Chapter 289: The First Piece of Meat
After enduring multiple cannon fire rays, the durability of the Energy Field surrounding the Large Wizard Tower where Luke was located had long since fallen below 80%.
Therefore, under the assault of the Pulse Cannon Type III, it naturally collapsed in a single blow.
Su Nan wasn't surprised at all.
However, Luke and the others were taken aback.
What unfolded before them exceeded their understanding!
They had never witnessed any Wizard Tower possessing long-range firepower capable of destroying the Energy Field of a Large Wizard Tower with a single strike.
The scene was surreal, leaving them in a state of disbelief.
"What was that beam just now?"
"Was that a Pulse Ray? But why was it so powerful?"
As the crowd began to recover from their shock, panic quickly set in.
Luke was equally alarmed, never expecting that the Star Alliance had such a hidden trump card.
Now that the Energy Field had collapsed, another hit would surely lead to the collapse of the Wizard Tower!
As if to confirm Luke's fears, a dazzling light once again blazed from the distant Starlight Wizard Tower. In the blink of an eye, another thick Pulse Ray tore through the air!
Upon seeing this, Luke and the others’ faces all changed drastically.
Boom!
The Pulse Ray struck the Wizard Tower without interference, and the vast surge of energy erupted violently, instantly destroying the Tower's entire energy transmission pipeline. The Wizard Tower let out a hum and began to plummet, emitting plumes of blue smoke.
The Wizards and Wizard Apprentices inside the Tower scattered like frightened birds and beasts, fleeing the collapsing structure.
Boom!
The Wizard Tower crashed to the ground behind the army of Ulan City. Many Golem Puppets and Fire Scale Knights, unable to avoid the catastrophe, were instantly killed, and a massive cloud of dust billowed upwards.
Watching the damaged Wizard Tower, Luke felt as if his heart were bleeding.
This was his Wizard Tower!
Damaged to this extent, even if it could be repaired, it would demand a substantial cost!
The key concern was that he probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to restore the Wizard Tower.
Once more, a violent fluctuation of energy particles erupted.
Luke's gaze filled with shock as he looked at the Starlight Wizard Tower in the distance, the tower unleashing yet another Pulse Ray.
This time, the target was a Medium Wizard Tower.
The Pulse Ray shattered the Energy Field almost effortlessly, piercing through the tower's core.
In the blink of an eye, another damaged Wizard Tower had joined the battlefield!
Since his advancement to the Wizard stage, Luke had never witnessed such a fighting style.
Battles between Wizard Towers typically involved exchanging barrages, releasing Puppet Legions to engage in long clashes until one side's energy was exhausted or its Energy Field's durability reached zero, at which point a victor would be determined.
Even during battles between Large and Small Wizard Towers, it was nearly impossible to destroy the latter with just two strikes!
The firepower displayed by the Starlight Wizard Tower at that moment had far exceeded Luke's imagination!
As he saw the Star Alliance’s War Creation closing in and the surrounding Wizards and Wizard-level Puppets beginning to surround them, Luke recognized the severity of the situation.
His expression shifted rapidly before he gritted his teeth and made a decision.
"Retreat!"
They absolutely could not leave the remaining thirteen Wizard Towers behind; otherwise, they would truly be powerless to resist.
The other Wizards understood this logic. Though they felt frustrated and unwilling, they followed the order.
Soon, the Black Suo Tower's Wizards began to retreat.
The ground forces of Ulan City also gradually fell back.
They planned to abandon Ulan City completely!
"These guys are quite decisive," Su Nan commented, surprised by the swift and clean retreat of Black Suo Tower.
He chuckled, and after the army had engaged in a symbolic pursuit, he ordered the retreat to be sounded.
After three Pulse Ray attacks, the Starlight Wizard Tower was no longer capable of continuing the fight.
With only the remaining War Creation left, even if they could capture Ulan City's Wizard Tower, it would come at a great cost, which was not in the best interest of the Star Alliance.
Having already established their advantage, they could afford to wait until the Starlight Wizard Tower was fully recharged before gradually wearing down Black Suo Tower's War Creation forces.
After the Wizard Tower and the majority of the ground forces withdrew, Ulan City quickly fell into the hands of the Star Alliance.
The Star Alliance army entered Ulan City and began to eliminate the remaining enemy forces within.
Looking at the majestic city below, everyone in the Star Alliance felt a bit dazed. They had won just like that? The speed with which the war ended was so rapid that everyone struggled to process it.
"What was that just now, a Pulse Cannon?" Fleming's face still reflected shock. Sheman, Artier, Coley, Tagana, and the others echoed similar sentiments. Those three shots from the Pulse Ray had startled even them, let alone the Black Suo Tower.
When Su Nan ordered the attack on Ulan City, they were filled with doubts about his intentions, completely unaware of the powerful firepower possessed by the Starlight Wizard Tower.
"It should be a new type of Pulse Cannon developed by the Master," Sheman said after a moment of contemplation. Everyone agreed, as modifications by the Starlight Wizard Tower were well-known within the Star Alliance, surpassing even the Large and Wizard Tower. They just hadn’t anticipated such a bizarre upgrade.
Even though the durability of the Wizard Tower's Energy Field had somewhat depleted, the fact that it shattered in one blow was simply terrifying! And how astonishing must its energy consumption be? How did the Starlight Wizard Tower resolve the issue of energy consumption?
The more they pondered, the more incredible it seemed, and their respect for Su Nan grew stronger.
Inside the Starlight Wizard Tower, Su Nan and Lize looked down at the blackened city below. Winterwind City, among the many towns in the occupied area, was one of the largest in scale, but compared to Ulan City, it was dwarfed.
This majestic city, built by Wizards, far surpassed Winterwind City in both area and defensive systems. Moreover, its geographical location was very advantageous, positioned right in the center of the Ulan Plane on a Leyline Node. With Ulan City at its center, they could extend their influence to any area of the Ulan Plane, planning and directing from a commanding position.
"Let's move the command center over here," Su Nan said. "From now on, we'll use Ulan City as our base."
Lize nodded slightly. "This is indeed a good place."
She paused, her eyes gleaming as she turned to Su Nan and asked, "We can ramp up the offensive now, right?"
Su Nan smiled and nodded. With a wave of his hand, a panoramic view materialized in the void before them, revealing a terrain map of the Ulan Plane.
Today's battle would undoubtedly be a turning point that altered the course of events.
In the past, whenever the Star Alliance attacked towns, they had to consider the Wizard Tower and the Black Sota Dreadnought of the Black Suo Tower, which hampered their efforts.
However, from this point forward, the Star Alliance would have the confidence to crush the Ulan Plane garrison in War Creation, without holding back. They could fully launch an offensive to occupy the local towns.
Now, it was the enemy's Wizard Tower that would hesitate to engage them in direct combat.
Otherwise, as soon as the enemy appeared, they would surely be met with a head-on strike from the Starlight Wizard Tower!
"Repair the two captured Wizard Towers as soon as possible. Once they’re refurbished, add them to the exchange list immediately," Su Nan instructed.
Lize acknowledged the order.
The introduction of the "Prepayment Installment" preferential policy had significantly enhanced the Star Alliance's ability to exchange for Wizard Towers.
Moreover, with the onset of war, the Wizards had numerous opportunities to accumulate Contribution Points, and they had amassed a substantial amount since the conflict began.
Currently, many Wizards in the Star Alliance were eagerly waiting to exchange for Wizard Towers. As soon as a Wizard Tower appeared on the exchange list, it would be snatched up without worry of remaining unsold.
Once those two Wizard Towers were repaired and put into use, the number of Wizard Towers in the Star Alliance within the Ulan Plane would rise to sixteen, including three large Wizard Towers.
The combat power in War Creation would suddenly increase significantly.
Conversely, the number of Wizard Towers belonging to Black Suo Tower in the Ulan Plane had dwindled to thirteen.
The balance of power in War Creation had abruptly shifted.
Even without considering the Starlight Wizard Tower, possessing fifteen Wizard Towers, over forty Star Fortresses, and thousands of Magic Ships from the Star Alliance, they were already decisively superior to the Ulan Garrison in terms of overall combat strength.
Moreover, as time passed, the disparity in combat strength between the two sides would only widen further.
Unless the Black Suo Tower received new reinforcements to enter Ulan Plane, the Ulan Garrison's disadvantage was a foregone conclusion.
However, Lize was not worried in the slightest.
The Star Alliance and the Thousand Headed Bird had always maintained communication regarding intelligence; even during the most intense moments of the Ulan Plane War, they constantly monitored the enemy's battle situation.
With the Star Alliance tying down a portion of Black Suo Tower's forces, the Thousand Headed Bird and Black Suo Tower were engaged in a seesaw battle.
While they might not be able to gain the upper hand, preventing Black Suo Tower from freeing up forces to support Ulan Plane was still achievable.
As for the other Black Wizard Forces, they were all engaged in fierce battles with the Wisdom Codex's affiliated organizations, making it impossible for them to spare any forces to support Black Suo Tower.
Even if they could, Lize did not believe that the notoriously selfish Black Wizard Forces would ever consider aiding their allies.
If any surprises were to arise, they would likely come from the West Ge Plane and Man Luo Plane.
If Ulan Plane reached a critical moment of survival, under the principle of mutual dependence, these two planes might not hesitate to contribute forces to support Ulan Plane at all costs.
However, if that were to happen, it might not necessarily be a bad thing for the Star Alliance.
If they could drag some forces from West Ge Plane and Man Luo Plane into the quagmire of Ulan Plane and devour them, it would be much easier to attack these two planes in the future.
Reflecting on the period before the assault on Ulan Plane, when Su Nan expressed the desire to conquer Ulan Plane, Lize couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
At that time, although she supported Su Nan's vision, she secretly thought his ambition was a bit too optimistic.
How easy would it be to take Ulan Plane?
However, it now seemed that the Star Alliance truly had a high chance of achieving this goal.
Facts had proven that Su Nan had never let anyone down.
The simplified version of the Elemental Furnace could hold more Energy, but the time required to fill it also increased.
With over ninety percent of the Energy depleted, it would take nearly half a month to replenish it.
Fortunately, the Ulan Garrison had been thoroughly frightened this time and would likely refrain from letting the Wizard Tower appear before the Star Alliance again anytime soon.
Back at the laboratory, Su Nan continued to immerse himself in his work.
This war had not only showcased the power of the Pulse Cannon Type III but also highlighted the importance of the Wizard Tower's firepower on the front lines.
Su Nan had initially planned to continue upgrading other facilities of the Starlight Wizard Tower, but he changed his mind.
The Starlight Wizard Tower was already at a dominating level compared to ordinary Wizard Towers, so further upgrades to its facilities wouldn't yield much benefit.
On the contrary, increasing the combat power of the other Wizard Towers within the Star Alliance would undoubtedly have an immediate impact on enhancing the overall combat strength of the War Creation.
Compared to the former, this approach was clearly more effective in the short term.
As for upgrading the Starlight Wizard Tower, it could wait until after the Wizard Civil War was over.
Moreover, by that time, if he could advance to a True Spirit Wizard, he might even begin preparing to construct his own Floating City.
After a moment of contemplation, Su Nan quickly made up his mind.
"First, strengthen the Star Alliance's other Wizard Towers!"
"First of all, we need to upgrade the Elemental Pool. To enhance other facilities, we must increase the supply of Energy."
"I will synthesize enhanced versions of various levels of the Elemental Pool and list them for exchange."
"And also the Mystical Lock Protective Energy Field Device, along with various Type II and Type III turrets."
Having made his decision, Su Nan immediately set his plan into motion.
The most basic facilities could be left to the subordinate Wizards to manufacture; he was only responsible for the synthesis.
Thus, the plan progressed quickly, and soon the exchange list featured an additional batch of upgraded Elemental Pools, the Mystic Lock Defense Energy Field, and turrets.
The reason most Wizards didn't allow others to handle their Wizard Towers—even if they captured them—was that they were wary of potential loopholes being exploited.
But there was no need for such caution regarding facilities that originated from their own faction.
These upgraded facilities were exchanged as soon as they became available.
Su Nan even took the time to personally upgrade Lize's Wizard Tower completely.
Following the Starlight Wizard Tower, Lize's Wizard Tower became the second Star Alliance Wizard Tower to surpass the Large level.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
With no need to worry about the Black Suo Tower's Wizard Tower and Black Sota Dreadnought, the ground forces' advance speed increased dramatically.
In just six months, the territory occupied by the Star Alliance more than doubled.
During this period, Black Suo Tower's Wizard Tower attempted to hinder their progress, but after two consecutive clashes—including the Star Alliance's capture of a Large Wizard Tower and three Medium Wizard Towers—they retreated and ceased their interference.
In the year 2273 of the Starlight Calendar, the Star Alliance launched a surprise attack on the capital of the North Empire, killing over a hundred members of the royal family, including the emperor, leading to the capital's fall.
By the year 2275 of the Starlight Calendar, the Star Alliance had occupied half of Ulan Plane’s territory.
Faced with the increasingly powerful Star Alliance army, Ulan Plane's garrison found themselves completely outmatched, retreating each time they engaged in battle.
In the year 2276 of the Starlight Calendar, when the Star Alliance attacked Amber City, one of Ulan Plane's Large-level cities, reinforcements from West Ge Plane and Man Luo Plane suddenly appeared.
A total of twelve Wizard Towers and forty-two Black Sota Dreadnoughts, alongside the Ulan Garrison, launched an attack on the Star Alliance army from both sides.
However, the Star Alliance Wizard Towers, having been upgraded and modified, were now far more powerful than before.
After a fierce battle, Luke, the leader of Ulan Plane, was killed, and the Ulan Garrison's forces were completely wiped out.
West Ge Plane and Man Luo Plane suffered a crushing defeat, with only five Wizard Towers managing to escape in a wretched state.
The Star Alliance achieved a great victory!
After this battle, the momentum of the Star Alliance became unstoppable.
Wherever the Star Alliance army went, the local towns either surrendered without resistance or fought desperately, only to have their city gates blasted open by Wizard Towers, often falling within a single day.
Almost every other day, the territory occupied by the Star Alliance expanded once more.
"The year of the Starlight Calendar, 2278, marked the downfall of the last city to the Star Alliance, signaling that the entire Plane was now completely under their control!
The war lasted a mere eight years. While many Wizard Factions remained locked in stalemate, the Star Alliance took the initiative, seizing the first Plane and tearing a significant portion from the Black Suo Tower.
This news stirred quite a commotion throughout the Wizarding World!"
Comments