The story of the black silk female knight

"Yes!"

The Vermilion Birds of the Central Continent Empire flew very fast, covering a distance of a kilometer in just over 20 seconds, and arrived above the city walls of the allied forces.

At this time, the allied mages had just received their orders and had not yet been able to provide support, so the soldiers could only try to shoot the Vermilion Birds with their magic Gauss rifles.

Unexpectedly, those Vermilion Birds didn't even try to dodge. They seemed to be pure flames, and even if a large hole was pierced by a steel nail, they could repair it in the blink of an eye.

It's very similar to the situation when the powerful experts of the Central Continent Empire used flying swords to attack the Mist Demon carrier-based aircraft.

Then these Vermilion Birds swooped down and charged at the Allied soldiers, easily setting their armor on fire like kindling dipped in oil, turning them into human torches.

"what!"

The intense heat burning flesh was clearly extremely painful. The allied soldiers, ignited by the Vermilion Bird, screamed and rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies, but to no avail.

In less than half a minute, the entire allied city wall was almost turned into a sea of ​​fire, and tens of thousands of allied soldiers fell in the flames.

At this moment, the allied forces' mage reinforcements finally arrived, and they attacked Suzaku with various water and ice spells in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

Unexpectedly, it was completely useless.

Water bullets will evaporate instantly upon hitting Suzaku, and ice will also be torn apart by Suzaku.

Even a blizzard summoned by a Star-level witch couldn't bring down a single one of the Vermilion Birds flying all over the sky; instead, her own skirt was set ablaze by the Vermilion Bird's flames.

Afterwards, the witch tried various methods to put out the fire in a short period of time, but she failed to extinguish the flames on the dress. Instead, the entire dress was burned off, and her beautiful legs were also in a terrible state.

Seeing that the flames were about to reach her upper body, this witch was quite ruthless. She used an ice sword to cut herself in half at the waist, then used wind magic to keep her upper body moving quickly away. At the same time, she used ice magic to freeze the wound to prevent excessive blood loss, and only then did she manage to save her life and avoid being burned to death by the flames.

This scene also caught the eye of the general in sunglasses, making his face turn very ugly.

"A flame that even a Radiant-rank ice spell couldn't extinguish... Truly worthy of being called a powerful empire capable of unifying the continent, not to be underestimated."

After a sigh and a muttered command, the general in sunglasses issued a new order without hesitation:

"Retreat! Abandon the defense of the city walls and switch to trap warfare and guerrilla warfare... We cannot let the soldiers sacrifice themselves in vain until we find a way to deal with that strange flame."

"Yes!"

The allied soldiers on the city wall who had not yet been affected by the Vermilion Bird's flames all crawled into the tunnels to hide after receiving orders, completely abandoning their defense.

On the other side, Xiao Hu, who witnessed this scene from Xuanwu, burst into laughter. He, who had been at a disadvantage since the start of the battle, had finally turned the tide.

"Barbarians are indeed just barbarians! How could sand and ice water extinguish the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire?"

After the allied forces abandoned the city walls, the soldiers of the Central Continent Empire finally completed their charge.

However, they were also very cautious about the Vermilion Bird Fire burning fiercely on the city wall. Even generals with the strength of the Shining Rank did not dare to approach easily and instead went around it.

As they completely breached the city walls, the mechanical behemoth Xuanwu finally reached the shore.

This enormous mobile fortress is indeed amphibious; its four tortoise-leg-like structures allow Xuanwu to walk on land... though at a very slow speed.

The 50-meter-high city wall was no match for Xuanwu.

There was no need for the magical bombardment used when bombarding the eastern mountains of the Witch's Forest. Xuanwu simply rammed its body into the wall, creating a huge breach.

Xuanwu continued forward, clearly intending to take over Sword Island completely. The soldiers who had attacked the city walls earlier scattered and charged again to clear a path for Xuanwu.

As soon as any Allied soldier peeked out of the tunnel to try and snipe a Central Empire soldier, Suzaku would immediately swoop down.

Unless the Allied soldiers can immediately retreat back into the tunnels and seal the lids, they will only face the fate of being burned alive in the flames.

The Vermilion Birds did consider pursuing them into the tunnels, but firstly, the tunnel covers were very thick, and secondly, there were many brave soldiers among the Allied forces.

The Allied soldiers knew very well that if the Vermilion Bird flew into the tunnel, hundreds of their comrades inside would likely be burned alive.

Therefore, whenever Suzaku was about to enter the tunnel entrance, brave Allied soldiers would rush out to stop him, transforming themselves into fire and using their last strength to run away to avoid implicating their comrades.

This situation left the allied soldiers on Sword Island feeling extremely frustrated. Many of the powerful warriors at the Radiant Rank wanted to rush out and fight the Central Continent Empire, but they were all firmly suppressed by the Admiral in Sunglasses.

Not only did he prevent the Allied soldiers from being sent to their deaths again, the Admiral in sunglasses also ordered the soldiers to begin an orderly withdrawal from Sword Island, boarding ships on the west side of the island to evacuate, clearly indicating that he intended to abandon Sword Island.

There's no way to counter the Vermilion Bird's Flame right now. Even a Radiant Witch whose skirt is set ablaze can only manage to cut herself in half to barely save her life, let alone an ordinary soldier.

The city walls have already fallen. Although the traps and landmines on the island have killed a considerable number of ordinary soldiers of the Central Continent Empire, they are insignificant in the face of the massive Xuanwu Fortress and will be crushed sooner or later.

In this situation, it's pointless to fight to the death. The most important thing is to preserve your strength, gather intelligence, and retreat to prepare for the next battle.

Tia also agreed with the judgment made by the Admiral in Sunglasses, and Valensa even asked the ship girls to find a way to support the evacuation of the Allied forces on Sword Island.

At this time, the aircraft carriers and destroyers among the ship girls were still using carrier-based aircraft and missiles to launch long-range attacks to suppress the Central Continent Empire fleet with firepower. Only the battleships could provide support.

Four battleships, each equipped with five or more triple-mounted main guns, sailed at full speed and finally arrived at a distance of about 30 kilometers west of Sword Island, where they formed a single column formation.

Then came the sound of artillery fire.

According to the development of a truly technologically advanced navy, compared with aircraft carriers and missile destroyers, battleships should only be relics of the past, and giant ships and cannons should only be a matter of nostalgia.

To balance this, that ship girl game added a feature where battleships would fire special barrages when their main guns were fired.

When a high-level fog demon transforms into a ship girl, it's impossible to do even this, but magic truly exists in this world.

Like the torpedoes carried on those special carrier-based aircraft, the shells fired by these battleships were all magically enhanced... and there was no explosive in the shells at all.

Tia didn't participate much in the production of these cannonballs; they were all made by the sages and witches according to their own preferences.

Each cannonball contains the most prized spell of a Radiant Witch or Sage.

Chapter 70 Evidence? Can you afford it?

Boom boom boom!

As the battleship girls' shells continued to explode on Sword Island, various spells also enveloped the Central Continent Empire's army.

There are cold-weather storms that continuously smash down huge ice spikes, rains of fire that can melt even steel, chain lightning that is so blinding it can cause instant blindness, and earthquakes that completely destroy the terrain.

The freezing temperatures made steel as fragile as paper, and the fire completely blocked the roads.

Lightning bolts leaped and weaved between the armor of soldiers and generals, each crackling sound sending soldiers of the Central Continent Empire crashing down with screams of agony.

Even the unstoppable amphibious mobile fortress Xuanwu was unable to move because its feet were stuck in a sinkhole created by earth magic.

The soldiers of the Central Continent Empire were eager to pursue the allied forces further and expand their gains, but under the powerful firepower of the naval cannons, they could only watch helplessly as the allied soldiers retreated.

Some of Xiao Hu's more aggressive generals immediately volunteered to lead a forceful pursuit, but Xiao Hu stopped them.

There's no need to pursue it too relentlessly.

As Xiao Hu said this, he also pointed to the carrier-based aircraft that were still dropping bombs over the fleet and the incoming missiles:

"Don't forget that these issues haven't been resolved yet... Before Prime Minister Turtle gets the Sun Church to stop the Barbarian Continent from using these weapons through diplomatic means, we can't kill the Barbarians too ruthlessly... Otherwise, if the Barbarians become reckless and use the same kind of attack again, we will suffer heavy losses as well."

The Celestial Beings, who have been defending against these attacks in the air, are exhausted, and many of them have suffered injuries that are far from minor... We also need time to rest and recuperate.

"The commander is right."

Several advisors immediately echoed Xiao Hu's words, and then tentatively asked:

"So, General, what are your next plans?"

"First, we need to take over this island and stabilize it."

Xiao Hu thought for a moment and said:

"Although Xuanwu is large, its capacity is ultimately limited... We must establish a boundary array as soon as possible to connect with the empire's homeland and ensure logistical support."

Meanwhile, let the wounded soldiers rest and recuperate... As for continuing the attack, we can wait until we have a result from Prime Minister Turtle's side."

"Yes, Commander!"

Thus, three of the main forces of the fleet personally led by Xiao Hu landed deep into Sword Island to fight, while the remaining ten Xuanwu were on the coast of Sword Island, gradually driving the allied forces led by Admiral Sunglasses off the island and occupying Sword Island.

After that, they did not continue their attack. Instead, they used Xuanwu to spew out a large amount of misty breath, which shrouded the entire Sword Island in white smoke, making it difficult for outsiders to see the details inside.

The ship girls' carrier-based aircraft and missiles continue to launch attacks, but their firepower is clearly insufficient without nuclear warheads.

It can harass and restrain the Central Continent Empire's fleet to some extent, but it can no longer break through the firepower network composed of Radiant-rank experts and flying sword formations, so its lethality is limited.

After seeing this, Himika discussed it with the Chiba sisters, Chiba Shin and Chiba Rui, and suggested that they simply continue to use nuclear bombs. At worst, they could give up Sword Island or rebuild it completely after the war.

Tia smiled and declined the offer, saying that it was best to keep things as they were and that she had her own plans.

Therefore, after withdrawing from Sword Island, the Second and Third Fleets led by Admiral Sunglasses did not go to other islands to participate in the defense. Instead, they formed a battle formation about 20 kilometers west of Sword Island, confronting the main fleet of the Central Continent Empire, which had occupied Sword Island.

. . . . .

While Xiao Hu led most of the Central Continent Empire's fleet to attack the Four Islands Alliance, the area where the Sage's Tower was located in the northeast corner of the Frenoia continent, as well as three towns on the southern coast of Fran, were also attacked by the Central Continent Empire's fleet.

The 11 Xuanwu and more than 200 Lanternfish warships attacking the Sage's Tower were all commanded by Xiao Hu's most trusted deputy general, and many traitors from the Sage's Tower served as advisors and guides. They were determined to take down the Sage's Tower first.

Among those traitors to the Sage's Tower were many former bigwigs who were very familiar with the Sage's Tower's spells and defense mechanisms. They had made many preparations in advance and had also trained the soldiers of the Central Continent Empire who were attacking the Sage's Tower multiple times, teaching them how to deal with the Sage's Tower's attack spells.

However, when Xuanwu led the lanternfish warship into the northeastern waters of the Frenoia continent, the various forbidden spell attacks that were expected to be launched by the Sage Tower did not come at all.

Even though Xuanwu has begun landing on the northeastern corner of the Frenoia continent, no one from the Sage's Tower has come out to fight back?

what's the situation?

Xiao Hu's deputy general and the traitors of the Sage Tower were all surprised by this, and they hurriedly used magic to launch a probing attack on the Sage Tower.

The Sage Tower then reacted—an indestructible magical shield appeared, blocking all the probing attacks from the Central Continent Empire fleet.

If the Central Continent Empire fleet continues its all-out attack, the Sage's Tower will most likely be unable to withstand it.

However, the Central Continent Empire fleet's objective in attacking the Sage's Tower was to seize and occupy it, not to destroy it. They wanted the wealth and technology within the Sage's Tower, not a pile of ruins.

So after a brief hesitation, the Central Continent Empire fleet decided to continue its advance.

After the lanternfish warship docked, the generals and soldiers disembarked and walked on foot, while Xuanwu activated its land-walking mode and moved slowly and heavily across the land.

Such a marching speed was certainly not fast. By the time the battle on Sword Island was coming to an end, the Central Continent Empire's army had only just surrounded the Sage's Tower.

Although the Sage Tower remained strangely silent, Xiao Hu's lieutenant and the traitors within the Sage Tower were still confident of taking it down.

The elite soldiers of the Central Continent Empire were far more powerful than the apprentices of the Sage's Tower, and the Central Continent Empire's fleet also had a greater number of strong individuals. In addition, there were traitors in the Sage's Tower... They couldn't imagine how they could lose.

Until that power suddenly appeared, enveloping everything around the Sage's Tower.

It is the false divine power of the core ground stake.

The once neatly organized fleet was instantly torn apart, with each Xuanwu thrown into different alien worlds to face different dangerous environments and powerful alien creatures.

The origin of the false god's corpse in the core pillar of the Sage's Tower remains a mystery, but its immense power is undeniable; it can instantly throw any being that cannot resist the rules into another world.

During the time when the Great Sage ruled the Sage's Tower, the use of this power was extremely cautious. It was only used for shallow exploration of other worlds, and the weaponization of this power was absolutely forbidden.

But the Great Sage is dead, and the people who are now in charge of the Sage's Tower are all young and daring.

For example, Tia is a typical example... Although she is now a witch, she is also the supreme commander of the Allied Forces and a student of the Seventh Sage, and has a great influence on the Sage Tower.

After anticipating that the Central Continent Empire would not let go of the Sage's wealth, Tia immediately proposed the idea of ​​weaponizing the pseudo-divine power in the core foundation pile, which received support from many people.

In fact, those sages in the Sage's Tower who had some understanding of the core foundation pillars had long been interested in the pseudo-divine powers within, but they had been suppressed by the Great Sage and unable to conduct in-depth research.

Now that the Great Sage is dead, and with a compelling reason to oppose the Central Continent Empire, the Sages naturally followed their curiosity and further developed and utilized the core foundation.

Although there were quite a few unexpected incidents during the process, they all ended without serious consequences, and we have achieved this result today.

The principle is roughly to recreate what happened on the day Valencia rescued the Sage's Tower, actively stimulating the false god's power to go berserk, and even making the berserk effect stronger, but it is still controllable to some extent.

Everything within a certain radius of the Sage's Tower will be thrown into the alternate world pre-designed by the Sages after the false god's power goes berserk.

Of course, during the rampage of the false god's power, the sages in the Sage Tower could not leave either. They had to constantly monitor the various data of the rampage of the false god's power and make real-time adjustments... Otherwise, the worst-case scenario would be to trigger a large-scale spatial turbulence, completely destroying the northeastern corner of the entire Frenoia continent.

In short, the battle here is essentially a pawn exchange between the two sides. The Sage Tower and the 11 Xuanwu's combat power are temporarily locked here and cannot affect other places.

. . . . .

The third battlefield was the three Xuanwu that originally intended to blast open the mountains and flood the Witch's Forest, but after failing, they changed their strategy and attacked the coastal towns in southern Fran.

These three Xuanwu and their accompanying 50-plus Lanternfish warships, which had been sailing along the southern coast of the Frenoia continent, were fortunate enough to escape a nuclear attack.

Nuclear weapons are very powerful, but they are also too easy to accidentally harm one's own people and damage the environment.

In addition, the combined forces of the three Xuanwu and more than 50 Lanternfish warships were not very strong. After thinking it over, Tia decided to hand this wave of enemies over to the coastal defense forces deployed by the Allied Forces along the Fran coast to deal with.

The allied forces deployed along the southern coast of France consisted almost entirely of veterans who had defended the northern fortresses against the invasion of wild beasts. Each of them was highly experienced in combat and possessed strong fighting capabilities.

The number of Radiant-Rank experts was also greater than that of the Central Continent Empire fleet. In addition, there were many elite adventurers who volunteered to provide support. If we were to quantify the combat strength of the allied forces and the Central Continent Empire fleet on this battlefield, it would be roughly 7 to 3, giving them a significant advantage.

Indeed, the three Xuanwu and more than 50 Lanternfish warships were met with a crushing defeat during the landing operation.

The Lanternfish warship was badly damaged by the shore-based electromagnetic guns while still in the water. Many soldiers and generals on board swam ashore to continue the attack after the ship was destroyed.

Xuanwu's defenses are not afraid of coastal electromagnetic guns, allowing it to force its way onto land. However, its size and weight make it very slow to move on land, making it a perfect target for powerful warriors of the Shining Rank.

Although the defensive power of the Aura of Misty Breath is difficult for even a Radiant-rank expert to break through, the moves of a Radiant-rank expert are also much more flexible.