Civilization: Beyond Two Worlds

336 There’s No Victor in War

The alchemists used their mental strength to urge the puppets to attack.

It was pure and handmade, with an emphasis on enchantment and strengthening. The materials were chosen one in a million, and the design was exquisite. It was activated by the magic spell. The master engraved the magic patterns and pushed the levers, gears, and bearings to drive the powerful power.

The mechanical war dog was agile and fast, running like the wind. It shuttled through the battlefield and set up a small crossbow platform on its back. It was equipped with five consecutive explosive crossbow bolts and five poisonous cloud crossbow bolts.

The colossus was heavy and huge. Its defense was powerful and its strength was powerful. It could form a formation to defend or throw attacks from afar. It could absorb blood and mud to strengthen its body and resist spells.

!!

There were also obsidian gargoyles soaring in the air and equipped with small alchemical bombs.

The clockwork warrior waved his four long sharp blades and cut like the wind.

The fixed battery twisted the heavy string and enchanted heavy crossbows with the upper string of the precise transmission system. A large scope attached to precise shooting and fatal attacks was aiming at the alchemical chariot that was running like a wind.

This was the experimental weapon of the Twilight Alchemy Mechanical Transmission School.

They pursued stronger motivation, more effective transmission systems, cheaper prices, a larger range, and more efficient and abundant production. In the end, they would create alchemical weapons that could replace flesh and blood, not supplementary soldiers of the current Royal Army sequence.

In a situation where martial arts were prevalent and the glory of the continent’s army was popular, this thought could be said to be deviant. If he wanted to completely kick the brave elf warriors out of the battlefield and let the war be fought by the cold metal bodies and a group of alchemists hiding at the back, why did he still have to be a seasoned general or a warrior who tirelessly honed his skills? What honor was there in such a war?

Most importantly, this would cause the soldiers to lose their jobs and most middle and lower-level officers or even upper-level generals to lose their right to speak and social status. Therefore, f*ck you and f*ck your mother. Leave the big liar alone.

Therefore, ever since the Mechanical Transmission School was established, it encountered a large number of cold eyes, ostracization, and mockery.

The mainstream alchemical military science was inherited from the good tradition of the Phoenix King Marge’s era and was always praised and supported by the army. It was good to pursue large things, and beautiful to pursue large ones. It liked to make huge and powerful heavy magic devices, even shocking the elves and magnificent super decisive weapons, and provided all kinds of battlefield support to the invincible Royal Army. However, it was only support. In terms of charging into battle and seizing victory and glory, the elf warriors were the eternal protagonists.

To a behemoth, reform and change were very painful.

This was because the resistance and inertia were really too great.

The leader of the Mechanical Transmission School, Master Alchemist Marges, had always been ostracized by his peers and treated coldly by the military. Even as an alchemist who was represented in the Arcane Law Council, he had no choice but to join the Goethe Expeditionary Force and participate in this “real war drill”. He hoped to show the use of alchemical weapons in this war that was not valued by the council to attract the attention of some army generals.

Yes, this war against Goethe was not even taken seriously by the Twilight Council. The difference in national strength between the two countries was so great that no one would doubt the outcome of the war.

Until Kang De’s mass projection destroyed the five Dragon Flag Legions.

When the expeditionary army attacked again, facing the battlefield news that was sent back, the advisors of the expeditionary force realized that Kang De was also very troublesome as an alchemist. That unheard alchemical chariot was actually an equally terrifying war machine. The threat of the Cathayan, Kang De, was not only limited to the terrifying forbidden curse that destroyed an army. He could easily destroy an army without using that move.

Out of the thought that “no matter who it is, let’s send them up to try to stop that guy”, Master Marges and his alchemical weapons were recalled.

It was deployed to the fourth defense line formed by the first pure elf army.

Such contempt and disdain could no longer anger Master Marges, because he had at least obtained the report on the previous battles and even earlier, as well as the results and information of Kang De’s alchemical chariot.

The content made him excited and shocked.

It also made him agree to such conscription and walk onto the battlefield.

This was because he realized that that alchemical chariot might be shining with the light of the next era.

This light might be in front of the path he had painstakingly trekked on so far, or it might be the light of a completely different path. He was extremely afraid of these two possibilities. The former meant that the Cathayan was already far ahead of him, and the latter might even deny the road he had chosen in his life.

After all, his proudest work could not kill an army alone.

However, he still came.

After hearing of such an alchemical weapon, how could he not see and fight with his own eyes?

That was why he was here.

The battlefield was filled with blood and smoke. A pungent smell whistled and roared with a loud roar. That strange alchemical chariot swept across the battlefield.

Master Marges stared at the shadow of war.

Through the description and report after that, it was far less useful than seeing it with his own eyes. At the very least, when Marges saw the appearance of the alchemical chariot, he suddenly had some inspiration and was deep in thought.

He realized almost immediately that the appearance of this chariot was not only the preference of the designer, but it had accumulated countless experiences and wisdom, causing his heart to sink.

The weapons set up and shooting everywhere in the chariot made him smell blood and death.

Continuous flames and loud bangs.

High-speed metal arrows whistled through the air. He saw an array of heavy shield soldiers being easily torn apart. Looking at the huge bloody hole that had exploded behind the soldiers and the deformed internal organs, he understood why the heads of the metal arrows were not sharp.

This was enough to shock and fear him even more.

The strength of the chariot and weapon came from the exquisiteness of wisdom. The countless arrows with almost identical workmanship might be because of countless people, but the small design details at the top of the arrows were not genius wisdom and inspiration for workmanship. They must have accumulated experience after countless bloody deaths and cruel killings.

Kang De, the Cathayan… was he really from Cathay?

What had happened in Cathay?

All kinds of thoughts flashed past, but the battle was urgent. The battlefield was changing and killing intent was abundant. The alchemist no longer had the time to think carefully. He wanted to command the battle and fight this powerful enemy.

He wanted to verify some things.

He wanted to prove to this Cathayan.

He wanted to prove the strength, will, and honor of the elves.

Perhaps his strength was a little insufficient, but facing a powerful enemy, he still had the courage to fight.

The obsidian gargoyle swooped down from the sky. The mechanical war dog attacked from both wings. The crossbow platform aimed on its own. The colossus knocked its fists and raised a huge rock. Mud curled around its entire body as the clockwork warriors and magic puppets lined up and waited to attack.

Master Marges’ eyes shone. He stretched out his finger and released his war weapon.

The huge and heavy supply truck put down the cargo board and raised the canvas. A huge copper-yellow ball the size of two people rolled down with magic patterns engraved on its surface. It rumbled and shone with blazing demonic light as it collided with the high-speed alchemical chariot.

The horn on the command platform blew, and the remaining soldiers dispersed. The alchemical army under Master Marges spread out on both wings. The huge copper ball spun with a bang, unstoppable, and rushed forward.

The Hummer turned around and faced this copper ball. The cannon unfolded, and a rain of bullets shot out. However, Marges’ mind was like a wheel. He activated his magic power and the copper ball continuously moved its location. The surface quickly circled, and a violent wind and cold current curled around the surface. The bullets that were densely shot like a meteor shower were continuously blocked and bounced away, causing sparks to fly.

“It’s recorded that an arrowhead penetrates armor. It’s extremely fast and powerful, but it’s not without weaknesses. There’s no arrow shaft, no tail feathers, and there’s not enough enchantment space. Therefore, the trajectory can be weakened by the interference of wind spells. It’ll be less stable than a refined arrow. The effect of an atmospheric shield-type spell is especially obvious. The heavy armor is still effective, but the exact armor configuration situation still needs to be tested… It’s not indestructible. At the very least, I have to dodge and hide…”

There was naturally an apprentice’s shorthand beside him. Marges did not stop talking, and the light in his eyes became even brighter.

In an instant, the copper ball had already rushed to his eyes. The two sides were about to collide. The alchemical chariot spun its wheels, drifted, and swung its tail to dodge the copper ball. However, when the two brushed past each other, Marges’ surprise attack happened to begin.

...

The magic patterns shone brightly, and the surface of the tightly embedded copper ball suddenly bounced open. The top bloomed like a lotus, and its huge body unfolded and stood up like a hero statue. Its left arm was the ballista that carried ten heavy explosive crossbows, and its right arm was a propulsion war hammer that provided strength through the conversion of the water’s three states.

The mobility collision form of the Centurion War Armor was a huge copper ball that collided back and forth with irresistible force. In the killing form, the upper body was a humanoid mechanical battle puppet, and the lower body was a high-speed mobility hemisphere.

The two sides crossed each other, and the centurion instantly transformed into a combat form. This was a long-planned surprise attack. The alchemical weapon raised its war hammer, twisted its direction, and suddenly smashed at the top of the alchemy chariot.

At the same time, the alchemists who had practiced with their leader for a long time controlled their alchemical weapons at the same time. The war dogs shot explosive crossbow bolts, the gargoyles threw small bombs, the colossus smashed out rolling rocks, the fixed battery fired heavy crossbows, and the clockwork warriors and magic puppets lowered their bodies and waved their weapons to cover them at high speed.

This was a joint attack that he was determined to obtain.

All the alchemists yearned to make contributions here.

With such cooperation and such a surprise attack, they were confident that the other party could not resist.

However, at this moment, there was a mechanical sound.

The shell of the alchemical chariot suddenly bounced open.

In the next moment, the front of the car fell to the ground. The tail of the car rose into the air, and the body of the car expanded in the air. Thousands of cold and complicated parts reorganized and bit together in a shocking posture and speed. The hydraulic pushed forward, and the engine roared. The gears bit, and the bearings operated. The Transformer separated its hands and pressed them on the ground. It pushed hard and flew again, dodging the bombardment of the fatal heavy crossbow. The alchemical bomb exploded behind it.

His waist twisted, and the wheels of his legs twisted. Horus flipped over and half-knelt to the ground. His left and right hands were raised at a 135-degree angle, and he was armed. The 30mm rapid-fire tank cannon in his left hand, the rotary grenade launcher in his right, and the six-barreled M61A1 Fire God Cannon on his shoulder began to hum and turn.

...

Cannon fire rumbled.

The three huge rocks thrown were blown up in the air, and gravel splashed. The Fire God Cannon looked into the air and swept. The five gargoyles shattered in the air. The 30mm rapid-fire cannon fired at the fixed ballista platform. In an instant, it exploded until the battery shattered and collapsed. Gun grenades flew everywhere like fairies scattering flowers, covering the war dogs, clockwork warriors, and magic puppets.

Then, Horus retracted the round grenade launcher in his right hand. The module behind him bounced open. He grabbed the door-like sword and held the accelerator on the hilt. Flames curled and burned as brightly as light. He turned around and attacked the surprise centurion war armor. On the path of the charge, these two war weapons raised the long-range weapons in their left hands at the same time. The heavy crossbow and rapid-fire cannon flashed, and their huge bodies crossed.

After witnessing the process of the alchemical chariot transforming into a human, Marges was almost stunned on the spot.

Although it was the white-hot battle on the battlefield and lives were continuously falling, and danger was right in front of him, the alchemist still could not help but tremble, and his mind was blank.

After witnessing that moment, he almost lost the ability to think.

“Gods…”

This was the common reaction of the creatures of the other world who had seen Horus’s transformation up close.

The extreme performance of cold, orderly, steel, and machinery almost represented the supreme beauty of industry. Every structure, every transmission, every gear, the burning of the turbine, and the advancement of the lever jointly bestowed spirituality to steel and strength to machinery. That was the endpoint of alchemy, the ultimate goal.

The centurion he was proud of, the mechanical war dog, and the clockwork warrior were also the most perfect work developed with mechanical transmission as the core. After exquisite calculation and deduction and driven by magic energy… He held on to the Mechanical Transmission School until today, but he saw an unattainable peak.

The work he was proud of was like the worst toy in front of this steel giant.

“This path…” he muttered, “is the right one…”

The mental pain woke him. The two giants crossed and confronted each other. Marges took a deep breath. Facing this unprecedented and despairing powerful enemy, the centurion raised his weapon again.

Magic energy rumbled. The gears spun and buzzed softly. The metal bodies collided again.

Flames burst out, and guns roared.

Clearly, the alchemical weapons of the elves were already at a disadvantage. The horn on the command platform sounded, and the flag waved. The elf army lined up and deployed again, preparing to attack.

Therefore, the battle lasted for 22 minutes.

Corpses were everywhere and there was a charred smell everywhere. Marges fell to the ground facing the sky and looked at the clear sky, his face extremely pale. His mind had been severely injured, and the battle that belonged to him had ended in two minutes. It was not Horus who killed the centurion head-on, but when they collided for a minute and 50 seconds, he saw the Cathayan, Kang De, quietly appear at the feet of the two giants, and a dark light flashed beside him.

At that moment, the steel giant waved his sword and placed it against the centurion’s war hammer. Both sides exerted strength at the same time, so it was in a deadlock. At this moment, Marges saw the Cathayan reach out to touch the centurion’S hemispheric mobility device. In the next moment, he disappeared with him.

Similarly, the increasingly close mental connection between Marge and the centurion disappeared. To an alchemist who was immersed in the Battle Capital and his mental resonance was becoming denser, this was not stingy with having his soul slashed. It almost instantly severely injured his mind, causing him to suffer a serious backlash and lose his mobility.

He only lay on the ground facing the sky and looked at the sky listlessly, rejecting the help of his students and subordinates. He heard an endless roar. It was the sound of the enemy’s weapons firing, and he also heard an endless horn. That was the order to continue attacking. His battle had already ended, but the whistling of magic and arrows, the roar of the elves, and the bang of the iron cavalry did not stop.

However, it was ultimately cut off.

It lasted for almost 20 minutes.

It was longer than the previous three battles combined.

This was because the opponent this time was no longer the servant army, but the regular army of the elves. They did not panic and escape because of the huge casualties and incomprehensible attacks. Instead, they did not hesitate to continuously attack, wave after wave, wave after wave, until the last elf fell in blood.

Even if they had already substantially won and wanted to leave, there were still remaining elves who struggled to draw their bows and shoot arrows at them, chanting incantations, and the remaining soldiers who had fallen in a pool of blood continuously stood up and gathered again. Then the battle continued. Kang De ordered Horus to cover the battlefield with white phosphorus bullets.

He stepped on the already muddy blood soil and walked to Marges.

His entire body was filled with blood energy, as well as lingering exhaustion and mania.

Defeating an army was one thing, annihilating an army that was collapsing and escaping was another. Killing the army that had always been imposing and unafraid of death was another.

The pressure on the attacker became greater and greater.

“What… is going on?”

His voice became deeper and deeper, and his eyes were bloodshot. He glared at Marges and muttered, “Why didn’t you run? Do you know that you’re doing bad things?”

Marges looked at this Cathayan who was younger than he had imagined and said softly, “Who are you?”

Kang De glared at him. He looked back.

“There’s definitely no such thing in Cathay. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lost at all. Otherwise, They would have long unified the world…” The alchemist looked at Kang De and muttered, “Who are you? Who are you?”

“I’m…”

Kang De looked at him calmly, the killing intent in his eyes so dense that it was material. His entire body emitted a calm but crazy aura. This time, he fought for more than 20 minutes until he killed the last standing elf.

Horus shot out the white phosphorus bullet. The blazing flames burned the exposed limbs and sprayed out thick gasoline, causing the flames to burn fiercely to eliminate any possible resistance.

Behind Kang De was raging flames that burned the thick black smoke produced by the corpses.

“I’m only a human who wants to kill all of you. Your courage, unyieldingness, and tenacity are used in the wrong place. This is Goethe’s land. You’re all b*stards. I’m the one who punished you.”

Marges blinked, then smiled bitterly.

“I see.” He said.

The mission had been completed.

Facing the enemy head-on made him experience the courage of the elves. He confirmed the light on the road ahead and understood that he had done nothing wrong. Now, he should complete his last mission.

The light of the next era should not be held in the hands of humans.

An obscure light flashed through his eyes.

During this period of time, his internal organs, magic power, and even the elves’ long and thick vitality had already been transformed into a living alchemical explosion. His life had already come to an end.

A figure flashed through his mind.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t return.’

The surging energy in his body had already been suppressed to the extreme.

Then, a hand pressed on his face.

Kang De’s cold gaze met his.

In the next moment, violent and terrifying mental strength descended into Marges’ body, enveloped his entire body, and restrained the violent power. Then, the alchemist felt his soul being grabbed and crushed by a huge hand. Everything about him was revealed in front of fate. He was annihilated, strangled, and dissipated in pain.

Light flowed out of the master’s eyes and was absorbed by Kang De’s eyes. The shattered soul fragment fused the essence and proudest skill into the soul of the Fire Thief, along with a trace of the deepest memory fragment before he died.

An innocent, reserved, shy beautiful figure stopped in his mind and did not dissipate.

After a long time, Kang De slowly stood up. The smoke dissipated on the battlefield behind him. Flames burned, and rolling black pillars of smoke rushed into the sky, condensing and not dissipating, like a dark sky.

“Is there no winner in war?”

He asked Sword Saint Snowfall, but the other party could not answer.

The gorilla hugged Kang De and said softly, “Why don’t we return to the island and ignore this place?”

Kang De slowly shook his head.

Therefore, the gorilla and Sword Saint Snowfall seized the opportunity to adjust and rest. Horus ran to the battlefield and dragged a few carts of supplies over. “Father, I discovered these.”

The canvas was pulled open. It was a puppet like a mechanical war dog. It should be a backup replacement.

Kang De’s eyes flickered. One of the mechanical war dogs trembled, then slowly stood up.

“Let’s bring it back. It might be useful.”

When Sword Saint Snowfall finished resting, Hillmelia looked at Kang De’s silent face and was silent for a moment before saying, “I wonder how I can repay what Tedrell owes you.”

Kang De only glanced at her before shattering space and returning to the white fog world.

Then, without stopping, he reversed the flow of time and arrived on Earth.

The yellow sand blew and the dry air assaulted his face. He stood at the top of the mountain and looked down. Horus stopped beside him and said in a low voice, “Father…”

“How can I look my father in the eye? Why should I do this for Goethe?”

Kang De’s tone was wooden.

Previously, when he was drifting in the other world, he had also experienced war and killed countless people. That was another life. He had once thought that he was already used to it, but when he reunited with his family and was stared at by his father with worry, disappointment, uneasiness, and pain, he discovered how different he had become.

Was it worth it for Goethe?

“I don’t know. You’re my father, and you have a father,” Horus said slowly. “You said that you had your father to teach you a lesson…”

“Perhaps it’s better to let them think that I’m already dead than now… Horus, I was wrong. No son wants his father to teach him a lesson.”

Kang De rubbed his face. Then, the murderous and gloomy expression on his face had already disappeared.

A relaxed and calm smile appeared on his face.

He slid down the mountain, entered the cave, broke through the obstacle, and came to the depths to hug his father.

“It’s fine. Let’s continue on our way and save those mercenary friends.”