Several kilometers away, a few minutes earlier.
The vast stretch of the original forest had been completely cut down, replaced by enormous artillery positions.
"Commence bombardment!"
Hundreds of large-caliber cannons tilted their barrels skyward. Their muzzles flashed brightly, releasing sharp, ear-piercing shrieks as they hurled iron rain upon the southwestern tribal city illuminated by signal flares.
In an instant, the entire battlefield was engulfed in the deafening whistle of shells slicing through the air. Even the sky seemed to tremble, bathed in violent flashes of fire that shook both heaven and earth as smoke and dust billowed high.
Disaster fell without warning, like meteors crashing from the heavens. Only seconds ago, the southwestern city had been calm; the next, columns of fire erupted into the sky.
Shells rained upon the ground and among the clustered buildings, blossoming into massive flowers of flame.
Countless fragments of shrapnel, mixed with flying debris, swept across entire neighborhoods. Thousands of tribesmen, still asleep, were shredded into pieces before they could even feel pain.
Awakened by the explosions, countless panicked tribesmen rushed out of their homes, screaming as they fled toward the city's outskirts and rivers. None of them knew what had happened—only that the endless detonations drove them into blind terror.
A high-explosive incendiary shell struck a blacksmith's forge. The blast tore surrounding workshops apart, while molten metal flowed like rivers of fire, hurling red-hot shards in every direction, devouring all life it touched.
Artillery—truly, the god of war!
For those without supernatural power, nothing on the battlefield was more terrifying than heavy-caliber cannons.
From an open hilltop vantage, Selene's superhuman sight captured the entire spectacle—scene after scene of unrelenting slaughter flashing before her eyes.
"What a beautiful sight... No, wait—why would I think that?" she muttered softly. "This is a massacre. In a lawful society, I'd be hanged as a war criminal—a filthy executioner..."
She exhaled and patted her forehead, forcing down the strange excitement swelling in her chest.
Before Selene could finish her thought—BOOM!!!
A special high-explosive Palatine shell detonated in the midst of hundreds of fleeing tribesmen.
It tore through every living body in an instant. Blood, viscera, and shattered bone sprayed across the earth in waves driven by the blast. Death came so swiftly that there was little pain at all. In such cruel times, perhaps a quick death was a small mercy.
"This is Imperial artillery! The Empire... cough... how did they cross Yule Mountain Pass?!"
A southwestern tribal leader, half-kneeling in a pool of blood, screamed hoarsely.
Every second, another deafening explosion claimed hundreds—thousands—of lives. Words could not capture the horror. The earth itself seemed to open its jaws like a wild beast, devouring the weak and helpless.
"Heavens above... have you abandoned my people?!"
BOOM!!!
A blinding flash swallowed the surviving leader whole. The massive explosion vaporized an area the size of a football field, erasing all trace of life.
Under Selene's orders, this was a mixed bombardment. Aside from a few fragmentation shells, most were incendiaries.
Thousands of firebombs poured down, igniting countless flames that spread rapidly with the wind. Within moments, the blaze became a roaring inferno, engulfing the city.
Built upon an alluvial plain near a great river, the city's geography only worsened the devastation. Fanned by the lake winds, the fires spread like wildfire. In no time, the entire city had become a sea of flames.
"Enough. Cease fire," Selene commanded calmly. At this point, the city was already destroyed—further shelling was meaningless.
Amid the flames and smoke, Selene's white warhorse pawed the ground uneasily. Even from a distance, the heat washed over them in waves.
"General, shall we send troops to finish off the survivors?" one of her captains asked uncertainly.
"There's no need..." Selene replied softly, then added, "Oh, right—this was the southwestern tribe's main force that attacked Yule Mountain Pass, wasn't it?"
"Yes. Aside from this tribe, there are two others farther west. Each of them has over one hundred thousand people and they're the largest among the southwestern tribes. Every major invasion of the Empire's border has been led by them."
A garrison officer from Patripol Province replied, his tone filled with excitement and satisfaction. Clearly, he was thoroughly enjoying the sight of the tribes' devastation.
It wasn't surprising. After years of guarding the border and clashing with the southwestern tribes, their hatred for one another had grown beyond reconciliation. To him, slaughtering these people was nothing less than righteous vengeance.
After all, it was these same tribes who had stormed Imperial lands, burning, killing, and looting without mercy.
"Tell the artillery to prepare to relocate. There are still two tribes left for us to exterminate."
A simple calculation—one hundred thousand Imperial soldiers against three hundred thousand southwestern tribesmen. After this battle, the enemy had already lost a third of their total strength.
Of Selene's Imperial force, half—fifty thousand—were elite troops from the 8th Imperial Guard Legion, while the other half were local garrison soldiers. Their remaining opponents numbered around two hundred thousand.
Selene decided to have her army directly assault one of the larger tribes, allowing her troops to fight on their own. As her personal command, they couldn't only win easy victories—they needed to prove themselves in hard battles as well.
With the Imperial Guard leading, even if the provincial soldiers weren't as capable, the Empire still held absolute superiority in weapons, training, and leadership. Barring extreme terrain or weather, victory was inevitable.
And should anything go wrong, there was still Esdeath—whose overwhelming strength would ensure their triumph.
As for the last and farthest of the large southwestern tribes, Selene planned to deal with it personally. She had her own purpose for that one—an experiment. They would serve a far greater use.
"Form ranks and return to camp!" Selene ordered.
As her army regrouped and withdrew, she gazed across the blazing alluvial plain. The once-thriving tribal city that had brought so much suffering to the Empire's southwestern provinces was now nothing more than smoldering ruins.
At that moment, the morning sun began to rise. Its light mingled with the inferno's glow until sky and fire became one.
Selene rode her horse up a high hill overlooking the plain. There, under the golden dawn, the Imperial army marched past her in disciplined formation.
Standing tall upon the hilltop, framed by the rising sun, Selene looked out at the burning tribal city ahead. The flames surged like an ocean of fire, consuming heaven and earth alike—as if the world itself had been set ablaze...