Chapter 467: Ubiquitous Enemy, Node

The first crusade against the Utopia organization concluded in such a fashion that the Allied Legions suffered almost no substantive losses; save for the casters and warriors who perished in the initial volley, there were no casualties.

Yet this result could hardly be called a victory. To the High Command, it was an unmitigated disaster. The Utopia organization had submerged itself entirely into the Void, and by any measure, their motives could never be construed as mere suicide.

"Boom..."

The Sky Fortress, arriving a step too late, revealed its massive silhouette against the firmament, emitting a heavy roar as it slowly descended. Its teleportation arrays flared to life, and several teams of scholar-wizards were ferried to the surface, rushing to the site where Utopia had vanished to analyze and detect the lingering traces.

"Their actions were truly beyond every expectation for this operation. It is a pity; we failed to stop them. I believe you can imagine the kind of enemy we will face hereafter. Until this problem is resolved, all other troubles on the continent will likely have to be set aside."

The High Command’s wizard coordinated with the liaison of the Five-Race Alliance aboard the Sky Fortress, beginning to recount the details of the campaign.

"Naturally, I understand. I am currently grappling with this very headache. The Alliance has already begun scouring the archives on the Sky Fortress, but information related to Utopia’s methods is virtually non-existent. To enter the Void directly—there is no precedent for such a thing."

"For now, all we can do is attempt to gain the ability to observe their movements. If we cannot even manage that, then we are truly in a dire state."

The liaison’s tone betrayed a profound sense of helplessness. No one would hold the High Command accountable for this failure; in truth, they had performed well, doing everything that could be done. It was simply that Utopia’s mastery of Void energy had reached a level transcendent of this era, a situation no one could have foreseen.

"Have the Sky Fortress broadcast a message to the entire continent. Nowhere is safe now. I do not know if establishing enough reality-stabilizing spears will be effective, but given how Utopia wielded Void power in this battle, it is best not to hold out too much hope."

The commander reminded the communications officer of the tasks ahead.

"Understood. The scholars of the Sky Fortress are gathering intelligence. Let us trust them; there should be something useful."

Without refuting the commander’s suggestion in any way, the communications officer rapidly transmitted the warning through all channels at his disposal, not just to the members of the Five-Race Alliance, but to all sentient races capable of comprehending the gravity of the situation.

As for why they were so anxious, the reason was simple: Utopia had transformed from a visible target into a phantom haunting the continent.

By sinking into the Void, Utopia left the Alliance with no way to confirm their location, and the Void, filled with infinite unknowns, granted Utopia the ability to emerge in any corner of the continent.

No one knew when or where they would suddenly appear. The Alliance’s knowledge of them was already woefully inadequate, making it impossible to predict where they would go, what they would acquire, or what they would accomplish next.

Defending against such an enemy was nearly impossible. Even if the current military situation suggested the Alliance’s power far exceeded the enemy’s—as evidenced by the crushing superiority of the Legions, save for the initial surprise attack—that was the strength of the entire Alliance, not of every individual member or region. Even if the forces gathered for this battle were not the entirety of their might, they were still a mobilized army. If one were to compare the strength of a single kingdom against Utopia, the power dynamic would be reversed.

At this moment, the Alliance faced an enemy that could emerge from any point on the continent at any time. How could they defend against that? Distributing the Alliance’s strength evenly across every region? That was clearly impossible; a breakthrough at a single point is always far easier than defending a perimeter.

This was why the Alliance had to gain the ability to track Utopia’s movements within the Void; otherwise, this unpredictable, unpreventable enemy—which could largely only be countered by luck—would become an unmanageable nightmare.

The scholars of the Sky Fortress had now arrived at the site where Utopia had submerged. With grave expressions, they focused intently on gathering the surrounding Void energy, striving to collect every scrap of evidence in hopes of analyzing Utopia’s trajectory and how they had achieved the incomprehensible feat of entering the Void.

"It is so clean. So clean that it defies logic. For such a massive entity to enter the Void, the resulting disturbance in Void energy should be comparable to the descent of a Void God. But you can feel it, can't you? There is nothing. The Void environment is terrifyingly stable; this massive entity entered without causing a single ripple."

His expression filled with disbelief, the wizard from the Sky Fortress was witnessing something that shattered his understanding. The results of the tests told him, time and again, just how exaggerated Utopia’s mastery of the Void truly was.

"No traces found. The surrounding Void energy has completely settled, as if this city-state never existed. It is as if it belonged there, as if there were no barrier between it and the Void at all."

His companion shook his head. Neither his instruments nor his own wizardry could find any trace of Utopia. They had taken the Bloodfang Empire’s city-state into the Void, and there was no telling where they had gone.

"Are these towers the key to how they achieved this? A pity; they seem to have a complete self-destruct mechanism. These towers are now no different from common stone or other mundane matter."

Unable to suppress his thirst for knowledge, the phenomena displayed by Utopia not only brought them immense crisis and pressure, but also stirred an uncontrollable curiosity in these scholars, who were driven by their inability to understand.

They wanted to understand how Utopia had achieved these things, and what the difference was between the power they wielded and the power of these wizards.

Looking at the towers nearby, and the fragments of wall he had peeled off in his hand, the scholar had already tested them several times, and had even inspected the interior of the towers using both sorcery and magecraft.

Although the structures remained intact, they had become utterly "useless." The connection to the Void—the power that had allowed them to contend with the Alliance’s wizards—had vanished entirely.

Clearly, Utopia had no intention of leaving any useful information for the Five-Race Alliance. The time spent on these tests ultimately yielded nothing of value. The enemy known as Utopia had simply vanished into the Void, destination unknown.

"Processed too cleanly. This level of information asymmetry... things are beginning to deteriorate in the worst possible direction."

Upon receiving the report that the scholars had found nothing, the commander of the campaign muttered to himself, articulating the trajectory of events.

But no matter how the situation developed, whether for better or worse, the Alliance had to act. There was no room for hesitation or contemplation. First, the warning had to be disseminated to all existences, and simultaneously, research into the Void and the development of technology to observe its interior had to begin immediately.

...

The final results of the battle were quickly disseminated through various channels. Every kingdom on the continent that was not entirely isolated learned of what had transpired in the territory of the Bloodfang Empire, and of the Utopia organization that had fled into the Void, ready to appear at any moment.

There was no widespread panic; many citizens of the kingdoms could not grasp the implications, and many others dismissed it as a mere rumor. Only those with sufficient experience and strength, who were connected to the Five-Race Alliance and knew they would never release false information on such a matter, immediately understood the severity of the situation.

Within the Church of the Night, information regarding Utopia spread rapidly through the prayer communication network, reaching Wang Yu first.

"The power expelled by the Tree of Night Sky after triggering its automatic counter-defense mechanism is very similar to the power of gods like the God of Fear? Does this validate your theory?"

Wang Yu watched as Avia used her permissions to pull data from the Tree of Night Sky and asked aloud.

"It can no longer be described as merely 'similar.' If there are no accidents, then this is a specific form of power—the power belonging to the existence of gods. And with this, at least half of my theory is sound."

The girl pondered as she answered Wang Yu’s question, a glimmer of realization in her eyes.

"If your theory holds, then Roland’s identity becomes quite special. The previous speculations regarding his relationship with Utopia will likely need to be reconsidered. For now, we proceed step by step. As long as Utopia remains active, they will inevitably leave traces."

Wang Yu was thoughtful; the theory Avia had proposed seemed to be drawing ever closer to the truth.

"By the way, Lady Darkness, can you see things within the Void? You know, that city-state that submerged?"

Thinking of something else, Wang Yu turned to the Lady of the Night, who was sitting in a recliner nearby, fiddling with Wang Yu’s notebook. Utopia had vanished, which was truly troublesome. He could enter the Void to hunt for them himself, but the Void was boundless; he lacked the ability to conduct a precise search. This was a matter that likely required the goddess’s intervention.

"I can, but not completely. The range I can perceive in the Void is greater than yours, but it has its limits. What I see is the portion extended by the believers. The deeper into the Void they go, the more restricted my vision becomes. Their city-state has traveled to a great depth; unless they ascend, I cannot pinpoint their location."

The Lady of the Night shifted her gaze from the notebook screen to answer Wang Yu.

"Impressive. At the very least, it provides an early warning that even the Sky Fortress would struggle to achieve. We will have a chance to prepare."

He raised an eyebrow. It was a decent answer. The enemy’s surprise attacks would have a brief window of predictability, which was far better than being blind. Wang Yu immediately relayed this news.

...

Meanwhile, the Sky Fortress finally made some progress, and a startling discovery was revealed to them.

"What on earth is this? A... node?"

When they expanded the scope of their observation to a scale of tens or hundreds of kilometers, the scholars of the Sky Fortress observed something existing in the material world at the site where Utopia had once stood. It was a massive area of anomalous Void environment.

It had not vanished when Utopia entered the Void; the field remained. Despite the high concentration of Void energy, it was not repelled by the material world. It was like a massive wedge, driven into the boundary between the Void and the material world—a node.