CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER212-THE POOD EMPIRE’S WOLFISH AMBITIONS

The destruction of Blade City and Crimson Hills sounded a loud alarm for all semi-Overlord Rank forces. The Empire had both the resolve and the capability to destroy them!

This could potentially lead to a union among the semi-hegemonic forces. Of course, this would exclude the Ordon Theocracy. Furthermore, the Empire’s foundation, having suffered considerable losses in the Crimson Hills battle, was now significantly weakened.

This was indeed cause for celebration.

"Mentor," Kent asked Terrence, "Would you be able to go to the Brotherhood of the Old Gods for a discussion?"

"Only by completely wiping out the Empire can we truly remove everyone’s lingering concerns."

Terrence nodded.

"No problem. Also, keep an eye on the Goldflow Empire. While their invasion was temporarily repelled, we must remain vigilant and prevent them from striking again when we least expect it."

"I will handle the talks with Skyeye Guild and Bimat Highlands," Alvin volunteered.

Onassis and Kent both agreed. The threat from Goldflow Empire must not be ignored—it was even more dangerous than that of the Crossbridge Empire!

It was this pressure from two fronts that pushed them to act quickly against the Crossbridge Empire.

...

In the northern kingdom of Frostvale, Duke Frostborne, now the kingdom’s ruler, Bruce, was in an exceptionally good mood. It had been a long time since the ministers had seen Bruce this cheerful.

Bruce laughed and asked the old man beside him, "Lord, those 100,000 imperial soldiers must be all of Aurek’s wealth, right?"

The president of Claudeguild stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"More than 100,000 peak master rank soldiers—such strength would take at least several thousand years to accumulate, even for an Overlord Rank force."

"Who is supporting Aurek behind the scenes, we have yet to find out, but from the battle against Blade City and Crimson Hills, this is likely all his hidden strength."

"Ha, haha!" Bruce laughed heartily.

"So, it seems this battle almost wiped out Aurek’s entire savings!"

"Lord, do you think the conditions are ripe to unite with other forces and completely eliminate Aurek’s remaining threat?"

...

Claude pondered for a moment before replying.

"In the south, the Akloroi Federation is dealing with the Goldflow Empire, the Walton family is facing the Selene Empire, and Bimat Highlands, along with us, the Frostborne Kingdom, is under threat from the Filo Empire."

"It’s as if we’ve become a buffer zone for the Crossbridge Empire. If this continues, our foundation will be constantly depleted."

"So, the conditions to unite with other semi-hegemonic forces are already sufficient."

"I’ll arrange for an envoy to negotiate immediately!" Bruce decisively ordered.

Indeed, being surrounded on all sides was a most uncomfortable feeling!

The newly established Frostborne Kingdom couldn’t yet confront the long-standing Filo Empire head-on. It could only focus on the Crossbridge Empire.

With Aurek’s foundation nearly depleted, it was the perfect opportunity to strike—how could anyone not be overjoyed?

Of course, the Skyeye Guild couldn’t challenge the Empire alone. After all, they all had to preserve their strength to deal with the Empire’s enemies in their own regions.

In recent times, the Filo Empire had already taken over more than thirty strongholds in the northern territories. The battle was still ongoing intermittently.

"I’ll arrange the coordination with various forces through the Eye of the Firmament."

"Additionally, with the destruction of Blade City and Crimson Hills, the western defenses are now weakened. You can send some people to notify the Pood Empire to draw some of Aurek’s remaining strength to the west to drain it further," Claude suggested.

Bruce immediately understood the plan.

The western region’s geography had previously been guarded by Blade City and Crimson Hills. Now that these two barriers had fallen, the pressure would naturally shift to the Crossbridge Empire.

If Aurek didn’t deploy his elite forces to defend, the Pood Empire could easily invade the provinces there!

And if he did send forces, the Empire’s soldiers would be tied down and drained over time, leaving Aurek with nothing!

This was a kind of irreversible "sun trap"—in the same way that the Obsidian Legion was exhausted in the past.

...

In the western territories, Matt, leading a fresh legion, and Pippin, leading the Imperial Knights, were swiftly stabilizing the provinces under the control of Scarlet Kingdom and Albion.

Each province was vast, and without the void warlocks’ Transdimensional Leap, it would have taken at least a year or two to fully subdue the rebellions.

To save time and manpower, the void warlocks directly transported level 7 Doomsday Warriors and Elemental Assassins to strike at the elite forces of the resisting factions.

With the loss of Blade City and Crimson Hills’ top-tier forces, the remaining fighters in the provinces were limited. Many were elites, Hero Rank, or a few Master Rank. These forces were no match against peak Master Rank summon units.

However, the chaos in the western territories provided an opportunity for the Pood Empire.

They immediately dispatched their elite Blackarmored Bear Legion, one million strong, to cross the northern mountains and launch fierce attacks on the western provinces and those surrounding the Ironback Mountains.

They quickly captured five provinces!

...

At the border fortress of Lojin, more than thirty powerful figures stood in the clouds, calmly overlooking the fierce battles below.

"Let’s stop advancing after we capture twenty provinces," said the leader, a young man with purple-gold lightning runes imprinted on his forehead.

He was Prince Rechel of the Pood Empire. Beside him stood a powerful figure from the Tassidy Temple, an Overlord Rank force behind the Pood Empire.

Both of them appeared young, but they were, in fact, ancient Stellar rank experts who had successfully overcome the stellar rank calamity, thanks to the vast fortune of the Pood Empire.

The remaining twenty-eight were also Grandmaster Rank experts.

The Pood Empire’s emperor paid great attention to the chaos in Crossbridge Empire’s western territories. The Blackarmored Bear Legion had been blocked by Skypeak Tower experts at Anubichi Canyon and hadn’t gained much.

Now, with Blade City and Crimson Hills destroyed, and Crossbridge Empire’s foundation severely damaged, the Empire was busy reclaiming its provinces. This was the perfect opportunity for the Pood Empire to invade and seize Crossbridge Empire’s territory.

"Prince Rechel, won’t annexing twenty provinces be too much, possibly provoking a strong backlash from Crossbridge Empire?" one of the experts asked worriedly.

Although the emperor had sent two Stellar rank experts who had passed the stellar rank calamity to guard the border, Crossbridge Empire was not afraid of Stellar rank experts.

The emperor of Crossbridge Empire had famously slain six Stellar rank experts in a single battle!

"If we only take a few provinces, Crossbridge Empire may just offer token resistance, but if we take too many and hurt the Empire’s core, it will undoubtedly provoke a violent counterattack!"

Rechel smirked.

"The western territories have nearly two hundred provinces. If we take one-tenth of them, how can that be too much?"

"If not for the possible intervention of Endless Glacier and Sigeits Parliament’s sage rank, we would take all two hundred provinces for ourselves!"

The expert from Tassidy Temple smiled and added, "Don’t worry about Crossbridge’s retaliation! After the destruction of Blade City and Crimson Hills, Crossbridge Empire is severely weakened and won’t be able to put up a fight against us."

"Furthermore, there are other semi-hegemonic forces within Crossbridge Empire eyeing its downfall. They are more eager than we are to see the Empire crumble."

"If Aurek uses all his remaining strength here to fight us, what will he use to deal with them?"