Chapter 529 |
Among the three factions, the ordinary graduates had the largest numbers — a total of four hundred million entered the battlefield. Various new types of war weapons usable by mortals were countless.
The old nobility also fielded many forces — two hundred and fifty million soldiers in total. Their armaments were far more luxurious. Though fewer in number, their overall strength surpassed the ordinary graduates.
Of course, the strongest faction was the mage apprentices. They sent only one hundred million people, but among them were nearly ten million apprentices — an overwhelming advantage, not inferior even when compared to the other two factions combined.
The financial power these ordinary mortals displayed shocked even some mages. The consumption of armaments in this single war was nearly equivalent to the ten-year daily expenditure of a Super Dimensional Mage Tower.
This greatest battle of the mortal war — later known as the Flesh-and-Blood Millstone — formed a situation within the first half-month where the ordinary graduates and the old nobility joined forces to resist the mage apprentices.
How they fought, or what kind of battles they fought — Adam didn’t care at all. Exploration robots continuously returned battlefield data. What Adam paid attention to were only the movements of the enemy mages, and something that shouldn’t happen — the participation of official mages.
One month after the war began, each faction had suffered at least fifteen percent casualties. Yet the massive losses did nothing to calm the conflict — instead, the situation grew even more heated. Large-scale war machines appeared, the mage apprentices — as the high-end combatants — entered the battlefield for close-quarters combat, and at this time, the enemy mages embedded in all three armies began to act.
Although they had embedded themselves into different factions, in truth — at least on the Academy Continent — they were one body. If one prospered, all prospered; if one fell, all fell.
The enemy mages’ greatest goal was to remove the Academy Division and Adam from the Academy Continent, returning mortal society to the primitive chaos of the old island era. At that time, the survivors could scatter among mortals, silently accumulating strength.
One could say they were pitiful — but no one pitied them. If they truly wished to “forsake evil and return to the right path,” they could have — across the endless years — simply sent their descendants into the islands and become mages through normal channels.
But they never did. First, because they still clung to a ridiculous sense of superiority. Second, because compared with the wild and barbaric power-acquisition of ancient magic, the modern system was too difficult. They didn’t want to waste their youth and limited lifespans on something uncertain.
Of course, across the long ages, there had been experimenters and trailblazers — such as Mage Mode during his apprentice years. But such figures were a rare minority.
The pitiable have their hateful qualities. Those who refuse to follow the mainstream, who refuse to adapt to the times, and instead devote themselves entirely to resistance, deserve the fate that falls upon them.
This battlefield was filled with hundreds of millions of corpses, flesh, and souls — the perfect environment for ancient mages to cast spells. Hiding deep within the armies, although these individuals were official enemy mages, their energy signatures were nearly indistinguishable from modern apprentices.
“Adam, should we stop them now?” Avril asked.
“No need. Just make sure they can’t leave the battlefield. Let them do whatever they want during the war.”
After replying, Adam turned to Wendy. “Can you identify the function of those magic arrays?”
Wendy understood ancient magical data thoroughly — she herself was a master of ancient magic. She glanced casually and said, “Most of these are monster-conjuring arrays. And this one…” She pointed at nine arrays in a row. “These are for communication with other planes. With such a rich offering, some Super Dimensional-level power should descend.”
Only power, of course. Among all the otherworldly creatures capable of breaking through the crystalline wall of the Mage World, aside from the ancient Dirus, no second example had ever appeared.
Adam saw countless energy stones secretly buried underground. Blood and flesh flowed unnaturally, forming magic arrays. The sight was terrifying, but none of the three felt the slightest concern.
A Super Dimensional creature may become a god in an ordinary plane — but in the Mage World, it was nothing.
“I actually hope they summon more. All of it counts as unexpected profit.”
Wendy and Avril laughed and nodded.
Not long after Adam spoke, the magic arrays activated. Within each monster-conjuring array, at least one hundred official-level giants appeared. As soon as they emerged, they began attacking others according to their faction. The flesh of all who died merged into the summoning arrays.
A more brutal battle raged for an entire day and night. Yet the battlefield carried no foul stench; even the souls of the dead entered the arrays.
At dusk the next day, the arrays lit up with nauseating light. Leaders of the three factions — or their trusted subordinates — stepped forward to accept power from the other plane.
Unseen to them, exploration robots had long been in place. As soon as the arrays activated and the pathways to the otherworld opened, the robots surged upstream and entered that plane.
At this moment, the nine chosen individuals also began to transform.
The most common type of otherworldly being was elemental, and this time was no exception. Eight bodies rapidly expanded, their elemental auras soaring directly to Tier 3.
Only Nicholas V, who — for reasons unknown — risked personally undergoing the transformation, differed from the others.
His aura suddenly became grand and majestic. A strange, “holy” presence surged outward. For a moment, friend and foe alike on the battlefield froze. The old nobility dropped to their knees uncontrollably.
Adam watched him jump from an ordinary mage apprentice straight into Tier 4 and murmured in confusion:
“This looks like… the power of belief?”
Adam had fought across many worlds, but never before had he encountered a plane where power stemmed from belief. In other words—
“It’s faith. Quite rare. Most planes in the Aether Void can’t nurture faith at all because such a system needs a peaceful environment. But in the Aether Void, power is not too difficult to obtain, and there are many higher-ranked beings. Add to that the fact that a faith-based path requires large numbers of believers — they inevitably wage endless wars. So planes and races that cultivate faith are generally weak.
“But this one seems unusual. To empower an ordinary human all the way to the peak of Tier 4 from afar… the god behind this must be at least Tier 8.”
Wendy, well-informed as always, explained to Adam:
“Faith is troublesome. Should we kill him now?”