Goddess Kaleidoscope

This reason was not believed by most people in the Empire, but the Empire's power was too great. Only the Holy Church of Light dared to stand up and verbally condemn it. Other regional sects and small and medium-sized countries dared not utter a word, fearing that after the Empire finished fighting Duran, it would take care of them as well.

However, the arrogant empire, accustomed to blatantly lying, had encountered someone even more shameless than themselves this time. Lord-level monsters were not human states; the threat of hegemony meant nothing to them.

If the two sides really go to war, the Empire actually has the ability to destroy these behemoths, but the problem is that if these flying creatures don't fight to the death and run away when things go wrong, the Empire really can't stop them.

The empire's legion commander was furious, while at the same time, the Northern Alliance army had already advanced in three columns as planned.

One force was a ragtag coalition led by Earl Ramley, which incorporated other troops along the way and had already amassed nearly eight thousand men. They marched in a mighty procession toward Yodl Fortress, drawing the attention of the Imperial army and making them mistakenly believe that this motley crew was the Northern Coalition.

The other force was a mobile cavalry unit, personally led by Rodriguez, with his two deputies, Sharo and Ados, on his side. They planned to bypass the invading Imperial army by long-distance raid and go directly into Imperial territory to cause trouble.

Before the cavalry set off, Ludd performed a ritual to obtain the blessing of the war god Sulla for them. The entire army of more than two thousand cavalrymen received a powerful boost of three times their marching speed and three times their stamina, greatly enhancing their strategic mobility.

In fact, with Sura's current strength as a second-tier god, her own divine power alone is not enough to provide such a powerful buff to so many cavalrymen. However, among the pantheon of gods, if Sura's own divine power is insufficient, she can borrow it from her other colleagues.

If the entire Pantheon is considered as a whole, then in terms of the total amount of divine power, the twelve goddesses (including Hugh) combined already have the power equivalent to a sixth-order god.

Besides the two routes mentioned above, the third route was mainly composed of infantry, with a total strength of 10,000 men. Lud himself was in this army. They planned to go to Yanmu City to relieve the siege, where there were still more than 10,000 besieged royal troops. In addition to the remnants of the southern nobles led by Duke Krud, the mage group of the Three Towers was also in the city.

The enemy forces besieging them included not only an imperial legion but also a royal mage contingent. It is said that Hamilton and Debra suffered considerable losses in their battles against them!

In the southern duchy of Krud, at the city of Flamewood, the siege by the Imperial army had lasted for seventeen days, with a brutal battle raging daily. The deafening shouts of battle from both sides on the city walls were clearly audible even to Duke Krud, who was in the banquet hall of his own mansion.

The Duke couldn't help but worry about his eldest son Jacob, who was commanding the army from the city walls, but he had more important matters to attend to at the moment.

Duke Kruder casually flicked the blood off his sword, wiped it on the sleeve of his expensive formal attire without a care, then stepped over a still-twitching corpse and stood before another group of trembling people, his cold expression making him look like an emotionless butcher.

"You bunch of traitors, is there anything else you want to say in the end?"

"Your Grace, Your Grace! You can't kill us! We are all nobles with high blood! Aren't you afraid that after the city falls, you won't be able to explain to the Empire?"

Among the subdued group, a stout old nobleman, in a trembling voice, tried to persuade Duke Krud to spare his group's lives. He seemed to have forgotten that less than thirty minutes earlier, this group of surrendering nobles had tried to unite to "behead" the Duke so that they could open the city gates and welcome the "imperial army" from outside.

As a result, this group of self-righteous surrendered nobles had no idea that Duke Crude knew everything about their every move. He then turned the tables on them, luring out these treacherous traitors and capturing them all in one fell swoop.

Seeing that these traitorous dogs were about to die, yet showed no remorse whatsoever, and even thought that invoking the name of the Empire would make him hesitate to act, the Duke was so angry that he laughed on the spot.

"An explanation? I do need an explanation, but not to the Imperials. I can't explain to the King without killing you sons of bitches."

Without uttering another word, the Duke coldly sneered and chopped off fifteen heads with his sword before stopping. He then ordered his men to take these dog heads out and display them in the street so that the soldiers and civilians in the city could see the consequences of being a traitor.

After executing the scum, the Duke turned to look at another group of people standing in the corner of the hall, and couldn't help but feel a bit absurd. The kingdom's nobles were willing to grovel before their enemies, while a bunch of lowly scoundrels were standing up to fight alongside him. This world was truly surreal!

"Gentlemen, thanks to your timely tip-off, I, the Duke, owe your Brotherhood a favor."

"Sir, it's not a matter of personal favors. We've lived in Yanmu City for many years, and our lives and fortunes are tied to this place. This is simply our duty. Also, please allow me to correct you a little: we're no longer called the Brotherhood, but Brotherhood Films, and we're doing legitimate business!"

"Haha! Anyway, thank you all for this."

After watching the "helpful citizens" leave, the Duke, feeling a little better, went outside, where his personal guards were cleaning up the battlefield.

The surrendered nobles he had previously beheaded did not come unprepared; instead, they brought with them a number of secretly trained "death warriors," numbering over a hundred, including not only warriors but also magicians.

If we hadn't received prior notice and made the necessary preparations, including bringing in two top experts to oversee the operation, the losses would likely have been much greater.

Most of the assassins were killed on the spot by the Duke's guards, but a few were captured alive, all of them mages. The ones who captured them were none other than Hamilton and Debra from the Three-Man Tower.

The Three-Person Tower's mage corps is currently also besieged in Flamewood City. The Empire has dispatched an entire Royal Archmage Corps, whose captain and vice-captain are both top-tier powerhouses at the Grand Archmage level. Their strength is comparable to Hamilton and Debra, but they cannot withstand the fact that the Royal Archmage Corps has three hundred members, more than twice the number of the Three-Person Tower's mage corps, and their equipment is also better.

As a result, the three-man tower was completely suppressed by the opponent, and the unlucky Hamilton was the main target. If it weren't for Hamilton unleashing his hidden weapon at the critical moment—two "cherry bombs" given to him by his apprentice Dave, which caught the enemy captain off guard, the old bastard (who is no longer bald) might have died on the battlefield.

Although the old mage suffered a setback on the battlefield and was even internally injured by the enemy, he still had no problem helping to deal with a few small fry.

In fact, these "death squad" magicians immediately knelt down upon seeing Hamilton and Debra appear together. They knew their own limitations; these two powerful figures could easily wipe them out.

"Those who aren't dead are all here. What are you going to do with them?"

"Kill them all, so there will be no future trouble."

"it is good."

With just a few words, Duke Kruder decided the orders for these mages. He did not hesitate at all. To defend Flamewood City, he had to show a ruthless and cold-blooded iron fist. Only in this way could he deter those treacherous traitors and those with weak wills.

Now, Yanmu City is an isolated fortress. None of the intelligence brought in by the messenger ravens is good news. The Duke really can't figure out where the Kingdom of Duran can find any more reinforcements that can turn the tide at this time.

Hamilton, however, told him not to give up hope, because he knew a man favored by the gods!

"Masters, do you really believe that the Northern Lord can muster a large enough army to support the Southern Lord this season?"

"It definitely will."

It seemed as if fate had its own plan. To prove Hamilton's words true, as soon as he finished speaking, a melodious horn sounded outside the city, followed by a response from inside the city.

Duke Krud looked up in surprise in the direction from which the sound came, because the horn was a way for the kingdom to confirm the identity of friendly forces.

"Holy crap! They're really here? And so quickly!"

At this moment, the soldiers of the two armies who were "interacting intimately" on the city wall of Yanmu City were also attracted by the sound of the horn and stopped fighting at the same time.

Jacob, who was leading the charge and chopping people on the wall, looked in the direction of the sound and saw an army bearing the flag of the King of Durand emerging from the woods to the east. The army quickly formed two rows of eight square formations, which looked to be at least tens of thousands of people.

The appearance of this kingdom's army greatly alarmed the commander of the imperial legion, who immediately ordered the attacking troops to cease their assault and begin a retreat to consolidate their lines in order to avoid being ambushed from the flanks.

"Cavalry! Send our cavalry forward to fight for the infantry's regrouping! Catapults, turn around and load stone projectiles!"

Under the command of the corps commander, the imperial army quickly adjusted its formation and sent men forward to challenge the seemingly elite royal army, trying to find out which lord's troops they belonged to.

The empire had done extensive preparatory work for this large-scale invasion, especially in terms of intelligence, by compiling a list of the number of troops that almost every lord in the kingdom could muster.

Theoretically speaking, even the Dukedom of Kruder, which maintains a high state of combat readiness year-round, is not capable of maintaining a standing army of tens of thousands.

Unless it's a coalition of several lords, but in the eyes of the Imperial Army, a coalition formed in this way is just a loosely organized rabble and could never reach the level of the enemy.

In a sense, the corps commander did indeed deduce the truth. The kingdom's army that appeared before him was indeed a coalition of troops from multiple lords, but it had undergone nearly a month of training beforehand, and most importantly, it had unified its command system.

Although they were still somewhat inferior to the imperial army, they at least looked much more presentable than the armies of other kingdoms, which made the legion commander feel wary of them at first glance.

It feels like you're in a chicken coop having a massive battle when suddenly a giant goose jumps out from the side – you're bound to get a fright!

At this moment, the army that had suddenly appeared had completed its formation. When the legion commander saw that the opposing force consisted almost entirely of infantry with very few cavalrymen, he felt a little relieved. Although most of his cavalry force had been transferred away by the main force, at least he had been left with a thousand cavalrymen.

This mobile force was the first to meet the enemy, but it did not rashly charge the opposing infantry formation, mainly to buy time for the Imperial infantry behind to regroup.

The opposing troops also seemed wary of these cavalry, and their phalanx advanced very slowly. In the end, they simply stopped about a kilometer away from the Imperial army's line and formed a fan-shaped defensive formation.

Seeing this, the Imperial Army corps commander was completely relieved. The cautious and timid demeanor of the other side almost made him laugh.

"Huh! That's it?"

At this moment, the corps commander's adjutant stepped forward, pointed at the army opposite, and laughed.

"General, look! Another clumsy imitator of the Imperial Army. These ignorant northern barbarians can only learn the outward form, but they can't grasp the true essence at all. They think that a bunch of monkeys standing in a line like humans is an infantry square formation. How laughable!"

"Hehe! You can't say that. Although it's like picking the tallest among a bunch of dwarfs, it's already considered good among imitators. Once we catch the commander on the other side, I'll treat him to a drink."

Soon, the well-trained Imperial soldiers reorganized their formation, and they still had a clear numerical advantage.

The legion commander calmly gazed at the opposite side, then looked towards the direction of Yanmu City. The remnants of the defeated soldiers in the city, who were useless except for their stubbornness, seemed to have some ideas, but the legion commander didn't take them seriously at all. He even hoped that they would muster the courage to go out of the city to support the reinforcements, which would make it easier for him to wipe out the kingdom's army in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, on the side of the kingdom's reinforcements, the legion commander saw something being arranged in the center of the army formation from afar. The two sides were more than a thousand meters apart. The legion commander was curious but couldn't see clearly, so he took out the binoculars personally bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor and looked across.

He happened to spot a dwarf soldier who was crouching next to a dark "big stick" and giving him a thumbs up.

On the Northern Alliance side, the artillery had completed its firing preparations. Looking at the Imperial Legion standing in dense formations, Lud couldn't help but silently mourn for those Imperial soldiers for a second.

"I bet those imperialists are laughing at us right now, thinking we're cowards."

"Let them laugh then. When the shells fall on their heads, it will be too late to cry."

Beside Lud, the dwarf chieftain Gulig and the high priest Winnig were grinning wickedly at the opposite side. The Imperials' reaction proved that they were completely unaware of their "secret weapon," otherwise they would never have stood so brazenly within the reach of Truth.

Compared to traditional heavy weapons like catapults and ballistae, the greatest advantage of artillery is not its power, but its unparalleled range, capable of effectively striking targets over a kilometer away. At this distance, the Imperial legions have no means to effectively threaten them and can only take hits!

The opposing side was truly coordinated, with their ranks densely packed and a group of men, presumably the commander of the legion, brazenly standing together on a small mound. The leading general, clad in flamboyant, reflective gold armor, stood with soldiers behind him aloft the imperial flag, making him as conspicuous as a lone star in the night sky.

So out of respect for the brave, the first round of firepower was aimed right at his head.

Once the artillery was ready, Gulig forcefully waved the command flag and roared at the top of his lungs in his deafening voice.

"For the creation of the Three Goddesses, for the Goddess of War Sura, fire!"

With Gulig's roar, twenty 75mm cannons and ten 150mm cannons opened fire simultaneously. The Imperial army opposite them was initially puzzled by the sound of the cannons, but soon some sharp-eyed people saw many black balls with thin "white lines" flying towards them in the air.

Since the cannonballs didn't look very big, much smaller than the stone balls thrown by large catapults, many soldiers, although surprised that these things could fly so far, didn't consider the cannonballs a big threat and simply raised their shields to block them.

The corps commander also saw the cannonballs flying towards him. He frowned slightly, but did not dodge because he had a mage accompanying him. The mage had already set up a magical barrier, so ordinary stones and arrows could not hurt him.

"This thing can hit pretty far, it's quite impressive..."

Before the corps commander could finish speaking, dozens of cannonballs rained down on the location where he and his officers were. The cannonballs exploded the moment they hit the magical barrier, which easily deflected arrows and shattered instantly. The flames engulfed everything on the small hill in an instant.

The shockwave from the explosion affected almost the entire army formation, causing chaos and disarray. Many soldiers, completely unaware of what was happening, fell face-first to the ground.

As the smoke cleared, the Imperial soldiers who hadn't been swept away by the artillery fire were astonished to see that the small hill where the corps commander had stood had been turned into a flat, pitted area, and the corps commander and his senior officers had all vanished without a trace.

What's going on? Where's the corps commander? We just put him here, where did such a big corps commander go?!

No one expected that the corps commander, who was in the very center of the army formation, would be the first to be killed. Before they could recover from their shock, the second round of artillery fire came. This time, the soldiers did not remain unresponsive. Instead, they scrambled for cover in a panic, and the once orderly army formation was thrown into complete chaos.

"Haha! Well done! Don't be stingy with the shells, bomb these bastards to death!"

Watching the Imperial Legion being blown to pieces by the artillery fire, Gulig and the other dwarves were incredibly excited, as happy as a bunch of kids throwing firecrackers into a latrine.

At this moment, the Imperial cavalry, positioned in the middle of the two infantry formations, finally came to their senses. Watching the cannonballs fly directly over their heads, turning the infantry behind them into chicken pieces, the cavalry commander disregarded everything else and immediately ordered the entire army to charge, heading straight for the enemy formation.

It must be said that the commander of this imperial cavalry was indeed a brave and resourceful general, making the right decision at the first moment and charging ahead at the forefront. Seeing their commander so valiant, the soldiers below were naturally inspired to unleash their courage as well.

The sheer force of the thousand cavalry charging instilled fear in even the soldiers of the Northern Alliance, and some less resolute soldiers even subconsciously considered turning back and fleeing.

Fortunately, Ludwig delivered a timely and widespread emotional reassurance, which stabilized the wavering morale of the troops.

"As expected of the world's strongest nation, the quality of its soldiers alone is far superior to that of the kingdom's noble private armies. It's a pity... times are changing!"

He secretly admired the elite Imperial Legion's prowess. If it weren't for the variables brought by Lud, the Kingdom of Duran, even if it hadn't been destroyed, would probably have been crippled and ultimately couldn't escape being completely wiped out.

Just as the Imperial cavalry was about to charge, the artillery, which was prepared in advance, quickly adjusted its angle and leveled the muzzle. The heavy cannons were loaded with exploding shells, while the light cannons were loaded with solid shot. Before the cavalry got close, they fired another salvo, like a big siege, which directly stunned the aggressive Imperial cavalry.

The cavalry commander, who was leading the charge, heard a burst of cannon fire from the opposite side, and dozens of iron balls of various sizes flew toward him. They didn't seem to be flying very fast; some of the low-angled projectiles even landed prematurely and bounced up in the wasteland.

Upon seeing this, the cavalry commander instinctively swung his lance, trying to deflect the seemingly harmless bullet. With his skill, hitting the bullet with his lance would not have been difficult. However, the moment the lance made contact with the iron ball, the commander suddenly felt a terrifying force that instantly shattered his iron-clad wooden lance and then snapped one of his horse's legs.

The cavalry commander heard his beloved horse let out a mournful cry before it collapsed to the ground, throwing him off its back.

With just one round of artillery fire, the charge of thousands of cavalrymen was utterly destroyed!