Recently, the morale in Darkness City had been soaring. After all, significant successes had been achieved on both the northern and southern fronts. The momentum of the Chaos Federation was growing exponentially. To advance further, the only option left was to completely occupy an empire and officially ascend to the status of an imperial-level power.
For players in the Demon King's faction, taking down an empire meant the completion of the Demon King's venture. Zhang Nu was well aware that this battle, unlike previous ones, was high in both complexity and difficulty, so he had to be thoroughly prepared.
First, he used a Level 5 special building upgrade scroll. Zhang Nu upgraded an important military facility of the Chaos Federation, the Citadel of Eternity. The Citadel of Eternity, as an extremely robust and mobile stronghold, could serve both as a transportation tool for military forces and provide substantial fire support on the battlefield, playing a crucial role in this fight.
[Would you like to upgrade the Citadel of Eternity? This upgrade costs "Gold" x700 million, "Ten Elemental Gems" x100,000 each!]
[Citadel of Eternity upgraded successfully!]
[You have unlocked new magitek units, you have unlocked the Parallel Matrix, Citadel Cannons +100, Super Citadel Cannon +10!]
[......]
The Citadel of Eternity, as a Level 5 special building, had been upgraded directly to a Level 6 special building due to Zhang Nu's use of an upgrade scroll, greatly enhancing its attributes and performance.
Firstly, the summonable magitek units: the Citadel of Eternity unlocked the ability to summon Level 6 combat units. At the same time, the number of summonable units of other levels also increased by at least threefold, significantly boosting the combat power of the Citadel of Eternity.
Additionally, the Citadel of Eternity unlocked the Parallel Matrix. This feature allows the magic fortress's main functions to operate concurrently and in parallel, thus greatly enhancing the overall strength of the fortress.
For example, the previous version of the Citadel of Eternity could not run its mobility, teleportation, and defense capabilities simultaneously. That is, during movement or while preparing for teleportation, the magic protective barrier could not be activated. This meant that if enemies seized the opportunity to attack, they could potentially disrupt the fortress during movement or teleportation, causing severe damage or casualties instantly.
Now, however, things were different. After the upgrade, the Citadel of Eternity gained the capability to run its magitek matrix in a parallel sequence. This meant that the defensive barrier could be activated during movement or teleportation, significantly enhancing the fortress's security and greatly increasing its strategic value.
In addition to the aforementioned changes, the most significant transformation of the Citadel of Eternity was that its firepower has become more formidable than before. The Level 5 Citadel of Eternity had ten standard magitek cannons and one super magitek cannon. The power of a single shot from the super magitek cannon was roughly equivalent to the full-force strike of a top-tier Level 5 mage overlord, which was powerful but clearly insufficient for the current stage.
Now, the situation had changed. After the upgrade, the magic fortress had gained an additional 100 magitek cannons, and all magitek cannons could be upgraded to super magitek cannons. This meant that the effect of 110 Level 5 overlord-level mage units launching continuous full-force attacks was quite astonishing. Among these 110 super magitek cannons, 10 could be upgraded to ultimate magitek cannons, equivalent to the full-force attack of a Level 6 overlord-level magical unit. The immense power and devastating impact of these cannons could play a remarkable role on the battlefield.
The number of launch wells and magic missiles in the magic fortress had also significantly increased, meaning a substantial enhancement in the long-range attack capability of this supreme magitek fortress.
Just then, Han Kexin returned. As the Prime Minister of the Chaos Federation, she was well aware of the current situation of the federation. Upon learning that Zhang Nu was about to challenge the empire, she took it very seriously and decided to halt the development of the Chaos Sea to return and assist Zhang Nu fully.
As soon as Han Kexin arrived back, she saw the upgraded magic fortress. After understanding its capabilities, she was very excited, "I didn't expect that after the upgrade, the magitek fortress's firepower and combat abilities have improved so much. It's no longer just a fortress, but a large magitek warship. With its firepower support, attacking the empire will be much easier."
Zhang Nu, however, said, "Relying solely on this magitek fortress is far from enough. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, the empire's Hero, Primo, has already foreseen the upgraded magitek fortress, so the empire will definitely be prepared."
"Are you talking about that Prophet of Doom, Primo?" Han Kexin said gravely, "I've seen his name on the Hero leaderboard. His abilities are indeed not easy to deal with. Do you have any counter strategies?"
To this, Zhang Nu smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. When it comes to controlling the domain of space and time, currently, no Hero or Demon King can compare with me."
"You really are arrogant!" Han Kexin rolled her eyes in exasperation.
However, complaints aside, she knew Zhang Nu very well. Far from being arrogant, he was exceptionally cautious. Boasting was not his style, and if he could make such a statement, it indicated that he had the confidence and assurance.
Curious, Han Kexin asked, "So, how do you plan to counter the prophet's tactics?"
Zhang Nu replied, "The prophet's ability is merely to use time magic to steal real projections from the future timeline. I just need to hide some parts to prevent him from spying on them."
This issue was somewhat complex. Simply put, Zhang Nu would divide his attacking forces into two parts. One part would be visible, attacking the imperial capital alongside the Citadel of Eternity from the front. The other part would be hidden, Zhang Nu would conceal them within the Abyssal Divine Realm, utilizing its secrecy to transport the troops onto the battlefield.
Thus, with Primo's abilities, he would only be able to see the forces in the open. Even using his abilities to deduce the outcome of the battle would already be challenging. Neither Primo nor anyone else in the empire could expect or predict that after this round of attacks, there would be an even more fierce attack. They would only prepare defenses based on the previous battle projection.
Zhang Nu immediately began preparations. He kept only two hundred Abyssal Dragons to move with the main army, while all other Abyssal Dragons were placed into the Abyssal Realm. Additionally, he assembled a large force from the Chaos Forest, including previously unseen elite combatants such as the Gloom City demons led by Han Kexin, the ents from the Chaos Forest, a large number of high-level draconian combat units, plus some recently recruited high-tier human and forest troops.
In total, this force numbered about three hundred thousand. Once they were hidden in Zhang Nu's realm, which had acquired spatial-temporal independence by absorbing the Void Seed, their existence in this world's timeline was effectively erased. Unless they reappeared suddenly, using time magic to predict their movements was impossible, meaning they could appear from another world at any moment and disrupt all forthcoming events on the timeline.
With such a capability of striking unexpectedly from the shadows, Primo's foresight becomes virtually useless and meaningless to Zhang Nu, potentially even backfiring and causing the empire to entrap itself.
During the process of amassing troops in his realm, Zhang Nu's actions were mirrored for the Chaos Federation's army, which gathered openly and without disguise. A massive army of five to six hundred thousand quickly formed, and if the combat units within the Citadel of Eternity were included, the size of this army could reach up to nearly a million.
It could be said that this was the largest force assembled since the founding of the Chaos Federation. Such a large-scale mobilization of troops could not go unnoticed by the empire, and the empire would discover that the size and composition of this army were not different from the predictions of the Prophet of Doom.
Han Kexin asked, "We have only recently conquered Bachor Duchy, and you are immediately assembling a large army to attack the core of the empire. Isn't this too soon?"
Zhang Nu understood the Succubus Queen's concerns. Indeed, the federation's expansion rate had been exceedingly high recently. Such a vast territory and such a large population could not be assimilated in a short time. The Chaos Federation had not yet assimilated the southern territories' population and was already thinking of striking directly at the imperial capital, aiming to destroy the heart and brain of the empire, which inevitably made it seem like the Demon King wanted to bite off more than he could chew.
However, Zhang Nu said, "No, I believe the timing is almost ripe. Taking down the empire is not urgent, but we must dismantle the empire's operations, otherwise top Heroes from all over the world will continue to be drawn here."
So far, Zhang Nu was the only Demon King who posed a significant threat and had a great chance of conquering an imperial-level power. It was certain that news about this place could not be kept secret for long, and in a short time, it had already attracted the Prophet of Doom, Primo. In the future, it was uncertain that more and stronger Heroes, along with their backing forces, wouldn't come here. If top-ranked Heroes, each a Level 7 legendary figure, were to join the battle, it would pose a significant threat to Darkness City.
Since it could not be hidden anyway, there was no point in hiding anymore. Zhang Nu now only wanted to complete the conquest as quickly as possible, partly to disrupt the empire's control in this region and partly to seize the opportunity to obtain more rewards.
"Additionally, there's another matter I need your help with," Zhang Nu instructed Han Kexin. "I need to find the other shards of the Eight-Eyed Evil God. I need relevant intelligence."
Han Kexin nodded, "Leave it to me!"
With two Level 6 talents, only one was currently activated. The other required materials that were too rare. Zhang Nu found that directly purchasing or searching for Godhood was too difficult, so he decided to take another approach, such as completely gathering all the shards of an Evil God.
An Evil God is still a god. Obtaining all the shards of an Evil God would effectively activate a Godhood. With the Godhood, Zhang Nu could activate his second talent and then ascend directly to Level 7, becoming an existence ten or even a hundred times more powerful than he currently was.
Just then, Li Si teleported in front of Zhang Nu. He knelt on one knee and said, "My lord, our troops have once again completed their assembly and are ready to follow your commands at any time!"
"If that's the case, then let's prepare to move," Zhang Nu stood on the castle ramparts, looking towards the northern empire, and nodded in satisfaction, "It's time to shatter this empire that has been entangled with us for so long!"