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Among monstrous creatures, those with "dragon" in their bloodline are rarely lean. It can be said that while large size doesn't necessarily equate to great strength, those with immense power are never small in stature—whether carnivorous or herbivorous, their appetites are never modest. The dragon beasts and wyvern legions on the Eastern Front consume thousands of tons of meat and nearly ten thousand tons of fodder daily, which is why the Eastern Front's logistics have always been strained. Under normal circumstances, they could hunt for themselves or reduce consumption through torpor. But traversing the lifeless Gobi Desert over long distances would pose a logistical nightmare. Even if the journey's hardships were overcome, without prior preparation, the existing supplies at Broken Star Abyss might not be enough to feed these behemoths.

"Or... perhaps I could mobilize troops from the southern continent... No, that won't work. Even though this is the beastmen's operation, the elves of the southern continent would never hesitate to obstruct our reinforcements. After all, if the beastmen succeed, the southern continent's dynamics would shift from the elves facing both the Mercenary Empire and the Sixteen-Nation-Alliance to a three-way standoff between beastmen, elves, and humans. The elves are shrewd enough to see which scenario benefits them more." The young warlock buried himself in thought but still couldn't find a definitive solution. Finally, he gave up. "In other words, we'll have to rely on Broken Star Abyss's current forces and the Skyreach Tower to face the enemy. But the beastmen wouldn't have laid out this strategy without absolute confidence. At the very least, the Beast King's power alone rivals that of the Skyreach Tower. That means we must recall some of our peak combatants, or the outlook..."

By the time the young commander Enlaco had formulated some countermeasures, Chen Xuanfeng had already begun leading his troops toward Broken Star Abyss. Over a hundred thousand beastmen marched in a grand procession, their banners blotting out the sun. The few human patrols wandering the desert dared not approach, allowing the beastmen to advance to within twenty kilometers of Broken Star Abyss in just a day.

One step further, and the magic cannons atop the Skyreach Tower—capable of blasting dragons out of the sky—would open fire.

After resting overnight, the beastmen army mobilized at dawn the next day, forming battle lines just beyond the Skyreach Tower's firing range.

Chen Xuanfeng stood before his army, the twin divine weapons "Tiger Soul Blade" and "Sword of Divine Punishment" strapped to his back. He wore no armor, only a white battle robe, exuding an air of defiance. His current position was already within the Skyreach Tower's attack range, but the reputation of a Sword Saint deterred the mages controlling the tower from launching an immediate assault.

"Warriors of the War God, we have crossed the desert that humans pride as their barrier and now press the blade of war against their heart. Before us lies Broken Star Abyss, the so-called 'unconquerable city' of mankind. Our task now is to shatter their final resistance. From this day forth, humans will no longer possess the strength to challenge us. The dominion of this land shall belong to us—the War God reigns supreme!"

As Chen Xuanfeng's voice rang out, the beastmen roared in unison. Then, several thousand-strong units of the leopard clan and eagle tribe surged forward from his flanks, darting like lightning into the Skyreach Tower's firing range.

"BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—"

At the same moment, the Skyreach Tower's pinnacle blazed with dazzling magical light. Thousands of concentrated cobalt lightning bolts rained down upon the beastmen who dared trespass into its range.

The Skyreach Tower, the Mercenary Empire's doomsday weapon, was no ordinary magic artillery platform limited to a single type of projectile. Against enemies twenty kilometers away, compressed energy orbs would be too slow—by the time they landed, the targets might have already escaped the blast radius. Thus, for distant foes, the tower primarily unleashed the fastest spells: lightning and beam magic. While these lacked the area-of-effect devastation of energy orbs, their single-target lethality was formidable.

However, magical lightning and beams were not the same as natural thunderbolts. The need to condense and control energy slowed their velocity. According to some mages' research, natural lightning travels over 150 kilometers per second, while light is thousands of times faster. Yet the swiftest magical lightning spells barely reach 70-80 kilometers per second, and light spells top out at 200-300 kilometers per second. At close range, this speed is still overwhelming, but over twenty kilometers, it grants enemies a fifth or even a tenth of a second to react.

As the two fastest races in the world, the elite warriors of the leopard clan and eagle tribe—even those not trained in the speed-focused "Inch to Mile Art" or "Roc Soaring Art"—mostly cultivated lunar combat energy geared toward acceleration. The thousands of elites now charging forth each boasted speeds exceeding a hundred meters per second and lightning-fast reflexes allowing a dozen directional changes in an instant. A tenth of a second was ample for them to discern the Skyreach Tower's attacks and evade effortlessly. Even against dense barrages, they could minimize damage, relying on their combat energy and innate magic resistance to stay combat-ready.

Thus, the Skyreach Tower's first volley missed entirely.

"Good! Advance as planned and eliminate all fortified emplacements along the way!" Seeing the situation unfold as expected, Chen Xuanfeng immediately issued the order.

Between their formation and Broken Star Abyss lay no open plain but dozens of fortified emplacements, each housing varying numbers of magic artillery units. These served as supplements to the Skyreach Tower, which, despite its ability to fire multiple shots, had finite capacity. While it could deter dragons, it couldn't single-handedly halt a tide of enemies—hence the need for supporting conventional magic artillery under its suppression. Chen Xuanfeng had deployed the leopard and eagle elites first precisely to clear these positions and avoid being caught in a crossfire.

Once the elites had braved the Skyreach Tower's lightning and cleared twelve fortifications within several kilometers ahead, Chen Xuanfeng raised his hand. The beastmen army's formation shifted, and tens of thousands of warriors advanced in disciplined ranks toward Broken Star Abyss.