The advance of the Nine Heavens Iron Thunder Guard shook the mountain to its roots.
One thousand heavy sky shock troops marched down the grand cargo ramps into the lower heavy-duty concourse. They were the military backbone of the Ninth Court. Seven-foot-tall veteran body fighters wrapped from skull to toe in plates of lightning-hardened cobalt.
Their armor was forged to withstand mountain-cleaving spells, impervious to fire, frost, and physical blades. Each carried a ten-foot axe-spear crackling with condensed divine force.
At their head rode Commander Tuo Ba, mounted atop an eight-legged thunder-drake whose claws gouged deep furrows into the iron ramps.
“Order of the Ninth Lord!” Commander Tuo Ba’s voice boomed through his cobalt visor, echoing off the dark rock arches. “Summary execution for fifty percent of the registry rabble! Decapitate every second desk! The remainder will be welded to their stations by the wrists!”
In the intake gallery, three thousand scribes listened to the rhythmic, bone-chilling stomp of a thousand cobalt boots.
“They’re coming,” Bai Song whispered, clutching a heavy iron wrench with white knuckles. “One thousand Iron Guards. A single platoon could slaughter an entire mortal dynasty.”
Lin Ke stood in the gallery crossway, wiping grease from his fingers with a clean linen rag.
