Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 426 426: Upgraded Madam Doom

Within a few hours of Taranis finishing his speech, the empire's army once again surrounded the Ironvale borders with their overwhelming numbers.

This time, instead of remaining at the rear, the emperor rode at the very front, advancing toward the gates of the Ironvale Fortress. Closely behind him followed the five Dukes, the First Prince, and an army of two million. The rest of the forces were spread across the valleys surrounding the border from other directions.

As they drew closer, Kharos commanded, his eyes burning with fury, "All long-range units, attack the array just above the iron gate of the fortress with Soulforce!"

Heeding his command, an overwhelming barrage of assaults rained down upon the Mirror Detonation Mandola, all targeting a single point on the array.

"As I thought, Kharos has already discerned the weakness of the array," Taranis murmured.

In a loud voice, he commanded, "The array is about to break! Defend the wall!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the barrier protecting Ironvale began to glow brilliantly, absorbing the attacks of millions of soldiers ranging from the Spirit Warrior Realm to the Eternal Sage Realm.

Multiple cracks appeared across the array, and in the next moment, it shattered like fragile glass. Although powerful, the incomplete Mirror Detonation Mandola could not withstand the concentrated Soulforce of countless opponents focusing on a single point.

As soon as the array broke, multicolored stars began to glow across the walls of Ironvale.

"Raise your shields! They are about to unleash the Madam Doom!" Hector commanded, quickly drawing a massive shield from his storage ring.

Following Hector's command, the soldiers drew out their shields, raised them overhead, and interconnected them to form a protective ceiling. The shields were all crafted with a uniform design. As they poured their Soulforce into them, a vast energy barrier formed above the interconnected shields.

These shields had been designed to withstand the explosive power of the Madam Doom. However, there was a critical factor the Emperor had overlooked. The output of the Madam Doom depended on the amount of Soulforce poured into it, and this time it was not the soldiers of Ironvale unleashing the attack, but the talented True Sages of the Hundred Sky Mountains.

The crimson cannons descended upon the empire's army like falling meteors. The moment they struck, massive explosions erupted. Cracks spread across the soldiers' energy barrier, and the ground beneath them split apart from the sheer impact.

"Wh-what is this destructive power?" Hector muttered, gritting his teeth beneath the shield. "We designed these shields to withstand at least ten strikes of Madam Doom per shield, but at this rate..."

Before he could finish his words, another wave of cannons fell upon them.

"Al-already? But the Madam Doom must be cooled down for five minutes before the next shot?" Brandon muttered.

He, along with the other Dukes and Hector, had formed a tighter circle with their shields, protecting Kharos beneath it. Although Madam Doom was not powerful enough to critically injure Eternal Sages, if enough ants attacked, even an elephant could be brought down.

Just as the second strike hit the shield, the third had already been launched from the cannons.

"Aren't they worried about the cannons exploding from overheating?" Ned Stormhold muttered, as the cracks across the shields intensified.

With the fourth strike, the cannonballs shattered the energy shields and struck the soldiers directly.

Within the towering valleys of Ironvale, mountains of smoke and fire, rising to the very height of the cliffs, erupted from various positions.

Multiple craters formed across the land, and the ground turned crimson as the corpses of the empire's soldiers piled up one after another. Screams echoed as chaos surged through the ranks of the army.

Only after ten continuous strikes from each cannon did the relentless bombardment come to a halt.

Kharos' eyes shifted to a towering figure standing atop one of the fortress's high towers, silently gazing down at them with restrained anger.

"Titan El Rockbane," Kharos muttered. "He must have upgraded Ironvale's weaponry."

His conclusion was spot on. Aside from his overwhelming physical prowess, Titan possessed exceptional talent in forging weapons and armor. With only a few hours of studying the architecture of the Madam Doom, he had already identified its weaknesses and devised methods to resolve them.

From the moment the Banes claimed the Ironvale Fortress, they had ordered the blacksmiths to upgrade the cannons according to the designs provided by Titan. The Madam Doom could now unleash ten consecutive strikes with a cooldown of fifteen minutes.

Now that the bombardment had ceased, it should have been the empire army's chance to counterattack. However, none of them were in a condition to do so.

Their morale had already sunk to rock bottom due to their failure on the first day of war and the death of Rhaegar. Instead of giving them time to recover, the Emperor had forced them back into battle without warning. Many had not even been able to prepare themselves due to the sudden call to arms.

And as if that were not enough, they had just endured a merciless bombardment without any chance to retaliate.

Seeing the horrified expressions on the soldiers' faces, an old man with short grey hair, clad in silver armor with a white robe draped over his shoulders, stepped forward.

His face bore numerous wrinkles, and his eyes were filled with wisdom. Aside from Kharos, his presence was the most overwhelming and influential among them.

In a loud voice, he commanded, "The enemy is out of cannonballs! Pull yourselves together. Are you waiting for them to bombard you again?"

The soldiers' focus shifted to Merlin Valencrest, the grey-haired man and the Duke of House Valencrest.

"Raise your weapons and avenge your fallen soldiers! Do not let their sacrifices go to waste! The debt of blood shall be repaid with blood!"

His resounding words transformed the terrified visages of the empire's soldiers into ones filled with renewed confidence.

"Duke Merlin is right! We must avenge our fallen comrades!"

"There are only a hundred thousand of them. Break the walls and slaughter them!"

"Make them pay with their blood!"

The soldiers roared with newfound fervor, regrouped into proper formations, and charged toward the fortress walls.

---

As the empire's soldiers drew closer, Taranis fixed his gaze on the alert window before him that had appeared when Merlin began issuing commands.

"The enemy has used the skill: Voice of Commander!

The stats of enemy forces within the caster's range have increased by 10%.

The morale of enemy forces within the caster's range has increased by 50%."