"We can't go back." Rover's voice was heavy but clear. "Moreover, this is a tactic to lure the tiger away from the mountain. The Divine King is waiting in the basin for us to get distracted."
"If we turn back to reinforce the camp now, not only will we fail to save them, but we'll also throw away our only chance to eliminate It once and for all! The Seven Hills... will truly be finished."
Rover's expression was extremely grave. This trip to the Hunting Grounds had already featured too many events inconsistent with or even completely contradicting his memories. Just like this entirely unexpected wave of the Black Tide, it had caught them entirely off guard.
Augusta gritted her teeth so hard they cracked. Her crimson eyes were filled with struggle and pain, but she knew Rover was right.
As the Governor, she had to make the most cruel yet correct choice.
"However," Rover changed the subject, looking sharply at the communicator in the base. "We won't abandon the people in the camp."
He grabbed the communicator, his voice like quenched ice—incredibly calm and clear: "Hunters' Camp, this is Rover! Please respond if you hear me!"
After a brief burst of static, Yuno's voice came through. She was feigning calm but couldn't hide her anxiety: "Rover? Rover! Is that you? We are here! There are too many Tacet Discords! We can't hold on much longer..."
"Yuno! Listen to me!" Rover interrupted her, speaking rapidly with crystal-clear instructions. "Abandon the camp immediately! I need you to immediately lead all combat and logistics personnel, including the wounded, and retreat north toward the Attilius Pass!"
"But... but, the Oracles of the Quadrangle Hall have already been evacuated by us. If we abandon the camp too, the entire Hunting Grounds will have no line of defense left to hold..."
"Yuno!" Rover's voice grew heavier, carrying a hint of urgency. "Trust me, retreat immediately! To keep the land and lose the people is to lose both. To keep the people and lose the land is to eventually regain both!"
"...Alright, alright! We're leaving immediately!" Yuno hesitated for only a moment before choosing to completely trust his judgment, immediately organizing the evacuation of everyone in the camp.
"Good, Yuno! Roughly how long do you need to fully retreat into the pass?"
"Ten minutes! Ten minutes at most! The wounded have already been transferred first. We will cover the rear for them; the main force is evacuating!"
"Good... Commander Liszt!" Hearing Yuno's affirmative reply, Rover relaxed slightly, but immediately picked up the terminal communicator at his waist.
"Here! Lord Rover!" Commander Liszt's steady and decisive voice instantly came through. He had clearly been monitoring the frontline channels.
"Commander Liszt!" Rover's voice rose several decibels, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Hear my order! Black Shores Seventh Fleet, immediately confirm the coordinates of the Hunters' Camp and the center of the Town of Murmurs. All Vertical Launch Systems stand by!"
"The entire fleet is to enter combat readiness immediately. Prepare for all-munition, full-coverage, saturation bombardment!"
Inside and outside the comms channel, dead silence instantly fell. Even Augusta looked at Rover in shock.
"My Lord... confirming order: Saturation bombardment... on the Hunters' Camp and the Town of Murmurs center?" Liszt's voice remained steady, but held a hint of needing verification.
"Confirmed!" Rover said decisively. "The bombardment sequence is to initiate in exactly ten minutes! Down to the second. Erase every single Tacet Discord in that entire area off the map for me!"
"Yes, Lord Rover!" Liszt didn't hesitate anymore. "All units attention, highest priority directive: Targets are the Hunters' Camp and Town of Murmurs center. Coordinates 1-6-3-9, 1-4-3-9."
"All-munition launch sequence initiated! Countdown: 9 minutes 59 seconds... 58 seconds..."
"Yuno!" Rover called out again. "You only have ten minutes! Within ten minutes, you must lead everyone out of the camp perimeter and retreat into the Attilius Pass! That is the only path to survival! Trust me!"
On the other end of the line, Yuno's breath clearly hitched, but she didn't hesitate at all. "...Understood! Ten minutes! Full evacuation! I trust you!"
There were no more superfluous questions, no doubts. Absolute trust was undoubtedly manifested in this moment.
The next ten minutes felt as long as a century.
In the forward base on the eastern edge of the Town of Murmurs, the group could see the tragic scene in the direction of the camp through remote observation equipment.
The torrent of Tacet Discords continued to pour endlessly from the town center, swarming westward without stopping, practically submerging the entire camp.
Only the high ground where the command post was located still had sporadic flashes of energy stubbornly resisting, but a moment later, they began to rapidly move north.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The moment the countdown was about to reach zero—
Commander Liszt gave the order: "All VLS units, fire!"
Following the commander's order, on the waters between the Seven Hills and the Hunting Grounds, the massive fleet patrolling the icy sea roared into action. The hatches of the vertical launch systems on every warship slammed open.
The next second, a continuous string of thunderous booms exploded!
Countless missiles trailing blazing exhaust flames soared into the sky like a swarm of metallic bees, tearing through the cloud layer and tracing countless elegant yet deadly arcs in the air.
Like a net woven by the Grim Reaper, they pounced precisely toward the distant, locked-on targets.
The east wind at night blooms a thousand fiery trees, blowing down the stars like rain!
The entire fleet was like an instantly erupting volcano, displaying absolute power and efficiency.
At this very moment, within the city of the Seven Hills.
The sky was shrouded in the ominous black clouds spreading from the south, suffocating the people beneath it.
A faint stench and burnt smell permeated the air—the ominous aura of the distant Black Tide seeping through.
Pedestrians on the streets were sparse. Even those present were mostly hurrying along with fearful expressions, occasionally looking up at the heart-palpitating, dim southern sky as if awaiting the judgment of doomsday.
A silent panic spread through the city.
A red-haired girl with a wolf tail, draped in a red cloak, was running down the street. While comforting the frightened citizens, she silently prayed in her heart for her partner currently on the southern battlefield.
"Look! What is that?!" someone pointed at the sky and exclaimed.
The girl was exactly Lupa. She had just helped up a fallen woman when the other party screamed and pointed at the southern sky.
Lupa looked in the direction she was pointing, and the next moment, she too stood dumbfounded in place.
On the southern sea horizon, countless scorching fireballs suddenly lit up, ascending rapidly into the sky like meteors flying in reverse.
Not just Lupa, but the citizens in the city all looked up in terror. They saw streaks of light trailing long, blazing exhaust flames tear open the firmament at speeds beyond their comprehension.
They traced beautiful arcs like swords of divine punishment, carrying soul-trembling shrieks as they accurately plummeted toward the thickest part of the southern black clouds!
"That's... that's the Black Shores fleet!" A knowledgeable Seven Hills merchant recognized it, his voice trembling violently. "They... they're attacking the Sanguis Hunting Grounds?!"
"That kind of power... that's not Resonance power! Nor is it an Echo!" A gladiator looked at the torrent of destruction, which seemed to be composed of metal, fire, and incomprehensible propulsion methods, his eyes filled with unbelievable shock. "What on earth... what exactly are those things?!"
In this city-state where individual Resonance power and tamed Echoes were the primary methods of combat, this saturation missile salvo from the distant overseas, striking beyond visual range, brought more than just a visual impact. It was a massive subversion of their cognition and a deep, visceral terror.
People stood blankly on the streets, watching the deathly meteors streak across the sky. They felt a sense of hope that the Black Tide might be annihilated by them, but even more so, they felt an immense awe and horror toward this completely alien, world-destroying power.
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