From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 465 Battle
A deafening explosion rang out, and the orange-red light that suddenly burst forth from the base of the Moonrise Tower's walls was like a gigantic maw spewing sulfur from hell, tearing the surrounding shadows to shreds.

After the flames came a hum from the ground, as if some giant beast had been suddenly startled. The city walls, built of dark, heavy rocks, bulged in an eerie arc, then shattered into pieces in the massive shockwave, flying into the sky.

The enormous sound wave spread out in a ring, a force that, in theory, should not be perceptible to the naked eye. However, the smoke and dust kicked up by the explosion gave the shockwave a concrete form; it ripped through the remaining wooden towers and flagpoles near the city walls like a giant wave, sweeping away all traces left by the Lord Alliance a hundred years ago.

Gravel and dust flew everywhere, and even the Shadow Destroyers standing in front of the Allied positions were hit by falling rocks with a loud bang.

Ivy channeled the power of the atmosphere, clearing away the smoke and dust that obscured the view, finally revealing the masterpiece of the runic gunpowder bomb—a huge crack had been torn open in the city wall beneath the Tower of the Moonrise, but that was only temporary.

The Ironhanded Dwarf underestimated the power of runic gunpowder, or perhaps the walls of the Tower of the Moon had long since begun to decay due to years of neglect.

In short, bombs using runic gunpowder were somewhat overkill.

The tear it created only lasted a short time before the main structure of that section of the wall began to collapse. Broken bricks and stones fell to the ground and then turned into smaller pieces. Before long, the Allied soldiers, who were suffering from tinnitus due to the explosion, stared in disbelief as an entire section of the wall was reduced to two tilted piles of rubble.

This section of the city wall was destroyed, but the allied forces' battle plan was thwarted.

Even when the strategy was set, the Allied Forces' primary target was not Katheric Somme in the Tower of the Moonrise, but High Duke Ravengard of Baldur's Gate, who was imprisoned by him underground.

The strategic weapons prepared by Ivy and the Ironhanded Dwarves are enough to wipe the Tower of the Moonrise off the map several times over. Only by surviving attacks from these high-powered weapons will Katheric Som be worthy to stand before the Allied Forces.

Therefore, rescuing the hostages in the Mind Flayer colony is the Alliance's primary mission.

You can't expect the harpist and the flame fist to fight the fanatics of the Supreme God, especially since the Tower of the Moon contains not only members of the Supreme God's cult, but also undead acolytes and followers belonging to Melkor.

Therefore, the most efficient strategy for the allied forces is to create a hole in the city wall, break into the Mind Flayer colony, rescue everyone they can, and then blow up the Moonrise Tower.

As for whether the Mind Flayer's main brain below will be crushed by the collapsing Moonrise Tower?
Ivy felt there was no need to consider this issue. If gravitational acceleration could amplify the power of some bricks to this extent, then the Mind Flayer mastermind, as the core of the Supreme God's ruling sect, would be utterly beneath its dignity.

Even if this impossible thing really happened, Ivy would only need to pick up the Karthus Crown from the corpse, saving her a lot of effort.

Now the breach in the city wall that was blasted open has been buried by the collapsed stones, and it seems that it will take some more trouble to get into the Tower of the Moonrise.

“Luckily, I had a backup plan.” Ivy waved to the Shadow Destroyer, whose mind core had already been installed, and the giant adamantite construct immediately understood Ivy’s meaning.

After being embedded in the mind core, a hazy golden mist immediately appeared around the Shadow Destroyer, one of the effects of the blood of the god Losanda.

As the god of dawn, Losanda brings the holy light of the sun, providing 20 feet of normal illumination and 40 feet of dim illumination around the Shadowbreaker, and automatically blinding demons and undead creatures bathed in the holy light during combat.

While this effect is of little use to the True Souls of the Supreme God, it will significantly reduce the combat effectiveness of the Melkor Undead Acolytes.

The Shadow Destroyer, enveloped in a halo of light, strode forward on its four mechanical legs, simultaneously wielding the drills and battering rams on its arms to quickly clear away the construction debris blocking its path.

No one expected that the Shadow Slayers' first mission would be related to civil engineering. Could it be that Ivy is better at manufacturing engineering machinery than siege weapons?

The Shadow Destroyer, now powered by a new core, was indeed incredibly fast. While Ivy was lost in thought, a path wide enough for the three of them to walk side by side was cleared away.

"Breaking free from the shackles of shadow, she will rise slowly in the halo of the moon; she will pave a path of light, allowing the cursed to face a second death."

Jahira loudly recited the words of the wise Arlando and launched the first attack.

"Hold every corner! We don't want our retreat blocked when we bring Duke Gao out of the underground!" Advisor Floric assigned multiple groups of soldiers to ensure the escape route, and then he and the adventurers crawled into the large hole in the city wall.

Compared to Ketherrick's large army, the allied forces were not many in number. However, in the cramped indoor space, the battle lines were not wide, and even with a large number of people, they could only be squeezed at the back.

Apart from Ivy, Shadow Destroyer, and Lady Irene, all adventurers and Flame Fist soldiers will participate in this operation.

They faced an entire Mindflayer colony and had to find the High Duke of Baldur's Gate. The mission was crucial, but Ivy's burden was heavy.

After sending the Allied soldiers into the underground of the Tower of the Moonrise, Ivy and Irene will return to the surface to intercept the True Souls inside the tower, Katheric Som at the top of the tower, and the Supreme God's army that may come to the aid of the Tower of the Moonrise at any time.

Although they only have three combat units, their advantage is significant.

Ivy and Irene are both capable of aerial movement, and the advantage of altitude difference allows them to ignore many enemy attacks.

The Shadow Destroyer's powerful adamantine shell is immune to most damage; no matter how many soldiers come, they are just easy prey for it.

"It's time!" Eileen raised her longsword, which shone with silver holy fire, and took flight.

Ivy shook his head worriedly. He didn't know if Asmo, whose mind had become somewhat deranged due to his long imprisonment, could act according to the previously agreed plan.

Therefore, he must ensure that his mission can be completed without the help of allies.

Fortunately, the Shadowbreaker stayed by his side.

The crumbling outer wall of the Moonrise Tower was not a suitable place to climb, so Ivy led the Shadow Slayer to the piers below the main bridge.

These stone structures are sturdy enough, and since they are not part of the main structure of the Moonrise Tower, they are ideal for climbing giant machines.

Within the Shadow Destroyer, pistons and gears operated at high speed, and the magical circuits personally crafted by Ivy continuously drew divine power from Losanda's divine blood and converted it into energy.

With a metallic clang, a spider-like tentacle rose high, its protective plates flipping open to reveal barbed claws hidden within.

Driven by the piston lever, the Shadowbreaker's adamantine tentacles immediately wedged deeply into the century-old bridge pier.

The way the Shadowbreaker climbs the bridge piers has a unique rhythm, a methodical approach befitting a mechanical creation.

The immense force of the piston drove the barbs at the ends of the tentacles into the brickwork, then pulled the tentacles out of the wall below, tearing apart large sections of the brickwork in the process. The alternating movements of the four tentacles were as precise as clockwork, but the sparks generated each time they chiseled into the wall sent shivers down the spines of the Supremacist followers who witnessed the entire process.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The explosion of the runic gunpowder had already alerted the followers of the Supreme God inside the Tower of the Moonrise.

But the shaking of the building itself threw the cultists into a panic for a while. Their survival instincts made them run around the castle hall, looking for places to hide from the falling rocks.

But after waiting for a long time without a second tremor, the cultists in the castle realized that it was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

"Enemy attack!" Disciple Zeryl kicked open the door and shouted to all the cultists in the castle hall, "Form ranks! Patrol along the walls! Find out where the enemy is!"

As the sorcerer of the supreme god, the orc's mind flayer tadpole is exceptionally powerful, which grants her even greater mental strength and authority.

Now, Zeryl was panting heavily, her eyes filled with murderous intent. Such a critical security breach had occurred while she was in charge of the defense of the Tower of the Moonrise. Her mind, twisted by the Supreme God, was filled with regret and rage, and now had nowhere to vent it.

Upon witnessing this scene, the cult members fell silent and immediately began to carry out the orders without uttering a word.

Before the first squad of fanatics who took up arms could even rush out of the main gate of the Moonrise Tower, soldiers came in to report.

With the help of the Shadow Curse, the Tower of the Moonrise only needs to be defended in two places. One is the port located on the Chongza River, and the other is the bridge leading to the town of Resven.

Zerreel deployed multiple shifts of sentries on the bridge to ensure that at least two groups of people were on duty at any given time.

While the cultists inside the Tower of the Moonrise thought it was an earthquake, the fanatics guarding the bridge outside had already seen the flames from the explosion.

"Explosion!" The soldier who came in to report had barely uttered the first word when the disciple Zeryl eagerly seized his mind; she wanted to witness the enemy's identity firsthand.

The image that came to mind for the orc was the one that left the deepest impression on the soldier's mind—a giant construct shrouded in a layer of golden mist, climbing up the bridge pier step by step.

Even Zeryl, who had been eagerly anticipating a war, was bewildered upon encountering the Shadow Destroyer. This was completely different from the enemy she had imagined; it was not only not made of flesh and blood, but also hardly resembled a humanoid creature. It was a pure war machine, or rather, war itself.

As a disciple of the Supreme God, Zeril quickly recovered from his shock and issued his orders: "Head to the main gate! Repel the enemy!"

The screams of cultists came from the entrance, and the Shadow Destroyer had already clung its two forelimbs to the bridge surface.

Although shrouded in the golden light of dawn, the Shadow Destroyer's overly frightening entrance still drew a chorus of panicked screams.

The killing machine, which obeyed only Ivy's orders, flashed its single eye on top, used for observation, and gave its answer.

The giant adamantite drill bit on his left arm shot out and struck the only large creature on the bridge—the ogre acting as a doorman—with a deafening roar.

The high-speed rotating drill ripped through the thick layer of fat on the ogre's belly, piercing it completely, and his scream became the clarion call for the start of the battle.

The winch hidden inside the Shadow Destroyer's left arm began to turn, forcing the ogre, pierced by the drill, to reach out and grab the chains, trying to maintain its balance. However, this was incredibly difficult for the creature with a gaping hole in its abdomen; fragments of internal organs and blood stained the adamantite chains. The ogre's prized strength was rendered useless by the lubrication of its own tissues, and it could only watch in despair as it slowly approached the terrifying construct in the distance.

Having completed its vertical maneuver, the Shadow Destroyer did not retract the barbs and spikes at the ends of its tentacles, but instead launched a second attack.

The body, crafted from refined gold, sat down, almost touching the ground. Although there was a slight gap, it was definitely not large enough to accommodate a small creature.

The Shadow Destroyer, having lowered its center of gravity, also shortened the gaps between its tentacles, launching a high-speed charge along the wide bridge surface.

The sheer force of its speed and the indestructible nature of its adamantite construction are enough to disrupt the entire battlefield with the Shadow Destroyer's trampling charge.

The weapons in the hands of the cultists couldn't even scrape a spark off the surface of the Shadow Destroyer's armor before being swept under the four rapidly rising and falling tentacles, facing a stomp attack from the steel jungle.

Those cultists who couldn't dodge in time were turned into mincemeat, and those who were lucky enough to react were slashed by the blades that sprang out from the four metal tentacles. Only those cultists who jumped away in advance or were lucky enough to have no one in their way survived the attack.

"Swords and blades are useless!" Zeryl shouted to the soldiers as he stepped out of the main gate. "Use magic!"

A significant proportion of the army of the Supreme God consists of spellcasters, and this is also true for goblin believers with limited intelligence.

These little green monsters, who can barely read, are able to activate some abilities to manipulate the magic network after embracing the supreme god.

Their spells were clumsy and convoluted, even full of subjective assumptions and wild imagination, but they could somehow summon magical power.

Lightning, fire, frost, and poison flashed across the bridge, flying from all directions toward the Shadow Destroyer who had completed its charge.

The ogre that it had previously dragged over with drills and chains had its head smashed by the piston-shaped hammer on its right arm and was in the gap between two commands.

Although their abilities varied, under the leadership of Zeril, a True Soul Master, all the branded cultists were able to launch highly coordinated attacks, moving as if they were a single person.

Unfortunately, Zeryl's attempt to inflict damage with magical attacks will ultimately fail.

The Shadowbreaker's massive single eye, encased in adamantium, flashed a blue light. The adamantium ring floating around its torso immediately emitted a ghostly blue glow, and a cone-shaped anti-magic field appeared in front of the golem, extending all the way to Zeril's feet, 60 feet away.

The magical missiles still in flight rapidly shrank, and the spell models that hadn't been fully activated vanished without a trace. Even the Mirror Image spell that Zeril had cast on himself before the battle turned into a wisp of smoke.

To Zeril's astonishment, the dissipated magic transformed into food for the Shadow Slayer, replenishing the power that its colossal body desperately needed.

There was even some overflowing energy that formed a thin shield, completely covering the metal surface, which looked like solidified night smoke.

(End of this chapter)