Chapter 504: Approaching, Power of the Depths

"Mr. Wang Yu, thank you for the efforts the Nightfall Church has made for this campaign. The Allied Legions and the Sky Mechanical City have preserved their strength almost entirely. As for what comes next... no, let us annihilate the enemy together. Our objectives should be aligned, and the target is now very close."

The magitech communication, previously severed by the depth of the earth and the thick walls of rock and soil between them, reconnected at this moment. The Sky Mechanical City’s operator spoke to Wang Yu with an excited tone, expressing their gratitude.

Throughout the journey, thanks to the Nightfall Church’s advance, the path had been far smoother than anticipated. Aside from a few unavoidable combat losses, the army’s strength remained nearly identical to when they had first arrived; indeed, bolstered by high morale, their combat effectiveness might even be greater.

"Very well. Continue descending along the path opened by the earth elementals; the target should be just ahead. As for the battle situation, you likely have a clearer understanding and expectations than I do, so I shall say no more. We will coordinate based on the actual circumstances when the time comes."

Wang Yu responded briefly. As they continued to delve deeper, the "internal combustion" power within the surrounding environment would only intensify. When they arrived, their forces would face not only the Utopia organization but also the trials of this harsh environment.

Should the means of shielding against the "internal combustion" power fail, they would find themselves in a dire predicament. However, there were certainly enough sages aboard the Sky Mechanical City that Wang Yu need not worry on their behalf.

"Rumble!"

As the troops pressed forward, precisely at the point where the two armies converged, the rock wall above suddenly shook. Massive amounts of sand and stone collapsed one after another, raining down upon the coalition forces like a deluge.

"It is a Quake spell. Stabilize the strata."

The mages within the coalition immediately identified the nature of this attack from the Utopia organization. A danger inherent to deep subterranean travel was the collapse of the strata; millions of tons of sand and soil crashing down could bury those underground alive.

For ordinary adventurers, this would be a death sentence, but for the coalition of the continent’s intelligent races, it was a trivial matter.

One only needed to understand the principles of the Quake spell—invading the earth with one’s own earth elementals to shatter its stable structure and trigger a large-scale collapse—and possess the counter-force to inject the same elementals back into the earth to maintain its stability, thereby neutralizing the spell.

For the legendary mages of the Allied Legions, this was a basic operation. The white dragons among them were the first to exhale wide-area freezing mists, forcibly solidifying the fractured ceiling, while the earth-specialist mages of the Legion projected their mana into the rock layers to repair and stabilize the trembling, shattered earth.

"Something is wrong. This is not a standard Quake spell. The collapse of the earth is not their goal; this Quake-like effect is merely a side effect of what they are actually doing. The Utopia organization is driving the earth to transport something up from the realms below!"

The mages soon realized the discrepancy. Vast flows of earth elementals were coursing through the surrounding strata, and the condition for a Quake spell was not merely "sufficiently large earth elementals." Its true requirement was the precise destruction of structural weak points; if the goal were merely to enhance the effect, there would be no need for such an excess of additional earth elementals.

The warning from the mages was quickly transmitted to all members via the coalition’s communication system. Those who learned of this began to prepare for the object about to be delivered, though "preparation" did not mean standing idle—it meant creating massive obstacles for the enemy.

"Boom!"

Above the main city of the Sky Mechanical City, a metal pillar, slightly smaller than a "World Anchor," descended from the sky. Its reinforced base slammed into the earth, driven by the kinetic energy of its fall. The mage legions below immediately injected their mana into the pillar, charging the internal devices that required mage guidance to function.

A Spell Amplifier? Integration. In terms of effect, it was similar to the joint-casting unique to the Utopia organization, though it did not rely on forcing the legion mages into high-demand synchronization. Instead, it used magitech to unify the final coordination process; the mages only needed to complete their respective spells within the machine.

Integrated casting, strengthening the eighth-tier spell "Fossil to Mud Sea." The basic spell "Fossil to Mud," cast simultaneously by over twenty legendary mages, was further converged and amplified by the Spell Amplifier, elevating the spell to a tier it could never have reached on its own, transforming it into something entirely different.

"Gurgle."

A muffled sound of viscous matter churning echoed. The path along which the Utopia organization attempted to transport the object, including the surrounding earth, had its properties altered by endless earth elementals, instantly converting from solid rock into soft, viscous mud. They had effectively created a subterranean sea of sludge beneath them.

The earth, losing its support, began to collapse downward. A massive crater appeared before the Allied Legions, and within the churning sea of mud below lay the object the Utopia organization was transporting upward.

"Strong fluctuations of Void energy detected. Target form confirmed: it resembles a biological heart, bound by numerous chains. Currently unable to confirm its strength or method of attack. Please remain vigilant."

The mages, using their extended spiritual perception, discerned the appearance of the object being transported. It was a gargantuan, chain-bound heart, and they immediately relayed this information to the rest of the team.

"Crack!"

A thunderous roar erupted. The appearance of the mud sea had directly thwarted the Utopia organization’s attempt to quickly transport the heart upward using the earth. And one of the best ways to attack in conjunction with this muddy, wet swamp was lightning.

Blinding azure currents shot out from the base of the Sky Mechanical City, striking the crater before the legions head-on. The high-energy lightning, possessing immense penetrative power, tore through the mud and slammed into the target below.

The power core within the main city of the Sky Mechanical City was running at full capacity, with conversion devices transforming all that energy into the state of "electricity" via magitech. This form of energy, which could be generated on a massive scale by magitech, was the Sky Mechanical City’s method of extreme single-point output.

The high-energy lightning flooded the entire sea of mud in a fraction of a second, indiscriminately destroying everything within it. The intense heat and other secondary destructive effects caused the mud sea to boil and churn even more violently.

"Void state changing. A convergence effect is occurring. The density of Void energy around that heart has reached a critical point. It is now the core of the surrounding Void region. Beware of its subsequent attacks. The World Anchor is beginning to operate; prepare for a counter-surge."

These were the words transmitted to all coalition members by Icarus at that moment. Aided by the Sky Mechanical City’s observation devices, he had confirmed the situation below. With the mud sea now saturated by high-energy lightning, the Utopia organization no longer relied on the earth to transport the heart upward, choosing instead to activate the power of the heart itself.

A layer of Void energy, of astonishing density, appeared around the heart, instantly erasing the lightning in its vicinity and accelerating its ascent toward the surface.

Having received Roland’s data, Icarus understood better than any other what those Void energies surrounding the heart were—energies far more intense than those typically utilized by normal wizards.

It was the power that this "heart" had originally possessed. In other words, it had reclaimed the power it had lost in the Void. This was the same substance used by Sura and that Pope of the God of Light; these powers, which belonged to the entity itself, possessed an almost unstoppable priority in the confrontation of Void energies.

"These powers, which originally belonged to the entity itself, must be the Void energy that constitutes a wizard’s 'Secret Power.' But compared to the power it originally held, it is far too little; one can only find a negligible amount as one’s wizard rank and the intensity of one’s Secret Power increase."

Icarus pondered silently. This was the first time he had witnessed with his own eyes what Roland called the power that "originally belonged to oneself." Based on this, he extended his thoughts further: did this mean that all magic cast by wizards in the past was as powerful as the Secret Power of this era’s wizards? That would indeed be immensely powerful, but how could such formidable power have been lost?

The target drew closer, and Icarus began to tense. This "heart" was undoubtedly a formidable foe. The "World Anchor" was the key to shattering it, but other artillery and magical support were absolutely essential. He had already begun coordinating with Astartes to switch all sectors of the Sky Mechanical City to war status.

"Whoosh!"

Simultaneously, a layer of darkness swept across the entire position, covering the bodies of the allies and the surrounding area with the divine power of the Night. The power of concealment took effect; presence, mana fluctuations, sound, heat, light reflection—all things that could be collectively termed "existence"—were erased one by one.

Wang Yu, dragging the divine power of the Night from the pitch-black "halo" above, used the Lady of Night’s power to pull the entire troop into a realm of concealment, granting them the advantage of glimpsing the target before the enemy could see them.

"Ah, so noisy. Is dealing with all those matters for believers always this troublesome for gods? It’s too exhausting."

Wang Yu shook his head with slight irritation. He now had the Tree of the Night Sky under his control, but his method of manipulating the Chariot’s power was crude and forced; he did not know how to handle the messy, instinctive duties of a god.

Especially while in the material world—the Void, an environment where one "need not know the why," could be bluffed through, but the material world was different. Fortunately, they had long since made the Tree of the Night Sky fully automated; the prayer communication network, the Midnight Library, and other such things could run on their own, preventing a collapse caused by Wang Yu, who did not know how to manage them, usurping control.

But problems remained. All those miscellaneous pieces of information were being fed back to Wang Yu—conversations between believers, the contents of new books added to the Midnight Library—all of it was being transmitted to him, buzzing like a swarm of insects around his ears.

Moreover, this information transmission was not aggressive; it came along with the divine power of the Night. It was merely annoying, and he couldn't just cut it off, as that would render the divine power of the Night unusable. It was taxing his brain to the limit.

"Wait a moment, I will adjust the information collection for you. Just skip over the useless parts."

Avia used Wang Yu’s Chariot power to quickly adjust the structure of the Tree of the Night Sky, spending some time helping Wang Yu filter out the annoying information.

"That’s a huge help."

Wang Yu sighed in relief, offering his customary thanks, and then looked toward the power projecting from within the Void.

"Something from the depths of the Void?"

"Power from the depths."

"I still underestimated that existence. Let us first unleash the power from the depths that the two nodes can invoke."

The voices of Wang Yu, Avia, and Sura rang out at different moments.