Chapter 463: All-Around Fighter, Void Art

"Form ranks, prepare for long-range bombardment!"

The knights’ forward charge halted in perfect unison. They channeled their battle aura, raising warhammers, longswords, and shields to form a protective perimeter around the mages and sorcerers. They stood vigilant against any sudden enemy assault, ensuring the spellcasters had a secure and unobstructed environment to unleash their power.

"Hum!"

A resonant drone erupted from the ranks, layering into a single, deafening vibration. Massive magical fluctuations surged across the battlefield as the casters began their long-range strikes. The ambient mana in the surrounding space was drained almost instantly by the legion-scale spellcasting, though the vast reserves of mana crystals carried by the mages were more than enough to fuel their onslaught.

"Boom!"

High above, colossal spheres of rock tore earth and stone from the ground, their mass and weight swelling with every passing second. Violet arcs of gravity magic flickered incessantly, compressing the gathered debris into indestructible, high-density projectiles. In the next heartbeat, the vast, non-elemental mana coating the spheres was ignited by fire elements, turning the entire mass into a burning meteor that accelerated toward the Utopia organization’s lines.

This single burning rock was but one attack from a single unit; the combined destruction of dozens of clusters of mages—each at least of the official rank—could only be described as cataclysmic.

Tornados, reaching toward the heavens and dragging the wreckage of elemental creatures, trees, and sand into their vortexes, indiscriminately hurled blades of wind as they churned across the earth. From the ground, jagged, metallic-sheened spikes of earth erupted in relentless succession, while mobile spheres of lightning flashed with blinding intensity, casting arcs of electricity at any creature that dared approach.

A chaotic deluge of spells hammered down upon the Utopia organization’s position, raining destruction upon the very spots where the berserk yet rational orc warriors stood.

Facing this overwhelming blanket of concentrated magic, the berserk orcs did not retreat in panic. Instead, they gripped standardized metal staves—seemingly manufactured only recently—and began their counter-maneuver.

Employing the same combined-casting technique used during the invasion of the Steelmane Empire, they achieved an unimaginable level of coordination. Every mage contributed to a fragment of this massive spell, drastically shortening casting time while exponentially amplifying the effect.

The moment the Alliance’s bombardment struck, the orcs’ combined eighth-tier spell was ready. It was a sphere of absolute, abyssal blackness, several times larger than the creator’s original description of the incantation.

It stood to reason; this was an eighth-tier spell woven by over a hundred mages, effectively replicating the power of a hundred normal casters, its raw potency amplified beyond measure.

Eighth-tier Chaos Spell: Well of Infinity. The massive black sphere possessed an unimaginable gravitational pull on elements. The incoming spells aimed at the Utopia lines were drawn uncontrollably toward this black-hole-like anomaly, which had grown to a scale far exceeding its original design.

As the Well of Infinity ascended, the spells were forcibly ripped from their trajectories, spiraling into the dark sphere high above.

"The Well of Infinity? How could these orcs master such a spell? The casting speed—this is an eighth-tier spell! And these orcs are supposed to be warriors; how can their spellcasting ability be this formidable?"

For a few moments, the command team’s view of the battlefield flickered and failed. The essence of the Well of Infinity was to use high-density mana constructs to exert a terrifying attraction on all elemental spells. This caused the numerous "Eyes of Mana" distributed by the command team across the field to have their structures torn apart by the sheer force of the attraction, collapsing in futility.

Even the magical channels transmitting the alchemical eyes' feeds were disrupted. Fortunately, the sorcery effects remained, allowing the command team to maintain a minimal level of observation to understand what had transpired, though the sheer capability of these orcs left them stunned and bewildered.

"It’s an eighth-tier Chaos spell, the Well of Infinity. It draws in all spells with elemental effects. Use metamagic! This eighth-tier spell cannot affect metamagic!"

The few mages in the ranks reminded their comrades of the way to bypass the black sphere’s forced attraction. The Well of Infinity could only pull spells that relied on elemental casting; metamagic, a technique that bypassed elements, would render the Well ineffective.

Some mages, seeing their spells dragged away by the dark sphere, had fallen into a brief stupor. They did not recognize the spell, nor did they know how to counter it.

This was another reason for the command team’s shock. Every eighth-tier spell was a closely guarded secret of the major powers. Even these mages, who were not orcs, were unaware of its existence. Where had these orcs, whose knowledge was supposedly far inferior to other races, acquired such a spell?

Compared to the earlier, scattered attacks, a new wave of spells erupted from the Alliance ranks—metamagic strikes unaffected by the Well of Infinity, aimed at the orcs still maintaining the spell. Only a handful of mages who had studied at the Sky Mechanical City possessed the metamagic technique, and very few units were capable of employing it.

"Crackle, crackle, crackle."

The spells forcibly drawn into the Well of Infinity touched the surface of the black-hole-like entity. Their structures were violently dismantled, reduced to raw mana and swept inside, further increasing the density and size of the dark sphere.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"

In the distance, the alchemical artillery array opened fire again, providing support to supplement the sporadic metamagic strikes.

Scorching alchemical shells streaked across the sky, slamming into the orc positions alongside the metamagic. Yet the orcs continued to maintain the Well of Infinity. As long as they wished to absorb and destroy such a massive elemental assault, they had to sustain this vast eighth-tier spell.

The rule was clear: maintaining a continuous spell precluded other forms of casting. The timely alchemical bombardment and metamagic should have been enough to break the stalemate.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!"

Artillery roared, and the impact of the metamagic and alchemical shells kicked up violent shockwaves.

The earth trembled, and dust clouds rose, briefly obscuring the Utopia orc warriors' position. However, the knights in the Alliance legions suddenly changed expressions; they sensed something familiar.

The shock of the explosions dispersed the dust, revealing the orc positions after the bombardment. The ground was torn with deep scars, and scorched craters were everywhere, yet the orc lines remained intact.

A barrier composed of battle aura had blocked the attack. Though it flickered as if on the verge of collapse, it had successfully thwarted the perfectly timed assault, and the massive black sphere of the Well of Infinity had finished absorbing and shattering the elemental spells.

Yes, the dual cultivation of physical and magical arts yielded such results. Casting did not hinder the use of battle aura. The fusion of knight and mage capabilities allowed these orcs to maintain the Well of Infinity while simultaneously deploying an aura barrier to block the incoming bombardment.

"Are these orcs truly omnipotent? Their spellcasting is astonishing, and they all possess the strength of Great Knights, capable of projecting battle aura. The berserk state even further enhances the intensity of that aura. What exactly does the Utopia organization possess?"

Gilbert, leading the Night Church’s forces in the center-front of the Alliance army, watched the flickering, trembling aura barrier and muttered in shock. The comprehensive ability displayed by these orcs was simply exaggerated. Could Gilbert, a Great Knight himself, compare to any one of them? He feared not.

An orc’s berserk state would strengthen their aura, but because they lost their reason, a Great Knight orc’s aura projection would instinctively form a skin-tight armor, greatly enhancing defense but making precise manipulation difficult.

Yet, these rational orcs could use aura projection normally even while under the enhancement of the berserk state. This pushed the strength of the orc knight corps to a new level; the intensity of their aura alone was several tiers higher than that of human knight corps of the same rank.

The very moment the black sphere finished absorbing and destroying all elemental spells, a powerful void fluctuation swept across the battlefield, causing the sorcerers in the Alliance ranks to snap to attention.

The sorcery they wielded was naturally unaffected by the Well of Infinity and could attack normally. However, intelligence reports described the Utopia organization as having a profound mastery of the void. They had been waiting in the ranks, holding their fire, anticipating the void-based attacks that might come at any moment.

"Skreeee!"

A cacophonous, grinding roar echoed as a massive rift opened around the black sphere. It resembled a void crack, yet no massive leakage of void energy occurred. It was a spatial rift, but such large-scale destruction of space had not produced the corresponding intensity of spatial fluctuations.

"They’re stuffing the Well of Infinity into a void rift! Damn it, how could anyone imagine this without seeing it with their own eyes!"

Seeing this, the sorcerers who had prepared to counter the attacks could not help but curse. Stuffing the Well of Infinity into a void rift and preventing the rift from being sealed by the material world—this seemingly simple feat was, in reality, unimaginable.

The Well of Infinity, as a massive aggregate of mana, was extremely "material." Shoving this thing into a void rift was as baffling as shoving a reality-stabilization spike into the void. The Utopia organization’s mastery of the void had once again shattered the Alliance’s understanding.

"Suppress the potential void rifts! Don’t let that sphere pass through the void and appear in our ranks, or the consequences will be unthinkable!"

The sorcerers in the command team relayed the order via sorcery to their counterparts in every unit. Utopia’s goal was obvious: the Well of Infinity, now a high-energy aggregate after absorbing the spells, was a devastating bomb. Its destructive power would not be inferior to any attack spell.

The sorcerers vigilantly sensed the shifts in the void, using their mental power to communicate with it and suppress the increasingly active fluctuations. Countless tiny void rifts were stirring. Once these rifts appeared on a large scale, the mana aggregate that had entered the void would gain the opportunity to appear and detonate at any point within the Alliance lines.

"The environment here, where the void and reality blend, makes the appearance of void rifts far too simple! Damn it, why are these rifts so active? The difficulty… of suppressing them… is immense!"

The sorcerers gritted their teeth in frustration. The special environment created by the Utopia organization had originally been intended to facilitate their own use of sorcery, but now it made suppressing the void rifts extremely difficult. The void was unnaturally active, and the material world’s natural repulsion toward the void had been drastically reduced.

A multitude of sorcerers attempted to seal the boundary between the void and the material world, while the Utopia organization’s power fought against their blockade, attempting to force open a passage to manifest the Well of Infinity’s mana aggregate within the Alliance’s lines.

Magical fluctuations suddenly erupted on a massive scale within the Alliance ranks. Some tiny void rifts slipped past the sorcerers' blockade, beginning to release the mana fluctuations of the Well of Infinity. Everyone grew tense; aura barriers, spell shields, and defensive measures were deployed in an instant, ready to face the mana explosion should the containment of the void rifts fail.

With intense focus, the sorcerers poured all their power into sealing the rifts, especially the clusters that were leaking mana wildly—a sign that the Well of Infinity was nearby and that the breakthrough point would be there.

"Snap!"

Under the concentrated power of all the sorcerers, the leaking void rifts were finally slammed shut. The Well of Infinity had lost its chance to break through at that location.

Next, they only needed to seal the remaining rifts far from the mana aggregate, and...

The sorcerers thought as much.

"Thud!"

The next sound was the violent thud of heavy footsteps. Knights, mages, and sorcerers alike felt their gazes snap toward the source. From those very "tiny" void rifts, a multitude of berserk orcs surged out. Boiling battle aura and wild mana surged together, slamming into the caught-off-guard Alliance troops.

The mana-leaking void rifts had been a distraction to draw the sorcerers' attention.

An unimaginable act of forcing sentient beings through the void.

The combination of the two had created a stunning surprise attack. The Utopia organization’s mastery of the void was nothing short of art.