Two days later, after taking care of the trapped soldiers and the remaining troops of the fallen kingdoms, Elara led Damon, Egbert, as well as Senior General Duanmu and General He, northward toward the Salvia Kingdom border.
In the same two days, Francis had taken over the final city of the fallen kingdoms, Shangding, fully occupying all their territory.
Elara brought her army to meet up with him in Shangding.
On the other side, Prince Yu and Prince Leland had also completed their conquests of Jiasi Kingdom and Narcissus Kingdom, personally leading their troops to press toward Salvia Kingdom.
The situation inside Salvia Kingdom was more or less what Elara had expected.
As a second-tier small country, Salvia's total military force was only about one million.
After losing four hundred thousand reinforcements to Elara's forces, only six hundred thousand troops remained inside Salvia.
These six hundred thousand couldn't even be gathered in one place for defense. They had to be divided into three groups to defend against the offensives from Elara, Prince Yu, and Prince Leland.
Already far weaker than the three allied kingdoms, Salvia's army had now been split into three portions. Each force confronted Elara, Prince Yu, or Prince Leland along the borders, with about two hundred thousand soldiers each.
In scale, even setting aside Prince Yu and Prince Leland, Elara alone was overwhelming. Damon and Egbert's forces together made up two hundred thousand.
Then, after joining with Francis, Elara had another two hundred thousand troops. And with reinforcements from the Northern Frontier army, she had gained over a hundred thousand more.
Elara alone now commanded nearly as many troops as all of Salvia's remaining forces.
Now that only a third of Salvia's army, two hundred thousand, had been sent to face her, there was no denying it. The dynamic of offense and defense between the three-kingdom alliance and Salvia had completely shifted.
The three kingdoms now held absolute initiative and advantage, while Salvia was stuck in a desperate defensive struggle.
Still, as a second-tier nation, Salvia's foundation wasn't that easy to wear down.
After meeting with Francis, Elara led tens of thousands of Plumera Kingdom troops to the northern edge of Shangding, facing off from a distance against Salvia's southernmost city, Delphinium Border.
Delphinium Border was the border city between Salvia and the former alliance kingdoms, right next to Shangding's northern side.
Stepping out from Shangding's northern border meant entering Salvia territory.
Salvia's two hundred thousand troops had long since hunkered down inside Delphinium Border, fully armed and waiting for Elara's army.
Even though it was just two hundred thousand troops, after getting a good look at the terrain and layout of Delphinium Border, Elara, Francis, and the others all dismounted and halted the army several hundred meters from the city.
Delphinium Border was located in a highly defensible position, incredibly difficult to attack.
The city was built between two steep mountains, with the mountains forming the left and right walls. A massive, thick city wall stretched across the front between the two peaks, looking from afar like a giant bridge connecting them.
With the natural barrier of those steep mountains, it was practically impossible for an attacking force to flank from either side.
First, the cliffs were too steep and high for large armies to scale easily. Second, any movement would be spotted by the patrol towers on the peaks and would provoke immediate counterattacks.
At that moment, Salvia's army was already standing atop the city wall.
Using the advantage of the high ground, rows of soldiers were in position with bows drawn. Countless arrows were aimed down at Elara's army in the distance.
The sharp arrowheads gleamed coldly in the sunlight. Behind the archers were spearmen and shield-bearers, all heavily armored elite soldiers.
Every ten meters along the front of the wall, Elara's enhanced vision could clearly spot a familiar object.
They were mechanized arrow towers from Tiangong Pavilion.
Salvia still had quite a number of Tiangong Pavilion's mechanized arrow towers.
Thinking of those powerful mechanism arrow towers she had seen beside Frederic last time, which looked like goddesses scattering flowers, Elara frowned slightly.
The terrain of Delphinium Border was already difficult to attack. The soldiers of the Salvia Kingdom guarding the walls were all elite troops with iron-shield armor, and the tops of the walls were packed with mechanism towers from the Heavenly Craft Pavilion.
Even if her soldiers outnumbered the enemy by more than twice, she still couldn't attack rashly. Otherwise, the result would likely be a disastrous victory with heavy losses, which would not be worth it.
General Qi, Damon, and the others also stopped, staring at the towering, heavily fortified city in the distance, thinking about how to break through.
As if noticing their arrival, the neatly lined soldiers on the city tower suddenly moved. From the center, a general in his thirties stepped out.
He wore heavy, refined armor and held a longbow in his hand. He stood at the very front of the city wall.
When he saw the Elara Army stop in the distance, a cold smile appeared on his face. He raised his bow, drew an arrow, and aimed straight at General Qi at the front of the army from far atop the wall.
General Qi's position was at least five hundred meters from the city wall. Even if this Salvia Kingdom general was a divine archer like Damon, after five hundred meters of flight, the arrow's speed and power would be greatly reduced.
Yet the general didn't seem worried at all. His muscular arms fully drew the large longbow over a meter long. Then, with a swoosh, he let go.
The next moment, the sound of something slicing through the air came from afar. A lightning-fast arrow shot like a shadow straight toward General Qi's face.
Sitting firmly on his horse, General Qi drew the sword from his waist to block it.
The sword was made of refined steel, much stronger than the iron-shield armor worn by the Salvia Kingdom soldiers.
But when the arrow struck the blade, the arrowhead suddenly gave off a glowing light. With a sharp clang, the arrowhead pierced right through the steel sword and continued toward General Qi's face with incredible speed and force.
General Qi froze. A powerful internal force burst from his arms, forming an invisible shield to block the silver-glowing arrow.
At the same time, his body quickly flipped backward off the horse. He retreated over ten meters in a row before finally stopping the ferocious arrow that far exceeded normal strength.
A weapon like this could only mean one thing.
It was a divine gift from the bloodline.