Chapter 400 - 389: Visitor from Outer Space
The Sky Throne ascended again, flying beneath the clouds.
William stood on the deck, watching the land recede rapidly beneath him. Mountains, rivers, and towns all shrank into patches of color.
A journey of three hundred li would take a full day and night by horseback.
This... flying metal behemoth, however, would only take a little over half an hour.
The Knights behind him had long since given up on maintaining their composure. They squatted on the ground, clinging to the deck with pale faces, terrified that a single lurch would send them to meet their late King.
William recalled what his father, the King, had told him.
"William, remember. The people from beyond the sky are our only hope. No matter what they demand, the kingdom must satisfy them."
At the time, he had been unconvinced, believing that if the Spirit Mages were given enough time, they could drive out the darkness with their own strength.
Now, he understood completely.
This power was on a completely different level.
"Come here."
Allen’s voice came from ahead. William flinched, quickly steadying himself and hurrying toward the figure standing at the edge of the deck.
"I’ve seen the mission briefing. There’s too little information."
Allen glanced at him. "Tell me what you know about your civilization."
William took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and began his story.
The story of this land began with the Spirit Core and Spirit Art.
On this continent, some special human populations possessed an innate gift. An organ called a Spirit Core grew next to their hearts.
About two thousand years ago, when these people formed primitive tribal alliances and their population grew to around five hundred thousand, the Spirit Cores began to awaken naturally. This allowed them to use a supernatural power called "Spirit Art." However, the awakening rate was not high, only about ten percent.
A thousand years ago, it was discovered that Meditation and combat could accelerate the evolution of the Spirit Core, and the first batch of Level 4 Spirit Mages was born.
Frequent wars followed. The strong became kings, and the Spirit Art system was gradually codified with clear types, levels, and promotion requirements.
Five hundred years ago, a Level 5 Spirit Mage named Aiselan, who was also the first Holy Spirit Mage, unified the entire continent and established the Aiselan Kingdom, becoming the first royal family.
Soon after the kingdom unified the continent, it entered a golden age, with its population once reaching sixty million.
Architecture was magnificent, culture flourished, and the Royal Capital, ’Golden Stone City,’ was also built during that period.
At that time, there were nearly a hundred Level 5 Spirit Mages and thousands of Level 4 masters.
Prince William spoke of everything from the first awakening of Spirit Art two thousand years ago to the golden age of the Aiselan Kingdom’s unification of the continent before the thousand-year war, his voice tinged with nostalgia and pride.
Allen listened silently. Based on William’s description, he estimated that a Level 4 Spirit Mage was roughly equivalent to a Wizard’s Advanced Apprentice, while a Level 5 Spirit Mage could barely compare to a First-level Wizard.
Dseek also automatically organized the collected information.
[Spirit Art System preliminary modeling...]
[Spirit Core: Suspected Magic Power organ, biological, bound to bloodline.]
[Magic Power conversion efficiency: Medium.]
[Evolutionary limit: Currently observed at Level 5. Individual strength barely reaches the threshold of a First-level Wizard. Conclusion: Native individual combat power is low.]
"The Heart Eaters appeared a thousand years ago. Our ancestors fought them even back then." William’s voice grew heavy, a deep-seated hatred showing in his eyes.
"They came ashore from the Endless Sea in the north, like some kind of amphibious fish-men, born with a craving to devour our Spirit Cores. They can accurately track Spirit Mages by scent. The more Spirit Cores they eat, the stronger they become, even evolving intelligence."
Allen’s brow twitched slightly. "A different kind of parasitic evolution? Feeding on Spirit Cores... An interesting evolutionary path."
The cold assessment made William’s heart clench, but he didn’t dare to object and continued:
"Shortly after the kingdom was founded, they began to appear more and more frequently, and in greater numbers, eventually forming a Beast Tide. The strongest among the Beast Tide are what we call the King of Heart-eaters."
"The King of Heart-eaters is extremely powerful. In just ten years, we lost a third of our land, and our population plummeted to thirty million. The most critical moment was three hundred years ago. The nation was on the verge of collapse. The King of that generation tried every possible means and, through an ancient ruin, contacted... you."
"The Wizard Civilization," Allen finished for him.
"Yes." William nodded. "Since then, powerful Wizards like you, milord, have descended periodically to help us defend against the most powerful King of Heart-eaters."
"The last resident protector, Maurice, a Second-level Wizard. The records state he died in the Beast Tide three years ago, besieged by three Kings of Heart-eaters, and perished from exhaustion."
Allen pulled up Maurice’s file.
[Name: Maurice. Faction: Witchcraft School. Specialization: Large-scale elemental Witchcraft.]
Allen continued to ask, "Tell me the details of that battle."
William’s body trembled slightly, as if he was recalling an extremely terrifying scene.
"It was a nightmare... Over three hundred thousand Heart Eaters landed simultaneously from three different coastal locations without any warning. Among them were even three ’Kings of Heart-eaters’! The border guards were instantly routed, completely powerless to stop them."
"Lord Maurice single-handedly held them off at the walls of the Royal Capital for three days and three nights. His flames nearly turned half the sky red, and his lightning plowed through the earth. But those monsters... they were endless. In the end, his Spiritual Power... no, his Magic Power was depleted, and he was torn to shreds by those three monsters."
[Suspicious Point 1: A standard Second-level Wizard from the Witchcraft School has enough Magic Power reserves to sustain high-intensity combat for over half a month. Maurice being exhausted in three days and not escaping is illogical. Possible reasons: 1. The enemy possesses special energy-draining/magic-suppressing abilities; 2. Maurice was not in optimal condition; 3. The intelligence is flawed.]
"How strong is a King of Heart-eaters?" Allen pressed.
"Each one requires a joint effort of at least twenty of our top Level 5 Spirit Mages to barely hold their ground."
William answered bitterly, "We call them monsters beyond even a Holy Spirit Mage."
[King of Heart-eaters, estimated energy level: 3000-4500. Verdict: Equivalent to a weaker Second-level Wizard.]
[Suspicious Point 2: Three weak Level 2 units are insufficient to kill a Second-level Wizard specializing in area-of-effect attacks on a direct battlefield. Maurice’s death may be suspicious.]
"Is there a pattern to the Beast Tide outbreaks?"
"A small tide every summer, and a major tide every three to five years," William replied. "A King of Heart-eaters is guaranteed to appear during a major tide, but usually only one. Three appearing at once... that was the only time in a thousand years."
[Suspicious Point 3: A higher level of intelligence may be operating behind the scenes. The "King of Heart-eaters" is likely not the top of the food chain.]
A flash of understanding crossed Allen’s eyes.
’A mission worth 300 Credit Points a year was never going to be that easy, after all.’
’However... as long as the Credit Points are sufficient, forget three Kings of Heart-eaters; he wouldn’t mind flipping this entire Morra Plane upside down.’
[Jarvis: Commander, we have arrived in the target airspace above ’Golden Stone City.’ Scanning reveals a large number of high-Magic-Power lifeforms below. The highest energy level is judged to be a First-level Wizard.]
Allen stood up and walked to the edge of the deck.
Below, a magnificent, colossal white city appeared on the horizon.
The city’s architecture was peculiar, with towering spires and round domes complementing each other, gleaming with a golden light under the sun.
At this moment, in the city’s Central Square, a dense crowd was gazing up at the sky, their faces filled with shock and terror.