You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

With this sudden movement, the enemy troops on the left flank rushed forward as if they had run into a swamp of gas. Several fell and began to convulse, while the rear ranks, seeing that the situation was not good, scattered immediately.

The right flank fared no better. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the wasteland cavalry charged diagonally from the side, cutting down a large number of them with their swords and horses.

The tide of battle turned instantly.

But Ron knew this was not the end.

He took a step forward and whispered:

"The enemy's main force hasn't moved yet."

"Bacchus, he's definitely hiding something."

The winds of the Iron Bone Wasteland never stopped, relentlessly swirling sand across the battlefield.

Ron appeared to have the upper hand in the battle, but as he stood on the high platform, his gaze never wavered as he looked at the enemy's main force, which remained motionless.

“Bacchus can’t be that honest.”

"He definitely has a backup plan."

Viser stood to the side, his face tense: "If he really sends another wave of men down, our formation will break."

"There aren't many soldiers left who can move left or right."

Ron didn't answer, but raised his hand and opened the control panel.

"Do you remember the 'Illusion Dispatch Module' we acquired in the City of Illusions last time?"

Viser paused for a moment: "You want to use that?"

"Now?"

Ron nodded: "Now."

……

five minutes later.

A new command channel appeared on the front command platform, and the messengers next to them were all startled when they saw the troop lines on the blueprints suddenly extending outwards.

"We...we have that many people?"

"No."

Viser said calmly, "That's fake."

"But the enemy won't know."

……

In the very center of the Iron Bones Wasteland.

The enemy commander, Moon, stood on the high slope with his last two thousand heavily armored infantrymen, preparing to give the order for a full-scale advance.

Just then, his eyelids twitched, and before he could even raise his hand, he saw a large group of figures suddenly appear in front of him.

Five rows, densely packed, emerged from both flanks of the battlefield, lined up in formation, banging their shields, and marching with measured steps, even the dust seemed to vibrate.

Moon instinctively stepped back, then looked up and saw three black flags with gold patterns fluttering in the distance.

That's Ron's main banner.

His expression changed instantly: "He has a reserve army?"

"How can it be!"

……

Rear Command Battalion.

Ron stood on the high platform, staring at the gray sand in front of him.

Those "million-strong armies" were merely projections of military formations generated by the illusionary command module, but under the cover of battlefield fog and sandstorms, they appeared exactly like real soldiers to the enemy.

He didn't rush to move these soldiers; he simply had them stand still, holding the line and maintaining their momentum.

That feeling of oppression was even more unbearable than a real fight.

The enemy stopped.

Moon watched as the front-line positions shifted slightly, but he didn't dare to actually push forward.

His mind started to race.

"Was he... prepared all along?"

"Have we... fallen into a trap?"

he does not know.

no one knows.

But he dared not move.

……

Just then, Ron moved.

He pointed to a section of the central line on the dispatch map and then said softly, "Open."

The previously silent rock wall defense regiment suddenly moved, with an entire shield formation pressing forward.

That wasn't a rush, but a "pressure".

They stepped firmly on the ground, each step like a hammer blow, causing the entire ground to resonate, as if an earth dragon were turning over.

The enemy commander on the front lines panicked and was about to give an order when a heavy shield flew horizontally towards them.

Boom——!

People were knocked away, flags fell to the ground, and the battle line completely collapsed.

The illusion soldiers pressed forward, leading bone snakes, cavalry, and poison-resistant squads in a full-scale advance.

The allied forces from the outer regions were in complete chaos.

……

As evening approached, the enemy began to retreat.

This retreat was not an orderly retreat, but a "defeat."

They threw off their armor and weapons along the way, not even taking the wounded with them, and just ran around everywhere.

Ron stood at the edge of the battlefield, looking at the devastation, and did not order a pursuit.

"Leave some room to breathe."

"We also want them to see that when they wake up tomorrow, we will still be here."

As Viser watched the figures gradually disappear, he asked, "Does this count as a victory?"

Ron didn't say whether they would win or lose, he just whispered:

"This is just the beginning."

The wind stopped.

The battlefield was unrealistically quiet, save for the occasional cough and the smell of burning armor and leather around the campfires.

Ron didn't return to camp; he just stood there without moving.

His armor was still covered in sand, and a bloodstain on his face stretched from the corner of his eye to his chin, looking horrifying, but he didn't care at all, only looking down at the bone blade broken in two on the ground.

He cleaved it himself during the battle.

The blows were too intense; the frame couldn't withstand them.

Viser came up carrying a bucket of water, sat down on the ground and gulped down a few mouthfuls, then looked up and asked him, "Guess how much we lost this time?"

"Of the eight bone snake formations, five have been destroyed."

"Thirty percent of the illusionary soldiers have been routed."

"The Rock Wall Defense Regiment suffered 217 casualties, 130 were evacuated, and only a little over 600 are still capable of fighting."

"But the enemy collapsed."

"The complete kind."

After listening, Ron simply said, "That's enough."

……

Half an hour later, Claudia arrived with the logistics team.

As soon as she entered the camp, she saw that the ground was littered with weapons and equipment thrown down by enemy soldiers, many of which were still new and some had not even been wiped dry.

She frowned and glanced around: "They really got away cleanly."

Viser turned over a corpse nearby and pulled out a bronze plaque.

"The Sixth Reorganized Army of the Outer Regions, the Mu En Direct Battalion."

"They're not ragtag soldiers, they're regular main force soldiers."

"The commander-in-chief is not dead, but he threw away the command order."

"Now, in the Ironbone Wasteland, no one can say 'this place doesn't belong to us' anymore."

Ron then turned around and walked back. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back and said, "Have someone clear the ground at the front line and turn over that collapsed area."

"I remember that area is the remnant of the old empire's constructions; maybe we can dig something out."

Viser immediately agreed and turned around to lead his men over.

……

Two hours later.

The excavation team reported that they had discovered an underground storage pit deep in the southern rock gully, with a large number of unfinished documents, remaining supplies, and an unactivated old-style conductive stone at the bottom of the pit.

When Ron arrived, the conductive stone had just been cleared out. The stone had a grayish-white protective shell on the outside, and after peeling it off, a ring of bluish light appeared in the middle.

He crouched down and gently tapped it with his knuckles.

The conductive stone lit up with a "hum".