Above the clouds in the high sky, airships floated like giant whales swimming in the deep sea, steady and silent.

In the lowest level of the airship's hanging hold, Aya sat in this familiar room feeling quite annoyed.

"Hey, isn't this floor too shoddy? Since the whole ship is already fixed, why not just repair this properly?" Aya pointed at the patched-up floor in the room and grumbled.

As Aya mentioned, the repair after smashing a hole in the floor was extremely haphazard, with a large steel plate clumsily welded on top, looking terribly ugly.

"I must remind you, Miss Aya, that you were the one who smashed this hole yourself... And our workers are already under a lot of pressure repairing the hanging hold and engines, you are being quite insensitive," Yuan spread his hands and said.

"Hey! I'm not Miss Aya! I've told you a thousand times I am a guy!" Aya was getting a bit irritated, seeing some resemblance between this guy and Tiran.

"Miss Aya, you should accept it. Everyone already assumes your gender is Aya."

"You!"

After Yuan locked himself back in the lower hold chamber, Aya felt so dejected that she circled around before ending up back where she started, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

The only consolation might be briefly meeting Miss Tiran during the short adventure in the small world and knowing that Tiran had put in a lot of effort to personally set out to East Land to find her. This made Aya, the nervous dragon, somewhat happy.

Oh~ She was so anxious and missed me so much that she hurriedly set off to the eastern continent. She really cares about me.

"Hold on, why do I suddenly feel like a domineering CEO's little pampered wife? Aya, wake up..."

After banging her head against the ground a few times, Aya managed to calm herself down. Yes, Aya, you are a proud golden dragon... even though you're not yet fully grown, that doesn't matter! You need to learn to solve your own problems.

With a jumble of thoughts, Aya picked up a teapot from the coffee table and poured herself a cup of tea, sipping it lightly in an attempt to find the serene state of a sage contemplating a strategy in adversity as described in novels, with a sudden stroke of inspiration in crisis.

However, in reality, mysticism proved to be completely unreliable.

Ten minutes later, after drinking two pots of tea and feeling uncomfortable from holding her pee, Aya came to a completely useless conclusion.

Although she didn't immediately come up with a solution, upon closer inspection, she did notice some clues, such as reflecting on the miraculous escape incident. It was quite unthinkable.

Yuan might have been willing to gamble that she was afraid and wouldn't dare to destroy the airship, but for someone who dared to cause a demonic invasion in the Academy City, he probably wouldn't want to risk success in an unpredictable situation, right?

With Holy Rank insight, and a little fairy controlled by a spirit beside her, he had no reason not to notice her attempt to escape.

—Although if she had known she was flying in the sky at ten thousand meters high, she would have backed out early, and if the little fairy hadn't suddenly awakened, temporarily freeing herself from the momentary control of the spirit, she would have fallen to her death.

"Ming Lin..." Aya murmured this name softly, feeling that her escape was all part of Yuan's plan. Otherwise, being pulled into the small world just as she fell from high altitude, precisely waiting at the ruins in Morninglight to ambush Ming Lin, and deliberately finding the lock fairy stone that trapped Ming Lin, were all too coincidental.

Could it be that she was deliberately released to allow Ming Lin to revive?

Headache, why did that guy end up capturing himself and kidnapping a newly resurrected immortal?

"I always feel like there's some earth-shattering conspiracy going on..."

...

Milania, Eastern Fortress.

In the middle section of the Eastern Fortress, the core area of the Blackstone Fortification had finally reached a peace that may not last after almost a month of continuous war.

Under the blood-red light of the setting sun in the west, shining upon the dark walls, the fortress that had gone through a month of brutal warfare stood tall and resilient, just like the battle-hardened warriors within.

As the main bastion connecting the entire defensive line, the Blackstone Fort had faced the fiercest assaults from the Mastonians. The battles from dawn till dusk had become the norm, and the protective spell formations inscribed on the original city walls had been mostly destroyed in the continuous fighting, rendering them incapable of maintaining their basic functions. Thus, the battles escalated, shifting from initially defending against attacks with the protective spell formations to a more primitive form of city defense.

The Mastonian engineers erected several arrow towers matching the height of the Blackstone Fort's walls, neutralizing the advantage held by the Milania defenders stationed atop. Countless siege ladders leaned against the walls, soldiers engaging in close combat.

"But at least those guys seem to have quieted down."

Despite losing nearly a thousand troops in the past month, General Yang Xi remained optimistic. Moving among the devastated city walls with his personal guards, he distributed food and water to the soldiers recuperating while observing the Mastonian camp in the distance.

As a commander, one must understand that they are the key to overseeing the overall situation and must possess the courage to fight on the front lines like an ordinary soldier. This was a lesson Yang Xi had learned from Granzon eighteen years ago, and he had demonstrated this by frequently appearing on the battlegrounds with his personal guard.

After walking around for a bit, Yang Xi was convinced that the morale did not need his worrying.

Although the relentless attacks from Maston had inflicted losses upon the defenders, they were still within an acceptable range. More importantly, Yang Xi and all his soldiers believed in one thing – the enemy might be fierce, but they could not break through this defensive line.

While it might sound callous to say, viewing the deceased lives as mere numbers from a commander's perspective, Yang Xi considered trading their losses for confidence in victory and high morale to be worthwhile.

Relying on years of fortification development and the arrival of a batch of magitech weapons recently delivered from the Magitech City, they had inflicted casualties on Maston at more than twice the rate. With the new long-range cannons, Yang Xi was now even looking forward to the next enemy assault.

Magitech firearms? Is that their name? As the new generation of personal weapons introduced by Magitech City, their power, range, and precision far exceeded any other ranged weapon, capable of piercing even heavy cavalry armor with a single shot, truly making them individual killing machines.

As a military man, Yang Xi naturally greatly appreciated such an efficient reaping tool on the battlefield. The times have changed, my lord! In contrast, Maston was still employing the same tactics and equipment from eighteen years ago that he had witnessed firsthand. If they dared to launch another attack, Yang Xi even had plans to strike back by assaulting their main camp after delivering an initial blow.

The only regret was that the number of magitech firearms was too limited. Otherwise, if the entire army was equipped with them, there would be no need for this war to continue – in that case, not only defending the city, Yang Xi would have pushed them back to the Mastonian capital as of now.

Aside from the present, what Yang Xi was now more concerned about was another war raging deep within the kingdom's heartland. While Maston invaded, Granzon's punitive forces also swiftly launched an attack on the royal capital.

The war on the other side had also reached a stalemate. After consuming the magical energy stored in the royal capital's defensive formation for three days, the expeditionary force failed to make further progress.

The Crown Prince and his Iron Wall Battalion had turned the already well-defended capital into an impregnable fortress, employing a strategy of complete defense and refusal to engage in direct confrontation with his renowned "War King" father. It was all about dragging the situation out.

Even Granzon found himself somewhat helpless at this point. The Iron Wall Battalion, before their betrayal, had always been a top fighting force and their occupation of strong defensive positions only strengthened their capabilities. For Granzon, the sole occupation of the capital by the King's son was not the primary concern. In order to launch a counterattack on Maston, he did not plan to expend too much strength here. Therefore, after several days of intense attacks, he opted for a war of attrition.

The issue was, prior to this, Brad had secured a large supply of provisions through cooperation with Maston, via a sea route that Granzon could not block. Even if Granzon wanted to rely on the kingdom's entire logistics to exhaust the supplies, the city would not run out of resources until at least three months later.

"Has it all come to a standoff..."

Yang Xi leaned against a partly demolished parapet, gazing at the Maston camp retreating beyond the terrifying range of Italian guns, and pondered on ways to break the deadlock.

For example, making a move on their end by secretly redeploying garrisons from the northern and southern fortresses to launch a surprise attack on Maston's forces here, thereby crippling the main force of Maston's invasion.

Brad's confidence in not surrendering thus far stemmed from the Maston invasion. If they were to be completely defeated at the border, Brad would have no choice but to surrender or face the grim options of a single city against the entire country.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Maston camp facing off against the Milanian garrison was bustling with activity. Numerous soldiers had put down their weapons to transport various tightly sealed supplies from crates wrapped in oilcloth.

Rather than a military camp, this place resembled more of a construction site.

"How's the progress? The defense of the Blackstone Fortress has been tested almost to the limit, and the protective magic array on the city walls has been mostly destroyed. If we don't finish in time before they repair the magic array, all our efforts will be in vain."

"Don't worry, it will be completed within three days. In three days...they won't be able to repair the magic array."

...

Three days later, at midnight.

Whether it was the Blackstone Fortress or the Maston camp, most of them were engulfed in darkness, with only the lights of guards and patrols remaining. However, a large number of moving shadows appeared on the walls of the Blackstone Fortress.

Sturdy ropes were thrown down from the walls, and then spacious and massive baskets efficiently lowered well-trained horses and cavalry from the walls.

Yang Xi was always a man of action, like most soldiers. After confirming the feasibility of this plan, he immediately contacted the defenses of the other two eastern fortresses.

His plan was simple: to concentrate the cavalry forces of Blackstone Fortress, North Wind Fortress, and Horn Fortress, and launch a surprise attack on Maston's main camp from three directions simultaneously under the cover of night.

Although their cavalry was vastly outnumbered by Maston's forces in the camp, in the darkness and confusion without proper command, the Maston soldiers were vulnerable. Once they were thrown into disarray, even with only three thousand cavalry on their side, they could fiercely drive them away and crush their will to invade.

The cavalry forces from the other two fortresses should be in position by now, waiting for his command.

Mounting his horse, Yang Xi gazed straight ahead at the Maston camp not far away, and gestured to the guards by his side.

A crimson flare blessed by Magic shot into the sky, shimmering persistently over the wilderness between Maston Camp and Blackstone Keep.

"Charge!"

As the flare lit up, three cavalry units sneaking closer to Maston Camp under cover of night ended their stealth and initiated the charge, with three distinct horn calls echoing through the late-night battlefield.

Everything unfolded as expected. Following the charge signal, Maston Camp should have descended into chaos, and even with officers managing the situation, the three cavalry units could break through their gates and begin the slaughter in no time.

However, the closer they got to the camp, Yang Xi began to feel increasingly uneasy.

The dark camp, the lights from the surrounding arrow towers...but it was too quiet.

Yang Xi didn't believe that their cavalry horns had caused such a commotion without alerting Maston's troops; if that was the case, they didn't deserve to be called an army.

Regardless, once the cavalry charge began, it was hard to stop. Whatever lay ahead, they had to push through!

The first two cavalry riders in the front, each wielding large-caliber magitek rifles, mercilessly aimed their barrels at the camp wall ahead and fired, blasting apart the thick wooden wall assembled side by side with close-range magical projectiles, allowing the following cavalry to charge in.

"Empty?!"

Seeing the deserted parade ground and the eerily silent rows of marching tents ahead, Yang Xi's sense of unease intensified.

An ambush?

No, there was no movement around; if there were ambushers, they should have been surrounded by now, with arrows raining down from above.

By some strange coincidence, Yang Xi turned back and witnessed a scene he might never forget in his lifetime:

Above the rising red glow of the flare, beneath the clouds in the sky, countless dark whales floated ominously, already above Blackstone Keep, casting deathly shadows in the glaring red light.

...

"General."

In the sky miles away, aboard the airship Yuan dubbed as "Royal" class, signifying its regal luxury, Yuan was playing chess with Minglin, who had been sealed by him with Immortal Stones, leaving her with only her immortal physique.

"Mmm... I can't beat you."

Minglin shook her head, now just a girl with an immortal body but lacking the superhuman calculation abilities endowed by immortality, rendering her powerless against Yuan, whose strategies were inscrutable.

Rather than that, Aya found it more puzzling why Minglin harbored no hostility towards Yuan. She had, after all, been captured... Although Yuan treated her and himself similarly, aside from restraining her powers and freedom, he hadn't done anything overly malicious.

She clearly expressed a strong dislike for humans... Speaking of which, Yuan is a human, right?

"Oops!"

While tidying up the chessboard, Yuan suddenly shuddered, followed by several sneezes in a row.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Vera, lying across Yuan's lap with narrowed eyes, asked with concern.

"Nothing..." Yuan's tone was somewhat lazy. He ran his hand through his hair and chuckled, "Just feeling a bit tingly on my scalp. Probably retribution for selling airship technology to that war-loving nation..."