Chapter 980

The Grand General of the Iron Horn Empire's voice echoed across the entire battlefield.

"Directly attack the capital of the Eternal Night Empire? My heavens, are they sending us to die?!"

Upon hearing this news, some warriors did not feel excited; instead, each one wore a gloomy expression.

The Iron Horn Empire had existed for over three thousand years, and naturally possessed a vast number of flying ships.

This time, they used flying ships to transport the entire army directly here.

In fact, they could have chosen the Flame Empire's approach.

That is, deploy all troops near the capital of the Eternal Night Empire and strike with a black tiger clawing the heart.

But…

That would be no different from sending them to die!

If these empires had done this at the start of the war, they would have been annihilated outright!

The Flame Empire dared do this when attacking other empires for one simple reason: it had the strength to do so!

But these empires… if not for this joint mobilization of the Twelve Great Empires, they would never have dared attack the Eternal Night Empire.

Let alone adopt a strategy of directly targeting the capital!

The Eternal Night Empire is among the top ten empires on the Continent of Gods, with extremely formidable military strength and overwhelming power—could it really be this easy to conquer?

Therefore, each empire chose to advance from the periphery, with all empires attacking from different directions, each bearing part of the pressure to wear down the Eternal Night Empire's strength.

Some empires' slow progress may well stem from a desire to let others exhaust the Eternal Night Empire's strength first.

These empires may not be united at all!

Even the divine lords chasing the Eternal Night Goddess in the sky are not united—how could you expect these empires to be?

Of course, pressured by the gods above, they would not slack off too much, for if the gods blamed them, no one could bear the consequences.

Though troubled, the Iron Horn Empire's warriors could only board the flying ships one by one.

Above this vast army, on one flying ship, the Grand General of the Iron Horn Empire, the Grand Archbishop, and the Church's Holy Son stood together.

"Holy Son, we still have nearly half our army looting the six eastern provinces—should we send ships to retrieve them?"

The Grand General of the Iron Horn Empire asked.

The Iron Horn Holy Son shook his head and said, "No need. This time, the ten great empires' armies have directly arrived before the capital of the Eternal Night Empire—the final battle is upon us. Many gods will descend incarnations to end the Eternal Night Empress. This war is nearly over; letting them continue looting now is perfect, otherwise, once we win and divide the spoils officially, we may gain little benefit."

"Holy Son, your wisdom is unmatched!"

The Grand General of the Iron Horn Empire said.

All the warriors boarded the ships, taking over an hour.

Then, the Iron Horn Empire's flying ships began to ascend, racing at full speed toward the capital of the Eternal Night Empire.

"Report, Empress! According to scouts, the Iron Horn Empire's main force has boarded all flying ships—they are heading straight for the capital of the Eternal Night Empire!"

As soon as the Iron Horn Empire's army moved, Meng Ying received the report.

After nearly three hours of flight, the Flame Empire's flying ship fleet was still hundreds of kilometers away from the Iron Horn Empire's fleet.

"They're heading for the capital of the Eternal Night Empire? Do we have any scouts near the capital of the Eternal Night Empire?"

Meng Ying asked a female official beside her.

This female official, responsible for intelligence, was also a warrior of considerable strength, possessing a Sixth-Rank power level.

Upon hearing Meng Ying's words, the female official said, "Your Majesty, a week ago, Shuxiayi Sect dispatched several scouts to gather intelligence on the capital of the Eternal Night Empire."

"Contact them—find out what's happening in the capital of the Eternal Night Empire."

Meng Ying said.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The female official said.

As the female official prepared to contact those scouts, the scouts had already reported the situation in the capital of the Eternal Night Empire.

"Your Majesty, the scouts report that several hours ago, vast armies appeared around the capital of the Eternal Night Empire—at least five empires' forces have now arrived at the city walls."

The intelligence officer said.

Several hours ago, Meng Ying was still en route to the Duchy of Laurence.

"Are they preparing to launch a decisive battle?"

Meng Ying murmured.

Generally, wars between empires dragged on for years.

When neither side held a decisive advantage, neither dared initiate a decisive battle, preferring to wear down the enemy through prolonged conflict.

Only when one side was vastly superior would it seek a swift resolution, unwilling to waste time and energy.

Cases like the Flame Empire's rapid conquest were still rare.

The Ten Great Empires and the Eternal Night Empire have fought for nearly a month, and both sides have likely suffered heavy losses.

Now, with all ten empires simultaneously attacking the capital, forcing the Eternal Night Empire into a decisive battle, the implications are significant.

"Empress Tian probably reached her limit."

Meng Ying thought.

So far in this war, the Eternal Night Empire's high-end combat strength, aside from Empress Tian, consists of only three Saint Domains—and the Eternal Night Goddess has never once descended her power.

Empress Tian must face over ten Saint Domains and dozens of divine incarnations.

Even with her immense strength, she must now be nearing her limit—so, after receiving divine instruction, these empires intend to add one final push to crush the Eternal Night Empire entirely.

They also aim to force the Eternal Night Goddess to descend her power.

Knowing Empress Tian is the younger sister of the Eternal Night Goddess, the divine lords of Heaven treat her as the Eternal Night Goddess's weakness.

Though this weakness is, in truth, terrifyingly strong.

"The Eternal Night Goddess must also be at a critical moment."

Mengying thought again.

These two pieces of information were deduced by Mengying from the actions of these ten empires.

The Goddess of Eternal Night is likely nearing a critical moment, which is why the divine lords of Heaven have become so aggressive.

"Your Majesty, shall we pursue?"

Anne asked.

Mengying nodded: "Pursue. Full speed. I've promised Empress Tina—we will chase the Iron Horn Empire wherever it goes and destroy it."

"Yes!"

Anne nodded.

Mengying pondered, then summoned another female official and gave orders: "Send a magical message to Sister Qing Ling. Have her deploy the winged people and ground forces to clear the scattered Iron Horn troops across the six eastern provinces."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The female official departed.

The Flame Empire's airship fleet began pursuing the Iron Horn Empire's airship fleet.

In the sky, the Iron Horn Empire was still unaware that a fleet was chasing them from behind.

But they were also flying at full speed, for the Iron Horn Holy Son had received a divine revelation and must reach the outskirts of the Eternal Night Empire's Ducheng as soon as possible.

Thus, this Iron Horn airship fleet was also flying at full speed.

Yet their full speed could not match that of the Flame Empire's.

So the distance between them kept narrowing.

"Your Majesty, at this speed, it will take most of the day to catch them—we'll likely overtake them just as they reach the imperial capital!"

Along the way, female officials continually reported progress to Mengying.

While this unusual aerial pursuit unfolded, the fox maiden Sister Qing Ling had also dispatched winged people and large ground forces.

These ground forces were transported by airships, thirty thousand per group, divided into ten groups, each heading in a different direction to search the six eastern provinces of the Eternal Night Empire for the rampaging troops.

These rampaging troops had few magicians and even fewer church personnel, and they were also widely dispersed.

Usually, they numbered only a few thousand or tens of thousands, attacking a single city or noble's territory at a time.

Only when facing a formidable noble would they band together to attack.

Like Lord Laurence's territory before.

"There's one!"

The winged warriors were lucky—just over three hours after entering the Eternal Night Empire, they encountered their first rampaging force.

This rampaging force was sizable, fully ten to twenty thousand strong, and they were looting a noble's territory.

At that moment, the noble's lands echoed with cries of battle.

"Kill them all."