Tark Stronghold was a holy land for not just the Theocracy but all of humankind.
Its infrastructure was devoid of grace, and there were hardly any ornaments on it worth preserving, but the spirit it embraced was loftier than any grand building, for it represented the unyielding spirit of humankind.
This fortress had stood for nearly a thousand years, since the earlier years of the Third Epoch. Its existence was weaved into countless heroic stories. Of the four wars against the deviants that had been fought thus far, three of the conclusive battles were initiated here.
Generations of great men had protected humankind from the walls of Tark Stronghold, keeping the torch of humankind alive.
It was only a structure, but the spirit and significance it embodied went far beyond that. That was also why Tark Stronghold’s disappearance shook humankind as a whole.
No one could have imagined that this great structure would suddenly appear in the middle of Hawe Desert in such a manner.
Countless human soldiers raised their heads and stared at the towering fortress, gobsmacked. Meanwhile, the deviants continued to growl in shock and unease. Allies and enemies alike were taken aback by the sudden appearance of this massive structure.
Even the Deviant Sovereign warily narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.
“Nora, is that…?!”
“Yes, it’s Tark Stronghold!” Nora answered with a furiously beating heart, as an optimistic thought surfaced in her mind. “Could it be…”
Lilian and Charlotte widened their eyes.
Before anyone could come to terms with what had just happened, loud rumbles suddenly echoed from the fortress.
“That sound!”
“It’s the fortress defensive magic weapons!”
“Defend! Defend!”
The human soldiers immediately identified the sources of those rumbles and shouted in shock. Similarly, the deviants, who had experience in breaching fortresses, roared in alarm and unrest.
During this pandemonium, the wall above Tark Stronghold’s main entrance opened up to release an intense burst of light. It was so bright that it blinded the eyes of those on the battlefield, obscuring even the sun’s brilliance.
Holy Strike—this was the name of the fortress defensive magic weapon.
Over the past thousand years, it had pushed back the deviants’ encirclement time and time again, allowing humankind to clinch the ultimate victory in the war. Right now, it had become the beacon that signaled the commencement of war, as well as the moment of retaliation.
Boom!
The intense light quickly converged into a devastating beam before abruptly sweeping across the deviants’ army, leaving the ashen remains of tens of thousands of deviants in its wake. However, it didn’t stop just there. It continued advancing across the deviants’ army toward the Deviant Sovereign.
Only then did ex-Beastman Sovereign Banjol finally raise his hand.
Black spheres that floated all around him quickly gathered in front of him to confront the intense beam of light, raising a powerful shockwave that rippled across the desert.
Boom!
A second deafening explosion echoed, leaving a huge cloud of sand. The intense beam of light that had bombarded the deviants’ formation slowly dissipated.
The human army was silent for an instant before letting out resounding cheers. The deviants, on the other hand, were panicking.
“Now! Attack!”
Grasping onto this opportunity, the united army sounded their war horns and charged at the deviants. At the same time, Tark Stronghold’s hulking gates creaked open, and heavy footsteps and majestic roars echoed from within.
The sound compelled not just the deviants but also the humans to raise their heads, despite not being able to clearly see anything due to the sandstorm. They instinctively recognized that the roars were from terribly powerful beings.
And before the dumbfounded stares of the crowd, two bone dragons flew out of the fortress.
…
There was no denying that Tark Stronghold’s Holy Strike was an extremely powerful fortress defensive magic weapon, but it had a huge problem—it was incapable of dealing with close-by enemies.
While the intense beam of light had indeed wreaked havoc upon the deviants, those who had been closest to Tark Stronghold were unaffected, though there was nothing they could do to stop Holy Strike’s activation either.
But the moment Tark Stronghold’s main entrance opened, the thousands of deviants in the vicinity roared in unison and charged toward it. It was not by chance that these deviants were stationed here; they were elites mobilized to encircle and take down Roel when he eventually reappeared. Their strength was not to be underestimated.
Yet, as they were about to besiege Tark Stronghold, two bone dragons suddenly charged out of the entrance like unstoppable carriages and sent everything in their path flying.
Pah!
The impact squashed the deviants’ flesh and cracked their bones, splattering their remains. However, these victims did nothing to slow the bone dragons’ momentum at all. They continued charging straight ahead, further wreaking havoc in the deviants’ formation.
Standing atop the bone dragons were two figures: Roel and Wilhelmina. It was almost as if the two of them had become dragon knights.
These two bone dragons were the gift the Witch Queen had previously mentioned, and Roel was extremely thankful to her for them. It provided Tark Stronghold the offensive prowess they desperately needed right now. Roel felt incredibly thankful to Artasia for this gift.
It was not difficult for Roel to breach the enemies’ defense line—his offensive prowess was technically maxed out thanks to Grandar. However, it would be hard for him to carry the entire battle on his own, though things were different with the aid of the bone dragons.
Dragons were already tough enemies to deal with, and bone dragons boasted high physical and magic resistance on top of that, making them exceptionally difficult to deal with. On top of that, they were highly compatible with Roel and Wilhelmina in terms of traits.
Roel was able to convert the two bone dragons into his loyal soldiers through Grandar’s and Edavia’s help, while Wilhelmina, who possessed the Dragon Bloodline, could command them with great effectiveness.
Wilhelmina’s bone dragon tanked the countless spells flying in their direction while unleashing a blue dragon flame upon the deviants, specifically targeting their priests. Roel breathed a sigh of relief, seeing how well she was coping.
With their participation, the war further escalated.
“WUUUUU!”
As Roel and Wilhelmina drew the enemies’ attention, war horns echoed, and over ten thousand knights charged out of Tark Stronghold under Kane’s leadership and charged at the surrounding deviants. A huge stream of soldiers steadily marched out behind them.
Tark Stronghold’s appearance had caught the enemies off-guard. The sudden onslaught from the bone dragons and Tark Stronghold’s soldiers severely disrupted the encirclement formed by the deviants to entrap Roel.
At the same time, the united army’s soldiers saw the reappearance of Tark Stronghold and its soldiers as Sia’s miracle. It greatly roused their morale. Nora, Charlotte, Lilian, and the others were relieved to see Roel as well, and it filled their hearts with hope.
This double-layered effect brought about tremendous momentum for the united army. It looked like the scales of victory had completely fallen toward humankind’s side.
“Advance!”
“We’ll converge together and make a breakthrough!”
Excitement could be seen on the faces of the human soldiers as they roared their battle cries. The deviants were barely holding their ground thanks to the enhancement of the army buff. Even Prince Kane, who had been cautious all this while, started to become optimistic.
Only the duo riding on the bone dragons had increasingly grim expressions.