Brock’s projectile was an armor-piercing explosive bolt. It struck the Martyr’s Palace square in the head, erupting in an earthshattering explosion. Bone shards flew in every direction as a shallow defect several meters in diameter appeared on the skull.

The blast from that duke-grade airship’s main cannon jolted the Martyr’s Palace so badly that it veered to the side.

The Earth Dragon’s skull was thick enough to withstand several dozen such blasts, but Qianye staggered from the impact, his expression solemn.

“Damage check!” Qianye’s voice echoed through the airship.

“Main cannon normal!”

“Seven port cannons malfunctioning, twenty men lost.”

“Three starboard cannons damaged, fifteen men lost.”

As the damage reports from various parts of the airship arrived, Qianye realized that his worries weren’t unfounded. This demonkin airship wasn’t an opponent to be taken lightly—even if the Earth Dragon could block its attacks, the impact would damage the crew and equipment within.

Brock’s flagship brushed past the Martyr’s Palace and returned with a lithe turn. The giant bolt in its hull apparently had no effect on its mobility and fighting power.

Howard, who had been standing beside Qianye, said, “I remember now! That’s the Wall of Sighs! We’re facing Grand Duke Brock!”

“Who’s that?”

“Brock is a demonkin expert best known for his skill in airship battles. The airforce under his command had faced few defeats. He’s best known for his ability, the Wall of Sighs, which possesses unimaginable defensive power. Rumor has it that the skill descended from a great dark monarch primogenitor. The Jeruson family experts are proficient in defense, to begin with. This skill of Brock’s will make them even more difficult to tackle.”

Qianye suddenly recalled the demonkin viscount he had encountered back in Blackflow City. That person was probably from the Jeruson Family—he could use a skill called the “Shield of Dark Glory,” which caused a bit of trouble for Song Zining. “How many times can he use the Wall of Sighs?”

“At most three times according to previous records.”

Qianye’s brows relaxed somewhat. Such a powerful defensive ability of course came at a great cost. Although it could only be used three times, those three times could easily decide the outcome of a battle. Not many grand-duke airships could exchange three main-cannon blasts and survive.

Unfortunately, Brock was up against the Martyr’s Palace. Qianye could calmly exchange half a dozen blasts if he was willing to pay the price.

The Martyr’s Palace accelerated once more and made a pass above Brock’s flagship. There, it swung its tail and lashed fiercely at the enemy vessel.

The Earth Dragon’s tail whip was one of its most powerful moves. Landsinker might be extraordinary, but it wasn’t on the Earth Dragon’s level.

Just as the attack was about to land, the front of Brock’s flagship came to a sudden halt and its rear end swung to the side. This momentum sent the entire airship flying off of its original trajectory, effectively evading the Martyr’s Palace.

This unimaginable mobility was beyond what Qianye had expected. He’d never imagined that a three-hundred-meter airship could be so mobile.

Qianye wasn’t flustered by this. He adjusted the Martyr’s Palace with a swing of its tail and once again fired the Landsinker. This attack was once again stopped by the Wall of Sighs, while the enemy counterattack struck the Earth Dragon’s skull. Even Qianye felt a bit dizzy from the impact.

The two airships thus became tangled together. The head and tail portions of the Martyr’s Palace were both danger zones with great destructive potential. Brock’s airship displayed incomparable agility as it circled the Martyr’s Palace like a fly, narrowly evading most of its attacks.

Even after a long while, Qianye and the Martyr’s Palace failed to hit it even once. The Landsinker’s attacks did reach the target but could do little damage after being weakened by the Wall of Sighs.

Qianye finally understood why Brock dared to meet him in battle with a single duke-grade airship. It would seem that this duke, in addition to the legendary mobility of his own airship, had studied the Martyr’s Palace in great detail.

His most notable performance was the ability to anticipate attacks from the Martyr’s Palace while it was charging up, evading the most lethal tail lashes.

Qianye would still emerge the final victor if this went on, but the demonkin possessed more than a single flagship. The majority of their fleet was made up of transports.

These carriers began landing while the Martyr’s Palace was locked in battle, always pouring out the passengers and equipment down before leaving.

Tens of thousands of demonkin and council troops landed on Dawn Continent. After forming up, they began charging at the hurriedly constructed vampire base.

The fights in the air and on the ground were equally intense.

No other warships dared approach the battle between Brock and the Martyr’s Palace. They did not possess the same level of power and tenacity, so they would be lashed in half the moment they came within range.

The Martyr’s Palace couldn’t leave the defensive zone, either, because it had to protect the vampires below. Otherwise, Brock’s flagship could deal irreversible damage to the defensive lineup with a single volley.

Just like that, the situation in the air became a stalemate.

In the bridge, Brock was constantly pouring demonic energy into the control panel. Four other dukes, including Linken, were also doing the same.

It was the power of these top experts that afforded the massive airship its incredible mobility, bringing about a small miracle that was facing off against the Martyr’s Palace on its own.

Linken was the first to falter among the dukes. After all, she had just advanced to the rank and by special means, no less. This unstabilized strength made her much weaker than her peers.

She had just left the control desk when her body was dragged forward by an invisible force, landing in Brock’s grasp.

The grand duke grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up like a small chicken. “Is this the Landsinker you claim no one can modify!? Look at that firepower! It’s vastly different from the numbers you gave us!”

Drained of all demonic energy, Linken could hardly breathe at the moment, let alone speak.

Brock wasn’t expecting her to reply, either—all he wanted was somewhere to vent his anger. He tossed Linken to the ground and said coldly, “Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’ve latched onto that old thing. I could kill you anytime if it weren't for what little use you have. Scram!”

Linken clambered up in silence and left without a word. No one could tell what that glint in the depths of her eyes was.

At the Martyr’s Palace, Qianye was controlling the Earth Dragon as it chased after the flagship. The opponent would make a mistake sooner or later as long as he could sustain this kind of attack.

The battle on the ground was growing fiercer every moment. The demonkin vanguard suffered grave losses in the first charge. They hadn’t yet adapted to the new environment after landing and were thus unable to suppress the vampires’ defensive fire.

Even so, these men were still elites of the council. They quickly recovered from the setback and made for the cliffs on either side in search of cover. Their central command set up some barriers out of the vampires’ firing range, hoping to use it as their forward base.

The defenders were well-prepared as well. Those who had followed the Martyr’s Palace here were all direct descendants of the major clans. Their strength might not be remarkable, but they had ample combat experience and had undergone strict training. This became evident since the first volley—they were much more accurate than an ordinary unit of mixed soldiers. The first hailstorm of bullets dealt significant damage to the demonkin.

The demonkin and council elites were also powerful with their assault after finding cover nearby. The problem was that the area leading to the corner fortress was an open space with no obstructions. Unable to charge through the hail of bullets and without a slave army to exhaust the enemy, the council forces could only exchange fire from a distance.

In the blink of an eye, the battle quickly entered a trajectory Qianye had expected. The vampires and demonkin were now in a stalemate of long-range battles. The invaders boasted skilled snipers among their ranks while the vampires had constructed defenses at an advantageous position.

The ratio of casualties was a bit better than Qianye had expected; these major clan vampires were indeed outstanding in combat. Of course, the council’s side would be reinforced periodically while every dead vampire was one less ally.

With the war on the ground entering a phase of attrition, the contest was now about willpower. The vampires would not fail in this aspect since they had no way out. The council forces, on the other hand, were an allied army. Morale would become a problem once casualties reached a certain point.

On the flagship, Brock’s expression was grim. It was as though a storm were brewing around him. The frequency with which he had to inject demonic energy was increasing but the effects didn’t improve.

Out of the four dukes, yet another one had used up all of his demonic energy and left his post. Without the Wall of Sighs to block the incoming attacks, the enemy’s Landsinker would deal irreversible damage to their ship sooner or later. The dragon’s tail lashes could bisect their airship if it were in a completely undefended state.

In fact, the Landsinker’s power level didn’t affect the outcome all that much. Brock had studied the Martyr’s Palace beforehand, but he quickly found that reality was vastly different from paper. What he thought was an overestimation turned out to be an underestimation instead.

Brock was under great pressure at the moment. He was rather confident of victory at first, and the four dukes were just a backup plan for emergencies. Now it would seem that his lineup was far from enough.

He blamed Linken simply because he was furious.

Qianye wasn’t having an easy time, either. In addition to stabilizing the internal environment of the airship, he had to pay attention to the battle on the ground. The Dark Gospel’s expression was dark, his face twitching every time a vampire descendant bit the dust.

Moments later, he let out a long sigh, “Some of the children down there are descendants of my enemies, but my blood core aches every time one of them perishes.”

Nighteye said, “We were all born from the River of Blood, we’re all a part of it. The loss of each blood seal is a loss for the river.”

Howard shook his head. “It’s easy to see that the Demon King wants to remove these families’ seals from the River of Blood. What’s his objective, I wonder? If he wanted to destroy the entire race, he should have started from the Perth and Monroe clans.”

To all the vampires, the Queen of the Night was the foundation of the entire race, and the twelve major clans were the core pillars. The leaders were the Perth and Monroe clans, which ranked first and second respectively. These two clans were prosperous with many branch families in addition to their main clan.

However, the trio found that the truth was somewhat different from their expectations. These two families hadn’t suffered nearly as much damage as some of the lower-ranked clans. It made no sense to say that the demonkin were afraid of the Queen’s wrath.

Howard also understood that there was no answer to this question—they would need to ask the Demon King if they really wanted the truth. He glanced at the duke-grade flagship fighting the Martyr’s Palace and couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Brock’s airship was like an agile hunter, rendering the massive creature that was the Martyr’s Palace helpless. The end result was within expectations, but no one knew how long it would take.