CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 167: THE DAWN ASSAULT

The dimensional portals closed with a dull crash that resonated through the dimensions, their rings of violet light gradually extinguishing until only a spectral echo remained in the air. Behind them, the draconic legions of the Ignivaras deployed in the night sky like a swarm of predators, their massive silhouettes obscuring the stars. The armada stretched for several kilometers, a military formation of surgical precision that testified to centuries of warrior experience.

They were now engaged in what would perhaps be their final campaign toward the East, where the walls of China awaited, standing like a millennial challenge to their devouring ambition. These legendary fortifications, reinforced by generations of human engineers and imbued with ancestral protection spells, represented far more than a simple obstacle they embodied the determination of a civilization to survive.

The night sky, ink-black, stretched toward infinity, punctuated by rare stars that seemed to observe this army from elsewhere with indifferent coldness. Under this celestial vault, the earth still slept, unaware of the approaching storm. Entire cities would soon be reduced to ashes, secular empires would collapse before dawn.

The draconic fleet glided in deathly silence, each wingbeat synchronized with perfect military discipline. At the center of this formation, warships floated like flying fortresses, their hulls reinforced with draconic metal and engraved with protective runes. Around them evolved winged creatures, wyverns with scales black as night, their humanized draconic riders scanning the horizon with enchanted binoculars; griffons with claws sharpened like blades, carrying bags of incendiary bombs; armored vouivres whose armor plates reflected starlight. And dominating this escort, dragons in their original form, veritable titans of the air whose every breath could raze a city.

At the heart of the armada, in the flagship, a mastodon of metal and magic two hundred meters long, Syléane Ignivara stood motionless before the main observation bay. Her hands, gloved in reinforced leather, were crossed behind her back, her slender but martial silhouette outlined against the armored window. Through the mithril-reinforced crystal, she observed the human lands passing beneath them, mentally mapping each city, each road, each strategic point.

Around her, the bridge buzzed with controlled activity. Draconic officers in humanoid form, recognizable by their reptilian eyes and slightly prominent canines, monitored consoles covered with magical screens. Holographic maps floated in the air, showing the armada’s progression and known enemy positions. Communication crystals crackled regularly, transmitting scout reports.

- "Maintain formation Epsilon-7," Syléane ordered in a clear voice that naturally carried authority. "Our vanguards report human troop movements fifteen kilometers southeast. They know we’re coming."

Commander Thorak, a draconic with bronze scales who had participated in the conquest of three continents, approached with a tactical report.

- "Our ground spies confirm that humans have evacuated the majority of civilians from border zones. They’re concentrating their forces behind their main defense lines. Their generals are no fools - they know that facing our armada in open terrain would be suicide."

Syléane nodded, analyzing the implications. "They’re forcing us to dislodge them from fortified positions. Classic, but effective. Our losses will be greater than in an open field battle." She turned to the communications officer. "Transmit to all units: stay vigilant. Humans excel in the art of defensive warfare. They’ve had centuries to perfect their techniques."

A draconic lieutenant with amber eyes immediately nodded. "Our aerial sentries patrol constantly, Lady Syléane. Security perimeter of fifty kilometers. Any hostile approach will be detected and neutralized."

Syléane didn’t respond immediately. Her warrior instinct, sharpened by decades of combat, whispered that they were being watched. She felt that familiar sensation, that tingling at the base of her neck that had often saved her from deadly ambushes. Something was wrong.

- "Commander Thorak," she murmured, "increase patrol frequency. And order the escort ships to tighten their formation. I have a bad feeling."

Before Thorak could respond, a subtle vibration ran through the flagship’s hull. Syléane, accustomed to her ship’s slightest tremors, immediately sensed something was amiss. This wasn’t normal turbulence.

- "What’s..."

A dull rumble suddenly resounded from the ground, echoing through the night air like the awakening of a sleeping giant. A blinding light briefly burst from the landscape below, momentarily illuminating fields and forests with harsh, white radiance. Then an abnormally dense silence fell over the region, as if the earth itself held its breath.

The explosion that followed was cataclysmic. A sonic detonation of unprecedented power erupted in the sky, releasing a shock wave visible as a concentric sphere of energy that propagated at the speed of sound. The air itself seemed to tear, creating optical distortions that made space undulate.

The World Devourer, despite its hundred thousand tons of reinforced metal and magical stabilizers, pitched violently under the impact. Officers were thrown against the walls, their equipment scattering across the floor in metallic crashes. Magical screens flickered and several temporarily shut down. Syléane, despite possessing superhuman strength, staggered and had to grip a console to avoid falling.

- "Damage report!" she immediately shouted, her hoarse voice covering the noise of alarms that had just triggered.

Thorak, who had gotten up despite a gash on his forehead, quickly consulted his instruments.

- "Military-type sonic charge!" he shouted over the din. "Power equivalent to fifty tons of draconic powder! It came from the ground - human heavy artillery! Our energy shields absorbed most of the impact, but they’re weakened by forty percent!"

Around them, the armada suffered the devastating effects of the attack. Several escort vessels, less well protected, dove toward the ground smoking, their crews desperately struggling to maintain altitude. Winged creatures screamed in pain and terror, their hypersensitive senses tortured by ultrasonic vibrations. Some wyverns, disoriented, collided with their fellows in a deadly ballet of flesh and metal.

But the humans weren’t finished. A second rumble shook the air, closer this time, followed by another luminous sphere that exploded a hundred meters from the vanguard. Then a third, and a fourth, in a coordinated salvo that testified to meticulous preparation. Each explosion projected shock waves capable of crushing bones and exploding the internal organs of flying creatures.

- "They’ve mapped our route!" Syléane realized with forced admiration for the enemy’s ingenuity. "This attack was planned for weeks. They knew exactly where we’d be."