Chapter 1282 A Miracle Amidst the Ruins

A blazing crystal cannon shell, trailing a dazzling light, arced through the sky and crashed into the semi-transparent city-level protective shield. The chaotic energy unleashed upon activation of the shell triggered a series of explosions on the shield's surface. Amidst the interference and resonance of magical energies, the robust city-level shield rapidly manifested countless hexagonal crystallizations, each gradually tainted with gray static.

When the static reached a critical threshold, Eagle City's energy shield silently disintegrated into a shower of shimmering particles, finally opening the gates of this militarized metropolis, a satellite city nestled in the empire's heartland.

"'Poros' blazing crystal cannon fired, entering cooldown!"

"Enemy shield disintegrating, city gates breached!"

"Beware the rapid-fire turrets and lightning chain crystals on the walls! Spellbreaker Squadron, disrupt their defenses—Swordbreaker Knights, advance with the squadron!"

"Flank has reached firing position… flank commencing bombardment of enemy walls!"

The battlefield was thick with smoke. The blazing crystal cannon barrage and strategic-level spellcasting had saturated the land with volatile and perilous magical energies. Uncontrolled magic coalesced as the battle raged on, forming small and large roaming mana creatures. These creatures, however, quickly perished due to the warriors' siphoning amulets, becoming fuel for the ongoing conflagration.

Amidst this scorching and searing battlefield, the corpses of the fallen were scattered everywhere. The twisted, festering flesh emitted a pungent, burnt odor under the searing flames. Among the dead, the mutated and grotesque monsters were the most numerous.

"Haaah!!" With a thunderous roar, a guardian giant hoisted his hands and hurled forth a bolt of lightning—far surpassing the "lightning arrow" of ordinary human mages. This was true lightning, a strike even more potent than that found in nature. It tore through the battlefield, obliterating a section of the city wall. Hundreds of anti-magic rune stones on the wall flashed briefly before shattering along with the masonry.

More guardian giants began striding towards the city, followed by the Swordbreaker Knights and the Northern Legion.

From the breaches in the walls, the shattered city gates, and the cracks in the ground, more black monsters emerged.

Some of these monsters still wore their human armor, while others had consumed it as their limbs bloated and distorted. A significant number had been obliterated by the blazing crystal cannon blasts and the giants' magical attacks. However, many endured thanks to their formidable life force. They roared wildly, emitting maddening and profane noises, but quickly organized into orderly formations and charged towards the guardian giants and the Northern Alliance.

"For the Mother!" The commander of the guardian giants, enraged at the sight of the blasphemous monsters, bellowed, "For all living things!"

Although the frenzied monsters were powerful, they were ultimately outmatched by the overwhelming force of the guardian giants. On the front lines, their numbers dwindled rapidly.

Constance wielded her longsword, its blade crackling with bright electricity. She cleaved a monster—perhaps once a high-ranking Black Sword Knight—that charged at her into fragments, allowing the black smoke and debris that erupted from its corpse to splatter onto her armor.

She had returned to her original body, bearing the same features as "Ginny," but with long, raven-black hair.

Behind her were more than ten female knights, her companions. These knights wore female armor, all bearing the same face as her, except with silver hair—like Ginny.

They were Constance's clones, also serving as consciousness carriers. They fought and thought alongside Constance, virtually extensions of the Dragon Soul Princess.

Hearing the roar of the guardian giants, Constance couldn't help but glance back at Leah, who strolled through the battlefield as if taking a leisurely walk. "Once they get into the heat of battle, they start shouting 'For the Mother'… is this the religious belief of the World Tree Temple? Do you worship a maternal deity?"

Leah paused, a hint of embarrassment flickering across her face, then shook her head. "Not worship… she's a real mother… their tradition is to respect their mothers…"

"I see, then their mothers must be female giants as powerful as they are," Constance looked back at the guardian giants, who were dismantling the city walls despite Eagle City's point-defense cannons, and exclaimed sincerely, "We are truly grateful for them."

Leah's expression was somewhat blank. Then she clenched her fist. "Yes, their mothers will definitely grow up…"

Constance didn't quite catch what she said. "What was that?"

"Uh, no, nothing," Leah quickly shook her head, changing the subject. "The city is about to fall."

"Yes, but I wonder how many people have survived…" Constance sighed softly. "Everywhere we've gone, there's been corruption everywhere…"

The last vestiges of resistance in Eagle City were finally extinguished.

The flesh behemoth, pieced together from countless limbs, covered in tentacles, and lacking a face on its head, was beaten to death by the guardian giants and swiftly dissolved into gray-black smoke under Leah's gaze. With the death of this last monster, the city closest to the imperial capital was officially declared to have fallen into the hands of the Northern Legion.

Constance, Leah, and Archduke Owen walked through the streets after the battle.

It could hardly be called a street… it was merely a pile of collapsed buildings, extending along what had once been a road.

The rapid outbreak and spread of corruption had enveloped almost the entire central region overnight. The Lord of Frenzy's unique ability to spread through dreams, thrive on negative emotions such as fear, and corrupt all matter upon its emergence was a disaster for densely populated areas.

The Black Sword Knights were scattered throughout the empire, particularly in the central region. Almost every town had their garrisons. When the War of Epochs began, and Berrentin and the Black Sword Knights were chosen as "annihilation carriers," these knights became countless sources of infection.

They and their retinues quickly corrupted all the land. The ordinary soldiers of the Imperial Legions were the first to be infected, followed by the common people in the towns, and then the towns themselves.

The Northern Legion advanced swiftly, attacking almost unstoppably with the support of the guardian giants. They had rescued many civilians and even Imperial soldiers who had not yet been corrupted, but compared to the destruction caused by the explosion of the Frenzy, only a small fraction could be saved.

The closer they got to the imperial capital, the more complete the corruption was, and the fewer could be rescued.

Constance looked at the ruins along the road. Twisted, festering flesh burned in the wreckage, gradually turning into black smoke. The bricks and stones, corrupted by the evil forces, were also gradually weathering and disintegrating. From this day forward, this ancient and glorious city would become part of history.

Northern soldiers dragged the bodies of some civilians from nearby cellars. They had died horribly, still roughly retaining their human form, but with obvious mutations in their limbs.

A silver-haired clone knight was directing the soldiers carrying the corpses. "Burn them, while they can still die as humans."

Constance sighed and turned her gaze to the other side of the street. Just then, a Northern soldier ran towards them. "Survivors! Survivors found ahead!"

Constance quickly arrived at the location where the survivors had been found.

They were hiding in a secluded church—a church belonging to a local sect. Churches like this were not uncommon within the empire. Although the emperor himself did not promote religion, ordinary people had a need for faith, so various churches were common in big cities. This church had almost completely collapsed. The above-ground section had been used as a nest by the frenzied monsters and was then flattened during the battle. But beneath the church was a large and sturdy cellar where a small group of survivors had hidden, enduring those hellish days.

They were men, women, old, and young, all sharing the common traits of hunger, terror, and weakness. Having been shut off from daylight for a long time, they carried a foul stench.

Constance noticed that one of the survivors was wearing a soldier's uniform: the clothes of a common lower-ranking soldier of the Imperial Legion.

"Give them food and water, and send for a medic," Constance said, looking at the cowering survivors, who were trembling from weakness. She turned her head slightly to one of the clone knight beside her. She spoke loudly on purpose, so that the survivors could feel at ease. "Also, have someone watch them eat, to prevent them from eating themselves to death."

After saying that, she breathed a sigh and said softly to Archduke Owen beside her, "An unexpected miracle."

"Yes, I didn't expect there would still be living people—I thought that in a place so close to the imperial capital, everything in the city would definitely be corrupted."

After eating and drinking a moderate amount, the gaunt survivors finally perked up a bit.

Constance approached the Imperial soldier and bent down. "You're a soldier—you should know more than others."

"I was the one who organized everyone to escape into the cellar," the Imperial soldier recognized Constance's identity and became somewhat flustered, but his attempt to stand up and salute was pressed back down by her. "I… thank you, Your Highness. I already know that you are on the side of justice. Those… those Black Sword Knights and my superiors have all turned into monsters. Are you here to save us?"

"Not just to save you," Constance shook her head gently. "How did you survive? The entire city has been completely shrouded in the aura of annihilation. Even if the monsters didn't find you, didn't their aura spread into the cellar?"

The soldier opened his mouth, but before he could speak, an old woman next to him interjected, "It's the blessing of the gods, Your Highness. It must be the God of Day Lama and the God of Night Su who are protecting us. This church is the key to the gods saving the world…"

The God of Day and the God of Night were obviously the gods originally worshiped in this church, and the old woman who spoke was most likely a follower here. But after hearing these words, Constance gave her a cold look. "The gods will not save you. The gods will not do anything—only humans can save this world."

Leah thought for a moment and decided to continue picking at her fingernails, pretending she hadn't heard anything.