Novel Bin Chapter 598.1: What Do You Want to Do? (1)
Chapter 598.1: What Do You Want to Do? (1)
Wars were turning points of human civilization.
Ruins left in the wake of devastating wars became the foundation for the next phase of civilization. The continuous cycle of destruction and creation had been the trajectory for humankind’s development for millennia.
Even so, humankind had never had to fight so desperately for their survival prior to the Third Epoch.
Unlike the wars among countries, the war against the deviants was a fight between races with no room for ceasefire or negotiation—this battle would only end with the extinction of one side.
Humankind had to do everything they could to destroy the deviants if they wanted to survive. All humans, regardless of nationalities or religions, had to stand on the same front.
Such was the case for the Battle of Scorched Earth too.
At midnight, along the border of Hawe Desert, a humongous army of armored soldiers that stretched on for many kilometers stood at attention as they quietly awaited further instructions. All that could be heard was the sound of breathing and the fluttering of flags in the night gale.
A fully-armored Nora and Charlotte stood next to each other amidst a large group of clergymen, as they gazed at the eastern horizon as if waiting for something.
So far, the core force of this military operation numbered 250,000 soldiers.
Roel’s heretic army and the Ascarts’ personal army, who were in the midst of escorting Carter home, quickly rushed back to the frontlines upon receiving news about Roel’s plight, thus adding three more Origin Level 2 experts—Cynthia, Rodney, and Woode—to the team.
This was a huge addition to the team, but it was far from sufficient to turn the tides of the battle. Even so, the participation of the 50,000 elites still greatly boosted Nora and the others’ morale.
For this rescue operation to succeed, the vanguard armies had to build up tremendous momentum to pierce the deviants’ encirclement, so there was a high requirement on the soldiers’ fighting prowess and morale. Roel’s heretic army and the Ascarts’ personal army perfectly met the criteria, so they were stationed at the center of the military formation.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any more reinforcements aside from them.
Opposite Nora and the others, a humongous army of deviants with a strength of at least 200,000 stood in a neat formation in Hawe Desert. The torches they held formed an imposing sea of light. Deep war horns could be heard echoing ceaselessly from the distance.
Countless aerial demonic beasts circled the sky while furiously squawking at the human armies, intimidating the enemies on their masters’ behalf. On the ground, ferocious deviants bared their fangs, awaiting the commencement of war.
With the Deviant Sovereign by their side, all of the deviants were at the peak of their morale. Fear of death had become a thing of the past for them; the only thing they wished to do was to prove their valiance to their liege by slaughtering the enemies. They roared with murderous intent, their brandished weapons gleaming menacingly.
However, the armies of humankind weren’t fazed in the least.
Be it the towering giant standing at the front or the military strategists at the back, there was not a single person who was intimidated by the deviants. The soldiers gathered here were mostly veterans who had survived the worst battles last year; they knew that the enemies’ cries were nothing but empty roars. Their morale wouldn’t be shaken by something like this.
Besides, humankind was already on the brink of destruction due to the threat of the Deviant Sovereign. If they couldn’t rescue Roel, the one human who carried the greatest potential to defeat him, there would be no future for their race.
For the future of their race, as well as their aged parents and young children behind them, they had to fight and win this battle.
For unknown reasons, Lilian and her armies hadn’t arrived in the end. To make things worse, the deviants had jammed their communication magic tools, making it impossible to liaise with her about it. Even military orders had to be issued through physical means.
Even so, the military operation had to continue.
“It’s about time,” Charlotte reminded.
“Mmhm.” Nora nodded.
Her expression looked tense as she made her way toward an empty stone square.
This stone square was small in size. It was inscribed with a beautifully intricate pattern, and a stone sword was lodged in the center of the square. There were four armored angel sculptures stationed at its corners, each wielding a different weapon.
The materials of the stone square hinted at its old age, and as a matter of fact, it was an ancient relic passed down from the Second Epoch.
This Square of the War Angels was one of the Genesis Goddess Church’s greatest treasures. It was passed down by the Angels of the ancient era, making it an artifact of great historical significance.
It was once a strategic-class weapon of the Ancient Austine Empire back in the Second Epoch, but it was now one of the potent tools protecting humankind in the war against the deviants.
As soon as Nora stepped into the square, the four angel sculptures released brilliant glows, and a holy aura suffused the surroundings.
Along the perimeter of the square, countless clergymen raised their staffs and channeled their mana toward the four sculptures. Under their infusion of mana, the square was soon cloaked in a thin layer of light. At the same time, the holy aura grew correspondingly denser.
Nora wrapped her hand around the stone sword as she gazed at the sky above.
Specks of light started to dot the dull sky covered in dark clouds as if fireflies emerging out of thin air. These specks of light emanated no mana pulsation, and they were hardly conspicuous due to the countless aerial demonic beasts occupying the sky too.
Yet, Nora’s eyes glowed upon seeing those specks of light.
Her Angel Sovereign Bloodline was resonating with the stone sword, inducing the eyes of the four angel sculptures to light up as well. Moments later, four pillars of golden light shot into the sky.
Boom!
An earth-shaking mana pulsation suddenly rattled the silent night together with a deafening explosion. Golden light quickly irradiated the dark sky, changing the landscape of the battlefield. The Angel Sovereign’s avatar manifested behind Nora, as she pulled out the stone sword and used it to gently nick her wrist.
Fresh blood flowed from her wrist down the stone sword, and dripped onto the stone square. Upon contact with her blood, the intricate patterns on the ground glowed, and the entire stone square began to buzz.
It had been thousands of years since the Angel Sovereign Bloodline had last been awakened, but now, Nora was drawing forth the true prowess it harnessed through this ancient formation. Amidst the intense tremors, the souls of the four war angels emerged from their respective sculptures and bowed to her.
At the same time, the four pillars of light converged together as one.
Nora raised her stone sword up high, causing her blood to drip on her own face. At the same time, the inconspicuous specks of light dotting the sky transformed into a brilliant sea of stars. Each of these stars was a holy sword blazing with golden flames. They floated in the skies like a guillotine hanging above the deviants.
Even the bravest of deviants instinctively felt fear.
Thousands of deviant priests raised their staffs to channel army spells, hoping to dispel the menacing threat looming above their heads, but the spells they cast were all swiftly assimilated by the golden light in the sky and disintegrated.
After many futile attempts, the deviants had no choice but to prematurely launch their attack. War horns echoed, as tens of thousands of deviants stepped away from their turf to charge at the human armies.
It was also then that Nora opened her eyes and solemnly muttered the name of her spell.
“Judgment.”
The golden swords rained down on the deviants, impaling their bodies while spreading holy flames that swiftly burned them to ashes. Their military formation quickly collapsed into pandemonium.
The human soldiers cheered in delight.
It was also then that military orders were quickly passed down through the command chain. Regardless of their nationality or position, every single military commander finally received an order after a long and tense wait.
“Attack.”
…
Roel Ascart was met with a beautiful face as soon as he awoke from his sleep.
It was a fair face with a delicate nose, cherry lips, madder-red eyes, and long eyebrows. She gave off a mischievous yet enigmatic disposition, which made it hard to fathom her thoughts.
Roel was enchanted for a brief moment, though he quickly snapped out of it.
“…You gave me a scare, Artasia.”
“!”
Roel had woken up so abruptly that Artasia only snapped out of her daze when he started speaking. She blankly blinked her eyes before awkwardly sitting upright.
“You’re back?” Artasia asked with a reddened face. “I thought that you would take longer.”
“Mmhm. Grandar usually gets straight to the point,” Roel replied with a nod.
He wasn’t surprised that Artasia knew he had paid a visit to Grandar; the Witch Queen had been his most frequent visitor in his dreams, after all. Furthermore, she knew a great deal about his bloodline as Sia’s enforcer, so it wasn’t very surprising for her to know his whereabouts.
However, there was one detail that caught his attention.
“Artasia, what were you trying to do?”
“What could you be referring to?”
“You were leaning close to me earlier.”
“…”
The Witch Queen’s smile instantaneously froze, and her cheeks seemed to twitch a little too. However, she quickly gave an answer, “…Heartbeat.”
“Pardon me?”
“I didn’t expect that you would only have a quarter of your heart left, so I had to do a closer examination.”
“Ah! I had gotten reckless this time around. Thank Sia you’re here to treat me,” Roel replied with a nod of realization as he checked on his newly-recovered heart.
Artasia heaved a relieved sigh in her heart as her smile returned. “Don’t worry. I’m only doing my job.”
“Even so, I am indebted to you. Speaking of which, Artasia, how’s the liberation of the trapped Tark Stronghold personnel going?” Roel asked as he curiously scanned his surroundings.
“I have sent them back,” Artasia replied with a gleeful smirk.
“That’s fast! How long have I been asleep for?”
“It has been around an hour, but the flow of time is unusual here. It’d probably translate to around a day outside.”
“A day?” Roel’s expression tightened.
A day was not a long period of time at all, but too many things could change within a single day. He should have regrouped with Nora and the others today if everything had gone to plan, but their initial plan had gone down the drain when the Deviant Sovereign had found him.
There had been so many deviants moving into Hawe Desert to encircle him that there was no way the united army could have overlooked that. Supposing that humankind hadn’t given up on him, they would have initiated a battle against the deviants at Hawe Desert by now.
This was his best chance to escape.
I need to make a move soon, Roel thought as his eyes grew firm.
He proceeded to ask Artasia about the condition of Tark Stronghold’s personnel.
The Witch Queen spent a moment in thought before answering, “The temporary erasure of their existences is bound to have affected them, but they should be able to quickly recover their fighting prowess with the aid of recovery spells.”
“Recovery spells?”
Roel let out a huge sigh of relief, knowing that at least half of Tark Stronghold’s personnel were adept at recovery spells. While offensive spells might aid them in accruing merits, recovery spells boosted their and their comrades’ chances of survival on the treacherous battlefield.
“Anyway, it should be fine even if those humans fail to regain their fighting prowess. I discovered something else. Think of it as a gift from me.”
“Artasia?”
“I’ll be leaving first.”
The Witch Queen vanished with a smile before Roel could enquire deeper. He was momentarily stunned before he shook his head and sighed at the Witch Queen’s eccentricity.
“It’s time to leave this space,” Roel murmured under his breath as he left the sky garden.
He made his way toward the highest throne room, where he took in the familiar surroundings and reminisced on the times he had spent with Her here. A long time later, he let out a sigh.
He raised his palm and focused on his connection with Wilhelmina as he muttered the name of his spell, “Silver Devourer.”
White fog surged from Roel’s palms and swiftly obscured his figure. By the time the white fog scattered, he was nowhere to be seen.
Shortly after Roel’s departure, the white fog lingering in the Moonsoul Palace suddenly stirred, forming a vague humanoid silhouette. It stared at the spot where Roel had been standing before quietly scattering with the wind.
…