Chapter 1011: This Time, We Have Only One Target!
“You guys think this declaration of war against Dayrock Elf Academy will last several days?”
Someone quietly asked in the makeshift command center of the club.
The most eye-catching feature of the temporary command center was the large-scale simulation sand table occupying the center.
It displayed an enormous regional terrain directly connecting to the root network of the Wanlian Main Network spread throughout the Magic Capital.
As the Witch Academy deployed the Wanlian Main Network Tree, the areas connected to the Witch Academy were blocked from expanding the power network and the root network thanks to special technical support.
Therefore, unless the blocking force of this technique was violently eliminated, the power network and root network would only serve as a child’s play within the Witch’s domain.
This declaration of war against Dayrock Elf Academy also carried another goal.
That was to develop a second layout point for the Wanlian Main Network Tree.
Dayrock Elf Academy was a very good breakthrough point.
Many small extraordinary elf academies around the Witch Academy blocked direct communication between witches and elves.
So whether to teach the Dayrock elves a lesson or to help them connect to the network, this battle had to be fought.
Naturally, the Dayrock elves could not remain idle.
Upon receiving the declaration of war, their first reaction was confusion, and their second reaction was to establish a defensive line.
They had never considered fighting the war outside their own territory; they even hoped the witches would come burning and pillaging, as that would at least leave visible traces of their advance.
As for the civilians…
Who would care about them?
The lag in wars between extraordinary academies was not as exaggerated as that of ordinary people; the endless extraordinary means would leave everyone unable to prepare.
Thus… blitzkrieg was employed to the extreme in battles between extraordinary academies.
Large-scale spatial teleportation and broad spatial sealing spells were the most direct clashes.
Next came counter-insurgency, camouflage and infiltration of extraordinary power, beheadings and covert sabotage, even including information theft, and so forth—anything imaginable could be done!
Therefore, battles between extraordinary individuals and battles between extraordinary forces essentially had no significant difference.
Both sought to avoid exposing any weaknesses while striving to strike at the opponent’s soft spots.
However… the war against Dayrock Elf Academy was different.
Different weights.
Different means.
Strategems are respect for adversaries of equal strength; trampling is a response to challengers!
You cannot defeat me; even if you have a myriad of tricks, what does it matter?
Now, regarding the question of how long this campaign would last… it truly sparked many fantasies.
The main war department of the Witch Union Society was the largest makeshift organization in the history of the Witch Academy!
The students below, up to the main command, were all inexperienced “newbies.”
Power was indeed a seductive thing; once they sat at that giant command sand table, ambitions of grand visions arose.
“War is an enduring art. In my family, I have learned from my father about the wars between those small superhuman academies, which last a short period of three to five months at best, or span several semesters at worst,” someone spoke up.
Especially hearing that someone had learned details of academy wars from their predecessors was quite surprising.
However, what they mentioned about the duration was even more astonishing. How could wars last so long?
“Isn’t three to five months a bit long? After all, that teaching assistant Xiao Han you mentioned took down an opponent of equal rank in less than a day; I doubt the stronger individuals from Dayrock Elf Academy could withstand Xiao Han’s onslaught,” someone raised a question.
“The reference I provided was merely a case of small extraordinary academies; what scale are we at the Witch Academy?”
“That does make sense.”
Everyone nodded. Since they had not yet entered the combat phase, the atmosphere here was somewhat leisurely.
If they had set out some desserts and black tea, one might think a group of students had gathered for a Witch Tea Party.
If this scene were placed in other extraordinary academies, it would likely cause quite a stir, but here at the Witch Academy… everything seemed reasonable.
Mainly, they felt very reassured about this teaching assistant Xiao Han, and as rear command personnel, they had little confidence in commanding this legendary assistant.
They were more focused on collecting some information to replay later.
They needed to act quickly and efficiently; only upon encountering errors or failures would they learn how to wage a war.
They had the capital for such trial and error.
Everyone has a first time; no one is entitled to demand perfection from them.
At this moment.
When the detailed information on the root network completely vanished, the coverage of the earth vein transmitted brief messages that revealed the general situation.
“It seems we have left the jurisdiction of the Witch Academy.”
The root network provided more detailed information than the earth vein system, as it actually had existing roots as carriers of information.
The earth veins beneath the ground varied in density; while the records were extensive, unless the power of the Great Knowledge Tree was used to personally perform the Earth Vein Identification Technique, the information analyzed would be unreliable.
Shortly after the information from the Zero Special Operations Sequence vanished from the root network, they received alerts about encountering enemies.
These messages all came from the newly loaded first-person perspective recording function of the God of Knowledge.
Accompanied by text records, images were sent back, allowing them to know immediately what the frontline had encountered.
Watching the scene where the numerical students easily dealt with those Dayrock elves set a relaxed atmosphere for this leg of the operation.
However, from the lingering fluctuations of elf magic in the air, it could be reversed to analyze that these were merely a group of cannon fodder; their deaths would complete the task.
Moreover, the enemy was also aware of the direction of the witch invasion.
“By the way, do we need to remind the Zero Operations Sequence to adjust their advance route? Continuing forward would undoubtedly lead to an entire academy’s prearranged firepower ambush.”
“And if they set up encirclement from other directions, getting entangled would inevitably lead to casualties.”
Although they all knew that the assistant Xiao Yu possessed powerful resurrection means, revival still consumed energy and magic power.
Even if the enemy had self-generated magic power and were not worried about magic consumption, replenishing their energy still required resources.
For instance, mental power recovery potions, calming aromatherapy, etc.
However, the supplies they brought for this operation were all placed in storage equipment, making it convenient and voluminous…
Alright, they couldn’t think of any unredeemable reasons to abandon them.
Inside Dayrock Elf Academy.
Just the name of this race indicated the elves’ particular affinity for light and rocks.
Thus, this area had vast stretches of wasteland and desert; even the grove bordering the Magic Academy was just a marginal area.
The region where humans congregated was an artificial oasis, while the areas outside were mostly arid, often swept by sandstorms due to special terrain.
“Hm?”
After crossing a small sandstorm, I looked up at the empty space above.
Then I raised my hand and shot a fireball, which transformed into a blazing beam that pierced through something.
Once that object fell, someone behind me went to catch it.
“What is this?”
“So intricate in design, it seems to be the creation of a mechanical-themed wizard.”
“Looks like they shot down the wizards’ livestreaming device? Someone quickly recognized this gadget.”
Anti-magic, anti-mental perception, combined with optical invisibility mechanisms made the Wizard’s Eye.
“This feeling of being watched like a monkey really isn’t pleasant! Where are the enemies? They can’t be hiding inside the academy, playing their last desperate struggle, right?” someone sarcastically remarked.
“Why not ask the Extraordinary Academic Department if they can craft us a large transport ship?” I suggested.
Going into battle riding brooms indeed seemed a bit embarrassing, but broom-riding was the Witch Academy’s most traditional and efficient mode of transport.
Not everyone could master spatial teleportation; even if they could, they would be severely restricted by space-sealing techniques, so some traditional methods of movement would never go out of style.
After all, the simpler and more primitive, the harder to target.
“Transport ship! Absolutely! We need this! The sun here at Dayrock Academy is way too intense.” An academy student beside me echoed.
Although by the senior years, the sun’s radiation had almost no damaging effect on their skin, their beliefs and habits still made them susceptible to negative psychological effects.
“Yes~ I want to see the Aphhemia Academy has that so-called never-falling Tree of Life, the Holy Angel has that floating holy island, what do wizards have?”
“Wizards have anti-gravity floating airships created by mechanical wizards, said to be able to produce them through assembly line manufacturing to an extent.”
“Now that you mention it… we at the Witch Academy have no unique features at all?”
“Who said that? We are riding brooms!”
“Sounds so lowbrow! We witches need to have our own unique characteristics!”
“I’ve seen my instructor with a flying witch’s cabin… does that count?”
“A cabin? That flies?”
“Yeah! The space inside is very large…”
“I still think the transport ship suggested by Assistant Xiao Se would be cooler, right?”
The discussing students eagerly shared their thoughts, but eventually, this task would all land in the hands of those in the Extraordinary Academic Department.
After all, building a super-large warship that wouldn’t fall apart, could withstand certain levels of attack, and could fly, was no easy task.
But if it could really be made, its existence would carry an entirely new significance.
Deterrence.
I didn’t believe the idea of a transport battleship would be shut down. Once this project was initiated, many attack-type alchemical weapons from the Extraordinary Academic Department would have their designs anchored.
If one doesn’t break free from the framework of weapons, then the so-called uses of alchemical materials will ultimately be limited to handheld weapons, armor, and alike.
Even breakthroughs would only amount to minor innovations or improvements and new applications in material science, rune literature, and solidification ceremony.
Yet, once new carriers for attacking means were available, it would spark entirely new inspirations.
However, for now… discussing this felt somewhat premature.
I, along with my group of students behind me, gazed toward the massive entity obscured in the mist of sand or fog far ahead.
That belonged to the elves’ unique sacred object.
The Elf World Tree.
Unfortunately, in the main world, the world tree was composed solely of branches.
This meant its existence bore profound significance only for the elf race; it had no effect on other races.
Of course, it could also be chopped down for use as the very rare material for the world tree.
Such resources were hard to come by.
Looking at the gigantic canopy reaching toward the sky, its presence awakened some distant memories within me.
Back then, during that exchange tournament in the Primordial Dream World, there was indeed such an Elf World Tree.
The regret from that exchange was that we didn’t manage to capture their world tree entirely.
“Everyone!”
I called out loudly, and all heard my voice, immediately halting their chatting and frolicking.
“Do you see that colossal entity ahead! That is the Elf World Tree, revered by elves as their mother goddess!” I pointed towards the distant direction.
“This time, we have only one target!”
“Break down the academy! Set fire to the world tree!”
“Break down the academy gates!”
“Set fire to the world tree!!”
Along with my spontaneously created slogan, everyone seemed to be ignited by the scene I painted, causing their adrenaline to surge.
They united in chanting this grand ambition, as if witnessing a history that could never happen.
They were even more eager for such history to be in their hands.
Set fire to the world tree!
Such a slogan sounded so impractical. Following this expression, many reminisced about an academy exchange over a year ago.
It seemed that event subconsciously instilled in them the concept that even a mighty existence like the so-called World Tree could be affected by war.
It had turned into a glorious symbol, marking a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—one they needed to embrace to make their lives perfect!
“Look! The enemy has appeared! Let us, in an absolutely overwhelming manner, trample those elves’ proud heads into the dust!”
Holding a dagger-shaped book, I pointed with its corner toward the mass of dark figures in the distance, issuing the final command.
In the next instant, I transformed into a streak of light, diving into the ambush that awaited us.
They had long since arranged a vast protective magic array, and with the empowerment of the Dayrock World Mother’s book behind them, a huge beam of light enveloped the giant tree.
Countless sands shook loose, and an enormous vitality combined with Dayrock powers erupted, forming a protective shield for all the elves.
“Ahhh… I’ll make you realize how ridiculous you and your elf protection truly are!”
