The northern strike force had been moving for several hours when the first light reached the high ridges.
Cold wind traveled through the mountain roads and pulled smoke from the supply stores the Abyss had burned during its retreat. The columns below the coalition's route were still dark, but the upper plateaus had begun catching pale sunlight along their western edges. Mixed squads advanced through those narrow bands of light in layered formations, their footfalls muted by dust, old ash, and strips of black grass that had died beneath years of corruption.
The force moved quickly without becoming a pursuit mob.
Umbrel scouts remained ahead of the main road, passing between cliff shadows and abandoned watch posts while Celestara specialists placed stable markers at every ridge junction. Fast mixed legions used parallel paths where the terrain allowed them to spread out, but each side route remained within signaling range of the central column. The two heavy road formations traveled behind Tianlan and Xiangyin, their broad shields and reinforced equipment slowing them slightly but ensuring that the force had something capable of stopping a concentrated charge.
The aerial detachments did not remain in the sky continuously.
They rotated every half hour, with one group watching the ridge approaches while another rested on transport platforms or walked beside the column. The retreating Abyssal forces had already shown that exposed scouts could be baited, isolated, or drawn beyond support. No commander wanted tired flyers chasing every distant movement while the true evacuation passed through another valley.
Ling'er traveled near the leading ground formations.
Her left wing remained folded more tightly than the right, and she used short glides only when the road changed elevation sharply. Xue'er moved between the southern ridges and the main column in brief lateral patrols, returning before the swelling around her shoulder could worsen. Baiyun occupied the highest observation path, but every circuit ended on a reinforced platform moving with the mobile reserve.
Tianlan checked their condition whenever the formations slowed.
An accompanying Veridian healer approached Ling'er during the first rest stop and examined the repaired tear beneath the wing. The falcon held still while the healer pressed gently around the joint, though Tianlan felt the tension moving through their bond.
"Has the tear reopened?" he asked.
"No," the healer said. "The muscle is tightening from the cold and repeated movement."
"How long can she remain in the air?"
"A few minutes at a time. Keep her near a safe landing route."
"What happens if she stays up longer?"
"The wing will tire before the rest of her body. She may not realize how badly until she tries to turn."
Tianlan looked toward Ling'er. "You stay over the road and the healer stations. No wide patrol."
Ling'er lowered her head.
The healer moved toward Baiyun when the large falcon descended from the upper route. Faint spatial flickers had appeared beneath the feathers over his chest after the last two circuits, though the damaged channels had not split.
"Are they stable?" Tianlan asked.
"For observation," the healer answered. "Do not ask him to use Lightning and Space together unless the column is under attack."
"Can he use either one by itself?"
"Briefly."
Baiyun remained calm while the healer examined him.
Tianlan rested one hand against the feathers beneath his neck. "You return after every circuit. Do not stay above the ridge if the aerial detachments can carry the report."
Baiyun gave a quiet call.
Xue'er landed beside them and immediately looked toward the next southern ridge.
The healer examined her shoulder. "The swelling is still controlled."
"How many more patrols?" Tianlan asked.
"Two before the next long rest."
Xue'er clicked her beak.
Tianlan looked at her directly. "Two."
She accepted the restriction without enthusiasm.
Xiangyin waited until the healers moved away before approaching Tianlan. Her spear rested across one shoulder, but the grip remained loose because the repaired ribs beneath her armor still objected to a full rotation.
"The road widens after the next ridge," she said. "The Blue Sphere guides found old cavalry paths on both sides."
"Can the heavy formations use them?"
"Only the northern one. The southern path crosses unstable ground."
"Then the fast squads take the southern route."
"That is what I recommended."
Tianlan looked toward her side. "How are the ribs?"
"They hurt."
"Can you fight?"
"For a short engagement."
"That was not what I asked."
Xiangyin met his gaze. "I can fight. I cannot anchor a long charge without making the injury worse."
"Then tell me when the pain changes."
"I will."
The advance scouts found the first divided evacuation tracks less than an hour later.
The road opened onto a broad shelf overlooking three valleys. Deep grooves from armored transports continued east along the lowest route, while thousands of boot prints and beast tracks divided around two mountain spurs. Burned watch stations stood beside each branch, and fresh ash still moved across the ground.
A Blue Sphere guide knelt near the largest set of tracks.
"These belong to the main ground column," he said. "Heavy beasts, wagons, wounded troops, and infantry."
"How many soldiers?" Tianlan asked.
"Several thousand. I cannot give you a better number from this crossing."
"What about the other route?"
"Aerial units moved through the upper plateau. Some flew, but the deeper prints came from transport beasts landing and launching again."
Yueru approached with two Celestara specialists. "The spatial residue is fresh."
"Mobile gates?" Tianlan asked.
"Yes. At least four departures from this shelf."
Ziyue looked toward the upper ridges. "Where did they receive the troops?"
The Celestara specialist unfolded a narrow map. "Somewhere beyond the two eastern passes. The receiving marks are moving."
The guide pointed toward the southern valley. "The main ground column reaches the southern convergence pass before nightfall if it keeps this pace."
"How long for the aerial column?" Tianlan asked.
"It may already be approaching the upper pass."
Xuanyin received the report inside the Dao Palace of Creation.
Both northern and eastern battlefield maps remained open before her, but the northern evacuation routes now occupied the larger projection. She moved the confirmed tracks into three separate lines: the main ground column, the aerial column, and the smaller destruction teams remaining behind.
"How many destruction teams?" she asked.
An Umbrel scout answered from the ridge below. "Five confirmed. They are burning stores, contaminating water, and preparing collapses along the side roads."
"Can they block the main advance?"
"Not if we keep the Celestara and Marephoros specialists with the road formations. They can delay the side squads."
Xuanyin marked the two eastern passes. "Both major routes converge before the troop rift."
A Blue Sphere guide confirmed the terrain. "Yes. The southern pass carries the ground road. The upper pass connects to the plateaus used by aerial forces and mobile gates. Both meet the rift road beyond the final ridge."
Tianlan asked, "How long before the first column reaches the passes?"
"The aerial force arrives first," the guide answered. "The ground column reaches the southern pass before nightfall."
Xuanyin divided the force.
"Tianlan, Xiangyin, Ling'er, the two heavy road formations, and eight fast mixed legions take the southern pass."
Tianlan looked toward Baiyun and Xue'er. "Where do they go?"
"Xue'er joins Yueru and Ziyue for short-range observation on the upper ridges. Baiyun remains with the mobile reserve between both passes."
"Why is Baiyun staying with the reserve?"
"He can see both routes from the central ridge. His injured channels cannot support a long fight over one road."
Tianlan looked toward Baiyun.
The falcon remained still, listening.
Xuanyin continued. "Yueru, Ziyue, Celestara specialists, Umbrel scouts, and six fast legions take the upper ridge. Your priority is the receiving anchors. Do not chase the aerial column while the gate network remains active."
Yueru asked, "What happens if the mobile gates carry the ground column around Tianlan?"
"You close the receiving gate. Tianlan does not abandon the pass to chase them."
Xiangyin studied the track width. "How many beasts are in the main column?"
The scout answered, "At least twelve hundred large war beasts. More smaller mounts are mixed among the troops."
"Two heavy formations cannot stop that many if they charge together," Xiangyin said.
"You do not stop the full herd at one point," Xuanyin answered. "Break the road into controlled lanes and force the general to commit them in smaller groups."
"What about the mobile reserve?" Tianlan asked.
"Baiyun, four fast legions, the remaining aerial detachments, and additional Veridian support. They hold the central ridge and reinforce whichever pass is threatened."
Tianlan looked toward the routes. "How far apart are the passes?"
"Less than twenty miles by direct flight," Xuanyin said. "Much farther by ground because of the ridges."
"Can Haotian open a gateway between them?"
"After Celestara confirms stable receiving terrain. Not before."
The northern force divided while continuing to move.
No group turned so sharply that it lost contact with the others. Tianlan and Xiangyin led the southern road through the lower valley, while Yueru, Ziyue, and Xue'er climbed toward the upper plateaus. Baiyun remained on the central ridge with the mobile reserve, alternating short observation flights with ground rest as ordered.
The eastern strike force reached the first corruption trench at nearly the same time.
The terrain around the engine rift had none of the narrow urgency of the northern mountains. Broad plains stretched beneath a ceiling of smoke, broken by black crystal roads built wide enough for heavy ritual engines. Corruption trenches crossed the approach in staggered lines, each wider than the scouts' earlier reports and filled with dark liquid that moved too slowly to be ordinary water.
Yinxue stood near the edge of the first trench with Yanfei, Shuyue, and Lianhua.
The trench had been widened after the rift basin fell. Broken engine housings, armor plates, and black crystal stakes were visible beneath the surface, while several damaged cores pulsed inside the deeper sections.
A Marephoros commander looked toward the opposite wall. "Can we cross here?"
Yanfei extended a narrow line of Ice beneath the surface.
The cold reached one of the buried engine cores and immediately returned distorted heat through the trench.
"Not safely," she said. "There are damaged cores below us."
"How many?"
"I can feel three near this section. There may be more beyond them."
Shuyue studied the law formations built into the opposite wall. "The defenders want us to freeze or bridge the trench."
Lianhua looked toward her. "What happens if we do?"
"The barrier may claim the structure as part of its defense. A frozen crossing could become a trap under our own formations."
Yinxue followed several hostile connections beneath the liquid. "The buried cores are tied to the wall. If we disturb the surface without severing those links, the engines may discharge through the bridge."
An Umbrel scout returned from the left flank.
"How many soldiers are behind the first wall?" Lianhua asked.
"More than two thousand visible. The engine shelters may contain more."
"Any movement?"
"Not yet. The towers are tracking us."
Yanfei looked along the trench. "We hold here until we understand it."
No one argued that stopping to inspect the crossing meant losing courage.
The eastern force established a temporary position beyond engine range, raised layered barriers, and began mapping the trench rather than walking into a defense designed to punish the first obvious solution.
On the northern front, Tianlan's group reached the southern convergence pass before the evacuation column appeared.
The pass opened between a high northern cliff and a deep southern ravine. A wide mountain road entered from the west, narrowed near the eastern end, and then opened toward the main route leading to the troop rift. Two smaller paths connected the pass to the upper plateaus, though one crossed unstable stone and could not support a heavy formation.
Xiangyin walked the full width of the road before deciding where to place the defenders.
Marephoros cultivators reinforced the cliff base and raised low earth walls that divided the road into four controlled lanes. Pyrelith shield formations occupied the first and third lanes, leaving the second narrow enough for smaller beasts and the fourth partly open along the western side.
Celestara specialists marked emergency withdrawal points and placed spatial locks behind the coalition so mobile gates could not open unnoticed among the healer stations. Umbrel cultivators concealed the true positions of the Veridian teams, while Blue Sphere guides identified older paths beneath the road and several fractured sections of cliff.
Xiangyin moved the second heavy line farther east.
A Pyrelith commander looked toward her. "Why move us?"
"The cliff above your first position is fractured."
"It has held through the morning."
"A beast impact could bring the stone down on both formations."
The commander examined the crack running through the upper ledge. "How far should we move?"
"Thirty paces. Keep the second lane visible from the first."
The formation shifted.
Tianlan walked the western escape lane they had deliberately left open.
"Is this wide enough?" he asked.
"For ordinary beasts," a Marephoros commander said. "Not the largest."
"We can widen it if the herd loses control."
"What happens if the beasts turn toward our flank?"
"We keep the eastern narrowing closed and let them run west. Do not trap them between every barrier."
The commander nodded.
Ling'er remained near the central healer position.
Her assignment was not to cross the full road whenever a lane weakened. She reinforced the ground beneath the Veridian teams, protected the reserve medicine and wounded, and watched the black pressure moving through the beast armor once the column arrived.
The ground began shaking before the scouts signaled.
Dust rose in the western valley.
The first armored beasts appeared between the road walls, their broad heads protected by black metal plates and their shoulders wrapped in corruption-reinforced harnesses. Larger quadrupeds pulled supply platforms and siege wagons behind them. Horned animals carried troops on raised saddles, while faster predatory beasts moved along the flanks with handlers holding hooked chains.
The column continued behind them for miles.
Wounded Abyssal soldiers walked beside supply wagons. Some leaned against beasts whose own legs showed deep injuries. The evacuation had not stopped to treat either soldiers or animals. Anything still capable of moving had been driven toward the rift.
The ground general appeared behind the first herd.
It rode no beast.
The general walked between two armored leaders carrying a heavy polearm and a command standard connected by black chains to several animals throughout the column. Each chain passed through the armor of a beast leader before continuing to smaller control lines woven through the herd.
The general saw the coalition barriers.
It did not slow the column.
Xiangyin watched the command chains tighten. "It is driving the first wave forward."
Tianlan looked toward the four prepared lanes. "Hold the center. Open the western escape route after the first impact."
The Pyrelith commanders raised their shields.
The first charge struck.
The road shook hard enough to send dust and small stones from the northern cliff. Three armored beasts entered the first lane and hit the shield wall together, while two larger animals forced themselves into the third lane behind a wedge of infantry.
The low earth barriers prevented the herd from spreading across the full pass.
Marephoros cultivators reinforced each lane as the impacts reached them. Pyrelith fighters did not try to stop the largest beasts through raw strength alone. They angled their shields, redirected the heads toward the inner walls, and attacked exposed legs and harness joints when the animals lost balance.
Tianlan moved along the center.
He used Space to alter the path of one beast by several feet, enough to send it into the reinforced side wall rather than the healer route. Wind accelerated his next step, Metal strengthened the spearhead, and Earth stabilized the shaft when he struck beneath the animal's shoulder plate.
He did not release full Dragon Dao.
The beast fell into the lane and blocked the soldiers behind it.
Blue Sphere cultivators directed the next mixed squad around the body, while Veridian healers moved forward only after Umbrel shadows covered their position.
The second lane almost held.
Then the ground general pulled one command chain.
Three wounded beasts changed direction at once.
Their armor brightened.
Xiangyin saw the corruption gathering inside the plates. "They are going to detonate."
The beasts continued charging despite broken legs and blood pouring beneath their armor.
Ling'er moved over the healer station.
Light exposed the black pressure entering the wounded animals, while Water and Ice slowed the spread through their armor. Earth rose around the Veridian teams, and Metal reinforced the physical barrier in front of them.
Tianlan could not call her to the failing lane without leaving the healers unprotected.
He moved himself.
Space carried him through the opening between the first and second barriers. Wind and Lightning accelerated only the final steps, while Dragon Dao reinforced his body for one brief impact.
His spear struck the chain linking the nearest beast to the general.
Metal and Lightning broke the connection.
The beast stumbled.
The corruption inside its armor lost the command timing and detonated early, throwing black fire across the lane before it reached the coalition wall. Pyrelith shields absorbed the physical fragments, while Veridian healers purified the residue that passed through.
The second beast exploded beside the earth barrier.
Marephoros cultivators held the wall together long enough for the mixed squad to withdraw.
The third reached the central lane.
Xiangyin drove her spear into a prepared anchor point.
Earth and Metal spread beneath the road, while Space narrowed the beast's approach until it could no longer turn away from her. She released solar Light through the weapon and struck the armor beneath the chest.
The corruption core inside the plate shattered before it could discharge.
The beast collapsed several feet from the first healer barrier.
Xiangyin pulled her spear free and looked toward the ground general. "It is using the injured animals to open the road."
Tianlan watched the command chains move through the herd. "Then we cut the control before the next wave."
The ground general entered the pass.
It swung the heavy polearm toward Xiangyin while using the command standard to redirect beasts along both side lanes. The weapon carried force gathered from the charging animals through the black chains, causing the air around the blade to tremble before the strike landed.
Xiangyin met it near the center of the road.
Earth held her stance. Metal reinforced the spear, and Wind redirected part of the polearm's downward force along the shaft rather than allowing it to break her injured shoulder.
The impact still drove pain through her ribs.
Tianlan saw the change in her posture. "Can you hold it?"
"For now."
The ground general pulled another chain.
A horned beast charged Tianlan from the left while a predatory animal came through the right lane. Tianlan had an opening beneath the general's weapon arm, but taking it would leave the mixed squad behind him exposed to the two beasts.
He redirected the spear.
Space moved the horned beast into the path of the predator, and the animals collided before reaching the formation. Tianlan struck the command chain between them and broke the forced coordination.
The opening against the general disappeared.
Xiangyin drove three short thrusts toward its feet.
The first forced the general to step away from the eastern narrowing. The second pinned one chain against the road. The third attacked the rear leg, but another beast charge transferred force through the general's standard and strengthened its stance.
Tianlan remained outside the opening.
The general turned toward him, expecting an early thrust.
Tianlan waited.
Xiangyin looked toward the command chains. "The normal sequence will not work while it controls the herd."
"What do you need?"
"Break enough chains that I can fix its movement without another charge changing the stance."
"How many?"
"The chain hub on the standard controls the leaders. Cut that, and the smaller lines lose direction."
The general stepped backward and pulled the largest beast formation forward.
The fight had begun, but neither spear cultivator could finish it while thousands of animals and soldiers remained active around them.
On the upper ridges, Yueru and Ziyue found the first mobile gate network.
The structures did not resemble full rifts. Black anchor stones had been planted on separate plateaus, each supporting a temporary spatial frame wide enough for several dozen soldiers or one transport beast to pass through. Receiving markers appeared farther east for only a few breaths before moving to another location.
Aerial formations entered one gate and emerged across the ridge system without flying the full distance.
The aerial general controlled the movement from above.
It carried a long spear with a circular spatial mark fixed beneath the head. Every time the general changed the weapon's angle, one receiving point vanished and another opened on a different plateau.
Yueru watched the first troop formation disappear.
"Destroying the visible frame is not enough," she said.
Ziyue looked toward the nearest departure gate. "Which part do we break?"
"The receiving anchors first."
"Why not the departure gates?"
"The general will move the troops to another destination. If the receiving anchors fail, the soldiers remain where we can see them."
A Celestara specialist followed the synchronization mark through the moving field. "Each gate has a departure anchor, receiving anchor, and a moving connection held by the general."
"How long does the receiving anchor remain physical?" Yueru asked.
"Less than three breaths."
"That is enough if we know where it appears."
Umbrel scouts spread through the upper shadows.
The receiving markers had been concealed inside natural crevices, burned watch posts, and the undersides of transport platforms. The scouts did not attack when they found one. They placed passive markers and withdrew before the aerial defenders understood what had been discovered.
Ziyue moved between ridges through Wind and cloud movement.
She did not cross directly toward the gate engineers. The aerial general had prepared clear approach routes through Space, expecting attackers to use them. Ziyue rejected those directions through her Freedom Sword Dao and entered from the sides of the plateaus instead.
Xue'er supported the first attack.
She launched from a lower squad position, crossed the nearest gate platform, and froze the feet of two engineers before a narrow line of flame burned through the control rods in their hands. Flying demons turned toward her, but she changed direction once and returned to Yueru's mixed squad before the damaged shoulder could weaken.
Pyrelith cultivators reached the marked receiving anchor.
Their first hammer strike cracked the physical stone.
The second broke it.
The departure gate across the valley collapsed before the next troop formation entered.
The aerial general lowered its spear.
Three small portals opened around the upper-ridge force.
Spears, black arrows, and corruption bolts passed through them from positions that did not exist on the visible terrain. Celestara specialists stabilized the nearest platform, while Umbrel shadows hid the Veridian healers and command group.
A flying demon emerged behind one mixed squad.
Ziyue cut it down before the portal closed.
Another appeared above Yueru.
Yueru released a spectral blade into the gate rather than striking the attacker directly. The blade passed through the spatial route and emerged beside the engineers controlling the opposite frame.
Lightning followed the spectral sword.
The control mark broke.
The portal collapsed while the flying demon remained on the coalition side.
Pyrelith and Blue Sphere cultivators surrounded it.
The gate network changed again.
The aerial general recognized that Yueru had identified the receiving anchors. It began opening false points across the ridges, forcing the Celestara specialists to distinguish real routes from empty frames while the evacuation continued through the surviving network.
Yueru released spectral blades into several gates.
Some returned immediately.
Others vanished into closed space.
One reached a receiving platform farther east and marked the true anchor before the frame moved.
"There," she said.
Ziyue followed the mark.
She used Wind to cross the first gap, cloud movement to change height, and Space only for the final short step onto the receiving platform. The engineers tried to relocate the anchor, but Yueru used Time to hold the brief interval when the structure had to exist in one place.
Ziyue struck.
Her sword cut the synchronization line.
Pyrelith cultivators destroyed the anchor stone a heartbeat later.
A second gate failed.
The evacuation slowed.
Xue'er completed another short attack against the flying troops gathering around the next platform. She froze a wing joint, turned through Fire to break an armored harness, and returned to the mixed squad.
Her landing was uneven.
Yueru looked toward the swollen shoulder. "Stay with the squad."
Xue'er turned toward the next gate.
"Your shoulder is getting worse," Yueru said. "Do not fly again until the healer checks it."
Xue'er resisted through her bond with Tianlan.
Far below, Tianlan felt the condition while fighting the ground general.
He could not see her directly, but the bond carried the pain around the wing joint and the healer's concern.
Tianlan sent a clear instruction. "Stay with Yueru's squad."
Xue'er stopped.
Yueru rested one hand against the falcon's neck. "You can still watch the gate movement from here."
Xue'er remained with the mixed squad.
Tianlan returned his full attention to the southern pass.
The ground general had brought the second beast wave into the controlled lanes. Each polearm strike carried force gathered from the herd, and every time Xiangyin fixed the general's stance, another command chain pulled a beast into Tianlan's attack path.
The coalition lines held, but the pass was beginning to fill with bodies, broken harnesses, and damaged barriers.
Ling'er remained near the healer route.
Her injured wing limited how quickly she could move between lanes, so she used Earth and Light across the ground instead. The road revealed every chain carrying corruption toward the beasts, while Water and Ice slowed black essence moving through wounded animals that reached the coalition line.
Tianlan broke three more command links.
The general replaced them by pulling new chains from the standard.
"They are reforming," he said.
Xiangyin watched the chain hub. "Only the smaller links. The center is still the same."
"Can you hold the general if I attack it?"
"For one opening."
"What happens if another beast charge reaches the lane?"
"You leave the general and stop the beast."
Tianlan understood. "Then we need the herd separated first."
The ground general struck the road with the polearm.
Black force traveled through the command chains and entered several beast leaders at once. The largest formation began gathering for a full charge toward the central barriers.
Xiangyin looked at the lanes. "That wave breaks the second line."
Tianlan opened the command channel. "Xuanyin, what happens if the herd scatters toward our flanks?"
"The mixed squads open the western side and keep the eastern narrowing closed," Xuanyin said. "Let the animals flee away from the rift road."
"Can the western valley hold them?"
"It opens into three abandoned grazing basins. Do not pursue the animals unless their handlers regain control."
Tianlan gave the orders.
Marephoros cultivators widened the western escape lane. Pyrelith fighters withdrew one shield section from that route, while Umbrel scouts spread concealment over the eastern narrowing so the panicked animals would not see it as the easiest exit.
The coalition deliberately left one direction open.
The ground general saw the movement and pulled the chain hub tighter.
The largest beast wave began charging.
At the eastern front, the first trench changed before the coalition finished mapping it.
The ground shook beneath the heavy formations.
Black crystal rails rose from below the plain, running from the opposite defensive wall into the trench. Sections of the wall separated from one another, revealing linked armored platforms behind them.
What had appeared to be a fixed fortress began moving.
The mobile engine bastion crossed the trench in several connected sections. Heavy ritual engines occupied the upper platforms, armored shelters filled the middle layers, and corruption reservoirs hung beneath reinforced frames near the surface. Each platform traveled on black crystal rails while law formations held the structure together across gaps in the terrain.
A fourth commander stood on the highest engine deck.
The recovered records had not named it.
Its armor was built around a broad harness connected to the bastion's formation lines, and it carried a heavy rectangular blade that resembled part sword and part engine key. Pale light moved from the weapon into every linked platform.
A Pyrelith commander looked toward the advancing fortress. "Can our heavy formations stop it?"
Yanfei studied the moving engines. "Not before it reaches the trench."
Shuyue followed the law connecting the platforms. "The bastion is using the trench as part of its movement structure."
Yinxue examined the outer barrier. "Can we sever the platforms from here?"
"Not while the barrier remains active," Shuyue said.
Lianhua looked toward the road behind them. "Can we withdraw before it reaches us?"
"Yes," the front commander answered. "We lose the first approach and give them another day to strengthen it."
The mobile bastion fired.
Three engine blasts crossed the trench.
The first struck the ground in front of the eastern force and raised a wall of black crystal from below. The second carried corruption through the air toward the healer positions. The third compressed Space around the leading heavy formations, forcing shields and soldiers toward one another.
Celestara specialists cut the spatial pressure.
Marephoros cultivators held the ground while Pyrelith fighters shattered the rising crystal. Lianhua spread lotus protection over the front line, and Veridian healers purified the corruption before it reached the medicine stores.
The fourth commander raised its rectangular blade.
The linked platforms increased speed.
The eastern commander opened the reserve channel. "We need central support."
At the southern pass, the largest beast wave struck the coalition at the same time.
The first lane collapsed under three armored quadrupeds.
Pyrelith shields broke and soldiers were thrown backward, but Marephoros cultivators held the road long enough for the second line to move into place. Veridian healers pulled the injured behind Umbrel concealment while Blue Sphere fighters directed the surviving formation around the fallen beasts.
The second lane held for several breaths.
Then the ground general transferred force from six charging animals into the polearm and struck Xiangyin.
She anchored with Earth, Metal, Space, and solar Light.
The impact still drove her backward.
Pain tore through the healing ribs, and the injured shoulder weakened the angle of her spear.
Tianlan stepped beside her. "Can you hold it?"
"Not for long."
"What do you need?"
"Break the command chains. The beasts will scatter if the general loses control."
Tianlan looked toward the charging herd. "The western lane is open."
"Then do it before the second heavy line breaks."
The northern commander contacted Xuanyin. "The pass may fail. We need another heavy formation."
The eastern commander's request arrived at the same time. "The mobile fortress reaches our position before we finish the crossing. We need engine-breaking teams and additional barriers."
Xuanyin studied both projections.
The northern pass showed a retreat route still open, controlled lanes damaged but functioning, and the final receiving gates under attack by Yueru and Ziyue. The eastern front showed a moving fortress with more engines than the existing heavy formations could absorb.
She asked the northern group first. "Is your retreat route open?"
"Yes," the front commander answered.
"Can you stop the evacuation without another legion?"
Tianlan looked at the command chains, the open western lane, and the marked gate positions above the pass. "Yes, if Yueru closes one more receiving gate."
Xuanyin contacted the eastern group. "Can you withdraw before the bastion reaches you?"
Lianhua answered, "Yes, but we lose the first approach and the defenders gain another day to fortify it."
"Can the current force hold after withdrawal?"
"Not against the bastion and the wall engines together."
Xuanyin moved the reserve markers.
"The eastern force receives six reserve legions and two engine-breaking teams. The northern force holds with its current formations."
Tianlan answered, "Understood."
No one at the northern pass complained that another front had received the support.
Haotian opened a stable route from the Dao Palace of Creation toward the eastern position. The Dao Palace of the Universe fixed the receiving ground behind Lianhua's formation, while the Dao Palace of Creation prepared the reserve legions to cross with barriers already active.
On the upper ridges, Baiyun left the mobile reserve for one controlled observation flight.
The aerial general had multiplied its visible formations across the plateaus. Several false bodies carried matching spears, and every receiving gate changed after one of them moved.
Xuanyin contacted the reserve. "Can Baiyun identify the main synchronization point?"
Tianlan received Baiyun's observation through their bond.
"The general carries it," he said. "Every gate changes after it moves the weapon."
"Can Baiyun reach the general?" Xuanyin asked.
The Veridian healer beside the reserve answered first. "Not in a prolonged fight."
Tianlan looked through the bond at the ridges Baiyun could see. "He does not need to fight it. He can mark the true position for Yueru and Ziyue."
Baiyun climbed.
He used no continuous Lightning. Space carried him through one short movement above the central ridge, then another between two moving aerial formations. The damaged channels across his chest flickered, but the healer's warning remained clear through the bond.
One more movement only if necessary.
From the higher angle, the false formations became easier to separate.
Most of the visible generals moved without affecting the receiving markers. One position shifted its spear, and three gates changed at the same moment.
Baiyun marked it.
Yueru received the location through Tianlan's relay.
"The true general is above the easternmost plateau," she said.
Ziyue looked toward the distance. "Can we reach it?"
"Not before it retreats. We only need the anchor it is protecting."
Yueru released spectral blades toward every visible receiving point.
The true anchor accepted the third blade.
Time narrowed around the three breaths when the structure had to exist physically.
"Now," Yueru said.
Ziyue crossed.
Wind carried her over the first gap. Cloud movement changed her elevation beneath a portal attack, while Space carried her through the last short distance. The aerial general opened two gates around her and launched black spears through both.
Ziyue refused the expected escape route.
Her Freedom Sword Dao rejected the line between attack and destination, allowing her to turn through a direction the general had not prepared. One spear passed beneath her, the other struck empty air.
She reached the receiving anchor.
Celestara specialists locked the plateau.
Pyrelith cultivators followed through the stabilized route.
Ziyue cut the synchronization mark.
The first hammer struck.
The anchor cracked.
The aerial general turned its spear toward the platform, but Baiyun descended through a short spatial movement and struck the weapon from above before the gate attack completed.
He did not remain.
The falcon broke contact immediately and returned toward the mobile reserve, chest channels flickering beneath his feathers.
The second hammer destroyed the anchor.
The final mobile gate on the southern-pass route collapsed.
A troop formation halfway through the connection split between two plateaus. Celestara specialists stabilized the surviving soldiers on the Blue Sphere side before the gate failure could create a larger spatial tear, while Umbrel and Pyrelith fighters surrounded the disoriented Abyssal force.
The aerial general saw the network failing.
It abandoned the upper pass and retreated toward the troop rift with the remaining flying formations. Smaller gates closed behind it, leaving soldiers and transport beasts stranded west of the main road.
Yueru contacted Tianlan. "The southern receiving route is closed."
Tianlan looked toward the ground general.
"Then we break the chains now."
Xiangyin moved into the general's path.
The largest beast wave continued through the lanes. The general expected the coalition to reinforce every barrier, but the western route remained open. Some animals had already begun turning toward it when the pressure of the command chains weakened.
Xiangyin attacked the ground rather than the general's body.
Earth and Space fixed its rear foot to the road, while Metal reinforced the spear against the heavy polearm. The general struck downward.
She caught the weapon near the inner shaft.
The impact drove one knee toward the road, but the anchor held.
Tianlan waited.
A beast charged through the second lane toward him.
Ling'er reinforced the road beneath the mixed squad and released Light across the animal's armor, revealing the command chain entering behind its shoulder. Water and Ice slowed the corruption moving through it.
Tianlan cut the chain without leaving Xiangyin's battle line.
The beast lost direction and turned toward the open western lane.
Another followed.
The ground general pulled the standard harder.
Xiangyin forced its weight onto the fixed leg.
"Now."
Tianlan moved.
He did not use full Dragon Dao across his entire body. A controlled burst reinforced his shoulders, spine, and right arm long enough for the spear thrust. Space changed the angle around the general's polearm, while Metal and Lightning entered the command standard beneath the chain hub.
The point struck the central connection.
The general turned its body, trying to drag the standard away.
Xiangyin held the rear foot.
Ling'er strengthened the road beneath Tianlan.
He drove the spear deeper.
The chain hub broke.
Black links snapped across the pass.
The largest beast leaders lost the forced coordination. Some continued charging from momentum, but the animals behind them hesitated, turned, or attempted to escape the pressure of the collapsing formations.
Because the coalition had left the western lane open, the herd did not have to break through the eastern narrowing.
Armored beasts turned into the valley.
Smaller animals scattered after them.
Handlers tried to restore control, but Umbrel scouts cut the remaining reins and Blue Sphere fighters directed the mixed squads away from the panicked animals rather than trapping them between every barrier.
The ground evacuation column split.
Soldiers remained in formation around the general, but the beasts carrying supplies and heavy platforms moved west, collided with abandoned wagons, or broke into the lower grazing basins.
The coalition captured several transports intact.
Others were destroyed before their corruption cores could be used again.
The ground general tore the broken standard from Tianlan's spear and stepped away from Xiangyin's anchor. Without the herd feeding force into the weapon, its polearm strikes lost part of their weight.
It could still fight.
It could no longer complete the evacuation.
The general looked toward the upper ridges.
The aerial routes were gone.
It released a harsh command.
Elite Abyssal soldiers closed around it and began retreating toward the final ridge.
Tianlan raised his spear. "Do we pursue?"
"Only to the final ridge before the rift position," Xuanyin answered. "Your squads are tired, and the falcons are injured."
"What happens if both generals reach the rift?"
"They strengthen the defense. Chasing them with scattered formations gives them a better chance to destroy you before the main force arrives."
Tianlan looked toward the withdrawing elites. "Then we follow in formation."
The coalition did not scatter among the fleeing beasts.
Marephoros cultivators stabilized the damaged pass. Veridian healers treated those injured during the charge, while Pyrelith fighters repaired enough barriers to protect the rear. Blue Sphere guides marked every route leading east, and Umbrel scouts followed the generals without leaving support range.
Ling'er remained near Tianlan.
Her injured wing trembled after sustaining the ground formations, but the tear had not reopened. Xue'er stayed with Yueru's squad on the upper ridge, shoulder supported after the third attack. Baiyun returned to the mobile reserve and did not attempt another spatial movement.
The northern force resumed its advance before sunset.
Both convergence passes belonged to the coalition.
Much of the evacuated ground supply had been captured or destroyed. Thousands of soldiers and beasts remained west of the troop rift, cut off from the direct road. Some would scatter toward the main stronghold through lesser valleys, but the Abyss had lost the organized evacuation it intended.
The ground and aerial generals withdrew into the fortified rift position with the surviving elite formations.
The eastern force received its reserves before the mobile bastion reached the near bank.
Haotian's gateway opened behind Lianhua's protection field. Six mixed reserve legions crossed with portable barriers already raised, followed by two engine-breaking teams carrying reinforced wedges, heavy hammers, insulated chains, and sealed tools for unstable cores.
The first bastion volley struck during the deployment.
Pyrelith shields met the physical engine fire. Celestara specialists redirected spatial compression away from the gateway, while Marephoros cultivators reinforced the receiving platform so the reserve squads did not enter unstable ground.
Lianhua extended lotus light over the new formations.
Yanfei looked toward the moving fortress. "The reinforcements give us enough strength to hold."
Shuyue watched the law lines connecting the platforms. "Holding is not enough. The bastion is still using the trench to move."
Yinxue traced the connection beneath the surface. "The fourth commander is controlling the outer barrier through the rectangular blade."
Lianhua asked, "Can we reach it?"
"Not before the first platforms cross," Shuyue answered.
The mobile bastion continued forward.
Its lower platforms entered the corruption trench without sinking. Black liquid rose around the rails and became part of the movement structure, carrying the linked fortress toward the coalition position.
The fourth commander lifted the engine blade.
Every upper weapon turned toward the eastern force.
On the northern front, Tianlan's group reached the final ridge as the sun began lowering behind them.
The troop rift occupied a chain of broad plateaus beyond the mountains. Its vertical opening hung above a fortified central rise, while roads and temporary spatial frames connected the surrounding ridges. Beast pens covered the lower western plateau, though many had already been emptied or burned.
Thousands of soldiers remained inside the defensive lines.
War beasts filled the broader roads. Aerial formations gathered above the rift, and the two Abyssal generals entered separate sections of the position.
The ground general moved toward the lower plateaus where heavy formations and beast handlers remained.
The aerial general climbed toward the upper rift defenses with the surviving mobile anchors.
Tianlan stood beside Xiangyin while Yueru, Ziyue, Ling'er, Xue'er, and Baiyun regrouped behind the captured ridge. None of them had enough strength to begin the anchor assault immediately.
Xiangyin looked toward the defensive lines. "They still evacuated a large force through the rift."
"Yes," Tianlan said. "Not all of it."
Yueru examined the remaining mobile frames. "They are dismantling the outer gates and carrying the anchors inside the main barrier."
Ziyue looked toward the aerial general. "It knows we can find the receiving points now."
Tianlan opened the command channel. "The northern road is cut."
Xuanyin moved the northern marker onto the final ridge. "Hold there. Do not attack the rift until the squads reorganize."
"How long?"
"Until morning at the earliest. I need casualty reports, falcon conditions, and a map of the anchor structure."
"We will have them."
The eastern projection shook across the command chamber.
The mobile bastion fired its first full synchronized volley.
The trench walls brightened, the engine platforms advanced, and the fourth commander moved the linked fortress within striking distance of the coalition's forward barriers.
Haotian looked toward the reserve gateway. "They have the reinforcements."
Xuanyin watched the bastion continue moving. "Now they have to stop it."
By nightfall, the northern evacuation had been broken, but on the eastern road an entire fortress was moving toward the coalition.