# Chapter 50: War, Slaughter, and Destruction Descend Upon This Place
Under the sudden mental attack of the silver humanoid that had descended, the elven army responsible for defending this direction had already suffered near-total casualties.
Most of the soldiers had not died at the hands of the stone golems, but rather from their own madness. The terrifying mental impact eroded their souls, turning these once-resolute warriors into fragile madmen one by one. Dying while unconscious, crushed by stone golems, might have been considered a good outcome. The vast majority of elven soldiers perished unknowingly amidst extreme chaos and despair.
The stone golems advanced unimpeded. Without the fortress's defenses, the city itself was hardly an obstacle to these monsters. The rock army surged forward like a tide, effortlessly pulverizing every building along the way. Giant fists swung, stone bodies crashed—everything crumbled into ruin. Before long, they arrived at the entrance of an underground shelter.
The underground shelter had originally been built to defend against stone golem invasions. It was a massive space dozens of meters beneath the surface, capable of temporarily accommodating tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand people. The entrance had been deliberately constructed narrow to prevent stone golems from entering.
Thunder crackled in the gloomy sky, and harsh winds accompanied the falling rain. Just as the stone golems paused, contemplating how to enter the shelter and begin their cleansing operation, a red flash of fire lit up in the distance. It transformed into a pillar of light, striking directly onto one of the stone golems.
The violent explosion destroyed all ordinary stone golems within several tens of meters. The monster army turned in unison, their gleaming eyes fixed on the distance.
There stood a massive creature covered in black carapace, with two long horns atop its head. Its back and tail were covered in giant spines, and a golden fusion core blazed on its chest. Immense power surged within this creature's body, as if it were a small volcano incarnate.
Black, upon noticing that all the monsters had turned their attention toward it, immediately let out a long roar and then ran toward the city's outskirts.
Without any hesitation, the stone golems abandoned the shelter and began encircling the half-dragon instead.
The creature's body carried the aura of Order Force. Its power was formidable—a "major pest" capable of threatening the Executor. Compared to it, the insects still trembling underground were far less important.
The silver humanoid in the sky also turned its attention this way. The ring of light in its mind rotated, emitting a sharp screech. Instantly, a mental impact like blades and needles shot toward Black's mind at the speed of thought. But the half-dragon merely shook its head, ignoring the assault entirely.
—The barking of a wild dog is far beneath the majesty of my master! Black thought disdainfully. It had not lived for centuries in this low-element, low-threat world like the elves. What storms and waves hadn't it seen? How could a mount accustomed to the Black-Haired Warrior's Despair Aura be afraid of such a mental impact?
The silver humanoid had not expected its attack to fail. It paused for a moment, then the ring in its mind rotated, releasing beams of light. It turned its body, no longer suppressing the entire city, but instead concentrating all its power on a single point to attack the giant beast.
Looking down from the sky, one could see a red dot racing at incredible speed, with a dense wave of rock surging close behind. A silver dot floated in the air, chasing after the massive figure.
With the silver humanoid's mental suppression lifted, the stone golems' assault slowed. The people in the Babel Province capital command center finally found the strength to rise from the ground. Amidst a chorus of groans, many elves struggled to their feet, barely supporting their nearly exhausted bodies, looking with dazed eyes at the windows and light screens.
"...What is that?"
Soon, someone spotted the silver humanoid. They asked those around them in confusion, but no one could provide an answer. A moment later, as some regained clarity, a sudden cry of alarm rang out: "Heavens, so many stone golems!"
Everyone looked at the light screen before the one who had cried out. Instantly, their bodies went cold, trembling uncontrollably. They were so terrified they couldn't even make a sound.
On the light screen, tens of thousands of puppet soldiers marched in perfect unison, their footsteps shaking the earth as they chased the massive figure ahead. Even when occasionally struck by dragon breath, their formation did not collapse. The vast majority were Black Iron-rank stone golems, a portion were Mithril-rank, and not a few were Adamantite-rank.
This was a terrifying number that would be extremely difficult for the entire Babel Province, or even the Federation, to handle! A warrior who had participated in the Cold Wind Valley Campaign years ago calculated in his mind and quickly reached a conclusion.
To face this number of stone golems—two to three times that of the Cold Wind Valley battle—at least five provinces' armies would need to coordinate for a defensive battle. Otherwise, they would be easily routed from the front. Hundreds of Adamantite and Mithril-rank stone golems represented a qualitative change—a force that a single province's army could never withstand.
In the distance, at the Gulf Central District, the High Commander's office. The red-haired elf stared intently at the light screen, his hands clenched tightly, supporting his chin, his knuckles white and blue from the pressure. His gaze was as fierce as a man-eating beast's. But it was useless. No matter how angry he was, the situation would not change.
The Federation was collectively suffering a massive stone golem invasion. No warning, no preventive measures. Faced with what had become a natural phenomenon of stone golem descents, no one had truly been mentally prepared. Everything was like a nightmare, suddenly happening, making one want to wake up quickly and escape it all.
But all of this was real and undeniable reality. Whether it was the millions of casualties or the severely damaged major cities, they all reminded this father of the Federation, its ruler, that the country he loved, inhabited, and had fought his entire life for was about to be destroyed.
Taking a deep breath, his gaze sharpened. Ulken appeared very calm on the surface. The red-haired elf called for his personal guard: "Prepare an airship. I want to depart within three minutes."
"Yes!" Though the guard's lips were also pale with tension, he unconditionally believed that the elf before him had the power to turn the situation around. "High Commander, what is the target?"
"The target..."
He paused for a moment, as if thinking or recalling. Ulken's expression shifted, then condensed into a heavy sigh: "Target: the ruins of the ancient elven dynasty capital, Origin Mountain Range, Deep Earth Abyss."
—Forgive me, elven ancestors. Perhaps I am about to desecrate our origins.
Whether you were supporters of the dynasty or founders of the Federation, I hope you can protect the future fate of the elves here.
Closing his eyes, Ulken prayed silently in his heart. Soon after, when his guard brought news that the airship was ready, he slowly opened his eyes and said softly: "Now, I have no choice but to awaken that existence."
In Babel Province, the situation was grim.
Although the elven soldiers were gradually waking up and the defensive line had temporarily regained strength—with most stone golems chasing Black, they managed to hold several large shelters—one shelter had still been breached. The stone golems had dug a tunnel and broken through completely. Screams and wails were sealed underground. The observation arrays could only show a bloody red. Heavy sorrow spread through the command center. Several staff members had family among the victims, but they had no time to grieve. They could only wipe away their tears and continue working.
If even they fell here, it might lead to even more sacrifices.
Under the nearly endless siege of stone golems, Black gradually realized that the space where it could run and dodge was shrinking.
In the pouring rain, groups of monsters would periodically emerge from the direction it was heading, forcing it to change course. After several such occurrences, even the half-dragon's intelligence could deduce that the enemy was slowly herding it into a pocket.
If this trend continued, not only would it fail to relieve pressure on Babel Province, but it might also get trapped itself. Moreover, the silver humanoid in the sky had been following closely. Black sensed extreme danger from it and had been moving at high speed, not allowing it a chance to lock on.
This being, calling itself Coordination Terminal Number 7, possessed strength that Black could not fathom. Perhaps it was because the creature's life form was too peculiar, but more likely, it was simply too strong for Black to perceive.
Both the stone golems and the silver humanoid were extremely patient. They didn't care about the half-dragon's speed, simply intercepting and pursuing from all directions. Failing once didn't matter; failing twice didn't matter either. They were puppets with endless endurance. Even after failing a thousand or ten thousand times, they could continue executing the plan. Black, after all, was still flesh and blood. No matter how long its endurance, it would eventually tire, need to eat and rest. So even if it took days, it didn't matter.
But it seemed it wouldn't take that long. After being forced to change direction once more, the half-dragon realized it was completely surrounded by the dense stone golem army.
What a terrifying number—from before its eyes to the edge of its vision, nothing but densely packed, shifting rock puppets. Cold rain fell from the dark sky. The silver humanoid, surrounded by strange, distorted ripples, floated slowly forward with purple lightning, its body radiating an eerie glow.
It was completely surrounded. Letting out a soft roar, Black's heart remained calm. It had known this moment would come, but it had arrived a bit too quickly. It had thought it could hold out longer.
Overestimated my own strength. Indeed, I shouldn't be too confident. After all, I am not my master—I don't have the power to break common sense and convention... Somewhat wearily, it closed its eyes. Then, red flames flickered, three golden gleams flashed, and the dragon opened its eyes once more, letting out a dragon roar that shook heaven and earth.
Without any delay, a golden pillar of light burst from the core in its chest, shooting straight toward the stone golem army, slamming violently into the dense puppet formation.
The massive explosion and fierce winds instantly destroyed dozens of stone golems. The shockwave shook the earth, knocking several times that number to the ground. They pressed against each other, unable to rise immediately. But even more stone golems surged forward, unafraid of the black dragon's searing flames or death itself. Even when the dragon's claws crushed them to rubble, they charged recklessly, trying to restrain this beast larger than themselves.
It crushed one group, destroyed another. Dragon breath killed one group, claws tore apart another. But it was useless. The endless stream of monsters defied all logic, relying purely on numerical advantage to kill the half-dragon here.
What a pity... Trapped in the center of the stone golem army, a flash of understanding came to Black. Today might be the day of its death. Everything would end today.
I am not a wyvern. I cannot fly... This thought crossed its mind, and the half-dragon couldn't help but feel regret. If the battlefield were the ocean, if it were a volcano—as long as there was water or magma, today's battle might not have been lost. But the facts were what they were. It had held out at a tremendous disadvantage, killing so many monsters. That was enough.
Enough.
One stone golem after another rushed to the half-dragon's side, grabbing hold of Black's body. The half-dragon offered no resistance. Red light patterns spread from its core outward across its body. Terrifying fire elements surged and leaped from its bloodline, as if ready to detonate at any moment, spreading endlessly outward.
Dying here, at least it would take most of the enemy with it.
This was the last thing a warrior's mount could do.
But a voice interrupted this action.
"Who?!"
A cold, furious will swept across the battlefield. The tangible malice even caused the puppet stone golems to halt their actions. In the distant sky, a red meteor streaked through layers of crimson clouds, breaking through the sky, flying at extreme speed toward Babel Province.
The silver humanoid looked up in shock toward the distant sky. Black, deep in its desperate struggle, also raised its head, looking toward the northern sky of Babel Province.
There, the clouds had been dyed black-red by crimson Battle Qi flames. The thick gloom was torn apart in an instant by an immense force, as if a giant controlling thunder had split the sky, revealing the brilliant starry sky behind the black clouds. The surrounding clouds trembled like water.
"Who's bullying my horse!"
The terrifying voice drowned out even the thunder, echoing between heaven and earth. A figure wreathed in black-red Battle Qi fell like a star descending to earth. Its speed was so swift that neither the stone golems, the silver humanoid, Black, nor the elves could react. All they saw was the red great star crashing violently into the ground.
Intense red light flashed, emitting a radiance like the sun itself, leaving those who witnessed it with a stinging pain akin to staring directly at the sun. But Black still kept its golden dragon eyes wide open, fixed on that figure.
Explosion, shockwave, violent tremors like an earthquake accompanied the rise of a small mushroom cloud. A figure it knew intimately walked out from within.
It was a Black-Haired Warrior. He held a silver greatsword in one hand and a black giant axe in the other. His eyes were red as fire, revealing uncontrollable rage.
This place is now hell.
For the Lord of War, Slaughter, and Destruction has descended upon this place.
(To be continued)