NEC Chapter 88: Magic Sky Screen, Beacon Smoke, Iron Ridge

Little Chen, who was being fondly remembered by the family heads back home, was at this moment standing before a distant and vast sky screen, completely dumbfounded.

This was the location of the Emerald Duchy coalition's western headquarters. In front of the central command tent, a flag bearing the emerald vine sword that symbolized the duchy's highest authority pointed straight toward the sky.

Around the main flag, more than twenty colorful banners with different emblems, lord flags and noble flags, fluttered vigorously in the strong wind.

"Except for the Southern Pass Territory that was devastated in the south, all the mobile forces the duchy can muster are here," the accompanying deputy city guard of Cloudmist Domain said in a low voice. "In this battle, the duchy can only advance, not retreat."

To allow the duchy commanders at headquarters to see the decisive battle scenes at the front more clearly, or perhaps because the front offensive was surging like a tide and it was the perfect time to boost the morale of the entire army, the duchy's auxiliary mage corps had jointly cast a super-large detection eye spell.

Surging elements swirled and gathered in the air, finally condensing into a massive magical curtain suspended in front of the main camp, projecting the front-line scenes like a sky screen movie in front of the camp.

Although there was no sound, just watching this magnificent battlefield scene was enough to make one's blood boil.

The Emerald Duchy's army was attacking a city.

Countless red and white fireballs rose from both armies' formations, piercing through the smoke-filled sky and trailing long flame tails, like meteoric fire cascading down from the heavens.

Round after round they fell, exploding into blinding flashes and thick smoke in the enemy formation. Even from more than forty kilometers away, just watching the images, Chen Mo seemed to breathe in that acrid smell saturated with sulfur.

Fully armed heavy cavalry charged in front, their hoofbeats making the earth seem to undulate and tremble. Heavy infantry formations followed closely behind, surging forward like swarms of ants sweeping across the plains.

The Emerald forces, weathering the sky full of fireballs and arrows, crashed against the city walls wave after wave.

The cruel symphony of flesh and steel scattered dismembered limbs and broken armor everywhere, quickly piling up layers of flesh and blood mounds beneath the walls.

The elite warriors of the Emerald Duchy trampled over these ramps, continuously charging toward the top of the walls, creating afterimages that appeared somewhat choppy in the magical projection.

This inexplicably reminded Chen Mo of those layers upon layers of vertical banners hanging from rooftops when famous clubs opened back on Blue Star.

Seeing this scene, Chen Mo understood why the various generals of Cloudmist Domain had some interest in his modern weapons, but not much.

Warfare in the Starry World had formed a complete system. Except for small-scale encounters, one or two modern weapons really couldn't influence the overall situation.

Of course, if East Xia got desperate and sent Chen Mo some "Fat Man and Little Boy" type weapons, that would be another matter entirely.

As time passed, the Emerald Duchy's battle line steadily advanced, crushing the opposing defense inch by inch. Whenever the warriors at the front broke through a position, the large vehicle groups carrying the mage corps in the rear would slowly move forward a section.

These vehicle groups were pulled by heavily armored ground beasts. Each group of war vehicles carried a squad of twelve mages: one guiding mage, three protective mages, and eight attack mages.

The protective mages were responsible for the magical defense of the entire vehicle, while the attack mages served as "artillery," mainly launching attacks on the enemy with destructive fire magic.

Although the average level of the mages wasn't high, encompassing low to mid-tier ranks from Moonring to Stardust to Apprentice, they could only be considered novices, but they won through sheer numbers.

Chen Mo roughly estimated that just in the area displayed by this light screen, the Emerald Duchy had deployed over two hundred arcane war vehicles, which created the overwhelming magical storm on the battlefield.

The Emerald deputy city guard pointed to the Cloudmist flag in the center of the battlefield and let out a long sigh.

"The duchy has invested everything this time. Iron Ridge Pass must be taken no matter what, otherwise, the duchy will never have peace in the future!"

Chen Mo nodded, showing understanding. Earlier, the deputy city guard had already explained the battlefield situation in this area to him.

The location of Iron Ridge Pass was called Iron Ridge Valley. Looking down from high altitude, the entire mountain group resembled a giant iron-backed long-necked turtle quietly lying at the border between Emerald Plains and Red Earth Mountains.

This was the most important pass in the western part of the Emerald Duchy. However, at the start of the war, the Greenspine Kingdom had caught them off guard, using surprise attacks combined with violent assault to capture Iron Ridge Pass, opening the gateway to Emerald Plains.

The only fortunate thing was that Iron Ridge Pass was originally designed to defend westward, so the eastern side facing the Emerald Duchy had low, thin walls and crude defensive facilities.

Although the Greenspine Kingdom had urgently reinforced it, it was impossible to reach the level of a major defensive stronghold in a short time, leaving the Emerald Duchy an opportunity to attack.

"Will the war end once we take this place?"

The deputy city guard shook his head gently, "You can't put it that way. It should be: because the war is about to end, we must take this place at all costs."

"The negotiations between the Resting Moon Dynasty and Mistmoon are nearing their end. Once the great powers reach an agreement, we smaller nations will likely be ordered to cease fighting along current control lines."

"If Iron Ridge Pass is still in Greenspine hands at that time, the entire western plains will have no natural defenses! Greenspine cavalry will come and go as they please, and this land will become their hunting ground and granary!"

"What about the Southern Pass area?"

The deputy city guard's eyes showed some dimness, "There's no way around it. The duchy's main forces are all on the western front. We can't retake the Crystal River defense line."

"In the future, the duchy will probably only be able to use New Slope River as the boundary. Southern Pass, I'm afraid, will no longer belong to the duchy!"

Chen Mo felt the deputy city guard's helplessness.

The Resting Moon Dynasty could abandon part of the Emerald Duchy's territory for its overall strategic considerations.

The Emerald Duchy would also abandon part of Cloudmist Domain's interests for its overall benefit.

Therefore, Cloudmist Domain's main forces couldn't go rescue Southern Pass Territory, which shared their fate, but instead had to mobilize all their troops to coordinate the assault on the distant Iron Ridge Pass.

"In the next war, Cloudmist Domain will face enemy attacks directly."

Chen Mo somewhat missed Paven at this moment.

That man's advice to him had truly been the best choice.

On such a large-scale battlefield, individual strength really seemed insignificant.

Riding high on their victory over the Greenspine Kingdom, if the arrogant Zircon Family pursued him relentlessly, Chen Mo wasn't even sure if he could manage to wander the world and survive.

The offensive that began at dawn continued until nearly midday.

The mages' attacks on the battlefield gradually weakened, magical trajectories began to wither, but the overall momentum could no longer be reversed.

As a heavy armored knight stepped onto the highest main tower of Iron Ridge Pass and raised the massive flag of the Emerald Duchy, the entire camp erupted in earth-shaking cheers, with warriors' wild roars echoing through the clouds.

Chen Mo turned 360 degrees on the spot, completing his final recording action, and turned off the camera.

Next came his main objective for this trip.

"The Earl has already given special instructions. We'll have half an hour to select from the prisoners in the prisoner camp first."

"With people arranged by the estate there, as long as our luck isn't completely terrible, picking a team to escort you to your territory shouldn't be a problem."

"Follow me!"

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