Magic Industrial Age.

Chapter 585-583: The Protracted War in the Abyss
It's not a big deal for a demon lord to lose his territory; at most, he'll be ridiculed for decades or centuries and become a laughing stock among demigods of the same level.

But the fall of a demon lord, a demigod, is a momentous event, even if it were placed within the entire 138th layer of the Abyss.

Especially with the vampire prince and some demons having escaped, the news spread like wildfire, reaching the entire 138th floor of the abyss in a very short time.

The ensuing upheaval was something Luo Yi hadn't anticipated.

But that's a story for another time!
At this time, Loy quickly conducted post-war statistics, treated the wounded, and repaired the fortress.

To be honest, the intensity of this battle was far less than that of the battle against the vampire prince.

After all, that battle had no war fortresses, no holy sun, no mage towers, and certainly no so many legendary powerhouses.

In that battle, the Imperial Guards of Flower Territory defended their honor with their lives.

In this battle, apart from two demigods, there was nothing else.

After the war, there wasn't much to say about it.

After careful consideration, Loy agreed to the requests of a large number of people, formed a legion, and launched the Abyss Expedition.

It features a third-generation land warfare king, elite Imperial Guard soldiers, and second-generation fighter jets for escort.

Of course, Roy also allocated nearly five thousand slots to the Holy Light Legion, equipped with heavy armored personnel carriers, so that they too could fight for their god.

In addition, the Magic Eye Alliance has also organized a powerful army of mages.

The three parties worked together, advancing rapidly with exceptional mobility, without delay along the way, killing those they could and driving away those they couldn't kill.

As for the ultimate target, it was none other than the demon castle of the great demon lord Odoak.

There was no way around it; the spoils from raiding the vampire castle last time were just too astonishing, so astonishing that even Luo Yi couldn't remain calm and ignore it.

Furthermore, with the great demon lord Odoac killed by him, the group was leaderless, making it the perfect time to raid their territory.

However, Luo Yi was still worried about safety, so this time she was escorted by the King of the Demon Eye and brought along nearly ten legendary powerhouses.

If needed, they can also set up a remote teleportation portal in the shortest possible time to send Luo Yi over to provide support.

Of course, the reason why Loy dared to do this was because the King of the Eyes' near-orbital eye had completed the initial scan and constructed a complete map.

It should be said that this expedition to the abyss was well-prepared, powerful, bold yet cautious, and the process was relatively smooth.

Although they passed through many dangerous areas, the army moved through the region, clearing roads through mountains and building bridges over rivers, and pushed forward smoothly all the way.

Ultimately, a great battle broke out at the Demon Castle, where a lesser demon lord attempted to advance further, but he was utterly defeated in the face of the Demon Eye King and the Iron Torrent.

However, this time the harvest was not as extravagant as that from the vampire castle.

The Great Demon Lord Odoac's resources were clearly inferior to those of the vampire prince Caesar, and the castle contained far fewer rare treasures.

Even so, the King of the Demon Eyes couldn't stop smiling, saying that this was the greatest gain he had ever made in his life.

However, to everyone's surprise, when the army set off on its return journey, it encountered more and more battles.

It seemed that demons from all directions were converging on this place, causing them to collide with the expeditionary force and intensify the battle.

Under the scan of the near-orbital demonic eye, it was visibly clear that the number of demons in this area was increasing.

This situation alerted Loy, who personally captured a lesser demon lord and, under torture, learned the details.

Although the vampire prince Caesar escaped, he was far from idle, running around everywhere, connecting with demon lords in various regions, and spreading the theory that humanity was a threat.

In the past, getting these demon lords to cooperate was simply a huge joke.

As it turns out, the few demon alliances that existed in the history of the Abyss all ended in failure and internal strife.

After all, it's easy to scheme against an enemy who is strong and difficult to kill; but it's really convenient to scheme against an ally.

In the abyss, to make demons obey, there must be even more powerful demons suppressing them.

For example, those demon kings who have unified the entire plane and are known as 'Lords of the Abyss'.

They are comparable to true gods and can suppress everything with absolute brutality.

Therefore, Luo Yi never thought they could unite, but this time, the demon lords of the 138th floor of the abyss were very proactive.

Of course, a true anti-human alliance has not yet been formed, but the nearby demon lords are driving the demons from their own territories to converge here.

Clearly, even using harassment tactics, they didn't want to settle Luo Yi down.

After confirming the news, the first thing Roy did was to urge the expeditionary force to return to the war fortress as quickly as possible.

At the same time, he expanded the existing war fortress.

Centered on the fortress, six barbicans were built at the six corners, and then connected by fortifications and moats.
This also gives the fortress more room to maneuver.

At the same time, he also dispatched more tanks and combat squads to clear the area around the fortress.

Luo Yi also remained stationed at the fortress, maintaining contact with the King of the Demon Eye and raising the alert level, ready to launch an attack and provide support at any time.

Fortunately, the expeditionary force is powerful and has many strong warriors. Unless a demigod intervenes, they will need to gather a sufficient number of demonic troops.
Otherwise, there's nothing we can do about them.

During this period, it was clear that no demon lord was willing to be the first to show themselves.

Finally, after abandoning most of their supplies, the legion returned safely, entered the castle, and was incorporated into the war effort, ready to fight again.

Shortly after their return, the friction escalated immediately!

Large numbers of demons began to assault the fortress defenses. Although they were mostly scattered and disorganized, the occasional presence of one or two lesser demon lords posed a certain threat.

In November of the New Divine Calendar 317, Loy realized that the Abyss War had entered a phase of attrition and stalemate. He summoned all the soldiers and gave a speech on the protracted war.

He clearly pointed out that in the future, the war would not yield much benefit, nor would there be any need to operate outside the order of the war fortresses.

What they need to do is to focus on the fortress, hold firm, and consolidate it until they have completely established themselves and are firmly in place.

His speech reassured the soldiers and told them exactly what to do.

From that day on, the war entered its most intense phase.

From the war fortress outwards, dozens or even hundreds of battles break out almost every day.
Even if it wasn't extremely intense, small-scale confrontations were a long test for all soldiers and legends.

Loy and the King of the Demon Eyes are now both necessary to have one of them stationed at the Abyss Fortress, because even a demon lord has secretly come over.

After being discovered, they didn't linger in the fight, but rather exchanged blows briefly before fleeing, giving Luo Yi and the King of the Demon Eye no chance to join forces and kill them.

Therefore, Luo Yi even had to send the political affairs of the Flower Territory to the Abyss for processing.

Of course, there are disadvantages as well as advantages.

For example, under high-intensity combat, soldiers grow extremely rapidly. Even new recruits, as long as they survive for a month, become mature elite warriors, carrying magical weapons, able to accurately complete various combat orders, and possessing extremely tenacious will and fighting spirit.

And the growth rate of those strong individuals is also incredibly fast.

Leaving aside the legendary achievements, there's the achievement of King Silas of Fury, but the chances and number of breakthroughs for the fourth-tier Cataclysm are quite high.

As for what comes after that, there are even more second-tier and transcendent beings.

At first, Luo Yi didn't realize it, but later he realized that this was the benefit brought by the loose rules of the Abyss.

It not only enables one to scale new heights, but also facilitates breakthroughs.

It is worth mentioning that Roy finally found a secret treasure from the abyss, the legendary Fountain of Youth, which made up for Oliveira's loss of essence.

From then on, Oliveira had a chance to go further, which could be considered as removing a thorn in Roy's side.

Furthermore, under intense pressure, the military industry in Xianhua County has entered a period of rapid development.

The long-standing education policy has finally begun to show results, with a large number of intellectuals with magical talents being put into various parts of industry.

With the introduction of top talent, the manufacturing level of the Flower Collar has reached the pinnacle of the entire Herka world.

The advanced factories in the Holy Dragon Demiplane have brought considerable productivity, and after a period of accumulation, various projects have entered a stage of rapid growth.

For example, the legendary lich Cicero Griffith, who quietly created the 'Mechanical Heart' project.

To put it simply, it's a weakened version of the Tower Spirit, which can be placed in things like tanks and fighter jets to help with operations.

For example, it can perform missile calculations, assist in aiming, and provide early warning of danger.

To put it bluntly, this is a super-weakened version of AI, but implemented using magical methods.
The benefits it brings are simply unimaginable, giving the impression that it has directly elevated weaponry to a new generation.

With the addition of various optimizations, the King of Land Warfare has already advanced to the fourth generation, while the second-generation fighter jet, which has not been used for long, has jumped to the third generation.

Furthermore, the unlimited ammunition project has also made substantial progress.

With the addition of Seven Degrees Metal, it is no longer a dream to forge magazines that can hold a large number of bullets. However, due to the rarity of Space Metal, it can only be used in a few projects.

The leapfrog development of weaponry also relies heavily on the widespread adoption of magic radar. Using the signals from the near-orbit magic eye to scan for enemies in advance and conduct beyond-visual-range strikes has become a major focus going forward.

But what surprised Roy the most was Marius Gray's missile project.

The missile base within the war fortress has begun test-firing medium-range missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers.

Powered by high-energy magic crystals and guided and calibrated in real time by near-orbit magic eyes, its accuracy still needs improvement.

However, that's a distance of 300 kilometers.

Even demigods would be far inferior. Perhaps at the level of a true god, with the help of believers, divine magic could be unleashed.

But for Roy, the 300-kilometer range is just the beginning.

Moreover, Roy specifically requested the creation of cluster bombs, with fifty air-to-air warheads installed inside each warhead. After detonation, these warheads could level an area within a five-kilometer radius.

Not satisfied with this, he made many more demands of Lord Marius Gray.

I won't go into hypersonic flight, maneuvering, or terminal acceleration.

Based on the rules of this world, he also proposed that the rules must be negated; or that space should be directly distorted, or that a dimensional reduction attack should be launched, and so on.

If this were anyone else, they might be overwhelmed by the heavy workload, but for Marius Gray, it was a sign of trust!
Of course, if we can't kill them, we'll fight them to the death!

This little old man, who was completely ignored in the empire, now owns the largest project team in the Flower Territory.

Under one missile project, more than a dozen different research groups were established.
Each research group has a leader and several to a dozen members. It's truly a world of experiments when you open your eyes and calculations when you close them.

To be honest, Luo Yi admired their pragmatic attitude; scientific research requires this kind of fanatical dedication.

In other words, under the pressure and practice of war, the magical energy technology of Flower Territory has begun to transcend its existing level and is rushing headlong in a direction that even a group of mechanics find somewhat incomprehensible.

However, for Roy, he was simply bringing the familiar weapons of war from his mind into reality.

In addition, Luo Yi began to look for ways to enhance her strength, and the way to do so was through secret sacred techniques.

This time, the Holy Techniques delivered to him by the Demon Eye Alliance, the Church of the Sun God, and even the legendary powerhouses under his command were among the highest quality available.

Luo Yi accepts all submissions and enters them into Deep Blue's database. Even if they are useless and not worth cultivating, they are still excellent materials for Luo Yi.

Perhaps one of these parts could improve upon existing sacred techniques, leading to optimization and iteration, making them increasingly powerful.

It can be said that the sacred skills that Luo Yi has cultivated have more or less broken out of the original framework and become the shape that best suits Luo Yi.

As for the new sacred techniques, Luo Yi was much more cautious. After all, he had already gathered so many, and he wouldn't want them unless he really needed them.

After some careful selection, he still managed to find two options for himself.

Firstly, there's the collection from the King of the Demon Eye, the secret holy technique [True Dragon Body], which uses dragon power to change the shape of muscles and fascia, thus giving mortals the terrifying power of dragons.

At the same time, it can also possess the magic resistance of a true dragon, and even achieve a certain degree of magic immunity.

This is tailor-made for all dragon riders, and its creator is a historically renowned dragon rider.

Luo Yi chose it to increase her absolute strength in addition to the control of the "Muscle Overlord".

There is another method from the Church of the Sun God, a secret treasure of ascetics. When cultivated to its highest level, it can lead to the descent of the Lord of Light to the human world.

And the name of this sacred skill is: [Transformation into Light]

This sacred skill is also known for its high difficulty. Even if one does not master it completely, just obtaining a fraction of it is enough to make one a revered figure among ascetic practitioners.

Luo Yi didn't understand it at all; it was only after Shen Lan entered it that an explanation was given.

To put it bluntly, this sacred technique is about elemental transformation!

It involves using special methods to elementalize the entire body, allowing for greater attack power and a more liberated form when needed.
It even has effects such as immunity to toxins and immunity to curse damage.

Now that you've transformed into an elemental spirit, the poisons and curses targeting humans will naturally lose their effect.

What Luo Yi valued were actually the latter two points. At his level, one still had to be wary of certain things.

Time passed in the protracted war, and before they knew it, it was February of the year 318 of the New Divine Calendar.
Originally, the demon lord attack that Loy was wary of did not happen. Well, it's really not easy to get these demon lords together.

However, the war situation in the Old World is once again turbulent.

After nearly a year of preparation, both the Empire and the Allied Forces seemed poised to unleash their final frenzy.

(End of this chapter)