Volume 8, Chapter 29 – The Northern Fortress Will Never Fall

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

For Tianyin, who only wanted to keep slacking off, those three days actually went by very, very quickly.

And after slacking off for three days, Tianyin received some deeply discouraging news.

That was… the Inferno army had returned once again.

And this time, the number of Inferno troops was far greater than before. Not only that, it seemed that because Tianyin had wiped out the previous Inferno army, she had drawn the Abyssal Lord’s interest.

As a result, the Abyssal Lord, who should have been stationed at the rear, appeared to be personally coming to the battlefield before long.

It must be known that the Inferno invasion was not limited to Dawn alone. Forces across the entire world were actually facing Inferno incursions. It only depended on the size of the invading armies.

Because the Kingdom itself served as a bridgehead for the Inferno invasion of the Main World, Inferno did not invade the Kingdom. However, Inferno not invading the Kingdom did not mean it would not invade other factions.

At the very least, massive Inferno legions had already launched invasions against the Arcane Empire of the Academy, the Elven Empire of Nature, and the Dwarven Kingdom of the Underground World.

Although those forces all possessed Throne-tier existences, Nature’s Throne-tier was already on the brink of death, while the Academy’s Throne-tier was a player who had accepted a quest to exterminate NPCs.

Aside from the Fortress Emperor lending his strength, the Nature faction was willing but unable to do much, while Andrew of the Academy faction held the mindset of consuming NPCs and dispatched large numbers of NPC troops to fight the Inferno demons head on.

Andrew’s objective was obvious to any player. But for the NPCs charging into battle, they were simply offering their precious lives to protect the Academy, making their sacrifice worthwhile.

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“The Abyssal Lord is really coming to this battlefield in person. That’s going to be troublesome…”

After learning the intelligence brought back by the scouts, Tianyin’s little face showed an expression of deep distress.

The entire conference hall fell completely silent, and the commanders present looked at one another, clearly at a loss.

Aside from the contemplative Fisiel, only Tianyin herself was thinking about countermeasures.

“If the Abyssal Lord personally takes action, I can directly stop the Abyssal Lord. But once the legions under the Abyssal Lord launch their attack, I won’t be able to interfere. At that point, facing demon armies several times our number, whether the Northern Fortress can hold will become a problem.”

The Northern Fortress was a natural barrier, a strategic stronghold that was easy to defend and hard to attack.

That said, no matter how easy it was to defend, it still had a limit to what it could withstand.

The Northern Fortress had its limits.

Facing tens of thousands of demons, as countless as grains of sand, no matter how defensible it was, the fall of the Northern Fortress would only be a matter of time.

In terms of numbers, the defending forces of the Northern Fortress were far fewer than the demon army. Even if the casualty ratio reached an astonishing ten to one, Dawn’s forces could not afford such losses.

On top of that, the number of Legendary-tier existences among the demon army had already reached double digits.

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So… not only in numbers, but also in quality, Dawn’s army was no match for the Inferno forces.

If the Abyssal Lord personally arrived, the situation on the battlefield could be directly overturned. Even if… even if Tianyin were fortunate enough to defeat the Abyssal Lord, by the time she did so, the number of Dawn soldiers fallen at the Northern Fortress would already be an unimaginable figure.

“They didn’t come with good intentions… by the way, have reinforcements still not arrived?”

Although Tianyin had already considered the possibility of the Abyssal Lord truly coming straight at them, when that moment actually approached, she still felt a surge of nervousness.

Under that nervousness, Tianyin subconsciously asked Fisiel about reinforcements.

And the moment she asked, Tianyin deeply regretted it.

“My lord, there are no reinforcements arriving…”

Fisiel’s answer was entirely normal, but it was precisely what Tianyin least wanted to hear.

The reason was simple. When Tianyin mentioned reinforcements, nearly all the commanders present had lit up with hope. It was clear that they were anticipating the arrival of support.

When facing a powerful enemy, nothing was more uplifting than the prospect of reinforcements.

Yet Fisiel’s instinctive reply mercilessly shattered that expectation.

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Without a doubt, Tianyin’s careless question caused the already low morale to sink even further.

As the general commanding the army, Fisiel realized her mistake the moment she finished speaking. But by then, it was already too late. The words had fully left her mouth.

Silence.

Tianyin and Fisiel stared at each other, both at a loss for words.

“Well… please don’t lose heart so easily. Although there are no reinforcements at the moment, I’ve already been contacting them since the Inferno invasion first began. I don’t know when they will arrive, but I can guarantee that reinforcements will definitely come!”

In truth, Tianyin herself was unsure. But at this point, she could only brace herself and push forward.

After all, the morale of these high ranking commanders would directly affect the morale of the troops under them. If these commanders returned with their heads hanging low, it would be better for them to carry back the message that reinforcements would arrive later.

At the very least, this simple message could allow the soldiers to maintain an optimistic mindset.

After all, the story of quenching thirst by imagining plums was a classic example. Rather than letting the army fall into despair, it was better to give them even a sliver of false hope.

And this was the remedy Tianyin came up with after realizing her mistake.

“There will be reinforcements? Does my lord mean that reinforcements will arrive within the next few days?”

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“If there are reinforcements, then there is hope. If we were to defend the Northern Fortress alone, we truly wouldn’t have much confidence. But if other factions are willing to support us, there might be a turning point.”

“This is undoubtedly news that can stabilize morale. I suggest spreading this information immediately after the meeting ends.”

The commanders present were not empty shells with only reputation and no substance. After Tianyin mentioned reinforcements, many responses quickly followed.

They even discussed using the reinforcements news to stabilize morale.

After discussing some additional details, Tianyin brought the meeting to an end.

And at the end of the meeting, Tianyin made the following solemn declaration.

“Everyone, when the Abyssal Lord personally arrives, I will hold the Abyssal Lord back. As for the Northern Fortress, I leave it to you to defend.”

“We will not fail in this duty!”

As members of Dawn, after understanding Tianyin’s unwavering resolve to defend the Northern Fortress, all the commanders present, including Fisiel, responded with utmost seriousness.

“The Northern Fortress will never fall!”