Chapter 295: A New Divine Decree?

While the elders were discussing, Professor Duncan and Valger also approached.

The two of them held binoculars, carefully observing more details on the battlefield.

Compared to the two elders, they talked more about technical issues. As the design team, they focused on the actual combat effectiveness of the entire equipment set.

On the battlefield, the battle mages gripped their long-handled tactical staves with both hands in a nearly "weird" posture, continuously outputting magic. However, the effect was excellent—the casting cooldown was short, and the magic combination configured for this occasion was specifically tailored for this undead battlefield.

The weakness of those skeleton warriors was heavy strikes and blunt force, so the tactical staves were stored entirely with low-tier spells like 【Heavy Strike】, 【Shockwave】, and 【Thunderous Blade】. They shattered one wave of skeletons, and when the next batch surged up, they shattered another.

As for dealing with those shadow-tainted Underworld Bone Puppets, Ansu had mentioned in the intelligence report: either use the suppression of holy light or directly "overwhelm" them with a sufficient magnitude of damage. Professor Duncan had handed this task to the explosion expert, Valger.

The two were now witnessing Valger's results with their own eyes.

A battle mage pulled out a projectile emitting a dangerous dark red glimmer and threw it fifty meters away.

A moment later, a terrifying red vortex erupted among the undead. A force like annihilation collapsed inward, and everything in the vicinity was swallowed whole.

Amidst the valley-shaking explosion, a large area of undead creatures was collectively wiped out, leaving not even ashes behind.

This weapon, named the 【Annihilation Grenade】, had a warhead containing a trace of crimson marrowstone extract. Combined with the 【Annihilation Resonance】 magic formula designed by Valger, even a small yield could create an incredibly terrifying annihilation effect.

This hellish thing even made the cult's own people feel uneasy using it; they couldn't wait to throw it as far away as possible...

As waves of undead creatures were cleared from the field, such power caused the expressions of the observing elders to shift in shock.

Elder Barnes and Elder Matthew couldn't help but whisper to each other.

"It's a good thing the Hermit poached that kid Valger back then. If he had gotten away, the consequences would have been endless..."

Valger was indeed an 'explosion genius.'

If the conspiracy in Norvigel had truly succeeded back then... all the elders of the cult would likely have been blown to bits in the city.

On the other side, Professor Duncan and Valger clearly didn't notice the elders' whispering.

Professor Duncan turned to look at Valger beside him, expecting him to be satisfied with the results, but he found Valger frowning.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"There's no problem with it," Valger said thoughtfully. "It's just the power... it hasn't reached my expectations yet. I feel like there's still a lot of room for improvement."

Professor Duncan glanced again at the battlefield, which had been blasted into a pockmarked wasteland, and his mouth twitched.

It's already blown up like this, and you say it's not powerful enough?

So he tactfully reminded him, "But if we increase the yield further, it will easily cause collateral damage to our own people."

"No, no! My meaning is that the range can be reduced, but the lethality must be stronger." Valger adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting an eerie light. "By the way, Professor, there's a big guy coming up in a bit. It's a perfect time to see its combat effectiveness."

Professor Duncan knew what he was talking about and looked down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, behind the defensive fortifications built by the cult members, a unit clearly belonging to the Northern local army was laboriously pulling up an old-fashioned mortar.

That was the unit of the Northern noble, Edmond Alston.

The old Emperor was already gravely ill, and upon hearing the secret reports of the major nobles "intending to rebel," he had nearly been choked to death by fury.

He had held onto his last breath and used lightning-fast measures to punish all the involved nobles, directly stripping Alston of all his inheritance rights in Norvigel.

Of course, these powerful lords of the North had long been in a semi-independent state. Count Alston appeared to have lost power and gone into hiding on the surface, but in secret, he had been waiting for the old Emperor to draw his last breath so he could flip the chessboard entirely.

Consequently, the Northern nobles were now split into two factions: the majority supported Count Alston, while a minority supported the old Emperor. Alston's nephew was currently in a very delicate position; leveraging the momentum of the Royal Capital's support, he had taken advantage of the chaos to raise an army of his own.

The Echoes of Truth cult's cultivation and investment in him could be considered an initial success.

However, at this moment, the young noble's face did not look very good.

Because he had never seen a war like this.

It wasn't a knight's charge, nor was it a duel between mages. It was...

A massacre.

A one-sided, crushing massacre.

Edmond Alston kept his eyes fixed on the battle mage regiment's devastating offensive, occasionally exchanging looks with his confidants, his gaze growing increasingly complex.

None of the cult members noticed his emotional shift. Inside the bore of that old-fashioned mortar, an alchemical shell emitting a dark red glimmer was hurriedly loaded.

The gunner calibrated the angle, held his breath, and upon receiving the order, violently pulled the firing lanyard.

Flames suddenly erupted from the muzzle.

The heavy shell, carrying a piercing whistle as it broke the air, traced a perfect arc in the sky and fell toward the rear main array of the undead army.

First, there was a thunderous roar.

Following that was a deathly silence.

Even the wind stopped.

Only the cheers of a few gunners remained.

Young Edmond Alston stood behind the fortifications, his face as white as a sheet of paper, his blood seemingly frozen in that instant.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

The times... have truly changed...

The situation on the battlefield was gradually becoming clear; even the leader of the Wolfgar tribe had been captured alive by the battle mage regiment.

There was no longer any suspense in this war.

Elder Matthew withdrew his gaze, scanned the surroundings, and suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right. Where's the Cult Leader? Why haven't I seen her?"

"Her?" Barnes replied. "She said she was going to find the Hermit. As soon as the rift in the divine realm was torn open, she couldn't wait to head over. She didn't delay for a second."

Matthew nodded. "In that case, the Hermit should be safe and sound."

Barnes's gaze held a hint of something subtle.

"Not necessarily."

He paused and added, "The expression Celia had when she left... it was terrifyingly grim..."

...

Inside the demon domain within the pitch-black void.

Under Zak-Eos's gloomy gaze, Ansu's expression remained as calm as ever.

To allow Freya to pick up that divine spark fragment, he had even run the simulation twice more until he was certain there were no omissions in any step.

He had indeed found the optimal solution.

Ansu's finger slowly pressed toward the red crystal button.

In another room.

Freya's fingertip was already resting on the blue crystal button.

Having inherited memories multiple times in succession, she was still somewhat dazed, with every scene from the prophetic dream repeatedly surfacing in her mind.

She remembered everything Ansu had planned to break the deadlock: she would inherit 【Aiseweida's divine spark fragment】, using the power of the God of Nature to repair her body, which had been damaged by performing God-Descent. Only in this way could the demon be completely defeated.

But after all, this involved the power of two gods; it was impossible for her to simultaneously become the holy revelator for two different deities.

Especially when one of them had been killed by the other...

As a holy revelator, all the divine arts she performed, including God-Descent, were essentially borrowing the power of the Goddess of Holy Light.

Fortunately, a holy revelator was not a Chosen One.

To the supreme gods, a holy revelator was merely a believer with outstanding talent, no different in essence from any ordinary follower. A Chosen One, however, was their agent in the human world—truly one of "their own."

Thus, Lord Ansu could not touch or attempt to use the power of the God of Nature, but she could.

Yet, this method of breaking the deadlock was not without a price.

Because just now, in the prophetic dream, the deity had gazed upon her and personally delivered a divine decree to her.

And it was one that bypassed Ansu.

...