Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 520 – The Dragon Clan Attacks

Seventeen hours after Chu Chen left.

No one in Azurewood City was asleep.

Long Teng stood atop the northern city wall, his silver longsword strapped across his back.

His gaze remained fixed on the pitch-black primeval forest beyond the city.

Behind him, four thousand city guards rotated in three shifts.

Along the wall, one man every twenty paces, patrolling ceaselessly around the clock.

High-precision energy detection instruments shipped from Blue Star were mounted atop the four watchtowers.

Their rotating antennas scanned a fifty-kilometer radius every three seconds.

Further out, a surveillance network of twelve reconnaissance drones hovered at high altitude a hundred kilometers away, streaming thermal imaging data back in real time.

At the outermost layer were hundreds of spider-type micro-robots.

Deployed two hundred kilometers beyond Azurewood City’s perimeter, they hid among tree canopies, in rock crevices, and even in the shadows beneath streams.

Each was only palm-sized, carrying sensors capable of detecting Spirit Energy fluctuations from Lifeforms of Level Five or above.

Su Yue’s command post was on the second floor of the city lord’s manor.

She hadn’t closed her eyes for a full day and night.

The table was covered with maps, troop deployment charts, and supply manifests.

Three cups of tea sat cold at her elbow, untouched.

“Sister Su Yue.”

Su Xiaoxiao pushed the door open carrying a bowl of hot congee. She glanced at Su Yue’s red-rimmed eyes and set the bowl on the corner of the desk.

“You need to eat something.”

“Just leave it.”

Su Yue didn’t look up. Her finger pressed on the map at the valley entrance east of Azurewood City.

“Xiaoxiao, has the third Rune defense line on the eastern side finished charging?”

“Brother Long Yan just sent word—it’s at ninety percent. The last ten percent has to wait for the new batch of Crystals from Copperbeard.”

“Push him.”

Su Yue looked up, her voice soft.

“Tell Copperbeard to bring out every Crystal in stock. No need to hold any back.”

Su Xiaoxiao froze.

“All of them? But then future resupply—”

“There won’t be any future resupply.”

Su Yue’s finger lifted from the map and pressed against her temple, rubbing twice.

“Mr. Chu Chen made it very clear. Hold for ten days.”

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“After ten days, he’ll return.”

She didn’t say the words “if we can’t hold.” But Su Xiaoxiao understood anyway.

“I’ll go push him.”

Su Xiaoxiao turned and headed out, then paused at the door to look back.

“Sister Su Yue, if the congee gets cold, I’ll heat it up again for you.”

Su Yue said nothing, just waved her hand.

Su Xiaoxiao closed the door behind her and hurried down the stairs.

Crossing the courtyard, she saw Long Yan leaning against the base of the wall, sharpening his blade.

The Runic Longblade rested across his knee, its edge polished to a mirror sheen.

His movements were slow, stroke after stroke, the rhythm as steady as a metronome.

“Brother Long Yan.”

Su Xiaoxiao stopped.

“Sister Su Yue says to have Copperbeard pull out all the Crystals.”

Long Yan’s sharpening hand paused.

“All of them?”

“All of them.”

Long Yan was silent for two seconds. He sheathed the blade and stood.

“I’ll go talk to Copperbeard.”

He took two steps, then turned back to ask one more question.

“Any movement on the perimeter?”

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head.

“Not yet. No alarms from the drones or the robots.”

“Mm.”

Long Yan nodded and strode off toward the armory.

He said nothing more, but Su Xiaoxiao noticed a change in his gait.

His center of gravity shifted forward, his right hand hovering loosely over the sword hilt—the posture of a man ready to draw at any moment.

Hour eighteen.

Long Yi returned from patrolling outside the city, landing on the northern wall to stand shoulder to shoulder with Long Teng.

“No anomalies within thirty kilometers of the city.”

Long Yi shook the dew from his shoulders.

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“But the Spirit Energy concentration is rising.”

Long Teng frowned.

“What level of increase?”

“Hard to say. It doesn’t feel like it’s being released by a single individual—Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi itself is converging toward this direction.”

The two exchanged a glance.

Long Teng’s hand slowly closed around his sword hilt.

“A large-scale march.”

His voice was low.

“High-ranking Evolved beings on a large-scale march will pull Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi along with them, forming a spiritual tide. The more of them there are, the stronger the tide.”

Long Yi clenched his fists.

“How far?”

“At this concentration…”

Long Teng tilted his head, calculating.

“At Pureblood Dragon Clan flight speed, four hours at most.”

“Four hours.”

Long Yi repeated.

“Notify Su Yue. Have her prepare the evacuation routes as well.”

Long Teng’s tone was flat, without fluctuation.

“If the city falls, Blue Star personnel evacuate first—take the southern gate to the teleport point Zhou Ming marked earlier.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll hold the line here.”

Long Teng’s hand traced along the blade of his sword.

“Every moment I can buy is a moment gained.”

Long Yi didn’t try to persuade him.

He simply patted Long Teng on the shoulder, then turned and flew down from the wall to notify Su Yue.

Hour nineteen.

All artillery positions in Azurewood City had completed ammunition loading.

The muzzles of one hundred Crystal cannons were aimed at the north, east, and west—only the south was left open as a retreat corridor.

Three hundred and sixty Blue Star Gene Warriors, fully armed, stood in formation in the inner city square, awaiting orders.

Sun Jing led the medical team in setting up three field tents south of the city.

Medicine, bandages, and high-purity Energy Potions were all sorted and neatly arranged.

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“Enough?”

Long Yan asked as he passed by.

Sun Jing looked up at him and smiled.

“Whether it’s enough or not, it has to be.”

Her smile was steady, but the hand tying the bandages trembled slightly.

Hour twenty.

Deep night.

No moon hung over Azurewood City.

Thick clouds pressed low, the air heavy and damp—the feel of an approaching storm.

Su Yue finally took a sip of the congee that had long gone cold.

Then the communicator before her lit up.

Not a communication request.

An early warning.

Of the thirty-six peripheral spider robots, units 07, 12, 19, and 23 transmitted red signals simultaneously.

Su Yue’s hand froze mid-air. The bowl tilted, broth spilling through her fingers—she didn’t notice.

She stared at the data dancing across the screen.

Spirit Energy fluctuation value: peak of level seven.

Count: greater than one hundred.

Movement speed: extremely fast.

Direction: due north.

Pointing straight at Azurewood City.

Then, the feed from unit 07 came through.

The image quality was poor—night infrared mode, the screen filled with blinding high-brightness blocks.

But it was clear enough to see.

The shapes of those blocks were dragons.

A massive number of dragons.

Su Yue shot to her feet, her chair toppling over behind her.

“Xiaoxiao!”

Her voice cracked for the first time.

“Sound the bell! Full city alert!”

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The bronze bell exploded across the night sky over Azurewood City, its dull echoes rolling through every street.

On the city wall, Long Teng rose instantly.

His Mental Strength detection expanded, covering ten kilometers beyond the city.

Then, his expression changed.

Long Yi flew up from within the city and landed beside him.

“How many?”

Long Teng didn’t answer immediately.

He opened his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing once.

“Over two hundred. All uniformly level seven.”

Long Yi’s breath caught.

“The one leading them…”

Long Teng’s voice suddenly went hoarse.

Long Yi looked toward the northern horizon.

The clouds were being torn apart.

A beam of purple-gold light pierced through the clouds, more blinding than the dawn before daybreak, and far more violent.

At the source of that light were a pair of purple-gold dragon horns.

Short purple-black hair, with handsome, cold, and stern features.

The aura of a peak Level Eight pressed down without any concealment, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi swirling madly around him, forming a visible vortex of spiritual energy.

Long Teng’s hand tightened around his sword hilt.

He knew this man.

Had known him his entire life.

“Long Zhan…”

Long Yi’s voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.

The Grand Elder of the Pure-blood Dragon Council of Elders.

Peak Level Eight.

A monster merely half a step away from Level Nine.

Long Teng faced the night wind, then slowly drew his sword.

The silver blade’s light illuminated his face.

“Pass down the order.”

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”