The enormous airborne fortress hovered directly above the crystal mine. A marvel of engineering that resembled a small town, it had an inverted cone-shaped base and two sturdy circular walls. Dozens of magic towers between the walls provided shields for the entire fortress. It was imposing and magnificent, though of course it had plenty of flaws. Even Hao Ren could tell that its design was rather crude: they had simply taken a ground fortress, put it in the sky, and added a whole bunch of gun emplacements. It had no escort formation, and its anti-air defenses were arranged haphazardly. It could be called powerful on this planet, but it was nowhere near invincible. This behemoth built by the Horleta people was merely the beginning of an idea, still a long way from mature strategic application. Even so, the airborne fortress was an inspiring creation.
With Ofra's explanation, everyone learned how the airborne fortress had been built. Hodius's foundation came from the Dragon Ridge Mountains. After the range's main peak collapsed, the other peaks had been left tottering, so the Pope boldly used divine magic to cut off the summit of one of them. He turned the peak upside down and used it as Hodius's base, then moved the entire mountain into the crystal mine for modification. The mine was sealed off for nearly a month. Countless skilled mages, led by twelve royal archmages, entered it and remodeled the mountain just like ordinary bricklayers. To ensure secrecy, not a single ordinary worker took part in the construction. A month later—that is, just a few days ago—the magical fog above the crystal mine finally lifted, and Hodius rose into the sky, stunning the world.
It was Hodius's ascent, and the enormous shock it caused, that finally rattled the upper ranks of the