"I am the Northern Duke! I am now issuing a military order—all citizens of Transas City must return to their homes and remain inside. Anyone found outside will be executed without exception!"
Just as the presidential residence was bolstering its defenses, a tremendous voice echoed throughout the entire city.
"I am Gil, Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Theater! I am now declaring martial law! No one is to leave their homes!"
"I am the Commander of the Eastern Theater! I now order…"
"The Western Duke has decreed…"
The booming voices rang out one after another across Transas, bringing a flicker of joy to Shike's face.
"It's Uncle Northern Duke, and Turin and the others…" These theater commanders and dukes were all vital pillars of the Federation, every one of them a powerhouse at the Morning Star level.
With reinforcements arriving so suddenly, Shike immediately grew excited.
Accompanying the voices of the Morning Star powerhouses, a disciplined torrent of steel troops swiftly sealed off the entire city, while a crimson barrier enveloped all of Transas within its embrace.
"Red Pupil really did make preparations! She intends to trap us all in one net?" The leader of the Wizards in midair studied the fiery-red wizard formation in the distance.
"A fire-type isolation wizard formation, combined with elite legions attacking without regard for their own lives—that could temporarily hold us in place. Add in several powerhouses of equal level pressing the assault, and Red Pupil's appetite is no small thing!"
"Don't worry! Our Emperor will come to retrieve us shortly!"
Sack, the Fire Elemental beside him, appeared completely confident.
"Let's hope so!" The Wizard leader chuckled, watching as the various armies entered the city in orderly fashion to suppress the chaos and take over the defenses. A faint, mocking smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Boom!
Massive waves of fire erupted from the Northern Duke and his companions as they clashed with several Morning Star powerhouses.
In an instant, the entire capital was engulfed in swirling flames, vast swathes of space collapsing as silver torrents and storms raged without cease.
"The President foresaw that you would act this way and laid a trap in advance! Today, you are destined to fall here!"
The Northern Duke's expression was one of absolute resolve.
With the entry of the massive legions, and especially the addition of several Fire Feather Clan Morning Star powerhouses, the previously crumbling situation was quickly brought under control. The scales of victory appeared to be tipping in favor of the Fire Feather Clan.
"You think this can stop us? How naive!"
The leading Morning Star Wizard conjured a mass of steel mechanical arms from his body, encasing himself in a tight defensive shell. He watched as the Northern Duke and his forces charged forward, a hint of pity in his eyes.
"This is war, and the only thing that can determine our victory or defeat is the realm above Morning Star!"
"Above Morning Star? Could it be that…" The Northern Duke and several others turned in disbelief to look at the grand battle raging outside the city.
A towering flame giant, reaching from the ground to the heavens, was locked in a ferocious battle with another terrifying colossal phoenix. Every blow from either side seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth, annihilating vast swaths of the surrounding landscape, as though the world itself had plunged into its final apocalypse.
This was the battlefield of Red Pupil and the opposing Fire Elemental Emperor — at the fifth tier of combat, even a Morning Star Wizard would be utterly unable to intervene without a sufficient number of them.
"Ha!"
Right at that moment, the clash among the fifth-tier powerhouses seemed to have produced a victor.
The enormous fire phoenix let out a piercing cry as its massive talons tore through the flame giant's chest armor, sending torrents of molten rock and cascading fire pouring downward.
"Archibald, you have lost!" Red Pupil's voice boomed from the great fire phoenix's maw, and upon hearing it, the Northern Duke and the others felt a rush of elation surge across their faces. Their leader, whom they had placed their trust in once again, had not let them down!
"That is right! I have lost!" The fire elemental giant clutched his chest, and boulders continued to tumble from the gaping wound at intervals, shaking the ground with wide-reaching earthquakes.
"Red Pupil, you truly are a genius! You have already reached the peak of the fifth tier! My decision today was the right one — otherwise, the balance of power between our Fire Worshipping Empire and the Atlantic Federation might well have been reversed by you!"
The Fire Elemental Emperor's voice rolled across the sky like a peal of thunder.
"Your decision?" Red Pupil seemed momentarily perplexed, but then the great fire phoenix abruptly pulled back!
It was already too late.
Massive thunderheads materialized in an instant. Terrifying bolts of black lightning materialized in midair, and a sky-blotting expanse of dark clouds smothered every trace of the sun's radiance.
Countless black lightning bolts coalesced into the shape of a spear, gripped in the hand of a Wizard who had appeared out of nowhere.