Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 35: The Call to Assemble
The prefectural city of Cod was a city with several hundreds of thousands of citizens and which took up a huge amount of space. Given the local geography as well as the intentional destruction caused by the Baruch Kingdom’s forces, the Radiant Church’s side was forced to attack the city from the south and the east gates.
The north gate was actually open, as they had no fear of the enemy attacking from that side.
The day slowly grew bright, and many soldiers who had been on guard duty at night switched shifts. Logically speaking, there should have been fewer soldiers outside in the morning, but the new shift discovered to their surprise...that there were many people outside, and it seemed as though the soldiers that had been on duty weren’t tired at all. Instead, they were excited.
“Buddy, time to change shifts. What are you guys talking about?”
Many soldiers ran to their shift changing positions.
“A titanic dragon, a titanic dragon. It had no wings, but it was able to fly. It was a Saint-level titanic dragon. Wow. It was so huge. It was like a mountain.” The night-shift garrison soldiers were talking excitedly amongst themselves.
“What dragon?” The new arrival was shocked.
The night-shift garrison soldier explained excitedly, “Tonight, an enormous dragon flew over...there were a lot of soldiers waiting to move things. Look, they’re still moving things. That enormous metal case was delivered by the flying dragon.”
The new arrival looked over.
He saw a massive box at least fifty meters long. He sucked a cold breath. How could people possibly move such an enormous box? Perhaps it truly was a massive dragon that had carried it here.
A large number of soldiers were currently right in the middle of the metal box, carrying out bulging sacks.
The news about the giant dragon quickly spread throughout the army camp, causing the morale of the soldiers of Cod to rise. Their side had the help of a massive dragon, and a Saint-level one who could fly, at that. They would definitely be successful.
But the enemy forces, by contrast...
The Liuyan River was a fairly large river. Although it wasn’t one of the top three rivers of the Anarchic Lands, it was still fifty or sixty meters wide, and caused endless headaches for the forces of the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows.
The bridge that had been erected at enormous expense had been destroyed by the Baruch Kingdom itself.
Building it was hard, but destroying it was simple.
The Cardinal of the Radiant Church, Guillermo, and the Dark Cardinal of the Cult of Shadows, Weiss Porter, stared at the river, frowning. To build a floating bridge was simple, but how could a million-man army possibly cross on such a floating bridge?
In addition, some of their war machines were extremely large. How would they ship them across?
“We have to immediately build a large number of floating bridges to let the soldiers cross.” Guillermo frowned, urging.
“Then what about the war machines?” Someone below asked.
To attack a city, one had to use war machines such as the escalades, which were dozens of meters wide. How could something so large and so heavy be shipped across? But building a large bridge would take an enormous amount of time; even the time it would take to let the cement settle down and harden would be time consuming.
There wasn’t enough time.
“When the time comes, magic will have to be used to freeze the water into ice.” Guillermo frowned.
It was currently August, the hottest time of the year. In addition, this was a very large river. To freeze the river solid enough to allow the escalades and the other large war machines to cross would require at least an Arch Magus of the ninth rank.
......
The prefectural city of Cod was constantly being renovated as well, preparing all sorts of war machines of its own. The Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows continued to plan ways to bring across their million-man army. In the Anarchic Lands, warfare was about to break out at any moment.
At this time...
The O’Brien Empire. War God Mountain.
“Whooosh.”
The War God, O’Brien, suddenly appeared at the door to his cave. The War God, O’Brien, stood there, as straight as a spear, emanating a fierce air. His scarlet red hair fluttered freely, and a hint of a smile was on his face.
It had been a long time since he had left the cave.
A flash of light suddenly appeared in front of him. It was Fain.
“Master.” Fain stood respectfully in front of the War God, O’Brien. The War God, as soon as he had stepped outside, had summoned Fain.
The War God glanced at his disciple. “Fain, spend the next period of time in training and in preparation...” The War God’s voice trailed off, but Fain’s eyes lit up. He looked at his master. “Master, are you saying...?”
“Right. It should be starting again soon...because that person in the Forest of Darkness has instructed me to go to him.” The words of the War God O’Brien made Fain’s heart begin to tremble.
Fain knew that the Deity in the Forest of Darkness rarely got involved in any matters. For him to now have the War God go over most likely meant...it was time to once again open the Necropolis of the Gods.
The War God O’Brien immediately transformed into a fiery streak of light, flashing across the sky and quickly disappearing into the eastern horizon. His speed was simply astonishing, far beyond the likes of Linley and the others.
On a mountain peak in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
A devilish youth with dark-golden eyes and a long robe stood on the peak, staring at the east. There was a knife-scar in the middle of his forehead. Only people who knew him were aware...that this wasn’t actually a knife scar. It was the powerful weapon of the King of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
The King of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts...Dylin!
“Hrmph, that old bastard.” Dylin stared towards the east. He had received the summons from that person in the Forest of Darkness as well. Although Dylin disliked him, he didn’t dare to disobey either. “He was like this five thousand years ago, and now, he’s still like this. The Yulan continent...that old bastard is the most comfortable person here.”
“Swish.”
Dylin’s body flashed, and a dark golden light streaked toward the eastern horizon, then disappeared. The speed...seemed to be even more astonishing than that of the War God O’Brien.
On a cloud-shrouded peak near the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire.
Long silver hair flowing freely. A shining jade mask. Moon-white robes. The person looked like an Angel who didn’t belong in this world, or perhaps a spirit. But from the figure...this person seemed very willowy. The person looked somewhat like a woman.
This was the oldest human Deity in the Yulan continent, the pillar of support for the Yulan Empire...the High Priest!
“Is it beginning?” The High Priest stared towards the northeast. The glowing jade mask caused his face to be hidden. “Who knows how many people will die this time.” The High Priest let out a sigh, and then a wind arose nearby.
When the wind died down, the High Priest had disappeared as well.
Within a graceful entertainment area in the Rohault Empire.
“C’mon, give me a kiss.” Still dressed in a loose robe, and that lazy smile still on his face, Cesar was currently cuddling a beautiful woman, teasing her while drinking wine. But just as they were having fun, his face suddenly froze. “Leave for now.” Cesar waved his hand.
The beautiful woman clearly was confused.
“I told you to leave.” Cesar frowned. The slight aura he was now emanating made the woman’s heart quail, and she immediately left, not daring to protest.
Frowning, Cesar let out an unhappy grumble. “The Forest of Darkness...oh, your Lordship, your mightiness, someone like you has no need for a minor figure like me. I just reached the Deity-level not too long ago. Why do I have to go with you.”
Although he was annoyed, Cesar didn’t dare to disobey.
His five thousand years of life had let Cesar know quite a bit about the background history of the Yulan continent.
A black shadow flashed, and Cesar disappeared as though he had teleported. If Bebe and Osenno had seen this...they would have been shocked. For someone to be able to reach such a level in the Shadowshape technique was simply too terrifying.
In the air above the Forest of Darkness, the four great Deities flew together, side by side. Sonic booms could be heard continuously. The War God O’Brien, his gaze firm. The quiet, natural High Priest. The cold, devilish Dylin. And the rather lazy, unhappy-looking Cesar who flew a bit farther away from the others.
“Cesar, why the unhappy face? You are a Deity now. You should be happy.” The gentle voice of the High Priest rang out.
Cesar forced out a smile. “Lord Catherine [Kai’se’lin], I just reached the Deity level not long ago. When we meet with any danger, I hope you will help me, Lord Catherine. Otherwise, my little life might be over.”
“Your little life will be over?” The War God’s firm, powerful voice rang out, and he swept Cesar with a lightning gaze. “You have entered the Deity level, and you train in the assassination and escaping aspects of the darkness-element. Amongst the four of us, your escaping ability should be the greatest.”
Cesar could only let out a few resigned chuckles.
As for the King of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Dylin, he flew silently.
“Dylin.” The High Priest looked at him, speaking with a voice that was warm and friendly. “Congratulations on escaping from the Gebados [Ge’ba’da] Prison. I must say, your luck is quite good.”
Dylin glanced at the High Priest. “Catherine, my luck isn’t as good as yours.”
Just as these people were chatting...
“Enough. There will plenty of time to chat later. Hurry up.” A hoarse, ancient voice suddenly rang out in the ears of the four Deities. The four Deities immediately increased their speed, transforming into rays of light as they entered the depths of the Forest of Darkness.
Across the Yulan continent, the vast majority of Saints, such as Linley and Desri, didn’t know that the five Deities were coming together in the Forest of Darkness. Linley was actually in the prefectural city of Cod. The upcoming battle was simply too important.
But soon after Linley arrived at the prefectural city of Cod...
“Lord Linley.” Barker suddenly ran over.
“What is it, Barker?” Linley smiled at Barker, who hurriedly said, “Lord Linley, come take a look with me. Someone told me that there was a change in the magicite mines. I took a look and I discovered something incredible.”
“Oh?” Linley was curious now. “Come, let’s take a look.”
Linley immediately followed Barker as they flew to the magicite mine at high speed. Currently, parts of the magicite mines had been sealed off, preventing anyone from going in deeper to investigate. When Barker and Linley arrived, those soldiers immediately withdrew.
“Right here.” Barker led Linley inside.
They went deeper into the mines, which was lit by torches. Barker explained, “Someone told me that when we excavated our way deep into the heart of the mine, we discovered that the quality of the magicite gems increased by a terrifying level. They are better than what the historical standard for ‘top-class’ magicite gems are at, but they are still terrifyingly tough. That’s why I came.
Linley instantly spread out his spiritual energy.
Linley suddenly discovered...that at the end of the excavation, there was a spherical nuclear area. This was the center of the mine.
“You say that the quality of the magicite gems reached a terrifyingly good level?”
“Right. From what I could tell, the quality of the magicite gems here are comparable to the cores of magical beasts of the seventh rank, and some deeper inside can even compare to magicite cores of beasts of the eighth rank. A very small number can even compare to the magicite cores of magical beasts of the ninth rank.” Barker sighed in amazement.
Linley’s heart trembled in shock.
“Linley, do you know what this core of the mine is?” Barker asked.
Linley shook his head. He had just discovered many magicite gems clustered around this area when he had used his spiritual energy, but he couldn’t find out anything else at all.
“We’re here.” Barker pointed to the front.
The sides of the excavation area were filled with half-translucent gems which carried a terrifying amount of force. Any of them could compare to the magicite cores of magical beasts of the seventh rank. Linley look ahead; Barker was pointing in the direction of...a door.
This door had a strange spatial ripple in front of it.
But just earlier, when Linley had used his spiritual energy to search, he hadn’t discovered this door at all.