Even with grave injuries and his aura fading fast, Roland still fought without giving a single inch. His massive dragon body blocked the sky above Cloudhaven City like an unshakable mountain, holding firm over the city behind him and the secluded Jared within it.
Roar! Roland let out a furious roar that shook the sky. Pain rode inside the sound, along with something final. Then his enormous tail whipped across with crushing force and slammed toward a Celestial Palace Elder in front of him, driving the man back several steps.
But the instant his old force had spent itself and the new force had not yet risen, the other two Celestial Palace Elders struck together. Two golden spells carrying the highest laws of the Celestial Palace condensed into giant blades of light and smashed into his dragon body with world-breaking force.
Boom! A thunderous blast ripped through the air. Roland’s enormous body shook hard. Golden scales flew everywhere, and two more horrifying wounds split open across him, both deep enough to show bone as dragon blood burst out in a spray. His aura dropped even lower in an instant.
His huge body swayed in midair, and his movements grew slower and slower, but he still forced himself steady and fixed his gaze on the Celestial Palace army ahead without retreating half a step.
The battlefield below was even worse. The Sky Dragon Clan had started with dozens of giant dragons strong enough to dominate a battlefield. Now, fewer than twenty were still in the sky, still fighting. As for the rest of the clansmen, some had already died after fighting to the end.
Their massive dragon bodies had lost all life and dropped out of the sky into the city, kicking up clouds of dust when they hit. Others had been so badly injured that their dragon wings were broken. Their auras were barely there, and they had no strength left to fight. All they could do was lie in the ruins and watch their own people keep battling through blood.
But of the Sky Dragon Clan warriors still holding the line on that battlefield, not one shrank back. Not one showed a trace of fear. Every one of them knew exactly what stood behind them: Cloudhaven City, and their Dragon Emperor, Jared Chance! The Dragon Emperor was still inside the city, still in seclusion, not yet out. That made them his last line. They would die before they gave way.
“Clan Chief…” A Sky Dragon elder fought his way over to Roland’s side, his whole body soaked in blood. Golden dragon blood had drenched his clothes, his wings were torn to pieces, and what little strength he had left was running out. His voice came rough and low, carrying straight through the slaughter.
“We… we can’t hold on much longer. Our clansmen are almost wiped out. If this keeps going, it won’t be long before the Sky Dragon Clan is completely annihilated, and Cloudhaven City won’t be defended either!”
Roland slowly turned his massive dragon head and looked down. He saw the bodies of his own people. He saw the clansmen still fighting in blood, still refusing to fall back even when they had only the last thread of strength left. Something tore through his eyes for an instant, so deep it looked like it might split him open from the inside. Then it was gone, crushed under something harder.
“Then we hold anyway!” His voice dropped low as he spoke. It was weak, scraped raw by blood loss, but the force in it still shook the air. “The Dragon Emperor is still in the city. He hasn’t come out yet. He’s the hope of our Sky Dragon Clan, and the hope of Cloudhaven City. As long as he’s still here, we do not retreat. Even if we fight down to the last man, even if we bleed out our final drop, we hold this place until the Dragon Emperor comes out of seclusion!”
The elder looked at the certainty in Roland’s eyes. Hot tears rushed out, mixing with dragon blood as they ran down his face. He nodded hard. “Yes, Clan Chief! We’ll hold! Even if we’re crushed to pieces, we will not take a single step back!” As soon as the words left him, he turned and beat his ruined wings.
He threw himself back into the middle of the battle without a trace of hesitation, tearing into the Celestial Palace cultivators again. A moment later, several Celestial Palace powerhouses swarmed him at once, and his figure disappeared inside the golden light.
Outside the hidden chamber at the city lord mansion in Cloudhaven City, the scene was no less brutal. Luther gripped the wraith-blade in his hand so tightly his knuckles had gone stiff. The black divine weapon was already slick with blood.
His hand trembled faintly, not because he was shrinking back, but because he had been driven through two hours of nonstop, high-intensity fighting. His mind had been stretched tight the whole time, and both his strength and spiritual power were already hanging at the edge.
Three Celestial Palace disciple corpses lay sprawled in front of him. They were the vanguard who had tried to break through the defense and rush into the hidden chamber inside the city lord mansion. Luther, Vivian, Grace, and Evelyn had joined forces and cut them down. But that win had come at a brutal price.
A gash on Luther’s left arm ran from shoulder to wrist, deep enough to show bone. The flesh had split open, and blood kept dripping from it, staining his robe red. Every time he swung the wraith-blade, the wound in his left arm tore through him all over again. Still, he ground his teeth and held his ground in front of the hidden chamber door.
Grace’s face had gone white as paper. Blood kept spilling from the corner of her mouth, and the spiritual power inside her was in complete disorder. She leaned against the cold wall, so drained that even staying on her feet looked like a struggle. Even so, she still clenched her arcane implement and kept her eyes fixed ahead.
Evelyn had long since run dry. She sat collapsed on the freezing ground, her legs limp, the strength gone from her whole body. But her hands still locked around her longsword. Even if she could no longer fight, she still refused to give up a single step.
Vivian stood at the very front of the four of them. Her white dress had long since been soaked through and dyed into a glaring blood-red garment—red and white tangled together in a sight that hit like a blow. Her swordsmanship was sharp beyond compare. Through this whole defense, she had taken on most of the attacks by herself and cut down several Celestial Palace powerhouses.
But now her breathing had fallen into chaos too. Her spiritual power was exhausted; sweat covered her; loose strands of hair stuck to her cheeks, and a trace of blood stained her lips. She was plainly at the very end of what she could hold together. Then, at that moment, several more powerful auras rushed in through the sky. They were coming straight for the city lord mansion.
Vivian forced her head up and looked. The instant she saw what level the newcomers were at, something in her eyes dropped all the way through. There were five of them. All five were Top Level High Immortal Realm experts, and every one of them carried a crushing presence far beyond the disciples who had come ahead of them.
In the state she was in now, with nothing left to burn, she could at most barely hold off two of them. The other three would be more than enough to kill all four of them and break through the blockade on the hidden chamber.
“Looks like… today, we really are going to die here…” The words slipped out of her in a low murmur. Her voice was soft, and the faint curve at her lips carried both release and something bitter enough to cut. She slowly turned her head.
Her gaze settled on the tightly shut stone door behind her, and it stayed there. Jared, do you know… we’re all waiting for you… the Sky Dragon Clan is waiting for you. All of us are fighting with everything we have to buy you time. Please come out soon…
“Kill!” All five Top Level High Immortal Realm experts from the Celestial Palace shouted at the same time. Golden light burst off their bodies as they struck together, unleashing several powerful spells in one sweep. The glare was blinding. The force behind it was enough to wipe everything out.
Those attacks came crashing straight at Vivian, Luther, and the other two, meant to clear away every obstacle in a single blow and rush into the hidden chamber to seize Jared alive.
