Chapter 653: Warriors Return! (Request monthly passes)
Both Lizardmen and Birdmen fought with unparalleled bravery, their combat skills embarrassing Haina to the point of shame.
They refused to retreat even when wounded—she had never witnessed such a brutal and ferocious battle that instilled palpable fear.
Why… must they fight to such an extreme?
Haina felt nothing but trepidation.
She was not unfamiliar with cruelty. Though it was merely a dream, she had experienced battlefields and doomsday during her Ascension Ritual.
But that feeling of evasion, of hiding, protecting others, and confronting natural and man-made disasters… was entirely different from the war unfolding before her.
If they had weapons, they used them; if the weapons broke, they used their fists; if they were caught, they used their teeth—
Arms snapped, eyes were gouged out. Groups of people fought like maddened beasts.
Not to survive, but to utterly annihilate their foes.
To “win” against their opponents, they were even willing to sacrifice their own lives…
“Why must it be like this…”
Haina murmured.
She lived in an era of civilization.
Even when the Queen was assassinated, the enraged Gryphon Knights retaliated with courtesy—the Gryphon Knights, led by the Grand Guardian, were like true knights, never harming the innocent.
Although they often flew by in the dead of night, their roaring winds and thunder woke people up. However, two months into the war, no civilians had died directly from the lightning strikes, though some civilians had died from stampedes due to panic in the early stages of the war.
Those Gryphon Knights merely attacked Star Antimony’s strategic locations, demolished valuable structures, or destroyed warehouses. They even gave advance warning of their attack locations, akin to a formal challenge from proud knights.
It was precisely because they merely showed off their power and attacked buildings belonging to the Rose Cross influence, without harming civilians, that the Star Antimony people directed their fear and resentment towards the King and the nobles. They still remembered who had provoked this foolish war, preventing them from uniting against a common foreign enemy.
Even the pacification of Daffodil Territory was not this brutal—Mages launched harassing offensives relying on towns and residential areas, and the Black Eagle Territory’s mercenary legions dared not directly attack villages. After all, Black Eagle and Daffodil Territory were neighbors with close relations; their homes were not far away, and perhaps a brother’s family lived in one of the villages.
Compared to the “Star Antimony” people, they were their own people.
Therefore, the Black Eagle Territory itself was reluctant to participate in this war, let alone confront those powerful Mages—a single spell could make them wail and die. And before the defense line was truly breached, no one knew what Energy Level the Mage hidden within residential buildings was.
So, they could only remain in a stalemate, cutting off supplies and encircling them heavily, advancing only when the Mages inside chose to surrender. They would also accept these prisoners of war and transport them safely to the rear.
After the initial, fierce, and exhilarating phase of the war, the Star Antimony battlefield immediately entered this sticky, glue-like state.
—Everyone had too many reservations. Or rather, not many people truly wanted to initiate a war… They only sought profit. They were cannon fodder for mercenary groups, doing it as their profession.
Those who advanced cruelly and slowly were the colossal puppets transported from the Star Antimony rear, for only for the Star Antimony nobles was this a battle for their very survival.
But the current situation was different.
The fighting between these Lizardmen and Birdmen seemed to be solely for control of water… because behind the Birdmen lay a clear river.
Yet, for this reason alone, they fought with their entire beings, burning their lives away.
The next moment, accompanied by the Birdman Mage’s incantation, fierce Mana surged violently.
Instantly, several bursts of flames, blazing like scorching suns, exploded—
Haina’s pupils constricted sharply in the bright light.
In the center of the Lizardmen formation, large hemispherical bursts of golden-red flames erupted at intervals. The forest was consumed by the firelight, and the explosions kicked up scorching heatwaves, blowing and breaking the trees at the edges. Haina could not help but raise her hand to shield her face, involuntarily stepping back several paces.
—Those people were surely doomed.
Haina was certain.
Because those flames, though smaller in scale, possessed a destructive power of at least Fourth Tier. It even reminded Haina of the great explosion Eivass had summoned in Eagle Cape Village when attacking the Punisher Demon.
Even a Demon would likely be reduced to charcoal in a spell of this magnitude…
This was precisely why the Black Eagle mercenary groups were wary of Mages.
But then, a surprising scene unfolded.
—As the flames receded, the warriors with blackened skin stood up again.
As their accompanying priests cast down green rain from afar, they rapidly shed their charred exteriors and regained their vitality!
They could survive *this*?!
Immediately after, the Lizardmen priests also raised their staffs, and dark clouds rumbled and gathered overhead.
The next moment, a lightning storm descended—
One after another, continuous lightning strikes hit the Birdmen warriors.
That was genuine lightning!
Even Haina, who was Fourth Tier, would not dare to take several hits. She was confident she wouldn’t die from one or two strikes, but if she was knocked from a high altitude after being struck, one lightning bolt might incapacitate her.
But those deadly lightning strikes couldn’t even shake the frontline of these Birdmen warriors!
Haina saw the strongest Birdman warrior—he had fiery red hair.
Even after being struck by lightning more than ten times, he still roared valiantly, completely ignoring the massive wounds torn into his skin by the lightning.
At this moment, the white-robed “Eivass” suddenly spoke:
“The heart is the strongest muscle. It is like a general on the battlefield, commanding the blood vessels throughout the body. Powerful and crucial.
“But sometimes, people on the battlefield behave like the heart within them. They only tremble.
“The key lies in courage.”
The next moment, the scene shifted again.
“—Survival.”
It was a Lizardman holding a wooden spear, facing three lumbering behemoths.
“—Justice.”
It was knights shouting and charging towards a giant city.
“—Protection.”
It was a man, covered in wounds, blocking a doorway, facing ruffians with sharp weapons, while his wife and children huddled behind him.
“—Responsibility.”
It was adult Snake People, holding farming tools, defending their village against a vast, overwhelming tide of reddish-brown beasts.
“—Profit.”
It was two men, bruised and panting, facing each other in a dark arena amidst excited roars and cheers.
“—Interest.”
It was someone practicing swordsmanship alone through all the seasons.
“Whatever it is… you can fight for any reason.”
The white-robed Eivass said, turning to Haina, and declared with resonant conviction, “This is a warrior.
“Born for battle, dying for battle.
“The only requirement is—
“Once you step onto this path, be prepared for death.
“You cannot flee from battle!
“—A warrior can never be a coward!”
The clear voice of the white robe gradually grew deeper, overlapping with other voices, like hundreds of battlefields clashing with blades and hooves.
The next moment, it suddenly ignited. Like a fire lit by a Mage.
The roaring flames engulfed it, and within the fire, it shouted:
“Come, cast off your bindings! While my flames still burn! Embrace me!
“Authority is merely a false binding for you; you are a warrior by birth, and I have brought back the inheritance of warriors for you—”
The white robe, named “Star,” spoke.
Haina’s heart was stirred.
She raised her hand.
At the same time.
Leo Karl, the old general of Star Antimony, opened his arms with a sharp gaze.
David Barton, son of the Grand Guardian of Avalon, also raised his hands towards the fire slowly descending from the sky.
In other dreams, countless others were listening to the voice of “Star.”
Some silently watched the burning white robe fall to the ground.
Others, like them, raised their hands and opened their arms, welcoming the power descending from the path of [Adaptation], drawing them into this new path and granting them this new power.
Embrace the fire.
And then, burn with the fire—
—Ten thousand [Warriors] returned this night!
(End of Chapter)
