Spellcasting Gods

Chapter 1374 War is Never Pure

hesitate!

contradiction!

The council, the highest authority of the Darrent civilization, is now caught in a dilemma.

The massive expeditionary force, which should have been invincible, once again encountered an unprecedented setback in this world. Not only did it suffer heavy losses before achieving its established strategic objectives, but the much-anticipated anti-core force field device also failed to play a decisive role.

Especially as the Anyat people enter a state of war, the birth rate and the growth rate of newborns will increase rapidly within a few months, eventually reaching an extremely terrifying number.

Coupled with this kind of small-scale combat that completely disregards personal casualties, it is believed that the morale of the expeditionary force will soon be on the verge of collapse.

After all, the Darents were a kind of intelligent life, and they were also capable of experiencing despair and fear.

No matter how much emphasis is placed on so-called "absolute rationality," this fact cannot be concealed.

"Tell me, Commander, our plan has failed, hasn't it?" The Speaker remained silent for a long time before suddenly asking without warning.

The man wearing the Medal of Honor nodded without hesitation: "That's right! Your Excellency! Our Plan One has failed. This world reacts much faster than we imagined! From the start of the invasion until now, it has only been such a short time since we launched a full-scale war mobilization. I understand somewhat why my old friend chose to withdraw in disgrace back then. Fighting in such an unfavorable environment, even if our civilization is several levels higher than our opponent's, it is difficult to reverse the disadvantage."

"What about superweapons? If we use superweapons, how much do you think our chances of winning will increase?" The speaker narrowed his eyes and continued to press.

Clearly, he was unwilling to accept defeat.

To be precise, it means that a record of failure during one's term is not allowed; otherwise, those silent political enemies might launch a collective attack upon returning home and oust him from the position of speaker.

"I apologize for my bluntness, but given the current situation, we don't have many superweapons at our disposal, and none of them are enough to completely turn the tide. They might even provoke a backlash from the enemy. You should know best that we don't know much about this world, let alone what secrets are hidden deep within the Earth's core." The expeditionary force commander stated his opinion directly.

Having experienced countless battles, he understood that he was currently caught in a tug-of-war called a "quagmire." He either had to pour more resources into wearing down the enemy, or, while he still held the initiative, choose to retreat directly to reduce unnecessary losses.

Although his judgment is justifiable from the perspective of pure war, it is regrettable that war is never pure, but rather a continuation of politics.

Take this mobilization, for example, which is rare even in the history of the Darent civilization. In reality, it is the current ruling class's unwillingness to admit the mistakes they have made, and even less their desire to relinquish the power they hold.

That's why they started this war, determined to bring the two boys back alive, no matter the cost.

Therefore, before experiencing a truly crushing defeat, Parliament will never abandon its original plan, much less willingly admit defeat to its political enemies and quietly withdraw from the stage of history.

The speaker was undoubtedly well aware that there was nothing wrong with the other party's suggestion, but he still kept glancing at the members who supported him out of the corner of his eye, while also keeping an eye on his political opponents.

Several minutes passed before he commanded in a completely emotionless tone, "In the name of the Council! I authorize you to use the superweapon—Resonance."

"Wh...what?! Using resonance in the underworld? Are you crazy?" Another councilor stood up abruptly, his tone revealing intense anger and dissatisfaction.

"Of course I'm not crazy! I made this decisive judgment based on the current unfavorable situation. As we all know, one of our current predicaments is the enemy's endless harassment and their innate ability to burrow. Once resonance is used, most of the tunnels in this underground world will collapse, causing enormous damage to the enemy on the move, as well as their towns and villages. Most importantly, resonance will only affect the geological structure and will not damage the Earth's core. At this stage, this is the only superweapon we can use." The Speaker explained, gently tapping the table.

But the opposing lawmakers were clearly not satisfied with this explanation and immediately retorted: "The problem is that resonance is an indiscriminate attack. This means that the areas we control will also collapse. In particular, the tentacles that we have painstakingly extended will all be destroyed under the attack of resonance. In addition, resonance will also cause the entire connected underground world to be isolated, and it may take decades or even hundreds of years to open it up again."

"Don't you think that spending hundreds of years to integrate the bloodlines of two higher beings into the entire race is a very worthwhile thing?" the speaker asked meaningfully.

"But the problem is you can't guarantee this plan will succeed! And you've already failed once!" The congressman stubbornly stuck to his position.

Not only him, but many others also showed expressions of agreement.

After all, the Darrent civilization was not an authoritarian empire, but a meritocratic elite group that held power.

Generally speaking, becoming the speaker of a council means that the person is the most capable and powerful person in the entire civilization.

But if he makes a mistake and begins to be questioned by other elites, it means that it is time to relinquish supreme power.

The speaker clearly sensed the threat in those eyes, but calmly replied, "Whether it's a failure or not, we'll have to wait for the final results to make a judgment. Please be patient, I will give you a satisfactory answer."

Having said that, he ignored everyone's reactions and once again loudly ordered, "Go! Convey the council's authorization to activate the super weapon resonance within one hour."

"As you wish, Your Excellency." The commander bowed and began to relay orders without saying another word.

Soon, the frontline troops who were constantly fighting, wounded, and killed by the enemy were notified to abandon their positions at an extremely fast pace and retreat to relatively safe places.

At the same time, the spellcasters were also working intensively to reinforce the space in and around the portal to ensure that it could withstand the structural damage caused by the resonance, and at least not collapse on the spot and bury everyone alive.

Once everything was ready, a magical device consisting of thousands of rings was carefully taken out of the sealed alley and placed in a heavily guarded open area...

Chapter 1375 Resonance

"This is the super weapon—resonance?"

A young male spellcaster extended a finger, attempting to touch the thousands of golden rings of varying sizes.

But before he could even touch them, he was interrupted by another elderly man next to him, who scolded him harshly: "Fool! Keep your hands to yourself! Otherwise, I won't hesitate to cut them all off. Resonance is one of the most outstanding masterpieces of the entire civilization. Any touch could have serious consequences. If you don't want to die, and don't want to kill the people around you, you'd better behave yourself."

"I...I'm sorry, mentor, I just couldn't help myself." The young man quickly lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

However, the old man's attention was clearly not on the apprentice at the moment, and he said directly to the commander who was standing close by, "Please show the council's authorization!"

“Of course! Here you go!” The commander, wearing a medal of honor, handed over a black stone tablet.

The former took it and cast several detection spells in succession to confirm that it was not a forgery or an order signed involuntarily, before nodding in satisfaction: "That's right! The authorization is valid! Please issue the order."

"In the name of the Supreme Military Commander of the Expeditionary Force, I hereby declare the Superweapon Resonance to be deployed in battle. Please begin; the Council is still awaiting the outcome."

After saying that, the commander quickly retreated to a safe area, widening his eyes to prepare for a close-up look at the spectacular scene of this super weapon unleashing its power.

No unnecessary words!

Upon receiving the order, the old man immediately got to work with his apprentices, and in no time they had completed the simple debugging.

Finally, he gently tossed a bead that shone with a dazzling light into the center of the ring.

next second...

hum!

The originally stationary ring began to rotate rapidly around the bead, while continuously emitting invisible ripples.

Anything that comes into contact with this ripple, no matter what it is, begins to resonate uncontrollably, turning into a pile of dust in as little as two or three seconds or as long as a minute.

Even more terrifying is that these ripples possess incredible penetrating power; apart from specific magical protections, even the hardest crust and metallic ores cannot escape them.

From start to finish, it only took about half an hour, and almost 70% of the vast underground world collapsed.

Almost all towns and villages were buried by falling mud and meteorites, with only a very few lucky ones escaping unscathed.

Resonance, as the name suggests, is the use of magical power to make everything that the ripples touch resonate, ultimately disintegrating the originally indestructible structure from the inside.

This superweapon was originally designed to breach fortified strongholds with extensive magical protection, unlike other superweapons which were intended to directly kill enemies.

However, on the planet Ancas, it produced effects far more terrifying than most superweapons.

Even the areas around the expeditionary force camp that weren't particularly fortified have become ruins, with many alchemical golems digging and clearing, trying to open up tunnels buried in mud and rocks.

……

Just as the Darrents began cleaning up the mess, the boy, shaking off the thick layer of mud from his body, couldn't help but complain, "Damn it! Have all the old guys in the Darrent Council gone mad? Using such a dangerous superweapon as resonance in the underworld!"

"Resonance? What's that?" Luke spat out the mud in his mouth and asked with great interest.

“As you wish, resonance is what causes non-living things to resonate, then break down into tiny particles, or at the very least, destroy the internal structure of some solid objects. It seems the Council is serious this time; they won't rest until they bring us back. Also, did you feel it? They've sealed off the space around this planet; we can no longer escape via teleportation.” The boy took a deep breath and replied.

Luke nodded thoughtfully: "I see! They destroyed the fierce resistance of the original inhabitants in this way, so at least for a short time they don't have to worry about endless harassment."

“Yes! But they’ve also cut off all traffic. This completely enclosed environment is advantageous to us.” With that, the boy emerged from the ground and began to observe his surroundings in private.

Since separating from the Shadow Guard, the two have been heading towards the depths of the earth.

According to information obtained from the female mayor, there is a sacred city deep within the earth called Pula. It is the first city in this world and a holy place in the hearts of the Anyat people.

Because only in this city can they see the true light and boundless power.

Of course, the two boys didn't believe any of this description, which had a mysterious and religious flavor.

In their eyes, the so-called true light and inexhaustible power are likely the scorching Earth's core and the powerful force field generated by it.

However, this speculation needs to be confirmed by seeing it in person.

Looking at the tunnel, which was now completely blocked, Luke asked uncertainly, "What do we do now? Don't tell me we have to dig all the way in!"

"No! Of course not! Remember the symbols we deciphered before? Now it's time to put them to use."

The words had barely left his mouth!

The boy immediately combined the three symbols and threw them down into the soil that reached his waist.

moment!

An invisible force rose into the air, rapidly gathering the soil into a ball, kneading and squeezing it frantically...

In the end, a giant humanoid clay figure was born out of thin air.

However, it was clearly out of anyone's control. Like an idiot, it hopped and spun around in place for several times before opening its mouth and starting to devour the soil on the ground.

Gradually, a tunnel leading to the lower level was thus expanded.

However, the clay figures are completely unaware of this and continue to be driven by instinct, constantly devouring and growing stronger.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Luke stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "This is... creation? No, that's not right, it's not creation, at least not complete creation."

"You guessed right! Remember those bizarre lifeforms in the Dark Lake, killing and devouring each other? According to my deduction, they were born under the influence of the symbols on the stone pillars. And now, I'm using a part of them. Anyway, the life or death of this world is none of your business, even if this creation eventually devours the entire planet, it doesn't matter..."

While saying these words, the boy made no attempt to conceal his evil thoughts, clearly conducting an extremely dangerous experiment.

Chapter 1376 Deep Within the Earth

The newly formed clay life form is like a tireless "snake," constantly devouring the rocks and soil falling from above, and soon it has carved out a network of tunnels.

Especially the part closest to the Earth's core, which is quite rare, did not collapse. Moreover, the walls appeared to have been burned by some kind of high-temperature flame or magma, showing a smooth surface of various colors, which felt like metal and glass to the touch.

Even if you hit it with a hard weapon, it won't leave even the slightest mark.

Clearly, the clay life form's current power was insufficient to destroy such a solid object, so it quickly turned around and continued moving in another direction.

Because it lacks consciousness, it does not possess the ability to think and acts entirely based on the most basic instincts of life, devouring everything that can strengthen itself.

Watching this "monster" that might evolve into something unknown, the boy breathed a slight sigh of relief and said with a hint of excitement, "Let's go, it's time to see that city built deep in the Earth's core, the legendary holy city—Pula."

"You decide!" Luke shrugged nonchalantly.

According to the agreement reached with the Shadow Guard, they need to go to Pula to cooperate with the Anyat leadership and continue to block the Darent expeditionary force, ensuring that it suffers heavy losses in the process of expansion and suppression.

Only in this way will the Shadow Guard have a chance to turn the tide.

The fierce internal political struggles are always a matter of life and death, with no logic or rules to speak of.

Moreover, the two boys are ultimately outsiders; they will never gain the approval of the entire civilization, let alone wield supreme power.