"It has finally begun."
Byron and Violet instinctively sat up straight. A vast strategic map unfolded before them, as if they were viewing the battlefield from a god’s-eye perspective. The entire battlefield, amidst the fierce fight, was displayed before their eyes as a three-dinsional holographic image. Relying on their nurous devout followers acting as nodes of law, every detail of Tayapan was revealed with painstaking clarity. Even the panicked expressions on the faces of the guards atop the city walls were crystal clear.
"Enemy attack!"
The city-states of the two great Native Empires each operated on a one-city-one-nation system. Due to constant warring over sacrifices, city defenses were always of paramount importance. Before a round of saturation bombardnt from all directions—both land and water—could even begin, the mutated guards had already sensed the commotion outside the city. Their bodies, contaminated, had sprouted scales, fangs, and even deford tails and wings. They had long since taken up positions on the thick stone walls.
Moreover, Tayapan’s forbidden knowledge, the **Crown of the Giant Dragon**, differed from the traditional knowledge of the "**Book of the Beast Kinship**" (Volu I) inherited by other city-states. In those other city-states, indigenous warriors had to hunt beasts like cheetahs, tigers, brown bears, and other spirit beasts in the forests during their coming-of-age ceremonies. The **Crown of the Giant Dragon**, however, included thods to cultivate the sub-dragon species, the Multicolored Dragon Lizard, along with a series of other dragon lineages. Artificially breeding "beast souls" was naturally far more convenient than hunting wild animals. So of the higher-quality Multicolored Dragon Lizards would beco their contracted dragon souls, while others would serve as **Tad Beasts** within the city-state.
It was said that long-term cohabitation with Multicolored Dragon Lizards could reduce the difficulty of practicing Black Sorcery and even lessen the side effects of a condition known as "greed." Greed for wealth, gluttony, lust, power... In short, they were likely to suffer from at least one of the flaws said to afflict dragons in the legends of the ancient **Dragon Court**.
HISS HISS HISS...
AWOOO AWOOO AWOOO...
The fire-attribute Red Dragon Lizards, water-attribute Blue Dragon Lizards, ice-attribute White Dragon Lizards, dark-attribute Black Dragon Lizards, and wind-attribute Green Dragon Lizards roared as they joined the guards, rushing to the city walls. They presented a formidable and imposing sight. Clustered here and there, their vibrant colors made for a rather brilliant display. But to soone suffering from "insufficient firepower phobia," they were all just "truly all flash and no substance!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...
Cannonballs rained down, and flesh and blood flew everywhere! The primitive city walls were primarily designed to defend against assaults by foot soldiers; their capacity to withstand cannon fire was woefully inadequate, lacking the specific defensive design of large **Edge Fortresses**. The wooden gates were a particular vulnerability. Although shamanic wizards had fortified them with Black Sorcery enchantnts, they could not be completely blocked with stone. They needed to remain functional for logistical support, counterattacks, and as lifelines, among other purposes. A single round of bombardnt instantaneously blew them into millions of splintered fragnts.
Instead of seizing the opportunity to storm the city, the **Allied Army** imdiately followed up with a second, third, and then a fourth round of concentrated fire. That’s how "insufficient firepower phobia" operated. Any issue that could be solved with saturation firepower would not be tackled with manpower.
As Byron would say: "On future battlefields, we must unleash steel and flas, not soldiers. We will leave countless craters on the enemy’s territory—a terrifying density allowing one to hop from one crater to another. In other words, it’s also known as ’oversaturation bombing,’ a grand art of using firepower to reshape geography. With ample logistical support and an unscrupulous application of firepower, my word is simple: bomb them to oblivion! Every additional enemy brings on an overwhelming new episode of my condition. dicine can’t cure , but bigger and fiercer artillery can, as can my dearest ’**Gunpowder Artist**,’ Miss **Willette**."
If one round of concentrated fire wasn’t enough, another would follow. Hundreds of cast-iron shells whistled through the sky, crashing down upon Tayapan City. Even though the walls blocked most of them, the sheer number of cannonballs was overwhelming. Nurous shells bounced wildly, crushing everything on the ramparts guarded by the Fallen guards.
"AAAH... help , my leg..."
"My stomach..."
So exploded into **Blood Mist** alongside dragon lizards. Missing limbs were a common sight, and many were cleaved in two on the spot. It seed that after becoming Fallen, they inherited so of the dragon lizards’ abilities. As long as the limb loss wasn’t too severe, they could regrow them, a healing rate far more rapid than that of normal humans. If this were still the age of cold weapons, they would have held a significant advantage. Although the regrown limbs were those of lizards, it also confird they were irreversibly progressing down their path of degradation.
anwhile, the ancient walls, which had stood unassailable through countless wars fought with cold weapons, trembled violently under the bombardnt. If they continued to take hits without striking back, even the sturdiest defenses would eventually crumble.
"Counterattack! Counterattack! Green Dragon Lizard Warriors and Green Dragon Lizard Knights, take to the sky! Destroy their **Artillery Positions**!" roared Teotihuacan, the King with the Upturned Nose, wielding a **Miracle**-grade Obsidian saw-sword.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!...
The Green Dragon Lizards, the only flying breed among the Multicolored Dragon Lizards, soared into the air one after another. Gunpowder and bombs weren’t their forte, but the various potions concocted by the shamanic wizards were no less powerful than explosives. The "Potent Voodoo Potion" was especially dangerous. Upon contact with moist air, it would transform into a sticky, toxic fog capable of corroding steel swords to dust in just a few breaths. It was also potent enough to reduce thick cannons to piles of useless scrap tal.
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