Chapter 133

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Chapter 133: The Sun Didn’t Rise

Astrologer Witch, said to be able to see the future through the paths of the stars, the rarest of the thirteen types of witches. After hiding in the Astral Plane and disappearing gradually, the talent for interpreting star signs resurfaces in the new generation of witches after hundreds of years.

"I see," Victor said, "looks like we’re lucky."

"Just because of a prophecy?" Tasha asked.

Records say that a prophecy is a wizard’s calculation of the future, while the Astrologer Witch gains inspiration from the whispers of the stars. Victor and Tasha had discussed stories of prophets, he said the future holds countless possibilities, like shadows of countless paths, with the wizard outlining the overlapping portion among these shadows, while the witches, they tell of "all."

"Yes, the prophecy is not the key to victory." Victor nodded, "But now I can be sure that Rasheda has done something with my body."

The Primary Material Plane is declining, and the Abyss, which cannot be escaped, is also in decline. Observations of the Abyss Passage in recent years have proven that the ability of Demon Lords to build portals from the Decaying Disaster has become history. The residents on that side have completely lost the ability to open passages in advance. The passage between the Abyss and the Primary Material Plane will naturally open with time, but after it opens, how will Abyssal Creation stabilize it and pass through safely?

Victor knew many methods, and they prepared response plans for each possibility. And if "a bridge is built on the dead body of a trickster," there is only one answer left.

The Magic Demon Lord who obtained Victor’s remains left in the Abyss, the Unidentifiable Object Rasheda, used the remains of the Demon Lord to create a bridge between the Abyss and the Primary Material Plane.

This is a relatively good guess among many, they don’t need to completely defeat the entire Abyss, kill all the Abyss Lords, or engage in an endless war until the Abyss Passage collapses. The focus is only on Victor’s remains, as long as this bridge is destroyed, the Abyss will be expelled again.

This time, the Abyss cannot return.

Not far from Tasha and Victor, Gabriella’s group of mothers were swarming over. They were chattering around the unconscious little witch, everyone was cheerful. Gabriella’s biological mother Aphra proudly held her head high, accepting the blessings of her compatriots, everyone seemed not worried at all about the Astrologer Witch’s unconscious state—sometimes not knowing whether they were overprotective or negligent, witches have their own standards.

"A grand coming-of-age ceremony!" they said.

Echo Witch placed her palm close to her lips, their whistle suddenly escalated, and a light rose. A one-inch-tall little fairy—this lowest-level fairy basically has no combat power, but is excellent at creating stage effects—flapped its shiny wings and shook powder everywhere. The large elemental spirit shrank back under Tasha’s glare, the palm-sized Ice Element spun in mid-air, like an inverted snow cone machine, melting as soon as the snowflakes hit the ground. The dancing people looked up in wonder, reaching out to catch snowflakes and fairy dust. The unicorn licked the ice crystals falling from the sky with its tongue, making it sneeze from the cold.

The Flame Witch’s firebird streaked across the sky, like a dazzling firework, spinning and soaring, exploding in the sky, leaving behind a phantom of wings. Reporters hurriedly clicked their shutters, a mix of delight and regret, happy for the new hot topic but disappointed for not capturing the sudden beauty fully.

Tasha heard a tiny scream and turned her gaze from the sky to see Victor flicking a little fairy away from her head. Tasha looked at Victor, who casually brushed off his hand and said, "You have some snow here."

"You have some here too," Tasha replied.

She playfully tapped Victor’s forehead, and he playfully grabbed her finger, pointing to his lips, saying, "And here." So Tasha gladly accepted the invitation, grabbed Victor’s chin and pecked his lips.

——————————

That autumn was a season of festivals and harvests, and as the Druids predicted, winter was not too cold or too hot. The creatures of Aryan spent the winter in orderly fashion. When the new year arrived and on a night when everything revived and the ice melted, a meteor shower appeared in Aryan.

In the north of Aryan, spanning from the icy lands to thousands of kilometers south of the capital, everyone witnessed the sudden meteor shower. One moment the sky was calm, the next moment, countless broken stars rained down. They seemed to originate from one point, and if someone could see all of Aryan at once, they would realize that this point was in a small town in the north of Aryan.

Bailing Town was located about six hundred kilometers northwest of the capital, this once obscure town became famous in recent years for an unsavory reason. Several years ago, former Imperial General Shirel was tempted by demons here, activating a passage between the abyss and the Primary Material Plane.

Today, Bailing Town has become a military stronghold, and the troops have surrounded Shirel’s ancestral home. The sentries looked up at the swaying stars, the falling skyfires, and the whole sky suddenly erupted in a silent fireworks display.

The shooting star was so fast that it was hard to see clearly. Many stars fell within a minute, creating a spectacular sight known as a "meteor shower." Bright orange-yellow dots of light appeared one after another, dragging behind them a glowing green trail. Even though each trail disappeared within seconds, a radial network appeared in the sky. The night sky was filled with excitement, but no shooting stars fell to the ground. There was no smell of fireworks in the air, and no sound could be heard. This grand sight seemed like a mirage and did not belong to the sky of Aryan.

The first meteor shower lasted all night, becoming more intense towards dawn and stopping abruptly when the sun rose. The next night, the meteor shower returned, accompanied by thickening dark clouds. The second day was cloudy, and in the evening, half of Aryan was covered by light rain. The fiery light of the shooting stars shone through the dark clouds, resembling lightning brewing within the clouds.

The sun did not rise on the third day.

The dark clouds were too thick, darkening the sky as if it were night, with the continuous brightness of the shooting stars. They appeared brighter, like something giving a final flash before burning out. Amidst the dull thunder, people heard sharp explosions.

A shooting star pierced through the clouds and fell down for real.

The sound of rustling mixed with explosions, as if a metal can was being dragged rapidly across the ground, breaking apart as it moved forward. In the dim space between heaven and earth, it felt as if a glaring brush had made a stroke downwards, with a shooting star trail extending from the clouds to a place close to the ground. The shooting star eventually disappeared hundreds of years on the horizon, but the trail flowed down and lingered for a long time.

All sounds suddenly stopped, no shooting stars, no thunder, only the sound of rain and silence that made people feel suffocated. After a moment, all living beings in Aryan heard a faint sound.

Swish!

Technically, such a soft sound shouldn’t be heard by the entire population of Aryan, it was even quieter than the rain. People looked at each other from a distance, wondering if others had heard the sound, or if it was just their imagination. The sound seemed to appear directly in everyone’s minds, as if it rang on their eardrums, "Swish," a sound of tearing paper.

"He’s here," whispered Victor.

Between the Primary Material Plane and the Abyss, the thinning barrier has been torn apart as expected over the years.

The long trail of the meteor remnants did not disperse. It solidified and slowly thickened—it was opening up. Abyss Factor detectors from all over beeped loudly, their lights flashing like Christmas tree lights. Tasha sensed a massive entity leaning towards Aryan, like a hungry giant beast eagerly squeezing through a small gap.

A strange purple color began to spread in the space around that vertical line, making it look like a diseased wound hanging in mid-air. The wound swelled, its edges wriggled, and finally, it burst open.

A large group of shadows burst out from it, accompanied by an unpleasant cacophony covering the nearby sky. Crude steel forks gleamed in the air, and under the dim light, red skin appeared even more terrifying. With buzzing wing flapping and eerie cackling, countless Little Devils flew out, like a swarm of flies escaping from a torn bag.

The flycatcher was waiting.

The fluttering sound began, emanating from wings of a broader span. Long before the appearance of the Little Devils, another winged creature had already dominated the sky. It was the griffin, powerful griffins slicing through the rain curtain, rain sliding off their shiny brown feathers and the armor of the Griffin Riders. The drill had been repeated countless times, their speed quite fast, and the formation was set in ten minutes.

"East Second Twenty-Seven, in position!"

"South Third Sixteen, in position!"

"Top floor, North number three, take your position!"

"…Take your position!"

The Griffon cavalry wore helmets that were partially closed, similar in appearance to the ancient Griffin Legion helmets, but with a stark difference inside. The "Owl’s Eye" spell was permanently fixed on the Magic Stone goggles, allowing the Griffon cavalry wearing helmets to see clearly in harsh lighting conditions, whether it be night or on days like these with overcast and rain. Inside the helmets were intricate magic devices, a result of collaboration between Imperial technicians and Dwarf craftsmen this year. The vehicle intercoms had been reduced in size by more than ten times, this latest magical technology achievement enabling Griffon cavalry to maintain communication within a range of nearly five kilometers, even in terrible conditions.

Little Devils continuously poured out from crevices like a mass of black smoke spreading in the wind, their piercing screeches becoming more numerous and frequent. The Griffon cavalry did not engage with them; instead, they circled nearby, acting as a link to corral the dispersing group of Little Devils in the middle.

The Griffins with their ice-blue eyes stared fixedly at the Little Devils, these proud creatures yearning to screech and tear apart the creatures daring to disrupt the sky with their sharp claws. The only reason they did not do so was because of the riders on their backs. Trained Griffins were more patient and steadfast than their wild counterparts. The riders comforted their mounts, softly saying, "Almost there, soon!"

By the sixteenth minute, everyone had taken their positions.

Confirmations were exchanged among them, the report of everyone being in position was gathered by the battalion commander. Signals from the ground observation points quickly reached the sky, announcing that the positions of both allies and enemies had reached the designated points. The Little Devils continued to spread, with the earliest ones now very close to the Griffon cavalry, close enough to see the ugly faces of these creatures. The cavalrymen hovered calmly at their designated points, not provoked, not intimidated, appearing so scattered and unguarded, facing the evil creatures rushing towards them with composure.

It was time, it was time.

At that moment, the legion commander shouted, "Raise—shields—!"

All the riders of the Griffon Legion suddenly lifted up the tower shield on their backs, their movements were uniform, like one person. Just as the Dragon Cavalry’s signature weapon is the long spear, the Griffon Legion’s signature is the sword and the large shield – but this time, it was not the usual tower shield.

A huge shield, as tall as a person, was raised by the riders and attached to a groove in front of them, connected to the griffin’s saddle. Metal brackets and sturdy straps tightly linked the griffin, the rider, and the shield together, making it impossible to be knocked off even by the strongest impact. This was clearly not the traditional way of shield fighting, the shield was not used as a weapon for striking, nor was it a defensive wall.

The Little Devils did not notice anything unusual, they were not that smart. These lesser demons screamed in the clear air of the Primary Material Plane, every inch of their consciousness craving flesh and souls, while the creatures from the abyss thirsted for slaughter. They made eerie noises of excitement, rushing towards their enemies who only relied on shield defense.

Runes lit up on the "shield".

Magic energy flowed from the storage area behind the shield into every engraved metal pattern, the magic device’s charging completed within seconds. Just as the steel fork of the first Little Devil was about to pierce the shield, a burst of electricity erupted from all shield surfaces.

Even the brilliance of lightning paled in comparison to this.

Massive electric light suddenly burst forth, leaping and connecting from one shield to another. The Griffon cavalry, which was previously unclear, became extremely prominent, with electric lights intertwining between each rider. A three-dimensional formation spanning hundreds of meters vertically and hundreds of meters in radius, like a massive, sparkling fishing net, encompassed all the Little Devils within.

– The griffins and riders were clad in armor, with protective runes against electricity that turned deadly currents into a slight numbing sensation. In the drizzling rain, the damp mist assisted them, allowing the electric current to cover every single monster.

No, it was not a fishing net, comparing this formation to a giant bug zapper would be more accurate. The crisscrossing electric grid crackled, striking the clustered monsters with electric shocks, cries of agony filled the air, the smell of burnt flesh wafted around, yet the onlookers felt refreshed. Aryan’s Guardians looked up at the sky, watching the ominous dark clouds howling as they descended.

The electric shield was designed to prioritize long battery life, not powerful enough to kill tough monsters like Little Devil. The purpose was not to kill Little Devil directly, only needed to disable them by cutting off half their life and wings.

The ground troops are waiting for them.

The Arborist Druid created a forest of sharp needles, opposite to a protective blanket. The scary spikes pointed towards the sky, ready to greet the falling monsters. Little Devil fell from hundreds of meters high, impaling heavily on these sharp stakes, gravity becoming their executioner. The stakes were like tall pyramids, narrow on top and wide at the bottom, slicing through from head to tail. Little Devil, electrocuted and falling, if unfortunate enough to land on a stake… after a few meters of agonizing slide, they screamed and turned into black smoke.

Dead monsters on the Primary Material Plane do not leave bodies, which is convenient: no need to clean up the stakes, no worry about traps being full, most Little Devils will automatically disappear later on.

Rangers moved through the needle forest, the traps being part of the woods, giving them professional bonuses from the environment. The natural gifts made them more agile, efficient, and better at hiding, the battlefield tailored for them. Scouts skillfully moved between the dense needle forest, finishing off the wounded Little Devils stuck between two stakes. The just-landed Little Devils couldn’t put up a decent fight, swords came down, one strike, one kill.

The stationed troops nearby, even at this moment, did not move.

Conducting wide-area sweeps and detailed checks, the exercise against Little Devils was carried out today, and Aryan’s team had found the most efficient and least costly solution.

"Even though we’ve seen the practice, it still looks amazing." Victor exclaimed.

"They are just Little Devils," Tasha said, "If we can’t handle these cannon fodders without heavy losses, don’t even think about winning this battle."

"Don’t underestimate the cannon fodders. In the beginning, most of the land that fell was flattened by the tactics of the Sea of Demons. Victor laughed and said, "If those who fought bloodily in the Decaying Disaster in the past saw this leisurely grass-cutting tactic, I wonder what they would feel."

High-level demons are not something ordinary people can come into contact with. For most unfortunate civilians facing the Decaying Disaster, the overwhelming Little Devils are the main cause of destroying their lives. Those who died in past struggles, whether facing the despair of the Decaying Disaster like facing a natural disaster as ordinary people, or the tragic heroes who fought to the last moment, if they could see this future, they would surely be very pleased.

The sky became brighter.

Something shiny came from the other end of the passage, the electricity flickered on them, but it didn’t cause much reaction. These shimmering grayish-blue orbs glided down, like ghostly lights floating over a makeshift grave.

Indeed, their name is "ghostly lights."

The residents of the Primary Material Plane always associate the abyss with flames, and this statement does make sense. Most Abyssal Demons have a high resistance to fire, and the Little Devils in the Decaying Disaster always appeared in the midst of flames, leading many to believe their presence caused the flames. In reality, this is a misunderstanding; it is not the Little Devils that create the flames, but another type of creature.

Little Devils are the most common basic soldiers in the abyss, an advancement of many abyssal bugs – but by no means the only one.

Creatures that will eventually evolve into Shadow Fiends or Balrogs will take a different branch in their evolution where their bodies do not change. The creatures known as ghostly lights are the most basic spirit bodies in the abyss. Common electrical currents or various physical attacks cannot truly affect them.

The demon army is quite chaotic, and the ghostly lights do not form a separate army; they mix in with the Little Devils, numbering about one-tenth of them. However, after the screening of the electrical nets and falls, these unscathed spirit bodies stand out. They scattered to the ground, darting towards the nearest living creatures.

The first time the skirmish appeared among Aryan’s defenders, the rangers needed to deal with these flames seriously. Regular swords barely damaged the ghost flames, and proper attacks required extraordinary force. What’s even more troublesome is that many of the ghost flames that can fly short distances didn’t all fall in the designated landing zone, with a significant portion drifting towards the nearby ordinary garrison.

The needle thorn forest created by Druids can resist fire, while regular clothes cannot.

The drifting of ghost flames is their way of attacking; they can ignite ordinary clothes and even burn human skin. Once touched, it’s hard to shake off. They sway leisurely in the sky but move astonishingly fast when nearing people, like crocodiles disguised as floating logs suddenly striking. The soldiers’ reactions were inadequate, but when the flames landed in the army, some couldn’t avoid getting hit.

A tragedy was about to unfold.

The attacks of ghost flames had occurred numerous times during the Decaying Disaster, causing burns that weren’t necessarily fatal on the spot but led to painful consequences. Countless people were left with large scars, spending their remaining lives with dreadful burns, many losing the courage to live due to severe disfigurement; even more people died from infections after the war. In the past, without advanced medical systems and with costly fees charged by priests, the terror of ghost flames surpassed that of Little Devils.

But that was in the past.

A translucent light shield opened up on the hit soldier, sending a ball of ghost fire flying away.

All soldiers wore a metal badge, serving both as an identity tag and the most basic protection charm. Abyss-related creatures and monsters were abundant, with ghost flames being the second largest primary creature after Little Devils – how could Tasha be unprepared for this? All combat personnel wore at least one flame protection charm, providing brief fire resistance.

The extent of this luxury was enough to leave people from the past stunned.

Yes, everyone on the battlefield has magical charms, even the regular soldiers. There are fewer wizards and craftsmen now, but the whole Aryan is working together. The Archmage Tower has developed the most effective protective rune, dungeons provide enough Magic Stone fragments, the magic factories work day and night, and golems and assembly lines produce identical basic charms. Magic and magic technology combined make mass production of basic charms possible.