Chapter 512 Line of Defense
In the Imperial Senate, a tense military meeting was underway. The main topic they were discussing was how to deal with the full-scale invasion of demons.

Cassius sat on the throne with a serious expression.

Trump, Dollo, Medhurst, Alger, Anthony and other elders sat solemnly in their seats.

As representatives of the Falling Stars Group within the empire, the presidents of several major guilds were also assigned their respective positions.

The Empire's allies, such as Genesis and Christina, were also invited here to discuss the war against demons.

Christina glanced at the silver dragon on the seat and muttered quietly, "Are these silver-skinned reptiles worthy of appearing before His Majesty Cassius?
Their elders’ wings haven’t grown out yet.”

Genesis and Adrovile immediately glared at the blue dragon, their eyes full of resentment.

"enough."

"boom."

Cassius tapped the table lightly with his fingers, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet, with all eyes focused on him.

Then, he looked around and said calmly: “Everyone, the Empire did not invite you to quarrel.

Now, we have only one common enemy—the Devil of the Abyss."

Under Casius' powerful aura, everyone in the hall fell silent and did not dare to speak easily.

After a long time, Trump broke the silence: "Mr. Adroville, as a warrior who has been active in the front line against demons for many years, you should know a lot of information, right?"

Adroville nodded when he heard this, and his expression eased a little. He stood up and said:

"Your Majesty Cassius, and everyone in the empire, I have resisted demon invasions many times over the past few hundred years, so I have some experience."

Adrovile stretched out his hand, and a magical image appeared in the air, recording the hideous face of the devil and hearing a sharp and noisy howl.

He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and continued, “As we all know, all creatures in the material world share common characteristics.

Humans, dragons, hippogriffs, mind flayers, and gnomes all eat. They all reproduce in some basic physiological ways, but we do not share these commonalities with demons.

Demons do not need to eat, and they often take special pleasure in swallowing living sacrifices.
Their lungs are very strong and have strong resistance to external gases, including the deathly air of the bottomless abyss that can poison most creatures in the main material world.

As with the rest of their life cycle, demons do not age, and they do not die from anything resembling a natural death.

They return to the unformed portion of the Abyss, their essences becoming part of that plane's evil and chaos.

Tinia tilted her head and said in confusion, "These guys are so stupid. Don't they like eating frozen meat and collecting shiny gold coins?"

"."

As soon as these words were spoken, the venue fell silent again, but this time it seemed to be because of speechlessness.

Adrovel thought for a while before saying, “Everyone, please do not treat demons as any normal ‘creatures’, and do not guess what they are thinking.

Their existence is more like a conscious disaster."

Scholars within the tribe believe that the Abyss desires to use creations to allow more of the universe to return to its final starting point, and demons are such creations.

Most importantly, demons exist to spread chaos and evil—the essence of the Abyss.”

Rump thought for a moment and asked, "How many demons usually appear during each invasion?"

Adrovale replied in a deep voice: “Endless.

The abyss is much deeper than the 666 layers we know of, and the number of demons in it may be more than all the creatures in the main material plane, so these guys can never be completely wiped out, they can only be blocked.

Demons are endless, but we can resist their invasion by closing the demon portal and destroying the demons that come to the Prime Material Plane."

When it comes to fighting against demons, which is absolutely the right thing to do, this middle-aged silver dragon teaches everything he knows, including the habits, weaknesses, abilities, etc. of demons.

Suddenly, everyone in the hall started talking about the information given by Adroville.

"It is indeed a tricky existence."

"We have never encountered such an enemy before!"

"Wait, no fear of death, chaos, madness. Why do these descriptions sound familiar?"

"Now that you mention it, I feel a little similar. Could it be that—"

More than a dozen curious or scrutinizing glances were cast at them, and the players sitting in their seats felt very uncomfortable.

Iron Frenzy scratched his head, smiled awkwardly, and quickly expressed his loyalty: "I swear, we Starfallers are absolutely loyal to His Majesty Cassius!

There is no copper nar relationship with the abyss!"

The discussion in the hall became more intense, and people began to actively explore various tactics and strategies, from strengthening border patrols to using new weapons; from mobilizing the public to participate in defense to sending players as cannon fodder.
The military representative Dolo slammed the table and announced with great pride that he would lead the army to attack the devil's lair and never let them set foot on the land of the empire.

Suddenly, Trump asked with a half-smile, "Mr. Adroville, what do you think is the most difficult thing about demons?"

Adrovile replied: "There are too many of them, and they are omnipresent. Once they penetrate into the empire, it will definitely cause a huge disaster."

Trump then asked: "What are the advantages of the empire?"

Adrovelle shook his head: "I am a newcomer and don't know much about the empire's military."

Trump stood up, looked around, and said loudly: "Firepower, demons can bring fear to the people, and your majesty has told me..."

He paused, turned to look at Cassius, a flattering smile appeared on his ugly face, and then he continued speaking.

"The fear comes from a lack of firepower."

Trump waved his hand, and all kinds of magical images appeared in the air, showing scenes of roaring artillery fire and the vast wasteland covered by flames of various explosions.

When the smoke cleared, the ground was riddled with holes and in a mess, and the hills had been flattened by several feet.

Trump continued: "In terms of individual strength, the Empire may not have much advantage, but in terms of large-scale combat - we will never lose.

When the demons gather in large numbers, we can launch a saturation attack, use artillery to wash the ground, and give these demons a surprise. "

"boom."

Trump struck the ground with his scepter, and a huge map of the Burning Empire appeared in the air.

On the vast territory of the empire, a red line suddenly appeared, stretching for hundreds of miles, almost covering the entire southern part of the empire.

“I believe that you have participated in its construction to some extent, but you did not understand its purpose at that time.

These fortifications are built of reinforced concrete and are very strong. Inside the defense line there are various cannons, trenches, fortresses, kitchens, hospitals, factories, etc.

These passages are interconnected, and some of the larger fortifications even have steam train passages.

This is all due to your majesty's foresight. Since the Empire occupied the entire northern territory, we have begun to build this line of defense. I call it--"

"Maginot Line?"

Iron Frenzy couldn't help but speak.

But after feeling Trump's warning look and seeing the [Favorability Decreased] prompt, he immediately covered his mouth and wished he could slap himself hard in the face.

Why can't I control my mouth? Why did I say it out loud?

Trump then retracted his murderous gaze and continued, "The Wall of the Empire."

The discussion in the hall became heated again. Some people expressed their support and confidence in the Empire's fight against the demons, but some people were deeply skeptical. "Is this the Prime Minister's plan?"

"Is this defensible?"

"I see. I was wondering why someone was dragged into the mine to carry out a secret mission. Turns out they were going to repair the wall!"

Dolor said sarcastically: "Mr. Trump, facing the enemy's attack, you actually chose to build a wall? How much resources of the empire will this cost!"

Are we going to be like those human countries, hiding behind walls and trembling in fear?"

Rump said calmly: "In front of the Imperial Wall is the flat and open Saavedra Plain. It will be the burial place of all demons."

The ogre's tone was extremely fierce, his injured ear seemed to be trembling slightly, and the murderous intent in his eyes stunned Dolo.

Doro then remembered that the chief minister in front of him was an ogre, a dragon vein ogre!

He is an extremely cruel being, but the work of the empire often forces him to conceal his nature and maintain his sanity.

Trump's eyes lightened and he said with a smile: "But. Marshal Dolo.

Now, the demons have not yet launched a full-scale invasion, and it is not yet time to use this imperial wall. Let these demons see the capabilities of two million Starfallers.

Your Majesty, please take a look first."

Trump turned around again and looked at Cassius on the throne. He tapped the ground with his scepter again, and a detailed tactical plan appeared in the air.

Two million Starfallers are a force that is difficult to control for the current empire.

That’s easy, just throw them to the south, right?
"very good."

Cassius said so.

He tilted his head slightly, and a faint light flickered in his deep light golden pupils.

The emperor's gaze seemed to travel through thousands of kilometers, seeing the darkness and chaos deep in the Anstika Group, and a hint of expectation appeared in his eyes.

Saavedra Plains, on the outskirts of Blackstone Castle, in Leo Village.

The village, which was once quite lively, now became empty.

"Old White, are you really not leaving? The Imperial task force is here specifically to evacuate civilians.

There weren’t many people in the village.”

"Don't try to persuade me. If you want to leave, go ahead. But this is my house. I'm not going anywhere."

The man called "Old White" exhaled a puff of smoke and said this. He looked to be in his fifties and his face was quite weathered.

He had dark skin, deep wrinkles on his face, and his rough big hands holding a cigarette were covered with calluses.

White is a native of Leo Village and has been here since birth. He is the hunter of the village.

The farthest place White had ever been to was Wright Village, twenty miles away, and that was not a very pleasant experience.

He was a hunter here during the Northern Kingdom's rule, and he was still a hunter here during the Burning Empire's rule—only the bow and arrow on his back was replaced with a civilian-grade "Enemy-Breaking Fire".

In recent years, most young people in the village have gone to the city to make a living - even White's son is no exception.

And now, those who remained in the village were also urgently transferred by the army sent by the empire, saying that the abyss demons would invade.

But White wasn't afraid.

He was about to die. He was fifty-three years old, which was a very long life for people in the North.

White just wanted to stay in his home of nearly fifty years during his last moments, and he also had a good shotgun.

"call--"

“I don’t know what those demons look like.

If they all leave, I will be the only one left."

White exhaled another puff of smoke, looked at the empty village, and slowly closed the door.

He had no so-called "loyalty" towards the Burning Empire, after all, several years had passed, but he also had no hatred - at least it was better than his impression of the North.

After the empire took control of this place, taxes were reduced significantly.

People did not have to kneel before the knights sent by the principality, nor did they have to worry about being dragged away by some noble lord and becoming the lowest serfs.

At least on this point, White was quite grateful.

But White didn't like the feeling that the village had become deserted. He always felt that the imperial people had used some kind of magic potion to make the young people rush to the city.

What White liked most were the two "new things" brought by the empire - cigarettes and guns.

Cigarettes can help him relieve his depression and give him a rare sense of pleasure in his dull and boring life.

However, this thing is quite expensive for White. He needs a piece of high-quality deerskin to exchange for two packs from the merchants in the city.

Therefore, he was particularly careful every time he smoked and even kept the cigarette butts in a small box.

The latter is White's hunting weapon. He was too old and weak to draw the bow, but the appearance of the musket allowed him to regain his strength.

Thinking of this, Old White took out the musket wrapped in layers of cloth and wiped the barrel carefully.

"The Imperials said that the undead called 'Starfallers' would move into this village. I have never seen an undead person."

"Squeak-"

The window slowly opened, and White looked out. He, who always had a keen hearing, seemed to hear some noise.

Then he wiped his eyes in surprise.

At the end of the village road, I saw clouds of dust rising and hundreds of people running towards me.

Most of them were wearing rough cloth, and some were naked and running wildly.

"I'm coming!"

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

"take off!"

"It's the village! I can finally rummage through the boxes! This is the essence of RPG games!"

"Damn it! Don't get naked! The holy light is blinding me!"

"Why don't I see any NPCs?"

"Don't forget your mission to kill the demons. This is our position!"

Is this the so-called immortal warrior, the pioneer of the empire - the Falling Star?
Old White rubbed his eyes again. He suspected that he was either crazy or his eyes were blurry and he couldn't see clearly.

Otherwise, why are these starfallers exactly the same as the madman at the east end of the village?

(End of this chapter)