Chapter 302: Tip of the Iceberg

Skyborne City shed its illusory veil to reveal its full splendor as it cast an immense shadow across the battlefield below. Its sheer size blotted out the sun, plunging the orcish troops and the rampaging chimeras into darkness.

"Fall back! Fall back! Retreat!" the orcish generals roared, ordering their already battered and bloodied forces to retreat from the field. They knew that they stood no chance against what was about to unfold.

"Never retreat! Fight to the death!"

"Orcs never surrender!"

"Kill those filthy beasts!"

The more lucid among the orcs obeyed instantly, casting off their cumbersome plate armor and heavy hammers to flee from the carnage.

But many were already lost to bloodlust. Their green skin had turned red, and their reason was buried beneath fury and instinct. Rage clouded their minds, and the generals' orders became nothing more than senseless buzzing.

One orc general, notably smaller than the others, frowned deeply. He knew he was about to lose another swathe of valuable warriors.

Yet he did not hesitate. Even as he continued to issue orders, he helped usher the still-sane soldiers off the battlefield.

Such was the paradox of the orcish race. Though fast-breeding, physically gifted, and terrifyingly powerful when enraged, orcs had a fatal flaw: their physical strength and mental fortitude were often at odds.

The strongest orc warriors tended to be the ones who succumbed most to their bloodlust. And once they fell into a frenzy, they could no longer distinguish friend from foe, nor comprehend commands.

Those capable of rational thought, who were able to rise to command, on the other hand, often had inferior physical prowess.

This strange dissonance of body and mind was both a strength and a curse, explaining why the orcish kingdoms had remained fractured and war-torn for generations.

Emmon was a rare exception. Raised among humans, his balance of intellect and strength made him an anomaly among his people.

A berserking orc rushed forward, heavy mallet in hand, roaring at the chimeras who were now shifting their focus skyward toward the metal colossus that had just appeared.

But before he could even bring his weapon to bear, a lion-tailed chimera skewered him clean through the chest with a scorpion-like stinger.

His heart was ripped out, his body tossed into a grotesque maw on the chimera's back, where it was shredded into pulp.

Each chimera was as strong as an intermediate grand knight, and some were even approaching the threshold of legends. These haphazardly assembled orcish militias were little more than fodder.

But in their frenzy, they did serve their purpose as a distraction. The chimeras focused on them, giving the rest of the orcish army time to withdraw.

With claws both leonine and draconic, a chimera tore through orcish flesh, then lifted its four eyes to the sky, to the leviathan that had emerged from the heavens.

These monstrosities, which orcish shamans had created by splicing countless beasts together, possessed a child's intelligence and a beast's instincts. The sudden appearance of the aerial fortress—a massive "predator"—caused them to feel innate fear.

Yet their altered minds could not conceive of the possibility of retreat. They would die in battle, or annihilate everything around them.

Viscera and foul blood splattered over one chimera's body as its brethren were slain.

Ordinarily, the chimeras might have turned on each other, but the appearance of the massive predator had unified them all. At least for now, it held their singular focus.

Spreading its massive, feathered bat-wings, a chimera absorbed mana into its core. A hurricane formed as it launched itself into the air. Dozens of other chimeras followed suit, rising as one to challenge the aerial invader.

"Prepare the next volley: Arcane Missiles and Fireballs."

Icarus, standing alongside Wang Yu and the others on one of Skyborne City's viewing platforms, issued orders to the magicians operating the colossal staff.

Mana surged like a tidal wave. The magicians quickly etched simple spell formations into the core of the giant staff with their mental energy. The staff's internal enchantments would augment the resulting spells by orders of magnitude.

A massive, glowing missile of pure arcane energy appeared. It was so large that it seemed unwieldy—but it shot forth as swiftly as its ordinary counterpart.

Enlarged nearly two thousand times, the missile streaked toward the incoming chimeras.

"The staff only works on low-tier spells," Icarus explained to Avia and Sieg. "High-tier magic requires circuitry that's far too complex, and overloading them causes them to collapse. But low-tier spells can be supercharged just by brute force."

Avia and Sieg nodded thoughtfully. The display had given them lots of new ideas.

The massive missile neared its targets—only for the chimeras to twist their bodies with a beat of their wings, narrowly avoiding the blast.

But Arcane Missiles could be guided. Tendrils of mana launched from the staff, linked up with the missile and altered its path.

It arced beautifully in the air and struck the chimeras from behind, snapping their spines and rupturing their organs.

They fell, blood and entrails fountaining from their bodies. Their powerful vitality kept them alive—but not for long. A fall from this height would surely kill them.

Other platforms across the city's underside likewise fired upon the horde. Gravity spheres, alchemical bombs, steel cannons, burning rain, searing beams—a kaleidoscope of death was unleashed by various academies.

The chimeras fought back with uncanny agility and raw strength, dodging and absorbing blows where they could. Yet, despite their efforts, more fell. And more surged forward, stepping over the dead to press the assault.

By the time they were within a kilometer of Skyborne City, their numbers had been halved. Yet there was no fear in their eyes. Their addled minds did not understand fear.

One chimera surged ahead, wings beating furiously, aiming straight for the platform where Wang Yu and the others stood.

Wang Yu drew his starsteel blade. Bloodforged armor enveloped him as he locked eyes with the incoming beast, tracking its serpentine movements.

"No need to worry," Icarus said, waving a hand. "We have defensive arrays in place. Skyborne City's defenses aren't for show. These things won't breach us."

As if on cue, the moment a chimera entered the city's outer defensive radius, hidden machinery activated. A section of metal plating opened. From within, a massive slab of enchanted iron was launched at supersonic speed.

It crashed through the air like a chunk of a city wall hurled down from the heavens.

Its runes ignited mid-flight, arresting its momentum in stages until it hovered in perfect stillness right in the chimera's way—a floating bulwark.

The chimera slammed into it with all its force.

The runes on the wall flashed. It absorbed the impact and did not budge.

The chimera's skull crumpled like paper, its face grotesquely deformed by the impact.

As the other chimeras attempting to break through the bombardment were similarly blocked by towering steel walls, Skyborne City launched a second wave of countermeasures. Row upon row of rectangular metal boxes extended from hidden compartments across its underbelly. A multitude of launch ports opened along their surfaces.

Flashes of flame burst forth in rapid succession. These metal casings were missile launchers, powered by alchemical propellants refined to generate immense thrust. The specialized projectiles rocketed from their chambers at such speed that they could barely be seen with the naked eye.

Each alchemically forged missile drove its razor-tipped head clean through the chimera's scaled hide and muscled armor, lodging deep into sinew and bone.

The explosives within, sensitive to pressure, detonated the moment the surrounding flesh compressed around them, triggering layered spell matrices that channeled fire and shrapnel straight into the beast's core.

And that was the effect of just one missile. From Wang Yu's vantage point, the missiles fell like torrential rain, a metal tempest unleashed from above. The chimeras, caught mid-charge, were riddled with holes before they even had time to roar. Torn apart, their ruined flesh was then scorched to blackened pulp by the secondary explosions.

Those rare chimeras that survived the initial onslaught were instantly annihilated in the next breath, blown apart into soot-stained fragments scattered like confetti over the battlefield.

"Truly deserving of its name—the pinnacle of alchemical engineering," Wang Yu muttered in awe, watching the relentless barrage. "And this is just the city's autonomous defense system? If Skyborne City ever launched a real offensive..."

The destructive force on display rivaled the heavy weapons of Earth's most advanced militaries.

"Well, it is Skyborne City," said Icarus, smiling faintly at Wang Yu's reaction. "What you just saw was merely the tip of the iceberg. This level of force is precisely what allows the city to remain sovereign, unclaimed by any nation or race, and governed solely by scholarship."

He added, somewhat sheepishly, "Of course, letting those chimeras enter the city's defense perimeter means we technically failed to complete the mission flawlessly. We'll have to pay a fine to the Central Assembly."

He sighed and shook his head. No one liked wasting money.

With the last of the chimeras destroyed, the shroud concealing Skyborne City reactivated. Its majestic silhouette faded once more into the heavens, and sunlight returned to the scorched land below.

The platform carrying the group began its ascent, ferrying them back into the heart of the city.

Back in his quarters, a somewhat austere residence provided by the Council of the Arcane, Wang Yu set about processing the materials he'd harvested from the undead plane.

"The minerals need to be smelted, and the undead reagents won't retain potency long outside their native plane," he muttered. "Best to handle them before they degrade."

Avia, Sieg, and Noelle had gone to the Order's archives to investigate recent developments in the research on "hypermagic." Left alone, Wang Yu summoned the Seed of Eden and entered via a permanent Gate of Phases that Avia had crafted.

Inside, a familiar figure awaited him. Beside a shrine bearing the idol of the Lady of the Night, a tall woman sat calmly in a rocking chair, gently swaying.

Wang Yu blinked. "Lady Darkness, you're even able to project your avatar here now? Have you made progress with your research on the Tree of the Night?"

"Yes," Lady Darkness replied. "My research has advanced, and my strength has grown. I can now anchor a manifestation into this space."

"Good to hear. Things are interesting here—you should take some time to explore if you ever get bored."

Wang Yu began sorting through minerals as he prepared a crucible. As he selected his tools, her quiet, almost uncertain voice interrupted him again.

"Wang Yu, I have a question for you."

The usually serene deity now seemed to hesitate.

"What is it?"