Chapter 499: Moving Forward in Both Directions, Limited Time Domain

The defensive lines are set, and the remaining forces from the various knightly orders and mage corps have been distributed along the perimeter. All we can do is stall; we must survive until the Allied forces marching toward the Ash Wilds and the Utopia organization reach their final reckoning.

Sharl spoke to Edward at his side, describing the current situation. He had already seen the changes manifesting in the distant sky, but they lacked a World Anchor—a construct capable of forcing the material world to invade the Void in reverse—and thus could not stop the encroachment of the Void environment created by Utopia.

The legendary combatants from every kingdom had largely joined the Five-Race Alliance, launching an expedition against Utopia alongside the Sky Mechanical City. What remained within the kingdoms were forces below the legendary tier, possessing only the strength to hold their pre-prepared lines against Utopia’s onslaught until they fell in battle.

In this regard, Alastair was faring better than most. The dragons of the Dragon Isles who were not among the most powerful remained within the kingdom's borders, and a dragon is a dragon; even those who were not the strongest still possessed formidable combat prowess, and the strength they provided could not be underestimated.

"What do you intend to do next? Are you going to stay in the command center as tactics dictate?"

Edward wiped his longsword, responding to Sharl’s words. Knowing him as he did, he knew it was impossible for the man to sit honestly in command as the preliminary plan drafted by the Council required.

"Heh, since you’ve asked, you already know I couldn't possibly just stay in the rear to command. Utopia’s connection to the Void is tight, and Little One’s relationship with the Void allows her to see things I cannot. I want to get closer; perhaps I might discover something useful."

Sharl flashed a cunning smile, revealing his true intentions.

"Go ahead. Command is a job better suited to me anyway."

Waving his hand to signal that the other should proceed with his own plan, Edward appeared perfectly calm.

"It had to be you. I was worried you wouldn't agree."

Sharl looked quite satisfied and lifted his leg, ready to depart.

"Snap!"

"Forget it. If you were truly worried I wouldn't agree, you wouldn't have spent all this time talking to me through a magical projection."

With a sudden punch to the back of "Sharl's" head, Edward shattered him into nothingness. The body of the magical projection exploded into a scattering of masterless mana. The one who had been speaking to Edward all this time was merely a projection Sharl had left behind; the man himself had long since vanished.

"I don't expect you to come up with anything useful, just hold the line as long as you can and spare me any tragic news."

Shaking his head slightly, Edward walked into the castle behind him. Inside was the command center, capable of coordinating communications across the entire kingdom. At this moment, many Council members were busy gathering and disseminating reports from various units, notifying each defensive line to enter a state of readiness.

"Enemies have begun to manifest from the Void at the border. Their strength is not equal to the towers that once invaded various regions of the continent, but due to Utopia’s previous influence on the concentration of Void energy, these enemies possess power far exceeding the strength of the casters and warriors they appear to be."

A Council member informed Edward as he entered, clearly seeking the opinion of this high-ranking figure.

"Leave it to you. I am preparing to head to the front lines. A battle of this scale, combined with the entities truly participating in this war, can no longer be considered our army, but the kingdom's own citizens. There is no need to attempt to command them in any structured formation."

Edward did not offer the opinion the man sought, but instead donned his armor and took a brief look at the map in the command center, marking the areas under the greatest pressure from Utopia, and prepared to depart immediately.

"But..."

The Council member hesitated, words caught in his throat, only to be silenced as Edward placed a gauntleted hand on his shoulder.

"Go ahead and do it. This war is entirely different from the conflicts of interest we have known before. This is a fight for our very survival; defeat means annihilation, it is that simple. I am not skilled at command, at least not in this peculiar form of warfare."

"Your status is not something you should be fretting over right now. The Council chose you as commander out of absolute trust in your abilities. Since you are more capable of filling this position than I am, there is no need to seek my opinion. Command according to your own judgment."

Edward spoke calmly to the commander chosen by the Council, then turned and left the command center, where a carriage equipped with a magitech engine awaited.

The curtain was pulled back a corner, and the cat-kin lady, Sufang, poked her head out and pulled Edward inside. Seated there were Uller, Gilbert, Wendy, and Kevin—all people Edward knew well.

"Take the route through the Spellbound Wizard Tower. Ask them to use the long-range teleportation array to send us to the target point."

Edward said to the others, and the magitech carriage started, speeding away from the royal city at a pace far beyond that of a normal carriage.

"Where is Sharl?"

The cat-kin lady asked Edward.

"He went off to do something he wanted to do. That guy has more ideas than all of us combined, so let him be. We’ll just stick to what we discussed."

Edward replied, his gaze sweeping over the people in the carriage, a faint, imperceptible wry smile on his face.

This was, in fact, a small selfish desire of his. Having access to the Nightfall Church’s intelligence channels, Edward knew full well the significance of this war and the outcome of failure. So, regardless of victory or defeat, he at least hoped to fight alongside these familiar faces, so they could look out for one another. Since the outcome of defeat was the same for everyone, there was no need to suffer the tragic news of a friend’s death in some distant place should they win.

In the face of a campaign of this scale, it mattered little where those who had not reached the legendary tier went; they essentially lacked the ability to alter the local course of the war.

Including Alastair, the sentient races on the continent who had not gone to the Ash Wilds could never be a match for the invaders from Utopia. It was a disparity of absolute power, and the sentient races, aware of this, had chosen a clear path: to hold their ground to the death.

And as Edward had said, when the army’s strength had been broken down and scattered across the kingdom, and when the primary resistance against Utopia’s invasion had become every single citizen of the kingdom, the significance of command diminished; simple information relay was enough.

"Can the Five-Race Alliance and the Sky Mechanical City successfully defeat Utopia?"

Sufang asked Edward, sounding somewhat uncertain.

"Who knows? Wang Yu went there too. Let’s just assume that because he is there, we will surely win. So, we must at least survive until victory arrives, don't you think?"

Stroking the cat-kin lady’s tail as it wrapped around his arm, Edward replied. Worry was useless; the outcome would not change because of it. With the firm will Edward possessed, he knew clearly what they truly needed to do.

"Boom!"

A heavy, distant rumble reached their ears. They were all too familiar with this sound—the result of a massive explosion traveling from a great distance. It seemed the defensive war for those who had not gone to the Ash Wilds had officially begun.

The Five-Race Alliance and the Sky Mechanical City’s expedition against Utopia, combined with Utopia’s invasion of the remaining inhabitants after the continent’s main forces had departed for the Ash Wilds—the two combined to form a war that engulfed the entire continent. It was a two-way war.

The goal of the Allied forces was to crush the plan Utopia was attempting to complete—the environmental transformation of the continent’s Void and material worlds—and then annihilate Utopia entirely on the home turf of the material world.

What Utopia needed to do was stop this main force that had struck at the Ash Wilds, and leverage their omnipresent advantage to launch an invasion of the continent while the main strength of the remaining sentient beings had departed.

If Utopia could seize this opportunity to conquer the sentient races on the continent, then even if the Allied forces destroyed the third "node," they would be facing a continent completely occupied by Utopia. At that point, victory in the Ash Wilds would lose all meaning.

This was not a fair war. The time left for the sentient races of the continent was strictly limited. Failing to break the third "node" or taking too long would result in the war ending in total defeat.

This war of survival left the sentient races no second choice. Even as the Sky Mechanical City received news of invasions from all over the continent—some even reporting that defensive lines had been shattered and destroyed in a very short time—they could not turn back.

The "no turning back" message issued by Icarus was merely a catalyst; they had never had the right to turn back and look after the lands being invaded by Utopia behind them.

The Sky Mechanical City hovered in the firmament, the World Anchor operating within its massive frame, projecting a domain of matter that enveloped all allies, including the Allied forces marching on the ground below, as they marched unswervingly toward the entrance leading to the depths of the Ash Wilds.

...

A cluster of dragons, wrapped in the power of the Lady of Night, flew through the subterranean world of the Ash Wilds. The Nightfall Church’s forces had entered the space beneath the Ash Wilds one step ahead of the Allied forces. Wang Yu’s chariot power completely shielded the invading "internal combustion" force, while the Lady of Night’s divine power rendered the dragons completely hidden, impossible to observe by any means.

"This is the underground world of the Ash Wilds. There are indeed many buildings from the old era."

Standing on the back of the silver dragon Aeryrian, Wang Yu observed his surroundings. The underground space was unimaginably vast, and one could see many slightly weathered but still intact buildings from the old era. A faint red glow emanating from the rock walls illuminated this underground world in a hazy light.

"Wang Yu, Utopia’s garrisoned forces can already be observed in the Void. The path ahead is blocked by a solid energy barrier. If we want to pass through, we cannot maintain the concealment generated by the Night’s divine power."

The girl relayed the information collected by the perfect fractal lens to Wang Yu. Their smooth journey so far had been largely due to the Lady of Night’s terrifying ability to cloak their tracks; even Utopia could not detect Wang Yu and his party while they were under her protection.

"Can we detour through the rock wall on the side?"

"No, this solid barrier is in a spherical state."

"That’s close enough. Let’s just break through in a straight line from here."

"Understood!"