The Hunt

They must be stopped!

The battlefield was chaotic, with explosions and shells streaking through the air with a dull whistle, bursts of fire and countless rubble flying as a torrent of steel advanced.

But it is by no means unstoppable or invincible.

Whether it's fulfilling one's duties, upholding one's beliefs, or remaining loyal...

The Council's army still organized resistance.

"The enemy's combat units are heavily defended and extremely destructive, making direct confrontation impossible. The threat level is assessed, and they are classified as large units... A delaying tactic should be employed!"

The spellcasting team immediately determined their tactical plan. The mage tore open the scroll and chanted to assist in the spellcasting. Elemental energy flowed from the earthen crystal, projecting and affecting the soil at the target location.

"Quagmire Spell - Mud Spell Level 10, Output 35 Standard Units, Triple Harmony Serpent Constellation Casting!"

The lead mage of the spellcasting group channeled elemental energy while issuing a combined attack command to his team members, "Arcanist, place Petrification Spell in the second sequence and begin charging!"

"Sword and shield bearers, signal to the nearby Fire Elephant Group 1 and Fire Elephant Group 2 to prepare poison wind and piercing spells respectively. Once the delaying tactic succeeds, take down this big guy together!"

In the blink of an eye, the well-trained elite spellcasting team was ready tactically, and the Quagmire Spell was cast—a classic tactic used for centuries against cavalry charges!

Simply by making solid ground muddy and soft, one can slow down or even cripple the fighting force of a cavalry unit. For hundreds of years, infantry and cavalry offensive and defensive tactics have been dismantled, improved, optimized, and innovated around the absolute core spell of Quagmire Spell. Countless tactical improvements have been made in this regard!

The hard soil layer immediately crumbled, the soil became loose, and water elements took the opportunity to pour in. The cold, wet soil gushed out puddlees, enough for a human's feet to sink in, let alone a huge steel chariot!

But the tracks roared and never stopped, instead continuing to surge forward!

The spellcaster was taken aback, and then he saw that the chariot tracks lit up with petrification runes, which, combined with the frost-freezing magic array, solidified the mud once again.

Meanwhile, the infantry fighting vehicles following behind the armored units accelerated forward—those things should be called mage vehicles! Because what rode inside wasn't an infantry squad, but a spellcasting team!

This modified infantry fighting vehicle, hidden behind the tank and under the cover of the infantry, immediately deployed into a magical attack platform after stopping.

--The Royal Alchemy Association of the Dusk Moon Dynasty has always wanted to miniaturize the magic attack platform and move it from the capital ship to land, adding a mobile heavy spellcasting attack force to the Royal Army. This would give it powerful spell attack capabilities as well as the mobility and flexibility of ordinary spellcasters, allowing it to maintain stable attack capabilities while following the cavalry on raids.

But all the experiments failed.

The carriage was bumpy, its defenses were questionable, and it was impossible to maintain the precision and stability of the magic system.

While the war behemoth equipped with a platform saddle was adequate, its speed was somewhat lacking.

--Then Kang De arrived!

With the tacit approval and hints of Dairila, who was biased towards outsiders, Malegith impersonated the Phoenix King and obtained almost all the experimental data on the mechanization of the magic platform. She then innovated and used Earth's combat vehicles as the carrier of the magic platform, thus completing the integration of science and magic.

One of the achievements was the inclusion of the Mage tanks in this mixed brigade, which advanced in coordination with the armored forces!

However, in the official documents of the Distant Harbor War series, this mage tank had no code name or other name, and was simply named "multi-functional infantry fighting vehicle", which did not reflect the power, specialness and important significance of this epoch-making combat weapon.

The spellcasters assigned to the mage chariot unit were quite resentful, as the name was rather unimpressive and rather casual. However, even the proud spellcasters had to admit one thing...

This chariot is truly multifunctional.

But then lightning flashed.

This mage vehicle, codenamed "Thunderer," has a modular casting platform that is a large sphere that gleams with a metallic sheen. Seven spellcasters specializing in Atmospheric School form a spellcasting squad, stationed with the vehicle to provide wide-range lightning suppression support and precise lightning strikes for combat troops.

This seven-member spellcasting team is led by a novice atmospheric mage who has obtained at least a Level 4 Destruction Mage certification, who serves as the spellcasting guide and captain. Four mage apprentices act as elemental missile shooters, while an alchemist and a magic scholar are responsible for providing magical tools and using magical devices.

Such a lineup, in a large-scale battle between major powers, would merely be one member of a united spellcasting force, becoming cannon fodder with their mana drained or even their brains burned out in a strategic magical clash of terrifying scale.

But in Distant Harbor, after undergoing a baptism of courage and an education in glory, they joined the mechanized magic force, where they could even dominate small, localized battlefields!

The technological foundation of the Dusk Moon Dynasty, the gifts of Civilization from Yilan-Tai'er, and the technological power of Earth were miraculously integrated by the previous Phoenix King —this was not a mature version, but merely a preliminary experimental machine, adhering to the principle of "it works, so it will"... but it was powerful enough!

On the touchscreen with its visual interface, the commander switches attack modes and selects spell effects, while the magic scholar closely monitors the operation of this large magical system.

Everything was normal. The apprentices were contributing their mental power and elemental affinity with the resonance auxiliary device to help guide the enormous elemental energy generated by the small magic core. This violent energy was originally difficult to control, requiring huge equipment to restrain it. Its enormous size could only be carried by large warships like the elven capital ships... But the gift of Yilan-Tai'er brought a more stable elemental energy technology!

Since the binding force field constructed by the Radiant Crystal Circuit can control the surging light energy of stars, it can naturally also serve as a key material to complete the miniaturization of the magic core! Thus, the surging power propels the high-powered attack magic device. After being amplified by the magic attack platform, the thunder module of the mage's chariot is quickly filled with electric light, and the huge metal sphere is surrounded by blue streaks of electric light.

Small thunderclouds converged and formed, projecting onto the target and unleashing a lightning sword that struck down from above.

This extremely violent elemental force shattered the resistance of the Council's spellcasting team that had cast the Quagmire Spell. The apprentices, whose mental strength was fragile, howled as they turned into charred remains. The spellcaster who led this counterattack was bleeding from all seven orifices from the mental impact, yet still howled, "Anti-magic device team! Anti-magic device team!"

On the left flank of the "Thunderer" mage vehicle, the "Earth's Wrath" mage vehicle extends four ground-gripping metal hooks, and its arcane combat module is a huge impact pillar.

On the right, the vehicle named "Sonic Assassin" has a horn-shaped ultrasonic amplifier mounted on it.

The infantry protecting them spread out in all directions.

Each infantry squad leader is equipped with a life detection device on their weapon. The life signal is projected onto a flat plate mounted on the side of the weapon, while the radio on their chest transmits communications and guidance from the Eagle Eye officer in the Element Feedback Starlink vehicle, reporting in real time all the battle situations that are invisible to the naked eye.

"Target locked, high-explosive shell, fire!"

Cannons roared, tanks fired in unison, the limits of protective runes and solidification spells were broken, and attack magic devices hidden behind fortifications were sent into the air along with their crews. Tanks rumbled forward, three mage tanks charged up the hill, and from their high vantage point, the infantry charged down the breach.

These three mage vehicles belonged to a mechanized magic platoon. Their respective arcane modules hummed as they charged up. First, they unleashed a barrage of ice spikes that rained down, sweeping back and forth along a trench to suppress enemy troops attempting to break out from their bunkers. Then, their fiery breath swept out like a fire dragon, vaporizing the cold ice spikes into diffuse steam.

Finally, a thunderous bolt of lightning surged forward, tiny but deadly sparks bouncing and scattering within the dense water elements, accompanied by screams and cries of agony.

"Surrender! Surrender!"

The infantrymen held up large loudspeakers, which played pre-recorded messages.

"Those who surrender will be spared death, provided with food and drink, and will only have to perform three years of hard labor before being allowed to return home freely! Officers who lead their troops to surrender may be exempted from punishment, given a position, or even granted freedom, depending on the circumstances! If officers do not surrender, but soldiers gather to kill officers and then surrender, the initiator of such an action will be immediately granted freedom!"

This ultimatum to persuade them to surrender ultimately ended with a resolute assertion.

Believe it or not--

"--Don't believe me or die!"

Honor, pride, dignity—these are things that are rare and scarce.

In this Council's army, most people joined either through conscription or for a better life and future. During training and combat, they thought about pay and food; when victories were won, they thought about rewards and looting; and when defeat was imminent...

The soldiers were only thinking about survival.

First, there's the escape... In this other world, there's no Geneva Conventions, and being a prisoner of war is a miserable experience. You're fed pig swill, abused, and being exchanged for prisoners is a dream come true. Ransom is something ordinary soldiers don't deserve. As a prisoner of war, your ultimate fate is most likely to be repairing planets.

But if you can't escape...

We had no choice but to surrender.

After all, there is great terror in the space between life and death.

Seeing that his companions and comrades did not die from swords or even magic.

Instead, half of him suddenly disappeared, his face was smashed, his body was broken in two, and even his entire body, along with the ground beneath his feet, turned into scattered stones and mud, crashing and dispersing in all directions.

I had absolutely no idea what had happened, except for one thing.

--The Distant Harbor have attacked!

The rumbling steel behemoths, the giant soldiers clad in heavy armor like iron men, their weapons spewing fire and creating explosions, were far more powerful than the explosive crossbow bolts in their own hands!

The enormous airships in the sky, the light cannons that swept across the battlefield and cleaved the earth, the endless rain of rockets, and the roaring, charging steel behemoths—all of this was completely incomprehensible, not only to ordinary soldiers with limited education, but even to seasoned spellcasters!

They sensed an irresistible power emanating from these unprecedented weapons of war.

As if it were a contagious disease, one person threw down their weapon, then two people threw down their weapons.

More and more people.

They cried and screamed as they crawled out of the trenches, pleading with the Distant Harbor to stop the killing.

In response, they were met only with the dark muzzle of a gun and a small medicine box thrown at their feet. The transparent box was of unknown material, crystal clear, and inside lay a purple crystal.

Like expensive candy, it radiates an alluring glow.

"Pick it up, open it, and eat it."

The soldiers, brandishing weapons and wielding the power of life and death, rudely declared, "Someone will take over and manage you. Now, get out of our way and don't obstruct our advance!"

The bewildered soldiers trembled as they opened the box, recalling the rumors that their superiors had claimed Kang De had poisoned the airdropped food. But the whispers in private revealed the truth: it wasn't poison, but rather a method employed by the Cathayan Kang De to magically abduct those who had eaten the food.

Perhaps due to the shock of death, or perhaps due to despair, in this chaotic battlefield, no one could come up with the reasonable logic that "this is not poison, Kang De would not have done this unnecessary thing." The surrenderers, filled with great unease and fear, swallowed the purple crystals, then turned into streams of light and were devoured by the Phase Gate.

The resettlement and guidance team, composed of officers and soldiers from Council who had been ordered by Kang De to avoid the war, was already on standby in the White Mist World —they had personally experienced and were very familiar with the procedures for comforting and managing prisoners of war.

The advance on the battlefield continues.

The Corona Cannon's attack greatly shook morale. The airships blasted open the defenses with ground firepower. After suppressing the Council's magic positions with long-range strikes, the armored forces drove straight in through the gaps in the defenses and attacked recklessly. The defenses that the Council had built over several months were constantly breached and the army drove straight in.

A devastating defeat that was bound to shock the world gradually became clear amidst the earth-shattering cries of battle.

After this battle, Distant Harbor will gain the awe of the entire Mortal World.

Drones flying in the sky sent back images of the battlefield. On the ground, steel surged like a flood, sweeping through the rugged and winding trench lines. Streaks of light rose continuously in the enemy positions that were being breached, indicating that more and more soldiers had chosen to surrender. Kang De simply watched calmly as the battle situation gradually became clear.

He stood up, and the Dragon Emperor, Dairila, and Dong Tianming followed suit.

Horus continuously sent back battlefield feedback.

Kang De heard the triumphant laughter of the commanders at all levels, and the proud shouts of the soldiers. They had crushed the powerful armies of the world's great powers from the front. Great victories often shape the beliefs and spirit of an army... But for the Fire Thief, this was not a victory.

The results achieved so far are merely the prerequisites for victory.

But the real battle is just beginning.

"Tell the people of the Southern Council that today is the day to wash away the shame and exterminate the traitors... Tell them to prepare themselves," Kang De said solemnly. "Let's go... let's hunt down the false gods."

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PS1: I feel like I'm getting a fever... My condition is progressing steadily.