Chapter 251: Divide and Conquer (1)

A massive tower stood in the mountainous area of Eastern Pittsburgh. This tower was one of four, each responsible for the formation of a barrier to conceal the power source of all the other towers.

Heading towards it at a rapid pace was an airship, the Valkyrie.

“It looks like we’ve come to the right place.”

Zod glanced nonchalantly at the troops scattered beneath them, guarding the tower.

They seemed to have been expecting the airship; among the guards were several high-ranking magicians, and a plethora of anti-aircraft weapons, designed to unleash high-powered fire magic at their target.

With countless troops deployed. all well-geared and prepared to defend against an airship, the smoking gun had been found: this was definitely an important place.

Suspicions confirmed, Zod pulled out a cane from his dimensional pocket.

“I’ll attack the target, the rest of you keep the enemy in check.”

“Yes sir!”

As soon as Zod gave his order, the Magic Tower’s magicians, still aboard the airship, started invoking spells.

The Valkyrie’s stealth system having worn off, Divide’s soldiers had noticed the colossal incoming airship and hurriedly began preparing their own spells.

*Bang*

*Crash*

Countless spells collided and exploded, emboldening the dreary Pittsburgh sky with a beautiful array of magical flames.

Under normal circumstances, the Magic Tower’s forces would be at a strategic disadvantage. With their size, they had long forgone the element of surprise and had essentially presented Divide’s troops with a giant target with which to practice their aim. The Magic Tower’s magicians would not only have to return fire, but also prioritize defending their vessel. Against a prepared opponent, defeat would be all but certain.

Knowing this, Divide’s commander gave an order to his soldiers.

“Concentrate all your mana on destroying the airship! Destroy the airship and victory will be ours!”

A plethora of spells launched from the tower, determined to bring the Valkyrie to the ground, yet none of them had any effect.

The Aurora System.

The airship was protected by humanity’s strongest shield, an ingenious invention Desir had brought forward by several years, and that Zod had actualized based on Desir’s ideas.

But Divide’s commander kept his composure.

“The situation hasn’t changed! The Aurora System is designed to defend against short bursts of power! We deployed our system after they deployed theirs. The moment its effect fades, victory will be ours!”

Unsurprisingly, Divide’s commander was not ignorant of the Aurora System’s functionality and weaknesses. They had their own to deploy! During the war against the Outsiders, all of the larger members of the Allied Forces were given at least one to defend themselves with.

Spells continued to be exchanged by both sides, but the confrontation continued with neither party able to penetrate their opponent’s Aurora System.

“Any moment now! Their Aurora System is about to collapse!”

Given the absurd defensive power of the Aurora System, it had an equally absurd mana cost, and its internal mana battery could only last so long. Eventually, both Aurora Systems would stop, and Divide could once again seize the initiative.

“Invoke the tactical magic!”

Having calculated the length of time it would be up for, Divide’s magicians had preemptively arranged tactical magic, waiting to capitalize on the moment the enemy’s Aurora System shut off.

[Trinity Lightning]

A circle of magic seemed to form on the ground, but soon, the array took the shape of a triangle, completely surrounding the airship. Lighting then struck, the majority of it focused on the airship that lay at the center of the formation. Massive lightning bolts shrouded the airship.

*ZAP*

The electrical current’s shriek was ear-shattering. It was a Sixth-Circle spell created by Divide’s magicians.

“H-How… … ?!”

Once the devastating aftermath died down, Divide’s commander couldn’t help but stare in shock. Despite being directly hit by tactical class magic, the airship was unscathed. Its Aurora System continued to function.

“Did they think that the Magic Tower’s technology would stagnate?”

Zod scoffed as he watched Divide’s soldiers looking up at the sky in a daze. Their reaction to this development was no more entertaining than if he were watching some dull comedy.

The Aurora System implemented on this airship was a greatly improved and newer model.

In addition to increasing its durability by improving its mana regulation, it now also had the ability to defend against Seventh-Circle spells one or two times. Its performance was in an entirely different league to the Aurora Systems built over half a year ago.

As he stared up at the airship, mortified by his mistake, Divide’s commander grimly realized the seriousness of the situation. The airship may have been an easy target for his magicians due to its size, but the story changed if there was not a way to break through its defense.

They had absolute air superiority.

If the airship had magicians capable of suppressing ground forces, it was only a matter of time until they would find themselves completely helpless, and defeat would inevitably be on the horizon.

The direction of the wind changed. With that, Zod gave his orders.

“Commence attack.”

*CRASH*

Under the unrelenting artillery of the magicians of the Magic Tower, Divide’s soldiers were completely wiped out.

The only thing left now, was the destruction of the tower.

Zod aimed his cane at the tower. Even though it was beyond his reach, he continued invoking a spell without hesitation.

A massive array started forming in front of him. It was quite different to Des1r’s eccentric calculations. It was systematic, precise; it was the most advanced demonstration of magic, as humanity knew it today.

That was who he was: the Great Sage Zod Exarion, humanity’s strongest magician.

[Nuclear Stream Burst]

The moment his magic was invoked, the entire area was engulfed in light.

An immense explosion followed soon after. The few remaining chimeras and soldiers that were stationed around the tower were swept away and instantly disappeared with the fiery flash of light.

It was overwhelming power that proved why Zod deserved the title of humanity’s strongest.

A moment later, the light subsided, and everyone’s vision returned.

“… … !”

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The Magic Tower’s magicians were dumbfounded. The magic had been powerful enough to wipe out the entire area, but the tower remained standing. Even if the tower were made of Blankšum, it should have been impossible for it to withstand Seventh-Circle magic.

Zod suddenly felt a huge movement of mana at the tip of the tower. Someone stood there.

Realizing that it was a homunculus and that it had blocked his spell, Zod frantically shouted out orders.

“Raise the Aurora System to its maximum power!”

“Yes sir!”

*Whirrrrr*

Shortly after the Aurora System was raised to full power, a ray of light hit the airship.

*Crash*

The ray of light far exceeded the power of Divide’s magicians working in tandem to cast a tactical spell. The Aurora System couldn’t withstand the power and was visibly weakened under the strain.

Even then, Zod did not waver. They had planned for Skull Mask to predict their ambush, expecting a homunculus to be stationed at the tower.

They had managed to destroy the first tower without running into the enemy, but that was because the tower was destroyed before Divide had the chance to suspect anything. The remaining towers would be impossible to destroy without defeating a homunculus.

‘Did it manage to block Seventh-Circle magic… … ?’

The homunculus he had faced a year ago at the Adiena Plains had not been nearly this strong. If he had invoked Seventh-Circle magic at that time with no consideration for the collateral damage it would cause, he would have easily slain it in one go, drawing the curtains on the battle then and there.

But Skull Mask, too, had continued his research for the past six months. The results of this were evident: a homunculus that was incomparably stronger than before.

“Everyone, focus on defense, I’ll deal with the homun… … ”

*CRASH*

Zod did not even get a chance to finish his words before losing his balance. The homunculus had fired off another attack without warning.

A massive crack formed on the invisible barrier. By blocking this attack, the Aurora System had lost most of its defensive ability.

“… … Haah.”

Barely holding himself upright with his cane, Zod looked towards the homunculus. It was smiling.

Seeing that cold smile, the Magic Tower’s magicians slowly backed away in fear, moreso from this expression of sadism than the threat its attacks posed.

“How arrogant.”

A spell unfolded in front of Zod, far quicker than any other he had cast up to this point. With a nearly instinctual reaction to the flow of mana, the homunculus turned around to face the source.

It was a second too late. Zod had teleported behind the homunculus right as his spell calculation finished.

*CRASH*

The top of the tower was engulfed in a massive explosion.

“… … !”

The homunculus hurriedly raised its arms to defend itself, but unable to withstand the pressure, its two arms shattered. If it had taken any longer to regenerate, it wouldn’t have escaped with just damage to its two arms.

Power beyond common sense.

Having never gone up against such a strong human, the homunculus felt threatened. It could sense that there was something different about the presence in front of it compared to other humans.

“The last time I met one of you, I was made quite the fool. Seems like destiny has given me a chance to right that wrong.”

Zod’s spell was invoked just before the homunculus’s spell, the Seventh-Circle magician narrowly beating out a cheat-like monster capable of skipping most of the spell casting process.

“This time, it’s your turn to watch helplessly.”

[Eternal Slumber]

The highest level of ice magic that stopped all molecular activity within the targeted area.

The tower instantly began to freeze before starting to turn brittle, so brittle that even an ordinary human could shatter it.

The tables had turned. One year ago, Zod had to fight while protecting the Allied Forces, but this time, the homunculus had to fight while protecting the tower.

*THUD*

The homunculus rushed to defend the tower, its top priority. When Zod invoked his magic, it stopped at nothing to block those attacks.

A series of lower-circle spells, the kind that didn’t need much time to be invoked, were fired continuously at the tower.

Normally, the homunculus would have taken these attacks head-on with its body and immediately counter attack, but with the tower shattering at even the slightest impact, it could not afford to.

At this moment, lower-circle magic was no less powerful than high-circle magic.

To make sure that none of the spells hit the tower, the homunculus had to spend excessive amounts of mana.

Invoking attack spells one after another, Zod’s use of mana was not insignificant, but the homunculus had to consume even more than that.

This was a battle that would be decided through efficiency, and there was an overwhelming difference between the two combatants.

*CRASH*

*BANG*

After a long time passed, the constant sounds of explosions had stopped.

This was not because Zod’s mana had run out. Despite having a far larger mana pool, it was the homunculus that had dried up first.

The homunculus gasped for air. Even though it had focused solely on defense, several parts of the tower had been destroyed after it failed to block a couple of attacks.

“There’s no way a weapon created to destroy could ever protect anything.”

Zod stared coldly at the homunculus.

Now that the homunculus could no longer afford the mana to manipulate its power over causality, Zod started invoking high-circle magic once again.

The homunculus felt an immense amount of mana gathering before its eyes.

“Let’s see this through to the end.”

The tower collapsed with a deafening roar.

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