Book 5, Chapter 151: Mobilizing the City
Chapter 151: Mobilizing the City
“Wu!!!”
The low mourning call of a bugle began to sound throughout Sky City.
The Heavenly Sea Conch was a treasure that the Harpies had taken from the Oceanids. Its call, though low, was powerful and could travel far. The wail of the conch spread through all of Sky City very quickly.
It was a signal mobilizing all of the people living in the city.
A big battle was obviously near. Countless Harpy soldiers scrambled to their stations, watching intently.
The peaceful atmosphere that had been present only a moment ago had quickly disappeared, replaced by mounting killing intent.
Groups of Harpy soldiers flew forth, worry and apprehension written on their faces. It was obvious that they had no idea who they were going to be fighting with, but their training caused them to almost immediately arrive at their stations.
However, the steel city hanging from the sky itself was still the most impressive sight.
Now that the horns of war were being sounded, Sky City had also begun to bare its fangs.
The steel plates that made up the walls of the city began to retract, revealing countless cannons. These were the Harpies’ Sun-Shattering Cannons. They were powered by Origin Energy, and each volley unleashed the might of a Light Shaking Realm expert. Tens of thousands of these Sun-Shattering Cannons protruded from the city walls. Anyone who saw this scene would probably tremble instinctively in fear and trepidation.
Even so, this was only the beginning. As the gears turned, metal war chariots were wheeled out to the ramparts of the walls. These were the Fiendish Annihilation Chariots. Each one could unleash hundreds of Annihilation Bolts at once, each carrying incredible penetrative power.
At the same time, statues began to descend appear on the city walls, spaced out a hundred feet from each other.
These were combat puppets. Some were human and others were beast-like. Each had a different form, but they stood with the Harpy soldiers on the walls, forming an iron-clad defense.
The inscriptions covering the walls also began to transform their elegant glow into a harsh glare. These inscriptions made up an Origin Formation that, when activated, would strengthen the walls while protecting the soldiers inside.
There were two more high walls within the outer walls with a similar setup, and these walls were even taller and were packed with even more firepower. This ensured that, even if the outer wall was destroyed, the inner walls could continue to attack.
The cannons, chariots, soldiers, puppets, and even the walls themselves served as components of the incredibly powerful defenses of Sky City.
And behind these three walls were twelve massive floating, revolving shrines, trailed by a thousand eight hundred floating boats.
The walls were lined with soldiers, while the Arcana Masters were all gathered around the shrines.
The twelve floating shrines supplied the Arcana Masters with Origin Energy. Each one of them contained a well of Origin Energy that would constantly infuse the Arcana Masters with Origin Energy. It was even more effective and pure than using Origin Stones. The floating boats were used to hold these Arcana Masters and were designed to give the Arcana Masters the full freedom to unleash Arcana Techniques as they pleased. Most of the Origin Formations inscribed on the boats were utilitarian in nature, used to increase the power of an Arcana Technique. Once the battle started, the floating boats would carry the Arcana Masters around, forming a nimble force of powerful attackers.
These Arcana Masters made up Sky City’s central line of defense. They were meant to provide firepower assistance, but because their own physical bodies were so weak, they needed to be a ways behind the front lines, relying on the protection of the walls to unleash their full might.
Within the interior of the city were ninety-nine Arcana Towers, each one holding up a Sun-Shooting Pearl. These pearls would begin to glow upon command, forming a defensive barrier made of Origin Energy that would envelop the entire city.
The Flowing Gold Fort had relied on nine similar towers to control the important defensive mechanisms of the fort. Sky City, however, had ninety-nine, and each one of the towers was stronger than the ones at the Flowing Gold Fort.
Each tower was guarded by an Eighth-Ring Arcana Master to make sure that it operated smoothly. Even if some of the towers were destroyed by a powerful opponent, the overall operation of the towers wouldn’t be disrupted.
Apart from these ninety-nine Arcana Towers, the most eye-catching sight in the city was the Perpetual Daylight Palace.
A massive cannon had appeared above the palace.
The cannon was so large that anyone who saw it would instinctively feel a sense of despair rising in their hearts.
The Sun-Shattering Cannons had openings roughly as wide as a washbasin. That was already massive for this time period, but that opening seemed as small as a toothpick in the face of such a gigantic cannon.
The cannon opening looked like the maw of a huge beast and was many times more imposing than the cannons mounted on the city walls.
The body of the cannon was completely constructed from rare metals, and was covered in profound inscriptions imbuing it with the power of Arcana Techniques.
At the smaller end of the cannon was an Origin Formation specifically used to gather Origin Energy. Just the Origin Stones set on the formation alone were dazzlingly bright.
This was the famous Demon-Executing Cannon of the Harpies.
There was a saying amongst the Primordial Continent that the strongest possible attack was not the all-out attack of an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator, a legendary Arcana Master, nor even an Astral at peak strength. Only the Demon-Executing Cannon was capable of unleashing such a powerful attack.
Each time it fired, it unleashed an attack even more powerful than a forbidden Arcana Technique.
The sky would tremble and the ground would quake.
It was probably the most powerful existence on the entire continent.
Of course, the cost of constructing a cannon like that was astronomical. The Craftsmen and the Metalskins had spent thousands of years building it, burning a massive hole in the pockets of the Harpies. In addition, it could only be used in Sky City because it consumed too much energy each time it fired, so much so that only Sark’s Nuclei was capable of supplying it with enough energy. It would take so much time and resources to prepare the cannon for firing that even a large clan would go completely bankrupt. Yes, Sark’s Nuclei provided the power, but the cost was still high enough that people would point in amazement. Of course, its power output matched how expensive it was. Any target that was aimed upon by the cannon could only either choose to run or to die. There was no way any living creature would be able to withstand the attack.
The Demon-Executing Cannon was the Harpies’ Ruyi Bang[1. See
. In short, this weapon was incredibly strong but was only brought out when needed by Sun Wukong.]. It, along with the ninety-nine Arcana Towers, served as Sky City’s last line of defense.
And it wasn’t like there were no defenses outside of Sky City either.
The ground being used for agriculture had tunnels dug underneath the surface that were filled with flammable oil. Once lit, the flames would burn intensely. Even though these flames were not nearly as frightening as the iron-clad defenses of Sky City, they could delay an attacking force and dull the tip of the spear.
This time, however, most of these defenses were useless since the attacking force was a Desolate Beast.
The only thing that posed a serious threat to the Desolate Beast was the Demon-Executing Cannon.
This was also Eternal Night’s greatest source of confidence that he could deal with the Desolate Beast. Even a Desolate Beast would be destroyed by the Demon-Executing Cannon!
Sky City had only managed to defeat multiple Desolate Beasts on its own throughout history because of the Demon-Executing Cannon.
Now, the cannon was about to be unleashed yet again.
“Do I want to take advantage of the opportunity to destroy it?”
As he stood on the street, hidden amongst a throng of Harpies, Su Chen stared up at the Lightning God Cannon. That was the first thought that flashed through his mind.
There was no way he could destroy Sky City, but ruining a single Lightning God Cannon was still possible.
However, that would be taking a huge risk.
He had only managed to plunder the Mother Goddess Sect because they weren’t ready for him. He would absolutely be courting death if he were to make a move now.
His opponents might even be waiting for him to make a move.
Another major source of unease for him was Kelesda.
Kelesda was able to lock onto his position. He should have brought a bunch of Harpies with him in hot pursuit already, but he never appeared. This rendered Su Chen’s countless preparations for Kelesda completely useless.
This meant that the rhythm of battle was now out of his hands!
The success or failure of an endeavor not only depended on relative strength but also on who controlled the tempo.
Even though Su Chen was weaker than Kelesda, he was able to survive because the situation’s rhythm was under his control.
Controlling the rhythm meant that he could take the initiative and specifically take action to target his opponent.
But now, this rhythm had been destroyed.
Kelesda hadn’t appeared, and Su Chen’s plan was beginning to fall apart. He could sense that the situation was quickly sliding in a direction that he wasn’t prepared to deal with.
That made him uneasy.
Su Chen could attack an incredibly powerful opponent because he held the initiative, but now that he had lost it, turtling up was the best decision.
A talented individual knew when to extend and when to withdraw. Now was the time to withdraw.
Su Chen immediately gave up on trying to plunder Sky Country’s imperial treasuries and walked in the opposite direction.
After walking through a long alleyway, Su Chen arrived in front of a courtyard with white walls and a red entrance.
He knocked on the door and was greeted by a human.
When the human saw Su Chen, he squinted suspiciously. “May I ask, you are……?”
“I am a traveler from faraway who does not miss home,” Su Chen replied.
When that person heard it, his expression changed. He glanced around furtively before saying in a low voice, “Please come with me.”
Su Chen walked inside.
This place was the embassy Liaoye Country had set up, making it similar to a consulate. However, it did not actually hold much political importance; it was mostly used to gather information and remain in contact with the Harpies. Of course, because foreign relations weren’t big in this era, the embassy’s power was incredibly weak. Its main purpose was to gather information and occasionally provide some support to other people from Liaoye Country.
Of course, this was also where the Zhu Clan had provided Su Chen with a support staff.
Now that Su Chen had decided to turtle up for a while, he needed the people here to help him.
However, he was unaware that, not long after he went inside, a Harpy stationed nearby put down a curtain and walked out of the store.
He quickly came to the corner of a street and muttered a few sentences into the ear of another Harpy. That Harpy turned around and immediately flew off.
After flying in a circle, the Harpy arrived at the Perpetual Day Palace. They spoke briefly with a guard, who went inside to report on the situation to his commander. The commander hurried into the palace and knelt down before Eternal Night.
“Your Majesty, Liaoye’s embassy was visited by an unknown human today. This is his picture.”
As he spoke, the commander’s palm began to project light into the air, revealing Su Chen’s picture.
Eternal Night glanced at Kelesda, who was sitting right beside him.
“The face is different, but the figure matches, and his aura is completely the same,” Kelesda said through gritted teeth. “I would be able to recognize this guy even if he changed his appearance ten thousand times. Your Majesty is truly wise; you didn’t even need me to discover his location.”
Eternal Night replied calmly, “You need to learn to use the power of the public more effectively. There are somethings you can accomplish without relying on heaven-defying powers. Kaderville, if you were to go look for him, I can promise you that he has already set up many different skills to deal with you. At that point in time, not only will we fail to catch him, but that will also inform him about our current situation. But by using those commoners, that human will have a much harder time detecting our involvement. Most importantly…… We have now confirmed that he has a deep relationship with Liaoye Country.”
Kaderville was Kelesda’s new name.
“So what should we do now?” Kelesda asked.
“Wait!” Eternal Night replied. “Time will give us our answer and our opportunity.”