Release that Witch

“Core?”

Hackzord walked to the machinery, knelt down, and picked up a loose metallic piece. He quickly discovered that the thing in his hand was far more intrinsic than it appeared. There were hidden structures within the bumpy outer shell which could not be fathomed at a glance. He randomly picked up a cylinder-shaped object and discovered that the inside contained more than a hundred parts, far more complicated than a flintlock. “You mean to say…”

“Those iron birds require this thing to fly,” Mask confirmed.

“Wait, you’re saying that those things that can fly faster than Bogle Beasts are in fact powered by this pile of inanimate things?” Hackzord frowned. As the Senior Lord to once face the iron birds, he knew very well that their ability to fly did not come from the flapping of their wings, but by the blades at their heads that buzzed like a bird.

In some sense, it was similar to a windmill, but unlike the windmill that moved only when wind was present, the blades themselves automatically produced wind. The only question that perplexed Sky Lord was how the blades were capable of sustaining the high-speed revolutions. It was definitely impossible for it to rely on human strength alone; thus, Sky Lord had subconsciously concluded it to be some sort of magic power seal or a system related to magic stone releasing power. These were the only reasonable answers for the iron birds to sustain flight without Witches.

But now, Mask was telling him that a pile of dead and inanimate metals were responsible for allowing the Iron Birds flight?

“Inconceivable, right? I thought so as well.” Upon touching on a subject that interested him, Nassaupelle immediately turned enlivened. He extended his thin finger and dug into an iron bucket, handing one over to Sky Lord. “Want to have a go at it?”

Hackzord looked at the finger completely stained in black and said coldly, “Do you want to have a taste of a broken finger?”

“Ahem… Some things leave better impressions when personally experienced.” Mask retracted his finger and placed it into his mouth. “A portion of it is charred, with some fragrance to it. Its likely a vessel for holding fire.”

“Fire can’t move an iron bird.”

“That depends on what fire it is—If the ignition is intense enough, it might even be capable of doing that!” Mask refuted, “You’ve seen how those lowlifes use the fire forks, I’ve taken them apart and studied them carefully. They are basically using combustion, but at an extremely fast rate to induce something like an explosion! If the reaction is able to push out the bolts out of the iron crossbows, it should be able to push the blades.”

“The explosion from the fire forks is instantaneous. If it is as you have said, it means that incendiary material needs to be constantly added into the iron bucket. Furthermore, the speed must be at thousands of times a second to achieve the rotational speeds of the blades. In theory, it is simply impossible.” Sky Lord attempted to dampen Mask’s enthusiasm.

“That is what I have yet to figure out,” Nassaupelle admitted straightforwardly. “That is why I called these lowlifes over to listen to their thoughts. Who knew that their stupidity is on an equal level to that of Inferior Demons. I initially thought that they were intentionally hiding from me. After utilizing a few methods, I realized that they are truly oblivious to it!”

At this point, Mask gestured enthusiastically. “Can you believe it? The creator of these things are actually of the same race with these lowlifes! The principle stored within this machinery is right in front of them; yet, they are completely clueless about it, even claiming that it’s just a cheap trick of a depraved Witch. In my agitation, I used a little too much strength—”

“My, My lord…” The noble’s face turned pale from Nassaupelle’s glare. He immediately retreated to a wall and trembled incessantly.

“I can know understand why you do not treat humans as lowlifes. But I have to say, this group of humans you’ve brought back are still lowlifes, the lowest of the low!” Mask turned and looked at Hackzord. “Right, I heard that the iron birds and fire forks were created by Graycastle? Can you capture a few Graycastle smiths for me? I want to see if there is a difference between their brain compositions. If there is, merging with another human brain might not be a bad idea…”

“Enough!” Hackzord cut him off. “I am not here to listen to your nonsense! When we obtain their legacy shard, all your doubts and questions will naturally be answered. The crucial thing is winning this war. There is still a week before the Deity of Gods enters human territory, I do not want you to add to my troubles. Create more Symbiotic Demons, that is your only mission. Do you understand? And, do not—ever—touch—the humans.”

Mask calmed down, then extended both his arms out. “… Of course.”

Skylord stared at him for a long while before pulling the surviving noble up and left the room.

After a long while, Nassaupelle shook his head.

“You’re aren’t that great either, Hackzord.

“The key to unraveling everything is to figure out the mystical secret, but you remain uninterested in it.” He fished out a brand new mask from his robes and covered his Witch face. “Magic power isn’t the only force that regulates this world, much less the Battle of Divine Will. Even if we gain everything from the legacy shard, not everyone can reach the peak together. That is the reason why I am here creating Symbiotic Demons, and you are the one busying yourself on the battlefield.

“You do not have the faintest idea of the meaning contained within these metal objects…”

The Senior Lord, Mask, turned and stared at the remnants of the iron bird as he muttered to himself.

Humanity’s usage of explosives to propel a large object enlightened him at an unprecedented level, he realized that it was a conversion of energy. Although he had frequently seen the conversion of stable energy into unstable energy, it was his first time experiencing the use of violent energy conversions, like combustion, to achieve a stable energy conversion. There had to be an intrinsic connection between combustion and flight which caused the conversion of energy to happen.

Since the two were reversible, could they be the same intrinsically?

What about magic power?

In the past, the race never had the faintest interest in thinking about the manifestation of magic power. They took it for whatever it was… But now, having considered it, could magic power be a form of energy conversion as well?

For example, if the magic power used to sustain the Deity of Gods was changed into explosive energy, how powerful would the effect be?

It was as though a brand new path had emerged in front of Mask.

If I can grasp this mystical secret, Sky Lord, no, even the King… will be nothing.

Knowledge, knowledge is the most powerful force in the world.

I want to know… I want to find out the mystical secrets of the humans!

Nassaupelle raised his head and unleashed an uncontrollable, odd laugh.

…

When he heard the faint laughter behind him, Hackzord left in disgust.

“My lord… it was fortunate that you came!” On his shoulder, the noble wore a look of misery; he was a sobbing mess. “The others had holes drilled into their heads by that monster, and I was almost the next one—”

“I know, rest easy, everything is over.”

He placed the noble down to the ground but prevented him from leaving. Instead, he grabbed and lifted the noble by the collar, over the suspension bridge.

“Wait a minute, M-my Lord, Sky Lord, what are you doing?” Seeing the horrific and squirming worms below, the noble panicked. “No… No!”

Hackzord did not reply. With a throw, the noble screamed and fell to the bottom of the hole more than ten meters down. Sensing the incoming “food”, the Inferior Demons flocked towards the noble, swaying excitedly as a response for the gift.

What Hackzord needed was a stable and controllable workforce.

After witnessing the experimental fields and Mask’s true appearance, the noble was no longer one.

Even Hackzord felt that Nassaupelle was no different from a monster, much less the humans.

Instead of allowing the human to return to spread the news about his tragic encounter, Hackzord decided to shut him up permanently.

Although this choice would result in some trouble, it was definitely better than a mess he couldn’t clean up in the future.

Hackzord returned to the temporary human residence. Marwayne was the first to welcome him. “My Lord… what happened to the people captured…”

“I’ve checked and verified the situation. They were captured because they were secretly communicating with Graycastle. As the one responsible for intelligence is someone else, I received the news late.” Hackzord patiently appeased the man. “But it was fortunate that I was in time, according to your culture, those men weren’t sentenced to death but detained in Sky City. After the war is over, they can pay a ransom or some other price in return for their freedom. Aside from that, I have other good news. The remaining nobles have passed the test, so no such thing will occur again.”

“I see…” Marwayen let out a long sigh. “So that’s the reason. Thank you, my Lord. Thank you for your care and concern.”

“It is nothing, as long as all of you strive hard to accomplish the missions I have given, there will be a piece of the human world for all of you.”

“Of course, of course.” Marwayne suddenly took a letter out from his robes. “Right, My Lord. When you were in the inner city, someone passed me this letter. They said it was specifically addressed to you. Although there might have been a mistake, it was already sent here, so I figured that it’s best for you to take a look.”

“Oh?” Hackzord opened the letter, and his pupils constricted immediately!