The dark clouds above Whitetown filled everyone with despair.

Everyone in the city wore serious expressions. Those who could still walk struggled to their posts, gripping whatever weapon they had tightly.

The ground trembled slightly as a strange buzz filled the air. Over the not-so-distant horizon, one Evernight transport after the other pierced through the clouds, dropping a dense array of soldiers and gear onto the front lines.

The Evernight army outside of Whitetown already held the absolute advantage in terms of military power. Doer had an army of forty thousand under his command, while Whitetown was being defended by a couple thousand men, including Zhao Jundu’s soldiers. The only advantage they held was the abundance of resources because of their control on the battlefield.

But now, there seemed to be no end to the Evernight transports. Upon careful calculation, the soldiers might number in the tens of thousands and their ammunition supply was almost uncountable.

Currently, the Evernight side held the absolute advantage in numbers. In terms of experts, Doer alone was difficult enough to deal with. A reinforcement fleet of this scale would surely be led by an expert of corresponding strength, a vice-duke at the very least.

At the highest point in the city, Song Zining and Qianye were standing side-by-side, with Zhao Jundu in a different corner. All of them were gazing at the descending airships with fairly calm expressions.

“How come there are so many transports? How is the Martyr’s Palace faring?” Song Zining seemed a bit worried.

Qianye remained with his eyes closed for a good while. “It’s fighting.”

Song Zining’s expression turned serious. “Can you sense who the enemy is?”

Qianye’s face turned slightly pale. Apparently, the long-distance communication placed quite a bit of strain on him. Moments later, he opened his eyes and said, “It’s an Evernight fleet, and a fairly powerful one at that. The Martyr’s Palace can hold its own, but it’ll be difficult to eliminate the enemy.”

“It’s been tangled up. That means the enemy is led by a grand-duke at the very least. It looks like Evernight understands you quite a bit!”

Qianye nodded.

The Martyr’s Palace would perform very differently depending on whether or not Qianye was on board. The latter could utilize some of the Earth Dragon’s power, but without him, the crew could only use it as a powerful warship. That terrifying strength rivaling the Emperor’s flagship couldn’t be brought out.

The Martyr’s Palace could destroy two grand-duke warships in battle with Qianye on board, but without him, a single grand-duke could keep it in check. Fortunately, Caroline was aboard the vessel, so there was no need to fear enemy experts trying to take over the airship by force.

While keeping the Martyr’s Palace bogged down, the Evernight side braved grave losses to send a large number of warships and transports down to the void continent. This proved how intent they were on taking back Whitetown.

Song Zining understood this fact. After a momentary daze, he said with a wry laugh, “I really don’t understand it. Are the Evernight forces on the void continent that important? Why would they pay such a steep price?”

There was a pattern to the war between the Evernight faction and the Empire. Once the situation was dire or their losses exceeded a certain degree, the dark races would normally abandon their cannon fodder and pull back their elite experts. These long-lived species were usually unwilling to trade losses with short-lived humans.

However, their current strategy was the exact opposite—investing more and more soldiers into taking back a retreat point. These reinforcements were sufficient for them to contend with the Imperial army for a different strategic location.

Zhao Jundu said indifferently, “If you have questions, we can discuss that after we survive this. Then, we’ll have more time to ponder on it.”

Song Zining scoffed. “How rare to hear something like that from you. What, does the situation look bleak to you as well?”

“Those who should come have not arrived, yet those who shouldn’t have are here. Anyone would feel that things are bad. Be practical and start assigning defensive zones, get ready to fight with your lives on the line.”

Both Qianye and Song Zining nodded.

There was another possibility that all three of them had thought of, but none of them brought it up. If the dark races’ increase in troop strength wasn’t just here at Whitetown, it would mean that they were planning an all-out counterattack involving the entire continent.

The trio separated the city into three mutually supporting warzones, one for each person. The presence of an overseeing expert made a significant difference in a defensive fight.

By the time they had completed assigning warzones, the Evernight army had also completed their encirclement on three sides, leaving only the path toward the edge of the continent. Everyone knew that heading in that direction meant sure death, so there was no meaning guarding it.

The rumble of heavy cannons drew the curtains on the dark race army’s assault. A hail of bullets smashed into Whitetown like rain, ravaging the rubble of a city. The defense army’s counter cannon fire was highly scattered and almost negligible. All soldiers were hiding behind cover, waiting for the barrage to end and the enemy charge to begin.

Almost as though they were venting their anger, the dark races continued firing for an entire fifteen minutes before stopping.

This kind of cannon fire held little meaning because the city no longer had any clear defensive line. Every rubble, every street intersection could turn into a defensive line for exchanging fire.

The barrage had just ended when countless dark race warriors charged the city at shocking speed. They forwent all forms of probing strategies and went straight for an all-out assault. This went to show just how desperate and determined the enemy was.

The silent Whitetown came back to life. Gunfire emerged from behind half-standing walls, stone pillars, and from within ruined buildings. Origin bullets were being fired as though ammunition didn’t cost anything, and physical bullets flew about like torrential rain. Many of the origin bullets were suffused with the sable glow of darkness origin power.

The mercenaries of the neutral lands didn’t care about Daybreak or Evernight. Just like on the Evernight continent, there were a lot of them who cultivated darkness origin power as well. They would pick up the weapons and ammunition left behind by the fallen dark race attackers and fire everything back at them.

The first row of dark race soldiers collapsed neatly like reaped wheat. Those behind them stepped over the corpses of their comrades as they continued the charge toward Whitetown.

With the dark race’s speed, a thousand meters took only moments to traverse. They paid with their lives to cover this ground swiftly and enter Whitetown. However, they quickly realized that the true nightmare was within the city. Mercenaries and Zhao clan warriors would appear from every place and direction, vanishing quickly after a round of raking fire. In the blink of an eye, the enemy soldiers who had entered the city suffered grave injuries.

This was actually the right time for the experts to do their job, but the stronger dark race warriors were also falling in droves as one powerful bullet after the other punched through their armor. The daybreak origin power in the projectiles burned their flesh and innards like a stream of fire. Titled enemy experts fell constantly, ultimately stirring alarm in the hearts of the soldiers. They started to fall into confusion. Their attacks were no longer as resolute, and hesitation on these city streets meant only one thing—death. As such, the dark race casualties began to rise amidst their predicament.

The soldiers Zhao Jundu had brought to Whitetown were true elites, with a large number of well-trained snipers among them. The Zhao clan had invested deeply in these sharpshooters, so Dark Flame’s self-taught snipers couldn’t compare to them at all. Their only objective was to take out high-ranking enemy officers and experts.

On a distant warship, a vampire marquis finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Sire, the casualties are too great. Our morale will collapse at this rate!”

“Continue the attack!” Doer’s voice was calm.

“Lord Doer!” The vampire marquis raised his voice.

“Continue the attack.”

Under Doer’s strict orders, the unresigned vampire marquis could do nothing but retreat. Before leaving, he glared at the werewolf duke provocatively.

The vampires and werewolves had always been at loggerheads with one another. Since the werewolves lost their supreme, the vampire race had been suppressing the wolves on every front. Hence, even though there was a rank difference between them, this vampire marquis didn’t really hold much respect for Doer.

The werewolf experts behind Doer looked furious, and some of the bad-tempered ones even started to act up. However, Doer calmed them down with a wave of his hand and said, “I can repeat my order once but never twice. Anyone who still can’t hear me clearly will be punished according to military laws. As for what happens afterward, that can be discussed at the meeting.”

All the vampire experts wore serious expressions as they turned to a vampire elder at the center of their formation. The man was so old that his eyes were barely open, and his face was full of wrinkles. Even so, his aura was only slightly weaker than Doer, clearly a vice-duke.

His murky eyes glanced at Doer. “Lord Doer is the commander here, so he has the final say in this. Are you all tired of living? How dare you question the council’s decision!”

Doer ignored the sarcasm in the old man’s voice. “Thank you, Lord Digger. Now that we have no more objections, issue my order and continue the assault!”

Lord Digger’s eyes twitched, but he said nothing.

Moments later, a bugle cry carrying a special frequency spread out on the battlefield. This frequency awoke the ferocity ingrained deep within the dark race soldiers. The werewolves went berserk, and many vampires saw their eyes turn red in blood fury as they charged into Whitetown at almost equal speeds.

The dark race army clashed with the mercenaries again as they entered the city. This time, they were no longer apprehensive after being agitated by the secret art. Even the wounded would drag their opponents down with them.

In the blink of an eye, the outer defensive line of Whitetown had almost collapsed entirely. The enemy had also paid a steep price with their corpses lining the entire defensive line.

The curtains had just been raised on the siege when the dark races had lost over ten thousand elites. The loss of high-ranking officers and experts was even more shocking. The commander, no matter who it was, should be greatly alarmed at the sight of this.

Doer, on the other hand, ignored the ground full of corpses and kept issuing one order after the other. All of them were: Attack!