The twin crimson moons in the sky were like a pair of divine eyes watching over the human world. While causing widespread mental pollution, they were also draining the life essence and faith of millions in Lington.
The battle became more and more ferocious.
Lington’s northern suburbs.
The sky hung low, scattered with thick fragments of azure flame clouds, making it seem as if the entire sky had cracked.
Master Pierre had the strength to lift mountains, and his Divine Arts were enhanced by his servants. Both his moves and spells had the power to destroy the heavens and obliterate the earth.
In a desperate battle, everyone around was shocked.
Mr. Jing copied each move precisely with his hand mirror.
The two flaming giants teamed up and beat the ugly tentacled outer god into steady retreat.
While Su Lun marveled at the unrivaled combat prowess of Master Pierre and his mentor’s sister, he also sensed something ominous.
Although the two top experts currently had the upper hand, there was no sign that they could annihilate the outer god anytime soon.
Su Lun’s All-knowing Eye could see each thread of faith. During the battle, he noticed that the red threads broke massively, but the newly infected zombies would reconnect them. The outer god was clearly transferring some of the damage to its followers. Despite significant battle damage, it was far from death. Born from disaster and fed by fear, as long as the believers in Lington survived, it would not be destroyed.
Su Lun knew clearly that everyone on the side of the royal family was enduring, waiting for Master Pierre to be unable to hold on.
Once this ninth tier could no longer hold on and suddenly perished on the spot, the situation would resolve itself.
Then, no one would be able to kill this "Sea Giant Clarence."
And Master Pierre’s aura had already reached its peak, without rising further.
This was actually a sign of impending decline.
Su Lun looked slightly worried and pondered, "Does my mentor’s sister have any other fallback? Things will get worse this way..."
At this moment, if the fight couldn’t be resolved quickly, the situation would increasingly turn against them.
Whether it was Pandora’s Faith Stealing or everything else she had done before, it seemed everything that could be done had been done.
Even Mr. Jing had personally joined the battle.
If there was any strategy left, now was the best time to use it.
If things dragged on, even a backup plan would be useless.
Su Lun walked along the street, having almost finished collecting the Soul Shards near the palace.
He always felt that he should do something.
Suddenly, a bizarre thought flashed through his mind: "Could it be... that my mentor’s sister’s fallback is me?"
The thought wasn’t alarming initially,
but once it arose,
it was deeply frightening.
In the battle against the outer god to the north, only eighth-tier professionals barely qualified to participate.
Su Lun initially thought that, as a sixth-tier, he couldn’t be involved.
Not to say whether he could survive getting close, even if Su Lun went into battle wielding the Black Sickle and Dragon-Slaying Dagger, the thought of hacking while shouting, "I’ll slash your cuticle, chop a few of your hairs..." was absurd—the disparity in levels of battle was too great for him to be directly involved, let alone be of any help; rather, he might add to the trouble.
But... not being able to participate directly didn’t mean there was nothing he could do!
Since Mr. Jing had personally entered the battle, there had been no more communications from her.
She didn’t say, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything.
Su Lun was one of the very few people who had seen gods with his own eyes and knew some taboos about battling gods.
He and Pandora had discussed in detail before, even pseudo-gods who hadn’t yet coalesced divinity couldn’t be killed by ordinary means as long as their faith remained intact.
The most direct method was to deal with the object carrying the god’s faith.
Recalling their last conversation at the underground altar, Su Lun suddenly realized: "That stele!"
...
The battle between mortals and gods had to be conducted with the utmost caution at all times.
Such high-level beings possessed some special perceptual abilities.
Any targeted plotting could potentially be perceived by the outer god, leading to calamity.
That’s why from the beginning until now, nearly all plans to combat the outer god had not been discussed by Mr. Jing.
Su Lun had only guessed some based on the tacit understanding between them.
Just like the previous plan to ambush and severely injure the Evil God; from start to finish, only Su Lun knew.
But Mr. Jing guessed it, so did Yekaterina: that’s why they cooperated wholeheartedly.
Because he had never spoken it aloud, he had successfully ambushed that outer god.
At this moment, the outer god had descended in its true form, and the red moon in the sky was absorbing faith while simultaneously "monitoring" every inch of land under its moonlight.
Its perception was stronger than before.
No wonder there had been no communication since Mr. Jing personally joined the battle.
Because even if she thought of this plan, she absolutely could not speak of it!
Su Lun instantly understood everything.
Currently, only two people knew about the existence of the stele. Mr. Jing was now locked in, and Su Lun himself, because he had Pestia by his side, was undetected by the outer god.
He was also the only one who could approach the stele silently!
Thinking of this, Su Lun’s mind immediately started racing, and a plan was instantly formed.
...
Meanwhile, at the royal harbor in the north city.
The royal dock on the sea was in the midst of a fierce battle, with the opposition’s navy trapping the royal navy in the port, both sides engaged in a relentless bombardment.
Meanwhile, silently laying below the sea was a heavy submarine, its cabin hiding a corps of Mapha’s mechanized warriors. They were dressed in highly advanced mechanized armor, ready for battle at any moment.
This was a secret legion that even Queen Charlotte herself did not know about.
In the cabin, these people watched the battle above through a crystal ball, each of them feeling their hearts pound with trepidation.
Clearly, this was a scene they had not anticipated.
Seeing the outer god coalesce into a body, Baldy in the group of mechanized warriors sighed with a presence that commanded respect, "Ah... no wonder the ’cession treaty’ was signed so promptly; they harbored such a sinister plan all along. That old woman has indeed plotted against all of Mapha this time!"
His eyes reflected the repulsive visage of the tentacled outer god as he solemnly added, "I never thought she would betray the alchemical civilization and conjure up a ’guardian deity’. Luckily, Master Pierre still has the strength to fight, or the consequences would be unimaginable..."
Baldy, his body augmented with mechanized exoskeletons, bore on his shoulders the military rank of the Imperial Golden Eagle General Star.
Even in Mapha, there were no more than a handful who held this military rank.
If a stranger were here, they might recognize him but would hardly believe that this was Meredith Ben Moses, the Grand Admiral of the Mapha Empire!
And those around him were the pinnacle of Mapha’s combat forces.
Originally, they planned to quietly infiltrate Lingdun under the pretext of reinforcements, looking for an opportunity to achieve greater victories. But they had not expected to witness the descent of the outer god.
Marshal Meredith watched the battle stall and stopped watching, signaling his men, "Let’s go. Prepare for battle. Should Master Pierre show signs of waning, we’ll have to assist, see if we can kill that outer god."
"We are entering the battle?"
At his words, a staff officer nearby, slightly puzzled, spoke up, "But Lord Marshal, letting Lu Ying’s people weaken themselves could maximize benefits for us. If Pierre dies, Lu Ying’s fortune will diminish greatly, reducing a significant threat to our Empire."
Another staff officer chimed in, "Yes, Lord Marshal. If we intervene now, not only will it be difficult to explain to the Bonnar royal family. If we really enter the battle at Lingdun, those domestic anti-war factions will definitely accuse our military of intentionally provoking a large-scale war, creating tremendous pressure from public opinion..."
The young Mapha generals were somewhat confused. It made sense to assist Queen Charlotte since there was an alliance.
But fighting the outer god? What was that about?
Wouldn’t that be helping Lu Ying’s "opposition"?
If the Bonnar royal family were overthrown, wouldn’t all their previous efforts be in vain?
Hearing his men, Meredith shook his head and sighed, "We have no choice but to go."
"That old lady has given us a tough problem..."
He paused for a moment, then explained to the group of young generals, "If we do not stop it this time, once Master Pierre dies, the outer god will eventually become powerful and we will never have another chance to kill him. Even if we could secure a decisive advantage in the clashes between the two great empires over the next few years, a hundred years later, the alchemical civilization will inevitably be destroyed. A Lu Ying ruled by an outer god presents an endless threat to us. No matter what, alchemical civilization must never fall into the hands of theocrats!"
Whether traditional alchemists or mechanized magicians, despite being political adversaries, this was about allegiance.
But all of them were devotees of the original creator in the lineage of alchemy, unwilling to let an outer god intervene in the path of civilization’s development. This was a principle.
Hearing this, the young generals finally understood and responded in unison, "Yes, Lord Marshal!"
...
Because he had earlier determined a location for an altar, Su Lun already had a rough idea of the ceremonial magic circle covering the entirety of Lingdun in his mind.
He was proficient in various ancient magic circles and, using those ancient magic circle concepts, could easily calculate a few suspected coordinates.
Once he confirmed the position of the second altar, he would be able to accurately locate all altar positions.
After multiple teleportations confirmed the first two coordinates were incorrect, he appeared near the royal dock on the East Coast.
This was the location of his third calculated coordinate.
When he arrived, the dock too was immersed in intense combat, with gunfire filling the sky.
Su Lun paid no attention to the fighting factions; instead, he constantly kept an eye on the wildly flying shells, searching for that calculated coordinate.
But coincidentally, just as he was walking, he suddenly noticed a group of sneaky individuals emerging from the direction of the royal dock.
These individuals, each cloaked in a black cape, moved with a discipline characteristic of well-trained soldiers.
Even though he couldn’t see their faces, Su Lun immediately realized, "Mapha’s mechanized warriors?"
Although this group was cloaked, the robustness of their bodies was unmistakable—where were they normal people? Each one was distinctly muscular, clearly outfitted with external mechanical devices.
Moreover, the rustling of mechanical joints was evident as they ran, and the fluctuation of soul fire was not too high…
Every sign pointed to their identity as Mafa warriors.
"Such advanced armor…" Su Lun murmured, squinting, immediately guessing something.
He himself was skilled in the creation of mechanical armor, and knew well that any without the sound of steam boilers was top-tier magic-powered mecha.
Why had the Mafa hidden such a group at the docks?
To guard the altar?
That couldn’t be right… wasn’t that something fewer people should know about, the better?
Ideally, no one would know.
Su Lun didn’t avoid them, thinking instead to see what the other party was up to.
A group emerged, and in the dimly lit district, they collided with Su Lun.
Instantly, swords were drawn and crossbows cocked.
A caw came from Black Fang on his shoulder, and Su Lun realized then how dangerous these people were!
"There are at least Grand General-level fighters among these people?!"
This immediately made him cautious, his grip tightening on his black scythe.
The cloaked group, seeing the crow and the black scythe, also guessed who he might be.
To Su Lun’s surprise, after a few seconds of confrontation, they didn’t act but silently retreated?
"Eh… were they not reinforcements for the Bonaparte royal family?"
Su Lun was puzzled.
Weren’t all the Mafa mechanical warriors here reinforcements for Empress Charlotte, yet seeing himself, they didn’t attack?
He looked at the black crow on his shoulder, who clearly was capable of attacking as well.
Su Lun chose not to pursue them.
With a Grand General present, chances were he couldn’t win, and his immediate priority was to find that stele; he had no intention of wasting time.
Watching them truly leave, Su Lun wandered nearby for a bit more, then once again dove underground using an earth elemental wax figure.
However, after descending another thousand meters, Su Lun finally discovered another familiar hidden space!
"Found it!"
With a thrill of excitement in his heart, he pinpointed two locations and quickly calculated all the array points of the entire magic formation by the foreign god.
He didn’t rush in, but appeared on the surface instead.
Now that the positions of the nine corners of the Nonagram Alchemy Formation were confirmed, with Mr. Jing destroying one, eight remained! Your journey continues at Freewebnovel
But he had seen before that the stele could move!
Su Lun knew it was futile to just go in.
Just then, he thought of something, pinched the sorcerer’s seals, and performed targeted spatial displacement. Looking again, he found himself inside a steam airship thousands of meters above Lingdun City!
...
The previous second, Ekaterina felt a slight chill from the pendant on her chest, her eyebrows lifting.
The next second, a person appeared beside her, and she was hardly surprised.
But the command room suddenly having a mysterious cloaked person caused the guards to tense up.
Ekaterina gestured with her hand, signaling the crowd, "You all go out first."
"Yes, Miss."
A number of staff and guards immediately exited, leaving only two people in the vast command center.
Su Lun walked over, took out a map of Lington, and spread it on the table, marking eight places with red crosses.
Ekaterina saw this and her pupils slightly contracted.
Su Lun got straight to the point, "Is it possible?"
Ekaterina apparently understood, nodding her head, "Five minutes."
Su Lun said, "Good!"
The two conversed without specifying what needed to be done, but both understood each other perfectly.
At that moment, Ekaterina took out two elegant wooden boxes from her storage space.
Su Lun recognized one of them; it contained a collection of beautiful and exquisite meteorites.
Upon opening another box, it was filled with premium energy crystals.
Su Lun watched as a mysterious aura emerged from Yekaterina, her domain expanded, and celestial phenomena appeared on her body’s surface.
A box of energy baryte instantly shattered, the energy gathering in the octagram alchemy formation under her feet. From another box, eight meteorites also floated out slowly.
Above the command room of the airship where they were was a brilliant, unobstructed starry sky. In a moment, she seemed to merge with the stars, and the entire night sky became her shadow.
Su Lun noted the pallor on Yekaterina’s face and knew this ritual was a great burden on her.
But this plan could not be communicated to anyone else; only Yekaterina could accomplish it.
All eight altars must be attacked, destroyed simultaneously!
Otherwise, once they began, the outer gods would know the plan, and it would be impossible to defeat them one by one.
Su Lun watched her cast spells, his expression solemn.
The location of the command room provided a clear view of the battle situation in Lingdun City, with fires blazing everywhere within the city.
He could clearly see the north of the city, where two flame giants were besieging the outer god.
However, much to Su Lun’s surprise, a gigantic mechanical war armor over a hundred meters tall suddenly emerged in the chaos of battle!
As soon as this armor appeared, thunder boomed across the sky.
Yet, confusingly, the giant armor charged toward the Evil God.
"A near-ninth level ’Thunder God’ Mecha? Isn’t that the war armor of the Navy Grand General from Mafa, how did it end up here?"
Seeing this, Su Lun suddenly realized what the group of people he had encountered at the royal port was all about.
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A thought flashed through his mind, leaving him shocked and surprised, "Those guys from Mafa, they actually ’turned the tide’ to help fight the outer god?"
After thinking it over, he understood and also gained a bit of respect: "That Grand General really has a vision for the bigger picture, huh."
Any discerning person would know that continuing this way, Master Pierre would indeed be defeated, which currently would be beneficial to Mafa in every way without any harm.
But in the long run, it would be a catastrophic disaster for the alchemy civilization.
Although Mafa clearly had a secret alliance with Queen Charlotte, this Grand General chose to join the battle despite the risk of infamy, which alone was admirable.
However, just as Su Lun saw the fierce fighting in the city, Yekaterina had already completed condensing her ritual.
Stars sparkled in the starry sky, her eyes already a brilliant, profound expanse, her slender fingers shaped into star seals, she chanted softly, "Astrological Alchemy: Curtain Call of an Era!"
Upon hearing this, Su Lun faintly sensed a special significance in this ritual.
Looking again, he saw the stars in the sky, like raindrops, falling toward the ground.
...
"This..."
Su Lun looked up, and outside the airship window was a fireworks display of colorful splendor.
As he watched hundreds of meteors fall toward the ground simultaneously, he was briefly stunned.
The meteorites wrapped in fireballs even whistled past just tens of meters away from the airship...
This was a spectacular meteor shower.
It felt like a festival celebration, romantic wishes, joyous blessings... and like it was announcing the end of an era.
It was supposed to be just eight altars, so why were there hundreds of meteors?
Su Lun glanced at Yekaterina’s eyes, radiant with an unusual gleam, and then he understood that she was bidding farewell to her teacher.
No matter what, today was undoubtedly Master Pierre’s end.
In an instant, Su Lun also understood that all the stars in the sky were there to provide cover for those eight meteors.
The people on the ground were stunned by the rain of meteors, their eyes wide with horror as they watched.
If these meteors really fell in Lingdun City, the vast area would likely be destroyed at once.
But to everyone’s surprise, when they were still thousands of meters above the ground, almost all the meteors exploded like fireworks, bursting into beautiful sparks in the night sky.
The night lit up like day, everyone’s eyes filled with a gleam.
Master Pierre, watching the fireworks across the sky, seemed to sense something, looked up, caught a glimpse of the airship hidden among the stars, and with a content smile on his face amidst his life’s twilight, he murmured, "A new era is coming, huh?"
And suddenly!
The fireworks blazed intensely, and eight fireballs burst through the dazzling white brilliance.
How fast are meteors?
Those thousands of meters, passing in an instant, smashed into the ground, causing the soil to churn!
"Boom," "Boom," "Boom"...
The vast Lingdun City then started to tremble with each blast.