Chapter 432 - 420: Crisis of National Annihilation
Allen wiped away his nosebleed, the coppery tang of rust filling his mouth.
He simply chose to ignore the excruciating pain in his Sea of Spirit, which felt as if it were being torn apart.
"Jarvis."
His voice betrayed no emotion. "Bring up all troop deployments and ammunition inventories."
[As you command.]
Twelve faint blue light screens instantly refreshed, waterfalls of data scrolling before Allen’s eyes.
[Aiselan Kingdom coastal defense line: A total of ten standard Golem Legions deployed. One flying patrol squadron (equipped with 24 Storm Falcons, 3 Freedom Gundams), and two Cyclops units.]
[Cybertron inventory: Ten standard Golem Legions, 30 mine garrison units, two flying patrol squadrons, one Guard unit. One Cyclops and three Gabriels are in low-power hibernation.]
[Red Lotus-II guided missiles, inventory: 360,000 rounds.]
["Final Interpretation" high-explosive bombs, inventory: 120,000 units.]
[...]
[Based on current threat model projections: Enemy units, one million. Enemy King Level units, eleven. At our current defensive line’s firepower density, all ammunition stockpiles will be depleted within 14.7 hours.]
14.7 hours.
Allen’s gaze lingered on that figure for a moment.
’Shorter than I had estimated.’
"Awaken all Golem Legions. Deploy them to the coastal defense zone immediately."
"Overload all production lines."
[Command confirmed. All production line power output increased to 160%. Estimated 42% reduction in equipment lifespan.]
"Execute."
[Magic Furnace array total Magic Power output has reached its peak. Emergency production initiated.]
Cybertron, that slumbering iron behemoth, was thoroughly awakened at this moment.
Thirty Magic Furnaces let out a deafening roar. Infinite energy surged through the Magic Circuits toward thousands upon thousands of machines and Golems, and the entire steel city trembled slightly.
Allen didn’t look at the churning production lines. His gaze remained locked on the ever-expanding crimson blotch on the main screen.
He raised his hand, and the communication channel connected directly to the royal palace in Golden Stone City.
A screen of light lit up, and King William’s young, resolute face appeared.
He seemed to be in the middle of an emergency meeting; court ministers could be seen rushing back and forth in the background.
"Lord Wesley?" William faltered for a second when he saw Allen, then his pupils contracted sharply as he noticed the trace of blood Allen hadn’t wiped from the corner of his mouth.
"The Beast Tide has come early."
Allen was concise, wasting no words. "Scale: one million. Eleven Kings of Heart-eaters. Estimated landfall in eighteen hours."
William’s breath caught in his throat.
’One million? Eleven Kings?’
The two numbers struck his mind like a pair of heavy hammers.
He felt the world spin and nearly lost his balance.
In several hundred years, the largest Beast Tide the kingdom had ever faced was no more than three hundred thousand, and there had never been more than three King Level individuals.
’This is enough power to wipe the Aiselan Kingdom off the map!’
But he was, after all, no longer the Prince who needed protection.
Years of tempering as a monarch allowed him to forcibly suppress the surging emotions that followed the initial, overwhelming shock.
"What do you need me to do?" William stared intently at Allen, his gaze sharper than ever before.
"Get everyone away from the coastline."
Allen’s voice was ice-cold. "Issue a highest-level mobilization order. Have the entire Royal Army construct a secondary line of defense. Use the Spirit Communication Network to inform all your people that this is a crisis of survival."
"Understood." William nodded grimly.
The communication channel cut.
William took a deep breath, turned to face the hall full of panicked and bewildered ministers, and roared with all his might:
"Relay my decree! The Kingdom is now entering a state of total war!"
The state apparatus, which had known peace for over a decade, was activated in an almost barbaric fashion.
Panic instantly detonated across the entire Allen Network.
In Golden Stone City, the Spirit Communication Terminals in countless homes lit up simultaneously, a piercing alarm sounding along with the King’s solemn decree.
"...By my order, all residents within three hundred kilometers of the coast are to evacuate inland immediately! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
On the Alchemy highways in the Northern Territory, cargo-laden Alchemy vehicles were forcibly diverted onto secondary roads by military police to make way for convoys of civilians evacuating south.
But there were too many vehicles. Within half an hour, the roads were completely gridlocked.
Cries, curses, and the blaring of horns mixed together, forming a chaotic symphony.
On the Spirit Communication Network, rumors and gossip spread faster than a virus.
"Did you hear? This time is different! Even the Wizard’s Steel Legion can’t hold them back!"
"My uncle’s neighbor’s son is on the border defense line! He said the alarms on the Celestial Net are about to burn out!"
"It’s over! Are we all going to die? Oh, god!"
Allen "listened" to all of this, sensing the immense fear erupting from fifty-two million souls at the same time.
This torrent of fear was so powerful it even caused ripples in his recently battered Sea of Spirit.
But he did not intervene.
Reason told him that panic was the most effective motivator at this moment.
’A little more panic could speed up the evacuation by another second.’
His consciousness withdrew from the chaos among the populace and immersed itself once more in the strategy for the coming war.
"Jarvis, how long will it take to fully activate and charge the entire Cybertron Golem Legion?"
[All strategic weapons have been forcibly activated and are autonomously replenishing their Magic Power. Standard Golems are estimated to be fully charged in 10 hours.]
"I need them on the battlefield in eight hours."
[...Overclocked activation sequence initiated. Bypassing 17 safety checks.]
"Faster."
Allen issued one command after another.
He analyzed the possible biological characteristics of the Dawn Star Level mother-nest and projected the most likely formations and attack patterns of the million-strong Beast Tide.
His brain, his thought sub-threads, all the processing power under his control, were all operating at an unprecedented, frantic pace.
He had made a mistake, one that could have doomed an entire civilization.
Now, he had to use all his power to pay for that mistake.
Time ticked by, second by second.
「Eight hours until landfall.」
Most coastal towns and cities had become ghost towns, but hundreds of thousands of civilians were still stuck on the main evacuation routes south, unable to move forward or back.
All the Golems had already been rapidly transported to the various coastal defense sectors via transportation Skills.
「One hour until landfall.」
The Celestial Net’s reconnaissance Demon Eyes sent back their final images—the sea level had vanished, replaced by a boundless, slowly squirming carpet of dark green flesh.
Then, the feed went dead. The Demon Eyes had been destroyed by an unknown force.
Countdown.
Zero.
In the Cybertron command center, the red ocean on the main screen had already touched the edge of the continental shelf.
[Warning. Target has entered Phase One strike range.]
Jarvis’s voice echoed in the deathly silent command center.
Allen slowly rose to his feet, his gaze seeming to pierce through infinite space and settle upon the coastline, where the storm was about to break.
There, twenty legions—over twenty thousand cold war machines—stood ready for battle.
On the coastline, three forty-eight-meter-tall Cyclops stood like giant gods, the light from the furnaces in their chests having become tangible.
In the sky, hundreds of Storm Falcons, Freedom Gundams, and Gabriels were arrayed in formation at an altitude of ten thousand meters, silently awaiting the order.
Allen raised his hand. His voice, transmitted through the Allen Network, clearly reached the Control Core of every Golem and the fire-control unit of every Purgatory launch platform.
"Fire."