Chapter 1220: Adamant Thunder Annihilation Campaign (11)
“Kiiiiik!!!”
“Kuaaaah!!!”
Thump!! Thump!!
Bat and bird summons, their eyes bloodshot, shrieked madly and slammed their heads against walls.
Even massive beasts that accompanied the patrol or summons in the form of magical beasts lost control and went wild.
“It’s no good. They won’t listen…!!”
The officer groaned, listening to the soldier’s panicked voice.
“The summoning contracts that Lieutenant General Townsend had with the 8th Legion’s summons have been released.”
“That means… the Lieutenant General…”
“Unbelievable. How could Lieutenant General Townsend fall so senselessly….”
Townsend was a Summoner who had reached Level 8, a Legion Commander who had single-handedly formed contracts with multiple summons.
The moment he died, the summons he had contracted with were caught in a backlash and began to be unsummoned.
The shock even affected other summons present on the battlefield that were not contracted with Townsend.
A head that formed a part of the Deadrise Legion. A Grand Sorcerer who had transcended hierarchy upon reaching Level 8.
The shocking result: a powerful Summoner, who should have been the spearhead of the Legion, died instantly upon entering Adamant Thunder’s Domain.
But for all who participated in the annihilation campaign, there was no time to mourn Townsend’s death.
Rumbleeeeeee!!!!
A colossal golden sphere that emerged in the sky above Vulcan’s Outskirts District.
The moment they faced the sphere, which surged forth as if exploding, engulfed in the dark blue nebula overflowing in District 49, everyone realized one thing:
The one target that the superhuman forces, gathered around the Legion for this annihilation campaign, had aimed for.
Deimus, his face hardened to a pale mask, looked up and said,
“Is that… Adamant Tower?”
Whoooooosh!!!!
A form of a sphere, rotating gracefully, scattering brilliant golden lightning.
Its size, spanning hundreds of meters in radius, was comparable to the Legion’s 3rd Command aerial fortress, Primo Alert.
A magnificent sight that merely by floating in the sky, obscured a part of the Outskirts District and cast a golden shadow upon the ground.
Beyond the dark blue nebula, wrapped around the dazzling golden sun, lightning flashed beautifully like starlight, making even the observers gasp in admiration.
Those who were momentarily drawn to its unreachable beauty, like stars in the night sky, belatedly snapped out of their daze, and the communication network became incredibly noisy, as if about to explode.
[Adamant Thunder is responding!!!]
[All Legions, prepare for interception. Target the sphere in the sky!]
[Open Spell-armament. Redirect war-magic formations. Prepare to fire!]
[This can’t be. How could Lieutenant General Townsend…!!!!!]
Whoooooosh!!!!!
Thousands of meters large strategic magical formations, etched above the cloudy sky, slowly changed direction.
The light of blessings pouring down from all directions turned ominous, and invisible barriers sharply rose.
The Enginium Fortress spewed smoke, and fireballs pouring from the Flame Majesty Temple added to the firepower.
A tense atmosphere, with war armaments spanning hundreds of meters on the battlefield, increasing their output as if ready to move at any moment.
“Lieutenant General Townsend was a specialized asset among the Legion’s generals, possessing the strongest survival ability.”
Deimus, observing the battlefield from the command center, turned his gaze with a hardened expression.
“At the point of fusion with a Phantom Beast species, they exist simultaneously in the Material Realm and the Spirit World, partially gaining death immunity. For such a Lieutenant General to be instantly killed by Adamant Thunder’s lightning….”
“It is presumed to be the influence of a lightning spell that incorporated ‘death’-related Property Transformation.”
The staff spoke with grim expressions.
“A high-level mystery capable of simultaneously locating and annihilating existences in both reality and the Spirit World… or a spell that includes the concept of instant death.”
“He is wielding power that even an 8th-level Summoner cannot comprehend. Indeed, we must avoid a short-term decisive battle in any way possible….”
“That monster directly confronted and defeated Cheonbeon. We must pour all our forces into this as planned and induce a war of attrition.”
“That’s true. But….”
It was a fact that the General Staff had predicted: Adamant Thunder would have prepared countermeasures for the annihilation campaign.
Modifying his magic tower to be used as a weapon was not an entirely unforeseen method.
What was unexpected was the form of the magic tower and the power of the dark blue nebula swirling around it.
This information might have been verifiable once direct combat began, but—
Nevertheless, Deimus felt an unknown, chilling sense of incongruity looking at that strange golden sphere.
“Even with the system’s measurements, it can’t be measured. Just how strong is the spatial distortion…?”
Beep, beep-beep…!!
Now that the Legion had secured the Outskirts District, there was no limit to the information that could be verified through the Operation System.
If necessary, it was even possible to quantitatively measure and record a speck of dust in a city tens of kilometers away.
However, even though Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower was within the system’s observation range, its size and width could not be measured at all.
Proof that the magic tower’s size and area were unrealistically vast compared to its outward appearance.
It meant that the spatial distortion within the tower was affecting its exterior.
“So that was the countermeasure Adamant Thunder was preparing for the annihilation campaign.”
Hylaea said, sounding slightly impressed, watching the situation from the mobile fortress’s deck.
“Did he use District 49 as his entire Domain to supply mana, then create a strategic weapon capable of waging war?”
“Judging by the power felt, it’s certain that he used a part of his magic tower… No, is that itself Adamant Thunder’s new magic tower…?”
“If it’s a magic tower that moves and engages in combat, it was highly likely influenced by Thorben’s War-Mage Tower. Let’s take a look.”
The Doctor narrowed his eyes and mumbled.
Unidentifiable numbers floated above the lenses of his glasses, beginning to analyze the golden sphere in real-time.
“It exists simultaneously as mass in multiple dimensions, based on the uncertainty of mana particles. He’s trying to force a change in the realm of concepts, beyond the material aspect.”
“Un, uncertai… What did you say?”
“The inability to measure its specifications must be because it’s playing tricks, being observed simultaneously in different dimensions… In that case, trying to estimate when it was created might be virtually meaningless.”
“Damn it, can’t you explain it so we can understand?!”
“The reason it appeared late on the battlefield is likely because it needed time to change the tower’s form and lift it.”
Sarin, ignoring Ermont, naturally continued The Doctor’s explanation.
Her red eyes flashed with an eerie blood-red light, beginning to stare directly at the golden sphere.
She looked into the sphere, piercing through mana and light sources with her vampiric vision, and said,
“Though hidden by the nebula, the sphere’s surface is intricately covered in delicate cracks. It looks like the entire tower isn’t a unified material, but assembled from various parts.”
“Indeed, you’re right. But the patterns of the joints on the surface are inconsistent… There seems to be a specific intention behind it….”
A strange shape, as if countless parts had been assembled into a colossal golden sphere.
But its appearance was not regular, like a puzzle assembled from uniform-sized parts and joints.
A bizarre sense of incongruity, as if arbitrarily shaped parts had been fitted together to harmoniously form the final shape.
Hylaea, realizing the true nature of that incongruity, muttered.
“Doesn’t it look like… something is crouching?”
“….”
A strange shape, crouching as if just about to hatch from an egg, concealing its own form.
As those who sensed something in Hylaea’s words fell silent, Adamant Thunder moved.
Rumbleeeeeee!!!!
The golden sphere, wrapped in the dark blue nebula, began to move slowly forward, leaving the sky above District 49.
A majestic figure advancing towards the Legion-controlled airspace, effortlessly crossing the Outskirts District adjacent to District 49.
The Legion, recognizing the anomaly, immediately responded.
[Stop it!!!!]
[Prevent Adamant Thunder from leaving District 49!!]
Patrol units subordinate to the 2nd Legion rushed into their bunkers, while 3rd Legion reconnaissance planes accelerated in the sky.
Flame Spirits summoned from Blaiver Magic Tower and modified armaments from the Mechanized Legion took the lead, forming an inhuman defensive line.
They began to unleash firepower towards the golden sphere entering the airspace of the Outskirts District.
Clang-bang-bang-bang!!!!
Missiles accelerating along the trajectories of bombers and fighter jets, falling upon the sphere.
Flame Spirits ceaselessly spewing fire, and the Legion’s beam weapons firing powerful heat sources.
[Mwoooooah…!!]
Tree giants summoned by druids extended their branches towards the magic tower, and the Warband’s Collective Mind Net suppressed the manipulation of will-thought.
However, Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower did not respond to the preemptive attack pouring down upon it.
Instead, it simply passed through, as if not even perceiving any of it.
The dark blue nebula, overflowing around the golden sphere, then completely engulfed the Outskirts District.
Whoosh-ah-ah-ah-ah-
There was no explosion, no roar, no loud noises or screams.
The moment it touched the dark blue nebula, everything in the Outskirts District was completely disintegrated and converted back into mana.
“Th-that….”
Fizzzzzzz!!!!
Airplanes and transport ships flying in the sky scattered into dust before even reaching the golden sphere.
Flame Spirits engulfed in fire, modified armaments of the Mechanized Legion, special forces of Innate Ability Users from the Warband.
Everything, including the Legion’s patrol units, engineering corps, transport units, and bunkers, vanished into a handful of dust.
Whoosh-ah-ah!!
The ability to dismantle and decompose all matter upon contact, turning it into power, merely by existing.
Commanders watching the scene in real-time from the command center were shocked.
Having long operated on the Central Front, they knew of a Transcendent with such an authority.
“Is he decomposing matter into lightning?!”
“This can’t be. That’s the Thorben Magic Tower Lord’s…!!”
“No, it’s a little different.”
Deimus said calmly.
“He’s not decomposing matter into lightning, but converting it into pure mana. He has already reached the pinnacle of Property Transformation.”
“That’s impossible. It’s not even extracting mana, how could he…!!”
“Can a human use Property Transformation in such a way?”
“Only a god could do such a thing….”
The moment Deimus, and even his subordinate commanders, realized that fact and fell silent.
The golden sphere, having pulverized everything in its path, elegantly soared out of the Outskirts District.
Whoosh…!!!!
The combined forces of the allied armies, arrayed to the horizon and encircling the undeveloped zone.
Tens of thousands of forces, encompassing the entire Outskirts District starting from District 49, preventing anyone from leaving.
The sphere, rising into the sky from where the forces of the annihilation campaign could be clearly seen, rotated in place, stirring.
Kiii-iiing…!!!
With a sharp resonant sound, the center of the sphere resonated, and the moment dark blue lightning flashed within it.
The will of ‘something’ resonated heavily like thunder across the horizon.
[■■ ■■■.]
Crrraaaash!!!!
“…!!!”
The moment the Six Harmonies Echo, reverberating through the sphere, was heard, the superhumans on the battlefield visibly blanched.
The power contained within that will had reached an incomprehensible realm, detonating by resonating mana.
Through the lightning mana, piercing beyond eardrums and burrowing into their sensory perception, there was only one will-thought.
An ominous will of destruction, burning without end, running wild, and attempting to annihilate everything.
[■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■.]
“Ugh…!!!”
“This is absurd. What kind of will-thought…!!!”
“Has he ceased to be human?”
Though attempting to speak, the words could not form, turning into indistinct noise.
Only the will and mana contained within it could be vaguely perceived, not the language itself.
The will, felt through the mana, was as irregular and chaotic as a demonic beast or monster, rather than a human.
The will-thought of a mad wizard, devoid of any reason, filled only with madness and malevolence, was clearly too insane to even convey intent, let alone form words, yet it perceived the Legion.
That incomprehensible, chilling sense of incongruity spread throughout the entire Legion, turning their blood cold.
[■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■.]
“Uweeeeeeek!!!”
“H-huff… No, this is…!!”
“Zero Seat, please…!!”
Psychics of the Warband, who had empathized with Adamant Thunder’s consciousness, vomited and clutched their heads.
The madness of a Transcendent was unbearable for even a single moment for Innate Ability Users, who were naturally sensitive to the workings of consciousness and will-thought.
Just listening to the message made them feel as if they would be consumed by that wizard’s madness, lose the thread of their consciousness, and go insane.
The more they empathized with the runaway will-thought of the monstrous entity, the more an urge to tear out their throats and commit suicide surged.
“Truly a demonic beast….”
“He’s not even human anymore.”
High-ranking wizards of the Blaiver Magic Tower, watching the situation with pale faces, let out sighs.
“This is… wrong. He’s completely insane.”
“There was a reason he only revealed himself now… Was he already this broken?”
“It’s no wonder the former Tower Lord was injured trying to face such a monster.”
[Logic circuit error. Algorithm error.]
[Access failed. Thought circuit parallel construction. Damage response sequence activated.]
Rumbleeeeeee!!!
Crackle, crackle-crackling-
The message, intertwined with the rampaging will of destruction, became a tangible force, crushing and pressing down on everything that moved by will alone.
Wizards, their faces pale from the overflowing Spiritual Presence, gasped for breath, and mechanized soldiers, their entire bodies modified, sparked and malfunctioned.
“All artillery units subordinate to the Legion. Concentrate all available firepower and commence bombardment.”
Deimus said, his voice suppressing agitation.
“The enemy is a monster that cannot be reasoned with. We have confirmed there is no room for dialogue. We will proceed with the annihilation.”
[Executing order.]
Bwooooom!!!!
The thousands of meters large war-magic formations, spread across the sky, rotated in unison, aiming at the golden sphere.
Self-propelled artillery from all directions, perfectly loaded, simultaneously aimed at the golden sphere and drew up mana.
Blessings and augmentation spells poured like rain over the invisibly tilted barrier beyond the horizon.
Hundreds of fighter jets, breaking the sound barrier, soared up behind the shadow of the gracefully rotating Primo Alert.
Kiii-iiing!!!!
Priests of the cult chanted prayers, and druids intoned spells.
The command center’s gunports, the 7th Legion’s mobile fortress, the 3rd Legion’s assault battleship, and the 2nd Legion’s siege tanks.
The core armaments of each Legion, as if waiting, simultaneously ignited their engines, ramping up their firepower.
[Armament 45 Manifestation. Blazing Ordnance deployed.]
[Collective Mind Net overload initiated. Phase Domain expanded. Private Eye opened.]
[Particle acceleration wave convergence shell loaded. Mechanized Legion cannon modification complete.] Wizards aboard the Flame Majesty Temple conjured a colossal meteor made of burning flames.
Within the Phase Domain of the Collective Mind Net, manifested by the Ability Bloom’s Innate Ability Users, an ominous eye, created by mixing innate abilities, emerged.
The Enginium Fortress’s modified armaments combined and fused their parts, converging energy.
They overflowed, covering a corner of the horizon with different waves of light.
“We will intercept and shoot down Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower right here.”
[Fire.]
[Chanting complete. Firing commence.]
[In the name of the Great Zero Seat!!]
[Oooooooh!!!]
Kwoooooooosh!!!!
An immeasurable wave of countless lights surged from outside Vulcan, engulfing Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower.
Thousands of obliquely angled projectiles, sharp-rotating, burned through space and fell like a meteor shower from beyond the sky.
Spacetime, unable to withstand the mass and heat, crumpled and distorted, scattering ominous heat haze invisible to the naked eye.
Clang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!!!!!!
A preemptive strike, launched by mobilizing more than four Legions, magic towers, the Ability Awakening Warband, and the Mechanized Legion’s artillery units.
A crossfire beyond limits, capable of erasing an average small to medium-sized city from the map.
This was a bombardment unleashed by tens of thousands of superhumans squeezing their will-thought and mental images to their limits.
No matter how powerful Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower might be, it would not be able to avoid a war of attrition with the Legion.
The moment everyone watching the battlefield reached the same conclusion almost simultaneously and stared at the golden sphere.
Faint lightning surged from above Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower, floating in the sky.
[■■ ■■.]
Zap!!
Dark blue lightning flowing across the surface of the golden sphere.
The mana used to create the lightning was but a mere handful compared to the Legion’s crossfire pouring from the sky.
A faint precursor, unnoticeable to anyone except the members of the Demonic Conflux or high-ranking Legion generals, who were observing the situation.
However, the wizard ‘contained’ within that golden sphere did not draw out any more mana.
Instead, they merely began to converge the dark blue nebula, rotating around the golden sphere, into one spot.
Rumbleeeeeee!!!!
Whoosh-ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!
Around the golden sphere floating in the sky above the Outskirts District, a black-blue nebula rotated counter-clockwise, gathering.
A bizarre sight, as if the entire nebula from all directions was revolving around Adamant Thunder’s Magic Tower as its center, being sucked in.
Crackle, crackle-crackle-crackle…!!!!
In the center of the nebula, converging and compressing in real-time, dark blue lightning surged even more violently.
Just the precursor of dark blue lightning being born within the nebula began to cause all surrounding electronic devices to malfunction.
[Communication, error- System halt-]
[Mechanized■■. Logic circuit runaway. ■■. ■■■-]
[How can it generate an EMP without even using a spell@$#%@$#%!!!!]
Static, static-static!!!!
Communication networks were cut, filled with static, and all sorts of electronic equipment powered down.
Mechanized Legion soldiers rolled their eyes back and convulsed, then collapsed, uttering unidentifiable screams.
Thump! Thump!!!
A powerful EMP, strong enough to paralyze and shatter the logic circuits of the Mechanized Legion’s modified bodies.
The moment Deimus realized that this was merely the ‘precursor’ generated by the compression of the nebula.
The golden sphere, for the first time, cast an incantation with a clear meaning, not an inhuman roar.
Lightning-type Unique Magic
Property Transformation Overdrive Manifestation
Fate’s Libra: Extreme Art, Fifth Law
It was a magic that those who knew about Adamant Thunder had heard of at least once.
The ‘Biased Lightning’ that Adamant Thunder often used in battles.
Designed to push penetration to the extreme, but only effective at close range.
The moment this lightning magic, unfitting for a battlefield requiring such wide-area bombardment, finished its incantation across the tower’s surface.
The dark blue lightning, rotating around the golden sphere, descended as a real magic.
[Leaping Lightning]
Flash!!
There was no sound.
Only a black-blue lightning, manifesting with incredible speed, swept past everything before it could even be etched into the naked eye.
The lightning accelerated and rotated across the ground and airspace of the Outskirts District, breached by the Legion’s patrol units.
As if increasing its power by gaining speed along the front, the dark blue lightning elegantly illuminated the world.
The black-blue glow, flashing from the golden sphere, completely swallowed the horizon.
[Retreat!! Retreat!!!]
[No, it’s too late-!!]
[Save me. Sav…!!!!]
Fwoooooosh!!!!!!!
Hundreds of fighter jets, flying at supersonic speeds, vanished on the spot.
Tanks, rapidly heating their gun barrels and pounding the ground, evaporated and disappeared.
The bombardment and spells falling from the sky were sucked into the lightning, vanishing without a trace, and an even greater power took their place.
The moment everything that had been encircling the Outskirts District and dominating its space moments before was evaporated.
A colossal curtain of death descended along the lightning that swept the horizon of the undeveloped zone.
Rumbleeeeeee…!!!
Whoosh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!
The Leaping Lightning, sweeping across the entire horizon where the Legion’s main force was arrayed, in a single instant.
Immediately after, colossal lightning pillars sequentially surged along the trajectory where the black-blue lightning descended, incinerating spacetime.
The vast curtain of black-blue lightning exploded and surged, obscuring the horizon and evaporating everything in a flash.
Deimus, watching the scene, quietly muttered.
“…This can’t be.”
Just one spell.
The plan to gradually secure the Outskirts District by deploying allied forces, narrowing the front, and forcing a war of attrition.
A single answer that rendered all attempts, which the Legion Command had planned and executed until now, utterly futile.
A massacre on a scale Deimus had never witnessed in his life, unbelievable even with his own eyes.
Screams and wails echoed madly through the communication network.
[Kyaaaaaak!!! Aaaaaaak!!!]
[3rd Legion’s 3 air squadrons annihilated!!! 8th Legion’s summoning squad lost contact!!]
[Deadrise Legion main force tank unit 40% loss. The front is collapsing!!]
[Half of the Magic Tower’s Anti-Fire Unit is down!!! Deploy medical teams immediately…]
[Collective Mind Net damaged. Consciousness Domain shrinking. Minimizing backlash.]
[Retreat!! Retreat!! Survivors, fall back and regroup the lines!!!!]
There were no corpses, no blood, no acrid smell or roar.
Only the space where the Legion’s subordinate units had been was erased, replaced by rampaging murderous intent.
Only the suddenly chaotic communication network and the shock transmitted through consciousness proved what had happened.
Deimus, staring blankly, realized that nearly half of the signal units were completely annihilated at that moment.
“Spell output unmeasurable. Observation speed 0 due to spacetime fragmentation. Manifestation of a strategic-level asymmetrical spellcraft confirmed, encompassing the entire Outskirts District….”
The staff officer behind him muttered blankly, as if unable to believe it.
“Half of Deadrise Legion’s main force participating in the annihilation campaign… annihilated.”
Thud.
The communicator Deimus was holding clattered to the floor.