. "Your Majesty, I swear to live and die with the Empire!"

Many of the ministers immediately knelt down, but many did not kneel, their eyes wandering. Princess Jiujiu was among them. She said solemnly, "Your Majesty, even if it takes every last soldier, we must live and die with the Xingluo Empire!"

Some officials who had long wanted to flee were startled. Who wants to live and die with you?!

Xu Jiawei shook his head. "I told you, there's no need to deceive yourself. I know exactly how dire the situation is right now, and you all know it too. Pass on my order to open the East and South Gates and let the civilians leave on their own. Those who wish to surrender must not be stopped."

Having said this, the Xingluo Emperor had clearly given up his last glimmer of hope. He absolutely did not want to be the kind of king who forced his subjects to live and die with the empire, only to have his own subordinates chop off their heads and present them to the enemy commander.

Who could be blamed now? When they'd initially antagonized Dragon Pavilion in order to curry favor with Shrek Academy, even expelling them from Xingluo City, they should have anticipated this day. But neither Xu Jiawei nor Xu Jiujiu had anticipated that those in Dragon Pavilion would say, "It's okay, we don't mind," but then turn their backs on them faster than turning the pages of a book.