Lord of the Sky City-Chapter 872 - 854: Encirclement

The Karina who had originally been waiting for Rocky instead found herself greeted by the arrival of the main Allied Forces, which made her frown unconsciously.

As a member of the Allied Forces, Karina had been stationed in Mist Mountain City, maintaining regular communications with the Alliance. Any troop movements that required passage through Mist Mountain City were supposed to be reported to her in advance. That’s why she found this sudden arrival so surprising—she had not received any notification about incoming forces.

However, as she stood there puzzled, her gaze landed on one of the dozen or so Sky Cities approaching. One of them looked distinctly familiar. Grabbing her telescope in haste, she realized with astonishment—it was Thunderhawk City!

But upon closer inspection, Karina was almost at her wit’s end. This wasn’t troop movement by the Allied Forces—it was a chase! A whole swarm of Sky Cities was pursuing Thunderhawk City, and they had ventured right into the territory of Mist Mountain City!

Seeing this spectacle, Karina was utterly speechless. She had long heard rumors of the chaos Rocky had been causing on the battlefield, and she knew someone was manipulating him to stir up trouble. But she never imagined Rocky would go this far—it was as if he were playing some ridiculous game of tag with those Sky Cities!

As Karina wrestled with her frustration, Thunderhawk City made its way closer to Rose City, gradually slowing its speed. Once it came to a full stop, a warship emerged from the city. With just one glance, Karina recognized it as the War Steed. Before long, the War Steed docked at Rose City’s skyport.

"You idiot! What the hell are you doing?!"

Upon meeting Rocky at the skyport, Karina didn’t bother holding back. She bombarded him with furious questions right away. This mess he had created could easily drag her into the scheming and power plays among the higher-ups of the Alliance—something she was dead set on avoiding. Unlike Rocky, she didn’t belong to a powerful faction. When dealing with the Allied Forces’ leadership, she had to tread carefully. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"We haven’t seen each other in so long, why are you so fierce?"

Pretending not to understand her outburst, Rocky strolled toward her with his signature goofy grin. Without caring whether Karina wanted it or not, he pulled her into a big hug, leaving many onlookers dumbfounded.

Who was Karina, after all? While not as physically strong as Rocky or those massive City Lords, her reputation was nothing short of fearsome. And unlike many, her fame didn’t come from her looks—though she was indeed stunning—it came from her savagery. She was the Bloody Rose, as beautiful as she was deadly, a woman bristling with thorns. Who would dare to embrace her so brazenly?

Honestly, if it had been anyone else, even another City Lord, foolish enough to grope or grab at her like this, she wouldn’t hesitate to draw her dagger and stab them in the gut. But for Rocky, she wasn’t quite so ruthless.

The two of them went way back. Karina had known Rocky even before he had found his footing in the world, and they had collaborated on numerous occasions during their climb to prominence. During their toughest times, neither had ever hesitated to help the other. Their connection ran far deeper than most people could imagine.

Thus, while Karina was thoroughly annoyed by Rocky suddenly sweeping her into an over-the-top hug, she resisted her initial urge to stab him and settled for rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Finally, when Rocky let go, she still wouldn’t leave the matter alone and grilled him, "Rocky, what’s going on with those Sky Cities chasing after you?!"

"Them?" Rocky turned his head and glanced back. From his position near the skyport, he could already see that a dozen massive Sky Cities had encircled Thunderhawk City and Rose City. Yet, his response was to shrug nonchalantly, wearing an innocent look. "I have no idea why they keep following me. Maybe they’re trying to protect me?"

"Protect you? Are you out of your damn mind?! Who has free time for that?!"

Karina shot him another glare, entirely speechless at this point. Judging by the Allied Forces’ actions, they clearly believed she and Rocky were in cahoots. When they decided to act on this assumption, there was no doubt she would be dragged into the mess.

"Enough standing around. Just come with me to the City Lord’s Mansion."

With an exasperated sigh, Karina resigned herself to the situation. There was no fixing it now, so she decided to ignore the Sky Cities outside. Leading Rocky and his entourage, she boarded a carriage and headed directly for the City Lord’s Mansion.

"So, what do you think? Satisfied with the war so far?"

Seated in the carriage, Rocky asked her with an amused smile. He knew Karina’s personality all too well. This woman was, in the truest sense of the term, a war addict. Most people viewed war as a necessity or an evil forced upon them, but not Karina. She had an innate love for war, a passion seemingly engraved into her very genes. While others saw it as suffering and brutality, for her, it was a source of fascination and joy. Because of this, anyone who knew her could predict she would inevitably join the counteroffensive campaign.

"It’s alright, I guess."

Yet Karina’s response to the question was strikingly indifferent. "Most of the people in the Allied Forces are useless. Fighting alongside them can’t exactly be called fun."

Shooting Rocky a sidelong glance, Karina spoke her thoughts without reservation.

She indeed loved war and thrived in conflict, but that didn’t mean she was willing to partner with incompetents. And Karina absolutely saw the majority of the Allied Forces as dead weight.

Since the beginning of the counteroffensive, Karina had participated in numerous major battles in the Marta Region. She had missed the Kalhan Plains campaign due to resting and regrouping but had thrown herself into intense combat in the Myriad Snakes Region immediately afterward. From day one, she had fought tirelessly on the frontlines, all the way until this very moment.

Mist Mountain City, where she was stationed now, wasn’t some rear-guard city. It was on the frontlines, a battlefield where skirmishes against the demons flared up almost constantly. Because she had been engaged in battle nonstop since the campaign began, Karina had gained firsthand insight into the Allied Forces—and she was deeply disappointed.

Karina had discovered that many members of the Allied Forces lacked genuine fighting spirit. Rather than warriors eager to engage the enemy, they seemed utterly uninterested in the war. Self-serving and cowardly, they rarely charged the front unless a guaranteed victory was within reach. Otherwise, they would either hide behind others or deploy a token force to give the illusion of participation. Even when they had no choice but to act, their priority was always to consider escape routes first.

This infuriated Karina. This was a life-or-death conflict between humans and demons—the kind of war where retreat was not an option. Only by giving everything could they hope to succeed. Wasn’t this something everyone should understand? And yet, despite knowing this, many of her supposed allies refused to fight properly.

In her eyes, they were all useless cowards. If they were so afraid of dying, they shouldn’t have participated in this campaign. Without them holding the rest back, perhaps the Myriad Snakes Region could have been taken by now.