The Vanguard commanders dispersed from the biological forge to prepare their respective divisions. Down in the depths of the subterranean highway, the grinding roar of shifting bedrock finally fell silent.

Gulag pressed her palms against the sheer wall of solid stone at the end of the tunnel. Her amber core pulsed steadily within her chest. She mapped the hollow spaces waiting just a few feet beyond the rock.

"They are waiting," Gulag announced. She stepped back from the wall. "King Voranthar packed the subterranean bunkers on the other side with thousands of heavily armored infantry. They constructed a massive kill-zone right at our exit point."

Iron-Scale walked to the front of the Vanguard column. He tapped his golden Serpent’s Aegis chest plate. Breaking the wall meant charging directly into a fortified chokepoint. He refused to bleed his frontline infantry for a few feet of dirt.

"Bring the Mud-Skippers to the front," Iron-Scale ordered.

The massive ranks of Vanguard troops parted. Sludge and Bog-Rot waddled to the front of the line. The two chemical specialists wore heavy alchemical breathing masks.

"You need a quiet breach," Sludge croaked. His mana core flared. A highly corrosive green liquid dripped from his webbed fingers and sizzled against the stone floor.

"We will soften the landing," Bog-Rot added.

Sludge walked directly up to the foundational bedrock. He pressed his dripping hands against the stone. He channeled his bubbling acid core to rapidly dissolve the dense rock, carving a dozen microscopic holes straight through to the enemy bunkers on the other side.

The corrosive magic melted the stone completely soundlessly.

Bog-Rot stepped up to the newly formed micro-tunnels. He pressed his palms flat against the openings. He activated his core, unleashing a silent, spreading miasma of virulent neurotoxins. The invisible gas flooded rapidly into the enclosed Aethelgard bunkers.

On the other side of the wall, the Royal Guard stood tightly packed in the dark. They gripped their spears and waited for the earth to shatter. The neurotoxin bypassed their heavy steel armor completely. The gas seeped directly into their lungs.

The soldiers collapsed in absolute silence. Their nervous systems shut down instantly before they could even draw breath to scream.

Sludge followed up immediately. He pumped a massive wave of his bubbling acid directly through the micro-tunnels. The corrosive flood washed over the paralyzed soldiers, dissolving their flesh and armor into a bubbling, unrecognizable slurry.

Up in the orbital sanctuary, Red watched the kill-feed scroll rapidly across his console. The Vanguard had not even swung a single sword yet. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

[ BATTLE CONCLUSION: SUBTERRANEAN CHOKEPOINT ELIMINATED. ]

[ ENEMY LOSSES: 8,500 AETHELGARD ROYAL INFANTRY. ]

[ ALLIED CASUALTIES: 0. ]

[ GAINS: +425,000 DP. + 120,000 SALVAGE POINTS. ]

Red leaned back on his throne. A wide grin stretched across his face.

’They cleared the landing zone,’ Red telepathically linked to his lead commander. ’Break the wall. Step into Aethelgard.’

Down in the tunnel, Iron-Scale drew his blade. He looked at Gulag and gave a single nod. Gulag slammed both fists into the rock. The final barrier of the Fourth Continent shattered into dust.

Commander Novus stepped over the bubbling, acidic remains of the royal infantry and crossed the threshold. His heavy combat boots touched the polished marble floors of the Aethelgard lower districts.

Behind him, one hundred thousand Kingdom Knights locked their steel shields together. They formed an impenetrable wall of metal spanning the width of the subterranean breach.

The lower district stood completely devoid of civilian life. The massive cobblestone streets and towering obsidian archways stretched forward in absolute silence. A sudden, grinding metallic screech echoed from the shadows.

Aethelgard’s automated defense grid activated.

Dozens of colossal bronze wardens detached themselves from the surrounding archways. The mechanical constructs measured twenty feet tall and carried massive iron siege hammers. Residual arcane energy powered their internal gears.

They marched uniformly toward the Vanguard breach.

"Hold the line!" Novus roared over the grinding metal.

The lead warden swung its iron hammer directly down at Novus. The human commander raised the Centipede Vanguard Shield to intercept the blow. The resulting kinetic impact carried enough raw force to pulverize a normal soldier into dust.

The Mythic-tier artifact activated instantly. The shield absorbed the catastrophic damage and redistributed the force evenly across the entire Kingdom Knight phalanx connected to Novus’s formation.

The hundred thousand human soldiers absorbed the dispersed shockwave flawlessly. The shield wall did not budge a single inch.

Novus grinned wildly. He channeled his volatile mana core directly into his broadsword, the blade erupting with explosive fire.

He swung upward, detonating the superheated steel against the bronze warden’s chest plate. The violent explosion ripped the mechanical construct perfectly in half.

"Clear the path!" Novus commanded.

Hawl shot out from behind the shield wall. The brawler channeled crackling lightning directly into his legs, achieving impossible traversal speeds. He appeared in front of three marching bronze wardens in a fraction of a second.

Hawl drove his fists rapidly into the mechanical knee joints of the constructs. The Basilisk Knuckle Dusters bypassed the dense bronze plating. The localized petrification effect instantly turned the internal arcane gears and hydraulic pistons into brittle limestone.

The wardens froze mid-stride, completely paralyzed by the sudden biological transmutation.

A massive shadow eclipsed the Vanguard frontline. Orikal the Obsidian Golem stepped through the breach.

The towering siegebreaker ignored weapons entirely. He lowered his shoulder and charged directly toward the petrified wardens. His Centipede Carapace Plating granted him absolute immunity to structural fracturing. He slammed into the frozen constructs like a living meteor.

The paralyzed bronze wardens shattered into thousands of pieces of broken stone and twisted metal. Orikal carried his momentum straight through the enemy lines. He violently collided with the massive steel blast doors leading to the upper city streets, ripping the hinges straight out of the bedrock.

Sunlight poured down into the subterranean gloom. The Vanguard had successfully breached the surface.

Up in the sanctuary, Red watched the tactical map update immediately.

[ BATTLE CONCLUSION: LOWER DISTRICT SECURED. ]

[ ENEMY LOSSES: 45 AUTOMATED BRONZE WARDENS. ]

[ ALLIED CASUALTIES: 0. ]

[ GAINS: +225,000 DP. + 45,000 SALVAGE POINTS. ]

[ TERRITORY CLAIMED: AETHELGARD PERIMETER SECURED. ]

Red rested his chin on his knuckles. The Vanguard held a permanent staging ground inside the enemy capital.

Finally, the invasion of the Fourth Continent was officially underway.