150. The Empire Continent

Currently, the coalition forces of the fourteen empires were divided into two main groups. One was deployed along the border of the Goldstone Empire, while the other was stationed near the border of the Dragon Rock Empire, not far from the imperial allied forces. They should already be aware of the military movements on this side.

"Kane, lead the cavalry and two hundred thousand infantry to advance and attack the border of the Goldstone Empire. You must crush them in one fell swoop. There are eight empires in this direction, and I want you to conquer all of them," ordered Mo Fei.

"Rest assured, Young Master, I will not let these fellows slip away just like that," Kane replied in a loud voice.

"They have no way of running. I have long since dispatched a fleet to blockade the seas. Whether they belong to this continent or the other, not a single one of them will escape our strike," Mo Fei said with a fierce expression. Anyone would be driven to desperation when they were striving for the greater good of everyone, only to find ungrateful wretches conspiring with outsiders to hold them back. Mo Fei regarded his counterattack against this hostile continent as a measure to eliminate future troubles once and for all, which made him feel extreme revulsion and disappointment toward these dozen or so empires for inviting wolves into their house. These ten-odd empires were destined to vanish from this continent. Should any unexpected harm befall the agents planted within their borders by the Death Empire, Mo Fei had already decided that for every single person the Death Empire lost, the entire royal family of that empire would be executed to pay for the lives. The survivors would either be executed or sentenced to life imprisonment until death, depending on the circumstances.

The grand army set off. Kane led the cavalry, followed by two hundred thousand infantry, slowly marching westward. Meanwhile, Mo Fei, leading infantry composed of elite berserkers from the Death Empire along with eight hundred thousand imperial allied forces, took the opposite route on this eastern expedition. The six empires involved in this path would be thoroughly leveled, while the other empires lying in this direction would have no third choice left other than to merge into either the Dragon Rock Empire or the Flying Dragon Empire.

The main army did not rush their march. What Mo Fei was doing now was buying time for the enemy forces to wait. With their current military strength, the mere ninety thousand troops he commanded were enough to scare the opponents to death. There was no need for forced marches to seek a decisive battle with the enemy.

True to expectation, not long after the Death Empire's army began its march, the enemy forces on this route poured out in full strength upon receiving the news, forming up in battle array at the inevitable path of the army, waiting for Mo Fei's forces to arrive.

"Not bad, they still have some courage!" Seeing from afar that the enemy's hundreds of thousands of troops had lined up in formation well in advance to wait for him—scouts having long since probed the enemy's movements and troop deployments—Mo Fei was in no hurry. The enemy forces on this route possessed barely ten thousand mages; the sixty bear-tribe mages by his side alone were more than enough to blast them to pieces. However, Mo Fei was not foolish enough to send these sixty bear-tribe mages to the front lines to exchange magic duels with them. His ballistae had a range that could eliminate more than half of the enemy mages in the very first wave of strikes; why take the risk of potential casualties just to play fair-combat games with the enemy?

Ten thousand ballistae rolled forward. Kane's infantry had only taken three thousand of them; another three thousand remained in the capital, and the rest were all with Mo Fei.

"Wind! Wind! Wind!..."

Wherever ballistae were present, the battle cry of the Death Empire never changed. As the berserker infantry roared, the eight hundred thousand imperial allied forces joined in the shouting. Amidst the roars, the piercing sound of air being torn apart rang out, and ten thousand ballistae bolts carrying the kiss of the Grim Reaper whistled toward the mages positioned in the center of the enemy formation.

Before the enemy could manage to set up defensive measures, more than half of the ten thousand mages sheltered in the middle fell under the attack of the first wave of arrow rain. While the remaining half were still recovering from their shock, the second wave of arrow rain tore through the air, and with reluctant gazes fixed on the sky, they slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Attack!..." Mo Fei gave the order to assault. Instantly, crisp, piercing bells swept over the heads of the shaken enemy troops.

"Charge—" The berserkers took the initiative. One by one, berserkers who had long since entered a state of frenzy raised their giant axes and swept out like the wind, plunging into the enemy's front lines. The eight hundred thousand imperial allied forces, refusing to be outdone, charged forward closely behind these ten thousand most elite berserkers of the Death Empire's infantry.

Mo Fei knew that once the enemy mages were wiped out by the ballistae, these so-called allied forces could never match his own imperial coalition. By now, only sixty mages remained by Mo Fei's side.

The ballistae continued to fire their massive bolts unceasingly, now aiming at the panicked enemy troops in the rear. The casualties inflicted and the tremors caused were enough to shatter the morale of any enemy troops lacking firm resolve.

The imperial allied forces, outnumbering their opponents by nearly half, completed a complete encirclement of the enemy after outflanking their wings. Even if the enemy laid down their weapons, they were still violently swept over by the grand army. Mo Fei did not issue an order for massacre, but within the imperial allied forces—which had long been indoctrinated through propaganda as a coalition established for the safety of the continent—the soldiers regarded themselves as the protectors of this world. Facing an enemy that had invited wolves into the home, how could they possibly show mercy?

After a brief battle, the enemy soldiers, having lost all morale to fight, littered the ground. The imperial allied forces did not leave a single living soul. Now, awaiting them were those six empires which no longer possessed any combat capability whatsoever. All they needed to do now was capture the royal families of these empires en masse, and this expedition would be successfully concluded. As for the other empires along this route, Mo Fei had no intention of dispatching troops directly to them; he merely needed to broadcast this intention across the continent, and that would suffice. For those blind empires, Mo Fei would not hesitate to dispatch his armies for conquest. Whether they liked it or not, Mo Fei's decision was unalterable.

The assassination squad played their part to the fullest in this battle. They remained undiscovered by these empires, and consequently, Mo Fei had no intention of executing the royal families of these nations. However, their imperial majesties were destined to spend the second half of their lives in confinement or exile. As for the other members of the royal families, Mo Fei permitted them to acquire estates in other empires and live as commoners, but their emperors had no choice. In the near future, they would be exiled to a remote island conquered by the Death Empire, to spend the rest of their lives there without ever being allowed to return to the mainland on pain of immediate execution.

The war on the continent proceeded with absolute smoothness. Led by the Death Empire, the imperial allied forces defeated the combined armed forces of sixteen empires with a record of fewer than ten thousand minor injuries. On the strength of this alone, the remaining empires on the continent lost all courage to resist. Looking at the exiled or confined emperors, and then looking at the former emperor of the Doma Empire—who had been granted the status of a prince and still administered the Doma Empire—if those other rulers failed to make the right choice, they feared they would also end up sleeping in the wind and dew on a desolate island.

There was little suspense. Twelve empires were annexed by the Flying Dragon Empire, eight by the Dragon Rock Empire, and even more by the Goldstone Empire, reaching a total of fourteen. The Magic and Martial Empire also acquired six neighboring empires. By contrast, the Death Empire had no independent empires left existing around its borders. Judging by appearances in this major war, the Death Empire was the only one that gained no direct territory. Currently, on this continent, the Death Empire had become the strongest nation, while the Goldstone Empire possessed the largest territory. Such an outcome meant that the Goldstone Empire's military expenditures for the imperial coalition would have to increase significantly.

The Dragon Rock Empire obtained the territories of the four empires along the passage initially conquered by the Death Empire. In the end, seeing that the Death Empire seemed to have gained nothing, they arbitrarily incorporated the territory of the original City of Death directly into the Death Empire's borders, remarking that if the Death Empire didn't want it, they might as well give it to the Elf Kingdom. The Emperor of the Dragon Rock Empire phrased it very nicely, though of course he knew full well that the Elf Kingdom and the Death Empire were essentially one and the same—there was no real distinction between this empire and that kingdom; it was simply that the elves were better suited to living in forests. Otherwise, how could an elder-level minister of the Elf Kingdom have made Vader, one of the decision-makers of the Death Empire, feel dizzy and dizzy-headed? These old fellows had long since become the default important figures in the Death Empire. Their experience was, after all, far greater than that of the young imperial officials. Under their guidance, numerous officials, including Vader, were able to grow so rapidly and stand entirely on their own. In front of these old fellows, even Vader had to lower his head and accept instruction, not daring to utter a word of contradiction. Should any of these old fellows be displeased, what awaited Vader wouldn't just be one old fellow, but potentially dozens of them lining up to discipline him.

Vader had never experienced such treatment, but Kane certainly had. When Vader asked him about his feelings afterward, Kane had shriveled up completely, refusing to say a single word. With that look of sheer terror, Vader had no desire to experience it firsthand. It was rumored that Kane had been lectured in rotation by Elder Wharton and twenty of the empire's senior elders for nearly half a day. At moments of great excitement, Elder Wharton even knocked the back of Kane's head a few times more. Berserkers might age, but for the task of knocking heads, their strength was by no means lacking. Kane spent the next few days rubbing the back of his head, and judging by the look of it, the force behind those blows could not have been light.

The war on the mainland had ended, and the annexation and unification were complete. At Mo Fei's suggestion, the continent was named the Imperial Continent. Previously, it lacked a unified name, with everyone essentially calling it whatever they pleased. Since only five empires remained on the continent now, and these five were allied empires, the name met with no controversy and was thus settled.

Now, Mo Fei and his imperial allied forces faced two opponents: one was the defeated adversary before them, and the other was this magical continent. The fleets sent out were currently searching the nearby waters, yet the emperors of those conquered empires could not provide any valuable intelligence, leaving everything to rely on the Death Empire's warships to scout.

Mo Fei would never let go of enemies who dared to invade his continent. The fleet that was originally supposed to be sent to the Diamond Continent had now been reassigned to search this magical continent instead. Once word came back, it would be the time for the imperial allied forces to press down with overwhelming military might.