Chapter 458: Investigation Legion, Shadow of the Gods

As the King of the Steelmane Kingdom finally abandoned all resistance, having learned the true purpose of the "Utopia" organization and the shackles buried deep within the orcish flesh, he chose to join their ranks.

His soul, channeled through the web that spread alongside the advance of the Bloodtooth Empire’s orcs, merged into the collective consciousness. His body, stripped of control, went limp, settling steadily against the wall, sustained only by the base instincts of the flesh.

"Increase the coverage of the nodes, harvest more souls to forge a being of sufficient power, so that we may strike down the next node in due time."

The orc Basaka muttered to himself. As the Steelmane Empire was fully integrated into the command sphere of "Utopia," all surrounding orcish kingdoms had fallen under their control, and the sentient beings within these borders had been merged—some willingly, others by force—into that ever-expanding mental network.

"Rumble!"

A deafening roar erupted from the outside world. Within the borders of the Steelmane Kingdom, structures identical to the towers that had first appeared in the Bloodtooth Empire tore through the earth, piercing the veil from the void to manifest in the material world, extending the reach of the power that blanketed the Bloodtooth Empire to this very place.

"Magic, sorcery—is this what it truly is? The traditions of savagery and tribalism have indeed cost the orcs so much over the years. To foster mutual understanding between sentient beings, even within the same race, is impossible without employing such a form."

The Steelmane King, leaning against the wall, opened his eyes. As the power saturated the area, his consciousness regained control of his own body, and within his mind, a vast wealth of information, magic, and sorcery had been acquired from that colossal collective consciousness.

"I must spend some time preparing to seize the second node in the Ash Wastelands. Those ruins belong to no sentient race; capturing them will be far easier than the remaining nodes located within the borders of other civilizations. I leave the defense of this sector to you."

Basaka’s projection spoke to the Steelmane King, who had just returned to his own body. At the same moment, identical dialogues were unfolding in the other recently conquered kingdoms. These kings, having "voluntarily" joined "Utopia," shouldered the task of dealing with the joint investigation team of sentient races currently approaching the organization's sphere of influence.

"I will distribute the power of the nodes among you equally. With rational deployment, there will be no issues; they will have no chance to resist."

Basaka finished his final sentence, and the projection vanished before the kings.

"Understood. I will not let these enemies violate our kingdom."

Resolute and identical responses came from the kings burdened with the task.

……

Outside the territory of the "Utopia" faction, centered on the Bloodtooth Empire, a coalition force composed of various sentient races was approaching.

"From a purely visual observation, there haven't been many changes, save for those towers—those are things that appeared after the recent anomalies."

A human Grand Knight, holding a magi-tech observation lens, stood on a hill about twenty kilometers from the "Utopia" sphere of influence. He looked toward the orcish kingdom, comparing the scene to the images left by caravans that had passed through earlier; the only additions were those towers.

"I can already feel the changes in the surrounding void environment, but we are still too far away. We need to get closer for a more detailed observation."

The sorcerers in the team were currently projecting their mental energy, observing the surroundings with their souls. They could feel the void energy in the vicinity flowing, converging from all directions toward the "Utopia" territory, forming a special domain within that region.

"Getting any closer will involve a certain degree of risk. Remember the chaotic entities that appeared within our own kingdom? Their minds were twisted by an uncertain existence."

"Without the mental protection of a sorcerer, entering the vicinity of what is likely the headquarters of these entities will likely result in mental attacks or assaults by mind-warped sentient beings. Beyond the environmental anomalies, can we even gather any useful information at this range?"

A female elven knight, after observing the situation in "Utopia," was quite cautious about the prospect of moving closer. She had been dispatched to join this team after suppressing some of the riots within the elven realm, and the results of the sorcerers' mental tests on those chaotic entities were still fresh in her mind.

"Bethany, you are right; advancing further will be extremely dangerous. The void energy gathering there seems to have altered the environment; the void and the material world are overlapping. This should only happen near a void rift. If the enemy can utilize this special environment, it is likely not a good thing for us."

A human sorcerer affirmed the words of the elven knight named Bethany and shared the additional information gathered at this distance with his companions.

"Our current number of sorcerers should be sufficient to provide mental protection to the others. Our mission is to gather more information; if we stop here, our efforts will be almost meaningless."

The human knight from before voiced his opinion. The mission of this small, specialized legion was to act as an investigation team, collecting enough information to report the state of the mutated orcish kingdoms back to the sentient races.

Because the void was the first thing observed to be anomalous, the team was equipped with a sufficient number of sorcerers from various races. Providing mental protection for everyone was a task they could manage.

"I agree with Lorian. Let's continue forward."

A dwarven mage in robes raised his hand to signify his agreement with the human Grand Knight, Lorian. Nicholas Copperbeard, the leader of the dwarven contingent, had spoken.

"Yes, I agree as well."

Bethany nodded in agreement. With the three leaders of the respective contingents reaching a consensus, the team chose to proceed with caution.

Concealment spells cast by the mages shielded the team at all times, making their movements difficult to detect through simple vision or ordinary surveillance, as they advanced toward their target with steady and swift speed.

The "Utopia" territory in their field of vision grew larger as they approached, revealing more details to them, while the sorcerers could feel more differences in the surrounding environment.

"What on earth is this..."

This was the identical thought shared by the sorcerers in the team. In their perception, a massive entity was gradually manifesting within the region where "Utopia" resided. The flow of surrounding void energy seemed to have a life of its own, shifting from mechanical convergence to the unconscious writhing of that entity.

"Has the mental protection been triggered?"

"No, everything is normal. The concentration of void energy in the vicinity is just rising, and—you should be able to feel it too—the fusion of the void and the material world is becoming more obvious and tight."

The sorcerers communicated with each other, confirming that their perceptions were not flawed. These unique findings were indeed quite different from their past experiences.

"Notify us if there are any problems."

Lorian turned back to remind the sorcerers. The key to this mission was these sorcerers; they were the ones to analyze the environment and record the information, while the role of the knights and mages was effectively to provide protection for them.

"Understood."

The sorcerers responded, continuing to focus on observing and analyzing the changes in the surroundings.

But what they did not know was that even with a series of concealment spells and sorcery, achieving invisibility on the material and ordinary sorcerous levels, their actions were quite obvious on a macro scale.

Concealment is often only effective against entities with limited perception. To a massive whole capable of observing a vast range and aware of what existed within its scope due to the aggregation of consciousness, the entities entering its range were highly conspicuous. Even if they tried to hide, the fluctuations in void energy they stirred up could not be completely masked.

The distance gradually shortened to within ten kilometers. Reaching this point, the sorcerers could already feel enough to be shocked and incredulous.

"This... this shouldn't be. With such dense void energy, it is expected to increase further as we advance. This region should have long since fallen into the void."

The sorcerers stopped in their tracks at this moment. Even though there had been no anomalies in the surroundings and the pre-set mental defenses had not been triggered, the strangeness of the environment made them feel uneasy.

The concentration of void energy in the environment had completely exceeded the threshold. Just like the situation Wang Yu and Avia had encountered at the Stevenson School of Magic, the appearance of such high concentrations of void energy in the material world would drag surrounding objects into the void.

Yet, the void energy concentration in the surrounding environment had reached a level where they could cast sorcery almost without needing to gather energy, and it still maintained a "stability" unique to the material world. Faster spellcasting was perhaps a benefit, but the cause of these anomalies was something they had to be wary of.

"Stop..."

The sorcerers called out to warn the others in the team to halt, but before the words could fully carry, a point of highly concentrated void energy appeared in their perception. Something had descended upon them.

Hearing the sorcerers, Lorian and the other knights and mages turned back quickly, only to see the sorcerers suddenly standing still with vacant expressions. Around them, void energy was gathering rapidly, and in the eyes of the others, a massive figure gradually emerged.

"Careful, prepare for battle!"

Shock flashed through Lorian's mind. This colossal entity bore a striking resemblance to the avatar of a god he had once seen. But how could that be? Regardless, fighting was the only thing to do now. He shouted immediately and raised his weapon.

[I have my midterm exams these next two weeks, so I'm swamped. Updates might be shorter for a day or two, but I will make it up to you all right after. Also, regarding the characters in the book frequently asking "Why?" or "What's going on?", rest assured, these are not meaningless filler dialogues. Like many things before, they "truly do not understand," which is why they ask. ~(￣▽￣～)~]