Chapter 290: Sky Mechanical City

A few days later, before the Wizard Tower of the Spellbinder, Wang Yu, Avia, and Zig stood upon the back of the giant eagle Angora. They were bound for Lyraheim, the Elven capital; by the time they arrived, the Sky Mechanical City should be nearing one of its designated anchor points.

Surrounding the great eagle, a circle of familiar faces had gathered to bid the trio farewell.

"Your weapon is a fine blade indeed. Though it lacks any special enchantment, its resilience has reached, if not surpassed, the level of a legendary artifact. To us knights, that is the greatest weapon of all. I hope that when we next meet, you will have become a knight who surpasses me."

Garcia tossed the shattered meteorite blade—borrowed from Wang Yu days prior—back to him, smiling as he spoke.

"That might take a while, but I shall do my best!"

The power of the Chariot extended, catching the blade and breaking it into smaller fragments that vanished into the various hidden compartments of his gear. Wang Yu responded with a matching smile.

"Little Avia, good luck!"

"Stay safe, and may the winds be at your back!"

"Goodbye, Mother, Aunt Lilia. We will return when the opportunity arises. And if all goes well, we should be able to maintain long-distance contact with you soon."

Avia bid farewell to Lilia and Mira.

With the goodbyes concluded, the giant eagle beat its wings and soared into the sky, carrying the three of them high above as they winged toward the Elven capital of Lyraheim.

"With your new discovery, communicating with the Lady of Night over vast distances should be no problem, right? While the transmission of power might be hindered, the exchange of images and messages should be effortless."

Wang Yu sat upon the eagle’s back, rolling a stone sphere imbued with gravity magic between his fingers to train his grip. Judging by the reddened skin and the bulging veins on his hands, the sphere was far from light.

"Yes, although the Lady of Night’s power wanes over such immense spatial distances, using the Tree of the Night Sky to relay simple information is well within our reach."

Avia confirmed the feasibility of Wang Yu’s inquiry; it would be a significant boon.

Had they been able to contact Alastair’s companions earlier, they could have laid their plans against the devils sooner, sparing Zig the need to detour to Alastair to reach out to Edward and the others.

Leaving Avia to her focused study of the Eden Seed, Wang Yu turned to Zig. The man was uncharacteristically idle, not reading as he usually did during travel, but staring off into the distant sky, lost in thought.

"Knowing that I might soon find something left behind by Aeriel on the Sky Mechanical City leaves me both excited and anxious. Regardless, it has been a long time, and I have no idea how she fares now."

Noticing Wang Yu’s gaze, Zig let out a soft sigh and offered a wry smile.

"At the very least, it is something to be happy about, is it not?" Wang Yu replied.

"That is hard to say... The things she faces—I do not know if I can be of any help, especially when even manifesting my dragon form is so severely restricted."

Zig’s worry did not dissipate at Wang Yu’s words. While reconnecting with Aeriel was indeed a joy, the prospect of learning of her plight only to find himself powerless to assist was…

"She is who she is, after all."

The image of that incredibly confident and powerful figure appeared in his mind. There was really nothing to worry about; it had always been this way. As for him, he would simply do what he could.

Unburdened by his own tangled emotions, and bolstered by the wisdom of his long life, Zig required no counsel from Wang Yu.

He soon set aside thoughts that served no purpose, instead pulling out his notebook to refine his study of magic circle inscriptions.

Once they reached the Sky Mechanical City, he would need to work with Avia to complete the engraving of the magic arrays upon his dragon form.

...

After ten days of continuous flight, the giant eagle Angora finally arrived at the Primeval Forest outside the Elven capital of Lyraheim.

Wang Yu looked down, noting that the craters and trenches left by the World Eater in this forest, which was connected to the World Tree, had been filled.

The corrupted, withered flora had largely recovered; it looked little different from the lush forest they had first encountered.

Flying into the heart of the Primeval Forest and entering the Elven city protected by the Mythic Lock, Wang Yu was truly struck by the Elves' capacity for recovery after such a catastrophe.

The city, once swept by the Scourge of Corruption and crushed repeatedly by the body of the World Eater, had been largely reduced to ruins.

Now, vast tangles of vines and newly sprouted giant trees had replaced the rubble. Treehouses, constructed from extensions of the World Tree’s own branches, served as temporary dwellings for the displaced Elves.

Soon, the Elves would only need to add materials to these structures to complete the reconstruction of their city.

"No wonder the World Tree is so vital to the Elves. When its vitality is abundant, the symbiotic Elven city acts like a living organism, possessing a powerful self-healing capacity."

"Wait, is that the Iron King, Borgul, of the Dwarves? Was he not taken back by his kin? Why does he remain?"

Wang Yu mused on the power of the World Tree, his attention drawn to the giant iron figure beneath it.

The Iron King, Borgul, was still there. Vines and branches were wrapped around his frame, acting as scaffolding.

Dwarves and Elves moved across him, repairing the damage he had sustained; to the naked eye, the restoration was nearly complete.

The giant eagle Angora landed directly upon the canopy of the World Tree. After the events of the past, the trio were no longer viewed as mere outsiders.

As the eagle touched down, Gawain was waiting, accompanied by the red dragon girl, Noelle, who gazed at Zig with wide, expectant eyes.

"Welcome back. Your quarters have been prepared. The Sky Mechanical City will arrive in Lyraheim shortly. You have already met Icarus, I presume?"

"Yes, we have met Mr. Icarus."

Wang Yu replied for Zig, who was busy scooping up the rushing Noelle.

"Good. I will notify you when the floating city arrives. If you need anything, just let us know. I shall not intrude further."

Gawain led them to their assigned treehouse, exchanged a few more words, and departed.

Beside the treehouse—which was far superior to the lodgings previously provided to outsiders—Wang Yu and Avia discovered a familiar sight: a garden filled with magical plants. It was Moira’s treehouse.

They exchanged a smile; the ten days spent waiting for the floating city would be the perfect time to finish their studies in alchemy.

The ten days passed in a flash. Zig spent his spare time playing with the red dragon girl, Noelle, while Wang Yu and Avia continued their advanced training with Moira.

"That should be about it. Once processed, this should last you quite a while, Teacher. The floating city is arriving soon, so we must depart. We will return to learn more later."

Wang Yu stacked a crate of herbs, perfectly processed by the power of the Chariot, into Moira’s storehouse. He spoke to Moira, who looked much younger after receiving the water from the Source Pool.

Gawain had just sent a message via communication spell that the Sky Mechanical City had arrived, which had conveniently helped Moira finish the last of the high-difficulty herbs that required Wang Yu’s touch.

"Goodbye, Teacher." Avia waved to Moira.

"I wish you fair winds. I find I am actually quite reluctant to see you two go."

Moira waved back. Her lingering attachment was not merely because she had lost her most efficient alchemical assistant; having regained her youth, she had begun to pursue new heights in her own craft, and she knew she would have to handle such tasks herself from now on.

"My two disciples are destined for greatness. Now that I have far more time than before, I should be able to see just what level they can truly reach."

Watching their retreating figures, Moira sighed, a sense of proud anticipation blooming in her heart.

Upon the outer platform of the World Tree’s canopy, Zig, Noelle, and Gawain stood waiting, joined by other Elves who had earned the right to board the floating city.

"The city has arrived and is currently docking with the gravity core matrix. You should be able to see it once the adjustments are complete. After all, there is one very special member joining us on this voyage."

Zig said, gesturing for Wang Yu to look down.

Wang Yu looked below and saw that a large clearing had been swept clean. Standing there, the massive iron form of the Iron King, Borgul, loomed. This special member was none other than the Iron King himself; no wonder the Dwarves had not taken him back.

"Hummm..."

As a vast surge of magical energy rippled outward, violet arcs of electricity began to flicker, coil, and dance around the clearing and across the body of the Iron King, Borgul.

The surrounding world gradually darkened, the brilliant light of the sun eclipsed by a colossal object whose shadow swallowed the entirety of Liaheim.

The mechanical floating city had indeed arrived above the city, though it had remained cloaked behind a veil of invisibility until this very moment.

Having calibrated the array to hoist the Iron King, the aerial metropolis finally revealed its breathtaking form.

The first impression of the Sky Mechanical City was its sheer, overwhelming scale; it was a magnitude difficult to describe, a presence so immense that the first glance felt like a physical weight pressing down upon one’s entire being.

Standing below, Wang Yu gazed upward, catching glimpses of the city’s underside—a mere fraction of this sky-faring urban expanse—illuminated by the city’s own inner glow.

Only by witnessing it in person could one grasp its unimaginable size; at a rough estimate, Wang Yu reckoned that if one were to uproot the entire royal capital of Alestler from the earth, it would be roughly the size of this floating city, perhaps even smaller.

The hemispherical base of the Sky Mechanical City was composed primarily of mountain-hewn rock, etched with gargantuan magical arrays whose glowing circuits served as the primary light source for the city’s underbelly.

Beyond the rocky foundation lay a labyrinth of mechanical structures, where countless pipes burst forth from the stone, intertwining to transport energy and resources to every corner of the fortress.

Suspended walkways clung to the base, alongside a multitude of inverted buildings, where goblins, dwarves, and members of other races could be seen traversing the paths.

These were the arcanists and mechanics responsible for maintaining the vast array of magical and mechanical devices adorning the fortress’s exterior.

This unimaginably massive aerial city possessed countless "parts" that demanded meticulous care; a single failure could trigger a chain reaction with catastrophic consequences.

Mechanical arms mounted on the walkways operated with precision, dismantling faulty components and slotting new ones into the gaps.

Mechanical alchemy spiders clung to the base, scurrying between pipes, power furnaces, and energy vents, their cores guiding them to weld and patch every crack in the outer shell.

Alchemical eyes drifted beneath the city, integrated into the mana-net that blanketed the entire metropolis.

The images they captured were relayed to the city’s central control, where alchemical constructs and master arcanists monitored and assessed the state of the city at every moment.

"Quite the busy place," Wang Yu muttered, watching the tireless maintenance crews and the ceaseless motion of the alchemical machines.

It reminded him of the fast-paced, high-pressure urban life in the central districts of the great metropolises back on Earth.

"A magnificent alchemical masterpiece. I wonder, Wang Yu, has this city finally touched the cosmos you speak of?"

Avia gazed at this wonder, built by generations of alchemists and scholars, her eyes brimming with anticipation.

She longed to know what heights alchemy had reached atop this city, and whether it had finally broken the shackles of gravity to reach the vast, boundless universe beyond.

"Indeed..." Wang Yu rubbed his chin, thinking that even on Earth, they couldn't conjure a spectacle that sent an entire city into the sky. If such a feat could reach the stars, then the Sky Mechanical City—the pinnacle of "technology" he had seen in this world—might have truly succeeded.

"We meet again. I am here to guide you. I didn't expect you to bring such a massive guest, so you might as well ascend alongside it."

A figure descended from above, wings beating, and alighted beside them. It was Icarus, the winged one.

Following his words, Wang Yu watched as the central structure of the city’s base shifted and deformed; rock and metal recessed inward, the shell retracting into the hollowed-out interior of the inverted mountain.

As the components were stowed, a cylindrical passage manifested in the center of the base, perfectly aligned with the Iron King, Borgul, below.

Metal plates inscribed with glowing runes were deployed by mechanical arms from within the passage, installed onto the inner walls by massive mage hands and alchemical spiders.

Furnaces and mana sources scattered across the city fed energy into this "gravity conduit," where violet arcs danced, projecting an invisible force downward to create a gentle yet immensely powerful upward current.

"Boom."

The heavy, iron-clad body of Borgul was lifted from the ground, rising toward the sky under the influence of gravity magic.

"Let’s go. Just follow it up. We’ll start by checking you in with the Truth Oversight Committee."

Icarus signaled for Wang Yu and his companions to enter the gravity conduit and ascend to the aerial city alongside the Iron King.

It was time to set foot upon the Sky Mechanical City.