Chapter 486: Bounden Duty, The First Plan

The narrative Roland wove in this book concluded here, and Icarus let his thoughts and gaze linger upon the final page for a long while before finally breaking the state of "internal loop" contemplation; the tome that had appeared on the shelf vanished from his perception.

"Hoo..."

Exhaling a long breath, Icarus steadied his emotions. The content was enough to keep him digesting for a long time, and while its value was truly infinite, he lacked the luxury of time to convert such knowledge into usable technology while facing the imminent threat of the Utopia organization.

"No wonder Legendary Knights can endure longer than ordinary mages and wizards under the erosion of the Void and spiritual corruption; their power itself acts as a miniature Void. Though it shatters easily under the crushing weight of greater forces, it possesses the capacity for resistance."

Verifying Roland's answers against his own observations and doubts, he could not fully confirm these conclusions were absolute, but they served as solutions to problems that had previously defied explanation.

"Time is limited. If I could transmit this knowledge to the scholars of the Sky Mechanical City, it should provide enough assistance to break through the current impasse."

Musing, Icarus pondered how to utilize this lore to aid the coming confrontation with Utopia, but he immediately dismissed the idea.

"This is unfeasible. Roland's attempt to pass this information to us, to render the power of the gods ineffective, was blocked by some entity. This confirms that something is constantly monitoring regions including the Sky Mechanical City. Utopia likely has the means to know things we deem hidden, or perhaps, there is a traitor within the Sky Mechanical City itself..."

While muttering to himself, Icarus re-examined his surroundings. The room was a completely sealed magical chamber, a relic passed down by the Winged Race. As his sanctuary within the Sky Mechanical City, it offered excellent concealment; as long as he remained inside, the possibility of being spied upon was virtually non-existent.

"In that case, the interference with my cognition must have bypassed all shielding, acting directly upon me through the 'Void Affinity' I lost in the Void? That must be it."

Having formed a rough hypothesis as to why he and the members of the Sky Mechanical City could not see the book, Icarus felt fairly certain. As for why it wasn't that Utopia's surveillance could pierce the chamber's shielding?

It was pointless to think that way. If Utopia possessed such capabilities, most of the secrets and plans of the Five-Race Alliance and the Sky Mechanical City would be laid bare before them like white paper and black ink. With no confidentiality to speak of, there would be no point in fighting; they might as well surrender.

"Then what, exactly, can I do with this knowledge..."

Icarus began to meticulously analyze the utility of the lore: breaking the current technological bottleneck, significantly strengthening the power of wizards, and, if necessary, using the secret etched into the crystal on his forehead to forcibly prevent Utopia from exploiting the gods.

"No... there is one point Roland did not recount or explain: the madness and pollution existing within the Void. These things cannot possibly be our lost power, otherwise, it would not be so dangerous for wizards to ascend or 'borrow' power from the Void, nor would the material world have a natural repulsion toward it."

At this thought, Icarus recalled another concept not mentioned by Roland: the widely accepted academic belief that "the essence of the Void is madness and disorder."

If one followed Roland's theory, the Void should at least be a mixture of order and chaos, not the incredibly dangerous state it was in today. Only cognitive aggregates like gods could remain stable within the Void; for other sentient beings, stepping into it meant only one path: being devoured and assimilated.

It was understandable; perhaps Roland shared this information only to prevent Utopia from utilizing the God of Light. As for the rest, it was unclear if Roland himself did not know, or if he had no intention of revealing the full truth.

"I will put these thoughts aside for now. While I cannot directly share these findings with other scholars in the Sky Mechanical City, there is no harm in using some of the knowledge that can break technological bottlenecks as the conclusion of my own research."

Shaking his head, Icarus stopped dwelling on the chaos and madness of the Void and confirmed his next steps: first, select a portion of the truth to present as his research findings, helping scholars overcome the parts of their work that had stalled.

"And then, I shall become a keeper of secrets. Since I cannot confirm if there are spies for Utopia, or who they might be, it is better to keep this secret within my heart. As long as I operate under the premise that Utopia does not know I have learned this truth, fulfilling my duties at the appropriate time will yield unexpected results."

Having made his decision, Icarus stood up, unlocked the magical chamber, and headed toward the area where scholars were researching the Void. After his period of seclusion, there were key breakthroughs that needed to be shared.

...

Three days had passed since Utopia dragged the second node out in the Theocracy of the God of Light, and the Sky Mechanical City's research into the Void had seen a major breakthrough. Numerous obstacles were overcome, and a series of academic successes were rapidly converted into usable devices by the city's powerful industrial standards.

All of this stemmed from the results of a certain society president's secluded study, with the breakthrough radiating positive effects throughout the entire Five-Race Alliance.

"This is a tremendous step forward. Being able to observe the Void to a certain degree means we are no longer entirely dependent on notifications from the Church of Nightfall, and we can anticipate enemy movements while engaging in combat."

Icarus walked among the laboratories, where scholars were fully engrossed in derivative research based on his recent findings, each member racing against time to achieve further breakthroughs.

Beside Icarus, Astartes, the Tower Spirit of the Sky Mechanical City, was conversing with him through one of the many spider-like alchemical constructs responsible for laboratory sanitation.

"Fortunately, Utopia's use of the God of Light this time allowed me to obtain some key parameters, some of which relate to how Utopia utilizes the Void."

Icarus answered Astartes' questions while walking, pausing to respond to scholars who ran up to him seeking solutions to their research dilemmas.

"What is the current situation with the followers of the God of Light? Even without their god, they remain a vital force among the Five-Race Alliance. We will need their help for our upcoming offensive."

After confirming the progress of the scholars, Icarus began to receive the compiled data from Astartes. As the Tower Spirit, all collected intelligence reached this entity—which, despite being somewhat dull, possessed terrifying logic and memory—before being passed on to the communicators.

"The followers of the God of Light have re-established contact with the deity they worship. The entity that caused massive destruction in the Theocracy has been confirmed as a false god, not the object of their faith. Now, these followers have dispersed into the Five-Race Alliance legions across the continent, filling in their critically lacking strength."

Astartes informed Icarus of the current situation. They had not lost their faith because the God of Light was exploited; instead, they continued to throw themselves into the confrontation with Utopia without hesitation.

"Utopia's next target has been confirmed as the Ash Barrens. Based on the patterns of previous instances, we have about half a month to prepare. This time, we must take the initiative."

Icarus discussed the future plan with Astartes; he needed permission from this de facto "controller" of the Sky Mechanical City.

"As those special environments are created, the entire continent's environment is shifting toward the Void, and the power Utopia can wield is leaping in stages. We only have a chance of winning if we stop them from continuing to strengthen themselves. Therefore, I believe the Sky Mechanical City can no longer remain a spectator. The main city should directly join the legions and press into the Ash Barrens for a full-scale frontal assault."

This was the permission he sought: to ignore potential risks, for the Sky Mechanical City to stop sitting back and instead enter the front lines as the Alliance's strongest provider of firepower. Such an action would bring many complications, but Icarus believed it was the only correct path.

"I have conducted a series of risk assessments. The greatest help the Sky Mechanical City can provide has shifted from support to firepower supplementation. Your request is approved. The Sky Mechanical City will follow the legions directly to the battlefield."

Astartes' response was decisive; the Tower Spirit approved Icarus's request immediately.

"However, you should first listen to this transmission from the Church of Nightfall. Our old acquaintance seems to want to do something unexpected. This is what he entrusted to us."

The spider robot pulled a piece of paper from somewhere and handed it to Icarus; it was a communication from the Archbishop of the Church of Nightfall.

"!"

Icarus's eyebrow twitched, and he was slightly startled.

It mentioned that the Church of Nightfall was preparing to attack a specific direction of the Ash Barrens directly, and they hoped the Sky Mechanical City and the Alliance legions would take the other direction, forming a pincer attack.

"To eradicate three high towers in a very short time with the strength of one person—I don't know when our friend grew to such a level. But is the Church of Nightfall going to shoulder the same combat tasks as the entire Alliance and Utopia?"

Icarus muttered to himself.

"Don't forget, there is a group of dragons in the Church of Nightfall. Those are all the dragons from Dragon Island; they are part of our combat strength. It seems Utopia's actions threaten them as well."

Astartes reminded him that the Sky Mechanical City had personally participated in that battle on Dragon Island.

"Fair enough. Then so be it. I agree to this plan. What do you think?"

"I agree as well."

The plan was settled: the Church of Nightfall would take one direction, and the Alliance legions and the Sky Mechanical City would take the other.

Yet, in reality, the facts were even more outrageous than Icarus and Astartes imagined. The only ones from the Church of Nightfall truly launching an offensive against Utopia were the dragons, Wang Yu, and Aivya—and the main force was Wang Yu and Aivya.

The first of Wang Yu's two plans: beat Utopia into the ground.