Chapter 1496: Old Acquaintance

“What are you waiting for, move!” Watching that volley of rockets streaking skyward, Urban shoved the Bishop in front of him aside and shouted.

The Mages of the Magic Plane might not know what a close-in defense system is, but that didn’t mean they were idiots. After suffering the first rocket strike, they quickly realized that relying solely on defensive Arrays wouldn’t let them withstand more than a few salvos. So this time, the Magic attacks that had originally been aimed at the cavalry Legion on the ground were shifted up into the sky; dazzling Magic met the rockets midair, erupting into one brilliant fireball after another.

Even before the Mages reacted, the Temple Knights on the ground had already prepared countermeasures. The only thing the Bright Church regretted now was underestimating the strength of the Investigation Office and failing to deploy sufficient forces outside Council City. Thus, when twenty thousand Temple Knight cavalry collided head?on and tangled with the enemy cavalry formation, five thousand Temple Knights on each flank bypassed the main engagement and charged straight at the infantry phalanx behind it. At the same time, gaps had been opened on both sides of Council City’s walls, and troops that had regrouped inside the city were streaming endlessly toward the battlefield to reinforce it.

It was already too late to wait for the reinforcements from within Council City to link up. The ten thousand cavalry sweeping in from the flanks were the first to close in on the Mechanical Infantry regiment that was continuously firing rockets, surrounding them. Faced with the shock assault, the infantry phalanx remained composed. The rocket troops kept launching rockets even as they calmly fell back, while another line of infantry wielding strange long?shafted weapons took over their original positions. Once they stood shoulder to shoulder, they crouched and raised the guns to form a barrier of barrels, and then gun muzzles and cannon mouths popped out from their chests and shoulders as well. They leveled them at the charging Temple Knights and began a frenzied barrage.

Cavalry that had already committed to the charge had no path of retreat. Trying to turn now would only throw the formation into chaos and get more men killed under the bullet storm and the trampling of their own mounts. With most of the Mages’ firepower diverted to maintaining the main Knight Order’s formation, this spearhead Temple Knight Order could only rely on their armor and Source?Qi defense, charging the Mechanical Legion without any supporting fire to cover them.

Fortunately the distance between the two sides was short enough. By linking together the Source?Qi defense walls between Temple Knights, they blocked the bulk of the small?caliber shells. After sacrificing a small portion of knights in the front rank, this Legion succeeded in reaching the infantry phalanx of the Mechanical Legion.

In their expectations, those strange thin?shafted, spear?like weapons in the Mechanical Infantry’s hands would snap like twigs under the impact of a Temple Knight massed charge; the phalanx would be torn open and the army would pour straight through, cleaving the enemy formation in two and buying time for the follow?up forces.

But what lay before their eyes completely shattered those expectations. The first to suffer misfortune wasn’t the Temple Knights, but the carefully selected highland?blood warhorses from Elf Territory beneath them. These steeds, bearing low?grade Magic Beast bloodlines, could shrug off ordinary weapons of the world with nothing but their own hides, even without armor.

This time, however, they had met a true nemesis. When the two armies slammed into each other, the warhorses were not only subjected to point?blank bullet fire, but also stabbed by those pole weapons that were integrated with the Mechanical Infantry’s bodies. Only then did the knights understand why these weapons were designed so strangely: at the tip of these spears was a drill head with three razor?sharp facets. In the instant when that spear tip met the enemy warhorses, the spinning drill bit scraped against armor, emitting a shrill buzzing and spraying blinding sparks.

Armor that had appeared near indestructible was punched through in almost the blink of an eye. The spear then drove into the horses’ chests or throats, piercing straight through their bodies and into the Temple Knights on their backs. Gouts of blood fountained from the wounds, splattering over the bodies of the Mechanical Infantry. The emotionless Mechanical Infantry showed no reaction, mechanically repeating the motions of slaughter in their hands.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Another chain of violent explosions rang out. This time it was the Steel Giants jointly created by Xia Yu and Pei Yan that had plunged into the enemy formation. Towering in stature, the weapons they carried were of correspondingly larger caliber. Some Steel Giants smashed into the rear cavalry phalanx, shredding their formation; others became mobile gun platforms, bombarding the Temple Knight Legions rushing out from within the city.

The Plane Envoys concealed in the void, watching this battle unfold, were all shaken by the sight before them. It had been less than ten minutes since Pei Yan finished his speech and ordered the attack, and the entire battlefield had already turned into a Chaotic Scene drenched in blood—only all this blood belonged to the Council City side.

Even the three Plane Envoys felt a pang of grief at such carnage, let alone the members of the Three Great Councils. At this moment, one person broke off from the attacking main force, shoved aside his friend Aleister who tried to stop him, and flew alone out of the formation to hover over the Investigation Office’s lines. Seeing someone rush over, some on Pei Yan’s side prepared to go up and engage, but Pei Yan raised a hand to stop them. This was someone he needed to face personally.

“Pei Yan, is this what you wanted?”

Looking at the man before him—Azote, President of the Magic Plane’s Alchemy Association—who seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, Pei Yan sighed helplessly. “I’ve never even met these Temple Knights. Why would I want their lives? Mr. Azote, you should know what I truly want.”

At his words, Azote nodded, took off the glasses on his nose, and gave a bitter smile. “Pei Yan, one of the greatest achievements of my life was taking part in the modifications done to your body. That transformation not only strengthened you, it also gave me considerable insight through my exchanges with others. That is my honor.” As he spoke, Azote crushed the glasses in his hand and lifted his head to look at Pei Yan, the bitter smile turning to anger. “And it is my shame! The being I helped create with my own hands is now slaughtering my colleagues in my world!”

“Mr. Azote, this is not a battle you should be part of. I remember the favor of the modifications you made to me, so I don’t wish to raise my hand against you. Step aside. Or go back and persuade your companions to end this battle and hand over the culprit. As long as the mastermind is brought to justice, I will leave immediately and not remain here for another minute.” Pei Yan was deeply helpless at this moment. If possible, he truly didn’t want to stand as an enemy against the old man before him; Azote was the only one in the Magic Plane who had ever helped him. Though there had been interests involved, Pei Yan still remembered it as a personal favor.

“Things have come to this point; neither of us has any way back! Today I’ll show you…”

Pei Yan watched Azote’s movements and tried once more to dissuade him. “Mr. Azote, give it up. It’s useless against me.”

Sadly, Azote, his mind clouded by rage, no longer heard Pei Yan’s plea; he only took it as contempt and provocation. Spreading his arms, he shouted, “I’ll show you the Alchemical fruits of my Magic Plane!”