Chapter 465: Sky-Propping Megastructure, Sinking Kingdom

Ensure the stability of the process! Prepare for defensive measures!

The command from the high command echoed through every unit. The assembly of the giant structure would not take long, but during the process, it was essential to provide sufficient protection to ensure the successful construction of this siege behemoth.

Combining their spellcasting, the mages withdrew the vast quantities of spell scrolls they carried. Without hesitation, they tore open these precious items—which would later be reimbursed by the Five-Race Alliance—and guided a dense barrage of fifth-tier and higher spells into the Alliance’s front lines, weaving layers of shields into a cascading defensive wall.

The barrier created by the Utopia organization, which used the immense power of the void to partition the battlefield, had ironically become an advantage for the Alliance. This obstruction was not one-way; functionality and strength could not coexist. If the Utopia organization wanted to maintain its defense, it could not launch attacks against the Alliance, which was precisely the outcome the Alliance had intended by baiting them into using void energy.

Clang! Hum!

In every unit, those proficient in alchemy began to activate the components they carried, provided by the Sky Mechanical City. These objects, which appeared as simple metal cubes, slowly unfolded under the propulsion of internal mechanisms combining machinery and magic, releasing the original prototypes stored within via space-folding technology.

Artillery fire continued to roar, raining alchemical shells like a downpour upon the barrier of void energy. Unless this barrier was dismantled, it would be impossible to stop the Alliance from assembling the giant machine; yet, if they withdrew the barrier, the explosive barrage would strike the Utopia organization’s positions directly.

Crack!

The void energy barrier emitted a sharp, shattering sound, suddenly disintegrating into countless fragments. In an instant, from behind the broken barrier, a massive surge of pitch-black, abyssal tentacles—their surface texture shimmering with the colors of a starry sky—erupted, surging forward against the explosive barrage toward the Alliance’s assembly site.

The Utopia organization had ultimately chosen to shatter the barrier. The threat posed by the object being assembled had clearly surpassed that of the magic-artillery array; even if it meant being bombarded directly, they had to prevent that thing from being completed.

Hold the line!

The simple directive from the high command received a unified response from all the wizards. Similar to the mages, they activated a multitude of witchcraft runes, venting the void energy within and converging it into a single point—a collective entity formed by the synchronized mental power of every wizard.

Compared to the mages’ joint spellcasting, the wizards’ method was far simpler. They did not require the extreme, precise synchronization of the mages; witchcraft, being a less precise form of casting, only required mutual sensing and a shared general direction.

Whoosh!

The point of mental integration was also a nexus of void affinity. An immense, overwhelming surge of void energy collapsed from that point at the same moment, cascading down like a torrential waterfall, forming a curtain of water that stood before the tide of tentacles surging from the Utopia organization.

Though it was merely a simple flow of void energy resembling water, this waterfall of pure void energy acted as a solid entity, forcibly blocking the tide of tentacles. No matter how they whipped or writhed, they could not pierce this barrier in the short term.

Such is the power of wizards: Void energy must be used to distort the material world to produce an effect. This is an immutable rule for all applications of void energy, which means that a pure, "owned" flow of void energy can serve as an extremely powerful shield, as the concept of "ownership" prevents it from being seized or utilized by others, unlike mana.

The massive torrent of void energy pouring from the heavens, its strength determined by the volume of energy, was the defensive witchcraft known as the Heavenly Void Torrent, released by the Alliance wizards to prevent the Utopia organization’s void power from disrupting the assembly of the siege structure.

Gaga-ga!

The Utopia organization seemed to notice that the waterfall of void energy was obstructing their goal and immediately, without hesitation, increased the infusion of void energy into the tentacles emerging from the void.

Accompanied by the massive influx of energy, the tentacles flashed, their surface base color shifting from deep black to an ethereal, shimmering purple—a color closer to the essence of the void.

The original tentacle tips burst, and from the ruptures, even more new tentacles emerged. In an instant, the number of tentacles increased exponentially by dozens of times, a dense thicket of void appendages nearly drowning the other side of the waterfall entirely.

What immense void energy…

A wizard in the unit muttered solemnly as he watched the ocean of void tentacles pressing against the waterfall. The void energy contained within these things had gradually exceeded the total amount of void energy in the waterfall created by the combined efforts of all the Alliance wizards. This barrier was being slowly drilled into and torn apart by the sea of deep purple tentacles.

However, it was already too late for the Utopia organization to stop the construction of the behemoth. Bringing parts to the battlefield for assembly seemed like a foolish endeavor; why not assemble it beforehand instead of choosing to do so on a battlefield fraught with sudden crises?

If there were only one decision-maker, it might be a blunder, but when the commanders are a team, the probability of making a foolish decision approaches zero.

The reason for choosing to assemble the behemoth on the battlefield was simple: an object designed primarily for destructive power, which is somewhat lacking in defense, would inevitably be targeted for destruction. Protecting such a thing is troublesome. Furthermore, the assembly was truly fast—fast enough to create the effect of a surprise attack.

Hum, snap-crack! Click-click-click-click!

The incessant sound of metal components rapidly connecting and interlocking filled the air. The components stored via space-folding had corresponding serial numbers; once the base points were confirmed, the positions these components were to occupy were presented with extremely precise coordinates.

Moreover, spatial teleportation arrays had long been inscribed upon these components. Once the signal from the base core was received, these arrays would activate simultaneously, teleporting all components to their designated positions.

Releasing the components took ten seconds, the magic signal from the base core reaching all components took five seconds, and the activation and calibration of the spatial arrays to reach their positions and timing took ten seconds. The next moment, the teleportation arrays activated in sync.

In an instant—truly, in a single instant—amidst the overlapping spatial fluctuations, all components fell into place. A massive siege behemoth appeared abruptly on the battlefield. As the magic energy pipelines in each component were connected and the mechanical power systems were fully engaged, the entire siege behemoth began to operate.

In a total of thirty seconds, the siege behemoth, Sky-Reacher, was constructed. Standing approximately twenty meters tall, it towered far above the walls of the Bloodtooth Empire, the orc nation. Its appearance resembled a gargantuan turtle, with a solid, massive back, short, sturdy "limbs," and a "head" that served as the energy-focusing emitter.

Alchemical artillery array, fire at maximum power! Use special explosive shells to cover the behemoth’s charging! Mages, gather your mana, prepare to breach the city!

The highest command from the high command was issued. The siege behemoth was assembled; the next step was to blast a hole straight through the Utopia organization’s sanctuary!

Rumble!

The alchemical artillery array, which had moved to the rear of the battle line, had already connected to the rear of the siege behemoth. Powered by the behemoth’s reactor, it fired special explosive shells. These purple-glowing alchemical shells streaked across the sky, crashing into the sea of tentacles that were tearing through the void energy waterfall.

The magic circuit structures inscribed within were activated by the charged mana, releasing spells of multiplied power. Extremely unstable spatial rifts were torn open at the moment of the shells’ impact, and around these rifts, dazzling, leaping purple arcs of electricity crackled—the hallmark of gravity magic.

The violent gravity began to indiscriminately capture everything in its vicinity, dragging all objects toward the clusters of unstable spatial rifts. These rifts were not stable channels for teleportation; they were filled with pure, chaotic spatial turbulence. The only fate for anything dragged inside was to be shredded into dust.

These special explosive shells covered the area in front of the Alliance’s lines completely. From top to bottom, unstable spatial rifts blanketed the field, and the omnipresent, overlapping gravitational forces filled this dangerous domain. This was the reason the Alliance did not simply press forward; such brutal means of attack did not distinguish between friend and foe.

The sea of purple tentacles, formed by void energy distorting the material world, was struck by the special explosive shells and immediately destroyed on a massive scale. The disordered gravity dragged the tentacles wildly, only for them to be torn and shredded by the chaotic spatial rifts along the way.

Because the tentacles were supplied with void energy, they would regenerate endlessly, but they were effectively and forcibly held back. The charging process of the Sky-Reacher behemoth would be completed without interference.

Crack, boom…

The massive "turtle shell" on the back of the siege behemoth opened from the center, extending to both sides to reveal the gargantuan magic reaction furnace within. Siege mode was activated, the external magic-gathering port unfolded, and it entered the stage of mana-conversion charging.

At this moment, the mages in the units had already found the corresponding point for the behemoth’s magic reaction furnace. Using the same technology as the magic network on the Sky Mechanical City, the behemoth allowed for mana to be gathered from the outside into its reaction furnace, providing an overload-style energy accumulation.

Surging mana was poured by the mages into the behemoth’s reaction furnace. The excessively concentrated mana transformed from a formless state into a liquid state. The behemoth’s furnace absorbed all this mana, converted its form, and moved it to the emitter.

Hum-hum-hum-hum!

Tiny specks of starlight appeared at the behemoth’s emitter—that was the escaping energy. Mana was converted into energy with pure destructive power. This was a form of mana utilization different from normal spellcasting, more like an alternative variant of super-magic technology: bypassing elements to cast spells directly.

From the past to the present, the form of war had long ceased to be as simple as knights hacking at each other while spellcasters bombarded from behind. The development of technology had made the effects of magic arrays increasingly exaggerated, and the destructive power of war machines combining alchemy and magic-tech had completely surpassed individual limits.

For breaching and destroying cities, scattered energy releases and blanket spell storms were the worst strategies. Gathering all energy and releasing it in a focused beam was the correct approach, and this Sky-Reacher behemoth was the Alliance’s means of achieving this "ultimate single-point release."

Boom!

With high efficiency and no fatal delays, the process of energy accumulation, conversion, concentration, and release flowed like water. From the emitter of the Sky-Reacher, a violent stream of energy erupted. The mere heat dissipation without contact was enough to melt the structure of the emitter into a ruin.

The concentrated energy stream, exceeding the critical point, possessed terrifying "materiality" and "mass." The spatial rift area ahead and the uncontrolled gravitational capture were meaningless against it; it punched straight through the spatial rifts, using its extreme "mass" to offset the effects of gravity, and then used its unimaginable "materiality" to suppress and shatter the sea of void tentacles like a material-stabilizing spear. It blasted through, pulverized, and struck the void energy domain covering the Utopia organization, pouring all the power of the energy stream into it without mercy.

Bang!

The energy exploded at the point of impact, flowing wildly. A mushroom cloud of waste energy slowly rose. It pierced through—it pierced through without surprise. The void energy domain that had prevented the outside world from peering into the Utopia organization’s Bloodtooth Empire was forcibly shattered like a walnut, and the contents within were revealed to the Alliance forces.

It was the Bloodtooth Empire—the sinking Bloodtooth Empire. Every existence within the entire empire was sinking. The earth seemed like the surface of water, allowing the empire upon it to slowly sink, sinking into another world.