Chapter 289: Observation in the Dark

The last time Morin saw the Eiffel Tower collapse was in the movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Especially in the latter, the first-person perspective of the tower collapsing, accompanied by the BGM, had shocked him for a long time.

But now, witnessing this other-worldly, magitech-modified, electricity-discharging, soul-summoning “Eiffel Tower” begin to collapse after its support structure was punched through, he realized he had been shocked too early.

Under the normal flow of time, the collapse of the Eiffel Tower seemed to happen in slow motion.

The 324-meter tall, 10,100-ton steel giant slowly tilted toward the direction of the massive circular hole blasted by “Gungnir.”

The pierced, massive angular inclined pillar could no longer support the terrifying weight from above. Countless steel beams twisted and snapped amidst ear-piercing creaks and groans.

The magical power contained within the giant tower had previously been surging through the magitech circuits throughout the structure.

But now, as the tower’s structure disintegrated, the magitech circuits were physically severed and destroyed, and the originally balanced magical environment inside the tower collapsed with them.

Unrestrained mana began to dissipate violently, causing various unpredictable magical reactions.

Balls of blinding blue fire exploded without warning all over the iron tower, accompanied by dull roars.

As a spellcaster, Morin could clearly feel that this was the phenomenon produced by various high-purity magical energies being released violently the moment they lost their containment.

The ground beneath their feet began to shake violently, as if an ancient beast were turning over underground.

This vibration, mixed with the magical turbulence released by the tower’s collapse, plus the failure of the tower’s spell amplification, caused a devastating effect on the surrounding undead creatures.

Their movements became visibly sluggish and dull.

The rotten flesh on the ghouls and wights began to peel off piece by piece, revealing the pale bones underneath.

And those ordinary skeletons seemed to have their last bit of strength drained away, falling apart one by one into piles of scattered bones.

“BOOM—”

Amidst a long, low rumble, the massive body of the Eiffel Tower finally passed a critical point and accelerated its fall.

It spanned across the Seine River, its huge spire smashing into the opposite bank. The water of the entire river was displaced by this force, setting off monstrous waves.

The massive dust cloud generated by the impact rose into the sky, forming a gray-black column of smoke.

But this column of smoke rose for only a few seconds before it was completely dispersed by an even more terrifyingly loud noise.

It was all the remaining magic cores inside the tower undergoing a phenomenon similar to a sympathetic detonation the moment the structure completely collapsed.

A visible shockwave, mixed with electric lights of various colors, exploded outward from the wreckage of the tower.

As the shockwave swept past, the indicator lights on all the magitech equipment on the “Odin” armored train extinguished instantly. The equipment itself emitted crackling sounds and puffed out wisps of blue smoke.

“Colonel! Most of the magitech equipment on the train has failed!”

Inside the command carriage, a magitech technician rushed to Lucas, panic written all over his face.

“Can the Radiant Crystal Internal Combustion Engine still move?” Lucas grabbed him by the collar and roared.

“Report, Colonel! The power system hasn’t been affected and is operating normally!”

“Good, that’s good… Everyone! Board the train immediately! We are withdrawing right now!”

Upon hearing this, Lucas didn’t hesitate at all. He shouted the retreat order to everyone outside who was stunned by the tower’s collapse and the “crashing” of the undead creatures.

His voice was incredibly hoarse from excessive shouting, but it woke everyone up from their stupor.

The soldiers of the Instruction Assault Battalion and the clergy reacted immediately. While smashing the sporadic undead creatures around them with cold weapons and rifle butts, they alternately covered the technicians and engineers as they retreated back onto the train.

Due to the urgency of time, the hydraulic support arms pressed down by extra weights were abandoned directly.

The engineers dismantled them from the train body as quickly as possible and left them there.

“Gungnir,” whose barrel was severely ablated by high temperatures and even showed signs of melting, was also quickly retracted into the armored carriage.

Several magitech technicians nervously conducted an inspection inside the carriage and quickly reached a conclusion.

Ten sets of the twelve acceleration rune coils inside the barrel had completely failed, and the remaining two were severely ablated due to overload, nearly scrapped.

This meant that this decisive weapon could not be used again in a short time.

Everyone completed boarding at the fastest speed, and the doors closed amidst the ear-piercing sound of metal friction.

At the last moment before boarding, Morin looked up at the sky.

He saw the severely damaged Armored Airship No. L29. Its huge gas bag was covered with tears, billowing black smoke.

Although its altitude was constantly dropping, it was still tenaciously adjusting its attitude, wobbling as it flew toward the outside of the city, not giving up hope of survival.

“Woo—!”

The Radiant Crystal Internal Combustion Engine emitted a deafening whistle, and the “Odin” started again, rushing toward the outside of the city along the tracks they came on.

As soon as Morin entered the carriage, he immediately contacted the command carriage through the internal communication line.

“Colonel Lucas! The situation with Airship L29 is very bad, but they look like they are trying to crash-land outside the city!”

“Received!”

Lucas’s voice came from the communicator.

“After the Eiffel Tower collapsed, we found that the interference with the radio was much less. We will try to meet them after the train leaves the city! I will let the signalman try to see if we can contact them!”

“Understood!” Morin responded. “In addition, we can also contact L28 and ask them to continue bombing the fallen Eiffel Tower! Just because that thing fell doesn’t mean it’s safe; we must eliminate future trouble!”

“Good idea!”

The armored train retreated out of the city along the original route.

Fortunately, due to the collapse of the tower, all the undead creatures in the city fell into an unprecedented state of chaos and weakness.

They wandered aimlessly in the ruins or simply collapsed on the ground, showing no reaction to the armored train speeding past.

This made the journey of evacuating Paris much smoother than when they came.

After boarding, no one had the strength to support their tense nerves and exhausted bodies anymore.

As the adrenaline faded, boundless fatigue surged like a tide.

The soldiers of the Instruction Assault Battalion, the clergy, technicians, and engineers—everyone slumped on the cold floor of the carriage, gasping for breath.

The carriage was filled with a complex smell of sweat, gunpowder smoke, and blood, but no one cared.

Everyone’s face bore a mix of relief from surviving a disaster and bewilderment.

A few relatively young soldiers of the Instruction Assault Battalion seemed to retain a trace of energy.

They lay on the observation window of the carriage, looking at the wreckage of the Eiffel Tower spanning the Seine River like the carcass of a giant beast in the distance, clicking their tongues in wonder.

For them, this was a battle record worth boasting about for a lifetime.

However, Archbishop Maurice’s expression on the other side remained serious.

He looked at Morin, who sat down beside him, and spoke in a low voice.

“Captain Morin, we may not be able to rejoice too early.”

Morin turned his head and saw the Archbishop’s face full of worry.

“Although that evil Mage Tower has fallen, it is far from over.”

Archbishop Maurice looked at the City of Death gradually drifting away outside the window and said slowly, “The negative energy accumulated in the Paris underground cemetery for hundreds of years has been activated too much by this Mage Tower… For a short time, this city will no longer be suitable for any living beings to survive.”

“And such a large-scale outbreak of negative energy is like a huge wound. For a long time in the future, it will continuously attract and spawn new undead creatures, triggering disasters on a larger scale.”

He paused, and with a tone almost like a sentence, determined the final outcome for this city.

“In short, this ‘City of Civilization of Europa’ will become a true dead city from today on…”

The armored train rushed out of the Paris urban area, and everyone finally saw Armored Airship No. L29 making an emergency landing.

The massive airship was like a wounded giant whale, finally plunging into an open field outside the city, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Fortunately, the height of the forced landing was not too high, so theoretically, most of the crew should have survived.

However, without a dedicated support structure, the turrets mounted under the armored airship were probably ruined…

Colonel Lucas immediately ordered the train to stop and, together with Morin, organized some personnel in better condition to go and meet them.

At the same time, he also had the armored train’s signalman send a telegram to the temporary headquarters of the First Army Group through the recovered radio.

The content of the telegram was simple: “Gungnir hit the target, the Eiffel Tower has been destroyed, the threat of the Undead Scourge is basically lifted, and my unit is evacuating. Armored Airship No. L29 is severely damaged and has crash-landed outside the city. Please send support troops immediately to respond!”

Behind the armored train, continuous explosions sounded again in the city of Paris.

Obviously, Armored Airship No. L28 hovering high in the sky received the message sent by the armored train and was using the remaining few Radiant Crystal Reaction Shells and ordinary aerial bombs to carry out a “double-tap” bombing on the wreckage of the tower.

First Army Group Temporary Headquarters.

When the duty telegraph operator received this message from the “Odin,” he confirmed the content several times before tremblingly delivering the message to the command tent.

Inside the tent, General Mackensen and Lieutenant General Seeckt, who had stayed up all night, were forcing themselves to stay awake, listening to a staff officer’s battle damage report on the frontline troops.

When the adjutant handed the telegram to Mackensen, the old general’s hands were trembling slightly.

He read it word by word, then handed it to Seeckt next to him.

The two looked at each other and saw a relief of heavy burdens in each other’s bloodshot eyes.

“Finally, it’s over…”

General Mackensen murmured, and his body, tense all night, collapsed instantly.

He didn’t even have the strength to walk back to his camp cot. He just found a chair nearby, sat down, leaned back, and fell into a deep sleep.

Loud snoring filled the entire command tent the next second.

The surrounding staff officers looked at each other, but no one dared to disturb the Commander-in-Chief who had borne enormous pressure.

Lieutenant General Seeckt looked at the sleeping Mackensen and let out a long sigh of relief.

He called General Mackensen’s adjutant and whispered, “Let the General rest well. Don’t wake him up unless it’s something major.”

“Yes, General!”

The adjutant saluted, carefully covered Mackensen with a blanket, then found a camp cot and unfolded it, preparing to move the old general onto it to rest.

After dealing with these, Lieutenant General Seeckt of the First Army Group drank the umpteenth cup of coffee brought by the adjutant, barely revitalizing his spirit that was almost crushed by fatigue.

He called several core staff officers, pointed to the operation map, and issued a series of orders in a tired but unquestionable tone.

“Immediately compile the details of the Battle of Paris, including the results of the ‘Odin’, the scale of the Undead Scourge, and the preliminary battle losses of our army… Show it to me after organizing it, and then send a telegram to the General Staff!”

“Send a telegram to General Bülow of the Second Army Group, informing him of the situation in Paris, and request them to split their forces to temporarily take over the defense of our two wings. The First Army Group needs at least forty-eight hours of rest!”

“Order all troops to retreat in batches for rest immediately after confirming that the threat of the undead has weakened, treat the wounded, and count the losses!”

“Also… after the ‘Odin’ returns, send someone to contact Archbishop Maurice of the Papal States. We need him to ‘endorse’ our action in the name of the Church!”

Just as the entire First Army Group breathed a sigh of relief because of this pyrrhic victory, on a high ground north of Paris outside the city.

“Truly magnificent, Gregg…”

One of the mages, a middle-aged man with a thick beard, said to his companion.

“Yes, Senior Gary… This is the first time I’ve seen such a large Mage Tower collapse.”

The mage called Gregg was younger. He had just canceled his [Eagle Eye], and there was still a trace of residual magical light in his eyes.

It was impossible for the Britannians not to be interested in the Saxon attack on the Gallic capital.

So these two mages, escorted by a small team of elite Britannian soldiers, quietly sneaked to this position for long-range reconnaissance.

To cover the actions of this reconnaissance team, the Commander of the Britannian Expeditionary Force, Sir John French, even pretentiously commanded the main force of the Expeditionary Force to launch a symbolic feint attack on the defensive troops on the north side of the Saxon First Army Group.

In addition to covering the infiltration of this team, it was also to prove to the outside world that the Expeditionary Force did not “stand still while allies were in trouble”…

Gregg: “Senior Gary, those Saxons are overly cautious. Their armored airship is still bombing the wreckage of that iron tower.”

“More than just cautious, they are too good at hiding…”

The bearded mage called Gary was observing the distance with a magitech instrument similar to a monocular telescope. He put down the instrument after hearing this.

“Gregg, did you see that? The attack that penetrated the iron tower just now, the degree of energy condensation and the instantaneous explosive power… I even feel that it is no less than a Ninth-Circle spell.”

Gregg nodded with lingering fear: “I felt it too. That power was incredibly pure… The Saxons’ research on magitech weapons may have far exceeded the expectations of the high command.”

However, compared to the Saxons’ new weapons, what interested the two mages more was the Gauls’ way of using the Eiffel Tower.

Unlike the Highland Mage Corps using Mage Towers as buildings, the Gallic mages had obviously gone further on the route of “weaponization of Mage Towers.”

They turned the Eiffel Tower into a huge energy collector and spell amplifier, which made both Britannian mages feel they had “learned something.”

Because the Highland Mage Corps tended to use Mage Towers as fixed research and living platforms…

…while the Gauls obviously wanted to turn the Eiffel Tower into an immovable war fortress.

Gary agreed deeply with the young mage’s words.

“Yes, the spell amplification effect of this super-large magitech wonder is amazing… especially for low-circle spells, the exponential amplification effect presented is simply… opening a new door for us.”

The two looked at each other and saw excitement on each other’s faces.

Originally, when this dangerous long-range reconnaissance mission fell on their heads, both felt they were unlucky ones who had drawn the short straw.

Other colleagues in the Mage Corps were comfortably drinking afternoon tea and studying magic in the rear.

Only the two of them had to risk their lives to go deep into the forefront of the war between two great powers.

But now it seemed that everything was worth it.

Going back this time, just the two contents of “Research on the Amplification Effect of Super-Large Magitech Wonders on Low-Circle Spells” and “Observation Report on New High-Energy Weapons of the Saxon Empire”… would be enough for them to receive extremely high evaluations within the Mage Corps.

The effect might be better than sending them to some colony to get gilded for a few years as the Chief Mage Advisor of the Governor’s Mansion.

And for Highland Mages, promotion of status within the Mage Corps was in some ways more important than the improvement of their own spell levels.

Because the promotion of status meant that you could obtain more resources, have a certain right to speak, and even receive personal guidance from those high-circle mages.

With the blessing of these things, the improvement of strength would happen naturally, even much faster than working behind closed doors…

“Quick, let’s record the images! These are all materials that can be submitted…”

Gary said while waving to the Britannian soldiers responsible for guarding them.

“Soldiers, use the cameras you carry to record synchronously, take a few more pictures!”

The two quickly recorded relatively clear dynamic images with an exquisite magitech device.

The accompanying soldiers of the Black Watch Highland Infantry Regiment also skillfully set up somewhat bulky cameras and pressed the shutter toward the distant scene.

After completing these tasks, the group did not stay any longer. They quickly packed up all the equipment, mounted the warhorses prepared long ago, and hurriedly disappeared into the slowly dissipating morning mist.