On the second battlefield, the tragedy of the Dark Empire's living mortal troops was even more absolute. Reduced from hundreds of billions to a terrified remnant of less than one hundred billion, the mortal soldiers had completely lost the will to fight.
They broke formation, fleeing blindly across the plains as the elites of the Castle Faction hunted them from the skies. A few tried to rally under defensive barriers, but the sheer momentum of the Great Aetherium's Saints and Demigods shattered their lines within minutes.
By the time the sun fully broke over the horizon, the second battlefield fell completely silent. The vast majority of the Dark Empire's mortal army lay dead, their blood soaking into the soil, while a small fraction threw down their weapons, chose surrender, and accepted assimilation into the Castle Faction's labor camps.
The expeditionary force of the Dark Empire had been utterly annihilated. Two hundred thousand True Gods, hundreds of billions of mortals, trillions of puppets and undead servants were all gone, erased in a forty-eight-hour blitzkrieg. The war with the Dark Empire was over.
High above the Endless Continent, the Blood Moon faded into the western sky, its surface shimmering with the restless phantoms of countless Dimensional Demons. They clustered together, waiting for the Throneveil Shrine to descend and crack the Endless Continent's walls so the true battle of planets could begin.
But for Haru, the focus remained locked on the immediate horizon. The grand armies of the Great Aetherium were already turning their gaze toward the heart of the Light Empire.
As the legions began their march toward the Brightford, Haru looked at his system interface, a cold smile touching his lips. He was deeply curious to see what kind of world-shattering rewards the GM would bestow upon him once the Imperial Heart of a hundred-thousand-year-old empire was thoroughly crushed.
…
At this time, the core area of the Light Empire was blanketed by the ash of a catastrophic slaughter. Across the vast battlefield, trillions of troops belonging to the Great Aetherium and the Castle Faction swept the terrain, harvesting the colossal wealth left behind by the obliterated legions of the Dark Empire.
The Dark Empire's total deployment had reached a staggering six trillion, three times the size of the Light Empire's local host, leaving behind an unprecedented bounty.
For the average Castle Lord, who was practically destitute compared to the unimaginably wealthy Great Aetherium, this debris field was a gold mine. Mortal-tier equipment, Bloodline Evolution Blueprints, and a mountain of Power Stones covered the ground, serving as the essential resources needed to reinforce their territories and outfit their humanoid troops.
The Great Aetherium did not interfere with the collection. These items were of low quality, and their own forces had already claimed the absolute lion's share of the Divine Battlefield.
Lysandra, serving as Imperial Army's General, recognized that monopolizing these lower-tier spoils would only incite bitter resentment among the billions of players who had bled for this victory.
She issued a sweeping decree: The spoils belonged to whoever collected them, provided no internal fighting occurred. Enforced by the passive, suffocating weight of her Supreme God Tier authority, compliance was absolute. No player dared to challenge her majesty.
…
"A new day has come!" Lysandra's voice resonated across the plains, carried by the weight of Divine Aura, "Clean the battlefield immediately. In two hours, the grand army moves north to lay siege to Brightford."
The directive sparked a frenzy. Rangers, acting as independent entities without massive legions to manage, quickly gathered what they could and were the first to surge toward the northern assembly point. The Castle Lords followed, organizing their massive armies into marching columns.
However, a significant portion of the weaker players chose to remain behind. They knew their limitations. Brightford was guarded by hundreds of thousands of True Gods and ancient engines of war.
For lower-tier factions, participating was a death sentence. It was far safer to stay in the core region and safely farm the remaining resources to build their strength in isolation.
When the scheduled hour of departure arrived, the four colossal Astral Cities of the Great Aetherium hummed with blinding celestial energy at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters.
They were flanked by a magnificent host of more than 800,000 Angels and Imperial Gods. Haru's personal divine host had swelled by 200,000 over the last forty-eight hours alone, fueled by the continuous output of the God Tier Angel Reincarnation Pool and real-time promotions earned on the battlefield.
------------------
Become A Member At My Patreon For Access To Bonus Chapters Or Even Multiple Chapters A Day!
» Patreon.com/LordArchduke