It took Darius and his group less than a minute to reach Ando City since it was only 234 kilometers away from Listo. Unlike Listo which didn't have an army, but merely a militia, Andrato's army was mostly fielded here around the capital, fighting a horrific battle.
Darius noted 5 different forces here. Opposite Andrato, in spread-out camps, he recognized flags belonging to the Hakrian, Bafira, Kirlian, and Dongato Empires. Each Empire fielded 5,000 men, for a total of 20,000.
However, Andrato only had about 15,000 men on their side. While this wasn't too bad from a numerical point of view, Darius and Gunner shook their heads. The difference in power was too staggering.
For one, each of the 5,000 that the Empire sent were at minimum Amateurs, whereas Andrato's total force only had 2,000 sparked and awakened fighters, with the rest being normal fighters.
The battle was bloody and cruel, forcing Xela to look away at the sheer slaughter. However, Darius was intrigued, for he had asked Nicholas as to how those 3 towns and 2 cities had managed to survive this long.
In Listo's case, their saving grace had been their Wood element dungeon and the fact that they were far away from the others.
The town of Desterr had a Light element dungeon that dropped great healing items and those that helped buff their defense, so their priests could outheal the damage sustained by their men, allowing for a protracted siege.
The town of Junol had a unique Spirit element dungeon, famous for the various drops that allowed them to beguile their enemies with illusions and psychic attacks.
In essence, these three towns had been saved not by the strength of their people, but the nature of their affiliated dungeons. Now, it became clearer why every town or city in any territory usually was attached to a dungeon apart from resources.
As for the two cities, they were Yunian City and Ando City. Yunian City possessed the only Spatial attribute dungeon in the entire kingdom, making it something many others lacked and greatly coveted.
Precisely because of that though, they had managed to survive.
The drops and resources from the dungeon were perfect for carving many runic arrays that created spatial labyrinths and pockets that allowed them to trap foes and redirect damage.
Basically, Yunian City was like a mirage when in defense mode. Your eyes could see it, but getting to touch it or feel it was a completely different matter.
As for Ando City, it had a regular old earth element dungeon. Darius felt amused by this, but this was also where the majority of Andrato's army was stationed, so it didn't really matter.
Ando was the only city that didn't rely on tricks to survive, only their martial might. Though, that obviously meant little in front of an absolute foe that could squash them like a bug.
But then how exactly were they still standing?
The answer to this had shocked Darius when Nicholas had shared the information from the letter, but it had also reinforced his decision to salvage this kingdom and turn it into his vassal state.
The survival of Ando City was solely due to the efforts of Queen Jeanne Ando! To be more precise, it lay in her special Angelic/Valkyrie bloodline!
The Valkyrie bloodline was heavily light-based with a mixture of the Life element, similar to Xela yet ultimately slightly different.
They both pursued different extremes, with Jeanne's being more combative and offensive in nature compared to Xela's supportive and supplementary one.
However, Jeanne did possess a strange ability that defied the laws of nature: Resurrection!
Once a day, she could channel Light Energy to revive the souls of the fallen to re-inhabit their bodies while restoring their bodies.
It was a Divine ability that could only work on those who had cut off a portion of their souls beforehand and had deposited them with Jeanne, which she would use as a template for restoration.
It was fundamentally impossible to bring back the dead in the traditional sense. There could only ever be workarounds like Jeanne's bloodline ability or Darius' Death's Call spell.
Upon learning about this, Darius sighed in regret. Bloodline spells could not be learned without the requisite bloodline. Obviously, Darius had long since tried to learn Earth's Guardian, but had been disappointed that he had only ended up wasting his CP in making the respective book.
Just like how he got the Dragon race bloodline abilities after implanting the Dragon heart, he required the respective hardware to use certain software, which were the spells and skills.
Elemental spells were neutral, so he could learn them as he pleased, since the Supreme System had 'awakened' him with all elements available.
And that was how the army of 15,000 had survived against the 20,000, even managing to slowly whittle down their numbers.
Andrato's soldiers were like undying monsters, always able to rise up the next day in perfect health to fight again.
However, Darius understood that such frequent usage would have to come at a horrible price. Even he didn't dare to use Death's Call frequently despite his spell only costing mana.
So what was it costing Jeanne, who didn't have anything like the Supreme System to optimize her expenditure?
Darius already had his suspicions, but he hoped he would be proven wrong.
Having seen enough, he smiled and carried his group into the city, bypassing the battle to appear right in the castle's throne room.
Their appearance interrupted the court which happened to be in session, and various nobles panicked as they gazed at the three intruders with shock and confusion.
Darius casually swept an eye over them before stopping on Jeanne who had matured beautifully, even making him blink in surprise.
However, with Deia in existence, his interest waned as he stepped forth and bowed with a playful smile.
Just as Darius was about to speak, he was stunned as Jeanne Ando began screaming and clutching her head in agony, leaving the entire room in an uproar.
