Chapter 988

Under the dense barrage of crossbow bolts, even the Iron Horn Empire's vast number of mages couldn't block them all.

One after another, the Iron Horn Empire's flying ships, spewing thick smoke, plummeted toward the ground.

In just a short time, dozens of the Iron Horn Empire's flying ships crashed from the sky.

Hundreds of thousands of warriors were carried down with the crashing ships.

Although the Iron Horn Empire's flying ships flew low—only a few hundred meters up—a fall from that height meant even Fifth Rank warriors couldn't guarantee survival!

Warriors below Fifth Rank either died or were maimed!

Before either side even closed in, this wave of ranged attacks had devastated the Iron Horn Empire, leaving them utterly defenseless!

You could say the Iron Horn Empire had been stunned the moment combat began!

"Boom!"

At that moment, intense magical fluctuations echoed from the horizon.

Immediately after, a passage of Wan Zhangguangmang opened.

"The Iron Horn Empire's divine avatar has descended! All gods are now concentrating on confronting the Empress of Eternal Night; it's said that empress has a way to briefly ascend to the Saint Realm's Fourth Stage, making her combat power extraordinarily strong. The Iron Horn Empire can summon few divine avatars—see if we can turn the tide!"

Said one Holy Son.

"Strange—where are the Iron Horn Empire's own Saint Realm warriors? Their Saint Realm assassins are the nightmare of all Saint Realm warriors; how could they allow such an attack?"

Another Holy Son asked in confusion.

This Holy Son naturally didn't know that the Iron Horn Empire's powerful assassin, Kais, had been reduced to ashes by Meng Ying!

"The divine avatar has descended! All flying ships, descend quickly!"

In the sky, the Iron Horn Holy Son barked orders.

Dozens of burning flying ships surged wildly toward the ground.

In just a short time, at least half the fleet had been struck by crossbow bolts, left scarred and battered, with heavy casualties among the warriors aboard.

Thus, the Iron Horn Empire's losses were far greater than they appeared.

The ships that crashed were merely the hulls destroyed.

The losses among warriors on the ships still airborne were no less severe!

"Your Majesty, the enemy's divine avatar has descended!"

A female official reported swiftly.

Meng Ying had already seen it.

After the divine avatar descended, energy surged over its body, rapidly blocking the incoming crossbow bolts.

The divine avatar's power was indeed formidable.

A typical Eighth Rank warrior, shield in hand, could protect only one flying ship.

An Eighth Rank spellcaster of baneful incantations could protect several ships under heavy assault from explosive-flame crossbows, provided the ships were close together.

The Iron Horn Holy Son alone could protect dozens of ships.

Had time permitted, he could have cast a legendary spell to block even more bolts.

But the moment this divine avatar appeared, it unleashed violent energy tides, deflecting countless bolts.

Behind the divine avatar, over a hundred Iron Horn Empire flying ships accelerated toward the ground.

After blocking those bolts, the divine avatar swiftly moved to another sector and blocked the bolts there too!

Meanwhile, from the horizon, another divine avatar descended—this one made no move, merely standing guard against Meng Ying.

"Order: Cease attack. Let our troop transports descend."

Meng Ying issued the command.

The enemy's flying ships were already descending rapidly; crucially, the warriors aboard had reached extreme physical and spiritual strain.

At Meng Ying's command, the crossbow attacks from all flying ships finally ceased.

The ships did not retreat but hung motionless in the air, facing off against the two Iron Horn divine avatars seven or eight kilometers away.

"Hurry—pray for Leng Yan to restore his spiritual energy."

On every flying warship, every warrior frantically replenished their spiritual energy.

Such intense crossbow barrages placed enormous strain on them too.

Yet despite their exhaustion, every warrior's spirits were high; this all-out assault had left each one exhilarated.

The losses they inflicted on the enemy were immense!

Under relentless crossbow fire, the Iron Horn Empire lost over a hundred flying ships outright; on those crashed ships, warrior fatalities exceeded ninety percent.

Hundreds more ships suffered over half their warriors dead or wounded; fires raged aboard them, rendering them half-crippled—fewer than half the warriors on those ships could still fight.

In short, this single wave of several hundred flying warships had already reduced the Iron Horn Empire's combat strength by more than a third.

And their losses in flying ships were even greater.

Remember—these flying ships were the accumulated result of many years of Iron Horn Empire buildup.

The two Iron Horn divine avatars remained motionless.

Behind them, the Iron Horn Empire's fleet descended rapidly.

"Hurry off the ships—no dawdling!"

On one flying ship, a commander barked.

"Commander, many are wounded—what do we do with them?"

A warrior asked.

"All who can still fight, disembark. The wounded stay aboard—transport them elsewhere first!"

The commander said.

"But the fires on the ship haven't been extinguished yet…"

"If you can't put out the fire, get the hell out—don't you see the enemy warriors are already landing? Leave the wounded here, how are you going to fight?!"

The legion commander cursed.

On the flying ship, the uninjured warriors quickly disembarked.

"How are there only this many?"

The legion commander counted the numbers and was stunned.

The flying ship, originally carrying over two thousand people, now had only a few hundred left.

In the Iron Horn Empire, a ten-thousand-man battle formation was one legion, and they had hundreds of legions altogether.

The warriors of this legion were spread across six flying ships.

After all six flying ships landed, the legion commander counted the numbers—his legion had dwindled to fewer than five thousand, with over half the warriors dead or wounded.

"Damn it, how are we supposed to fight now? I wonder if the other empires will help us."

The legion commander cursed, turned his head, and saw the Flame Empire's flying ships rapidly descending in the distance.

From those flying ships, vast numbers of warriors poured out in perfect formation.

Although the Iron Horn Empire still had many legions intact, they were nothing compared to the Flame Empire, which had suffered not a single loss.

The legion commander's mood plunged into utter despair!