From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 651 Experimental War Magic

The two highest-ranking women in the Holy Crusade possess additional information about the City of Favor.

Queen Gophery once asked Ivy to speak with the traitor Nura Dandiva, given Nura's ability to summon the Gluttonous Demon and connect with the half-soul-eating demon Nugennis, suggesting she might unexpectedly hold a high position among cultists who have sided with demons.

After all, she was indeed brought out from Montevideo's capital, Nerozion, by Queen Godfrey, so she should be considered a mid-to-high-level cultist, right? It's not surprising that she has access to information about the inner workings of the City of Favor.

However, Ivy was very skeptical of the authenticity of this information, but it was still necessary to understand it as a reference.

As for the Crusader Knight Commander Ilinica, Ivy could only guess that her intelligence came from the gods. A mortal wielding mythical power, and leading the Fifth Holy War, it wasn't surprising that the Crusader gods were constantly watching her. What's wrong with offering a little help? Descartes had already stormed into Cannabri and wreaked havoc.

“Your Majesty, please speak first,” Ivy invited.

“My intelligence comes from Nura, yes, that well-known traitor. I’m not going to discuss the reasons that led her to become a cultist, I’m just repeating what she told me.” Queen Godfrey, clad in magnificent armor, walked to the hanging map and drew an X in a corner of the outermost wall of the city of Favor. “She said there’s a secret passage here full of ambushes, originally intended to ambush you, military advisor. She believes that in a confined space, your powerful dragon body cannot be fully utilized, and when the demons swarm in, they can eliminate you, the second biggest unexpected factor.”

“This intelligence is almost worthless,” Regil commented. “The demons’ defenses in the City of Favor are already riddled with holes, and Lord Doom, as a dragon, has far more efficient ways than infiltrating underground. Only cultists whose brains have been completely devoured by their demon masters would come up with such a useless ambush plan.”

Ivy nodded noncommittally and looked at Irina beside her.

Instead of getting up from the chair, the latter rubbed against the backrest even harder.

“My intelligence is much simpler. Desna conveyed a message to me through the Song of Elysium: one of our allies is imprisoned in the City of Favor by demons. When we attack the City of Favor, we need to detour to rescue her.” This was the song queen who could sing the Song of Elysium and whose soul had even roamed within it. “Although I have never met her, I know that it was she who conveyed the news to Desna’s priests in a dream that the Guardian Stone of Kanaburi had been corrupted by demons.”

"A prophet?"

Moreover, he was a prophet from Elysium.

This was Ivy's first reaction after hearing Illinika's explanation.

Important intelligence, such as the demons corrupting the Guardian Stones and preparing to invade the Crusader's front-line cities, should theoretically have been closely guarded by the demon lords.

However, considering the various inhuman cultists under their command, an accidental leak wouldn't be a big deal.

However, the fact that such important information had to be transmitted through dreams by Desna's followers, while very much in Desna's personal style, did not make it easy to gain people's trust.

Not to mention that this prophet who believed in Desna was captured by demons and imprisoned inside the city of Favor.

This situation forced Ivy to consider whether the prophet from Elysium was a spy hidden within the demons.

After completing his mission to deliver intelligence, his true identity was discovered by the enemy, which led to his capture.

But what kind of person could act as a spy among a bunch of demons? And such a spy, after being exposed, was not immediately executed, but imprisoned.

Demons never have any compassion for mortals; they either keep them as food or serve as their servants and lackeys.

Therefore, in Ivy's view, it is unlikely that the spy in the prison of Juanze City is an ordinary person.

If we exclude those unreasonable conclusions, the possibility that this Elysian prophet/spy is a demon increases.

Or rather, she could at least disguise herself as a demon in order to steal intelligence safely and efficiently.

“Hiss—this Elysian Prophet…and the prison she’s in, actually seem more like an ambush site than the secret passage Nura provided.” Ivy had to start considering this possibility.

“How could that be?” Irina asked, puzzled. “Desna is also a member of the Holy Crusade, how could she deceive us?”

“Desna and her followers certainly wouldn’t, but the demons are another story.” Ivy gestured to stop Ilinica from asking further questions. “To put it simply, the possibility of an ambush in the City of Favors prison depends on how much the demons value this prophet of Elysium. It’s not certain that there will be an ambush, but we must take that into account when formulating our battle plan.”

"Alright, I have my plans." Ivy pondered for a moment, then stopped thinking about it. While a general must consider all aspects thoroughly, he must not let uncertain information cause him to overlook other things. "Tell me about the Hero's Edge. Where do you think the demons are hiding this artifact of Iomede?"

"The goddess's holy power will always shine on the Hero's Edge, which is deadly to any demon. Therefore, they would never take it back to Hell. At most, they would consider it a trophy that would insult the goddess and the Crusaders, and store it within the fortress of Favored City," Queen Godfrey analyzed. "Fortunately, we have already killed another traitor, Stoutton, in the Grey Army camp. If he were still alive, he would definitely hide the Hero's Edge well. After all, it was because he took that banner away from Favored City that this impregnable fortress fell. As long as we can enter the castle of Favored City, finding it is only a matter of time."

“Time is not only a problem for the demons, but also for us.” Ivy nodded in agreement. “The demons’ teleportation ability is very troublesome for us, which means that if the battle goes on for too long, we are likely to be worn down by the endless stream of enemies.”

“However, this makes our battle plan very clear—while gaining the high ground to suppress the enemy's firepower, we will select a surprise force and reserves to break through the enemy's three walls in turn, enter the castle, find the Heroic Edge, and then use the power of this artifact to seal the demon's teleportation ability before clearing out the remaining enemies in the city.” Ivy looked around at the officers of all ranks sitting in the map room. “The plan doesn't have many steps, but each one is crucial. This battle cannot be lost. Next are the specific combat tasks.”

"Irabes".

"Here!" The golden-armored paladin was the first to stand up.

"Your duty is to command the Divine Eagle Guard Knights and the main infantry legions, as well as the other smaller knightly orders besides the Divine Claw Knights and the Dawnblade Knights. You will break through from the main gate; I will use magic to open it for you. You need to prepare at least two reserve teams to organize defenses when breaking through the other two walls," Ivy commanded. "You are the main attacker of the first wall, understand, Erabes?" "Yes, sir!" The orc pounded her chest and roared. To be honest, this was the most orcish she had looked in a long time, aside from her appearance.

“Of course, Her Majesty the Queen will also travel with you and enter the city of Juanze through the main gate.” Ivy looked at Queen Godfrey, who smiled slightly at him.

“Regil. You and your Hell Knights will enter through the gap in the church district, heading straight into the enemy's heartland. Your target is the ballista positions above the second city wall. If all goes well, when you complete your mission, Irabes will lead the main force to the foot of the second city gate. At that point, we can launch a coordinated attack from within and without to take our main firing position. Since Knight Commander Irabes will be traveling with you and her squad, I expect to see the ballistae on the city wall intact.”

“Understood.” Regil nodded firmly.

"After taking the second wall, our main force will set up defenses here until the vanguard breaks through the main gate of the fortress and begins searching for Heroic Vanguard inside. At that time, the Hell Knights can rest temporarily, and the main defense work will be undertaken by the reserves of Irabes and the firepower units on the wall."

"Next is the third part, with the Knights of Dawnblade and the angel Stallma as the vanguard, and the knight commander and her mythical companions taking on the responsibility of decapitating the enemy. As for the rest, it's very clear: hold the line until the dawn of victory shines on the city of Favor. When the number of demons stops increasing, when the banner of Iomede flies over the castle again, everyone will understand that the time for the counterattack has come."

“Wait, Lord Doom.” Ashius Strig, the Grand Master of the Dawnblade Knights, stood up. He was a burly man, resolute and passionate, as handsome and determined as an illustration in a chivalric novel. “Our Dawnblade Knights are the smallest of the three main knightly orders. Are we really capable of undertaking this task?”

"Don't you understand, you idiot?" Regil, sitting right next to him, sneered. "The ones in charge of the main attack are always knight commanders with mythical power. Even my Hell Knight is just her assistant."

"Ah... I understand! The Knights of Dawnblade will not let you down!" Ashus recalled the image of Ilinica wielding her greatsword and fighting on the battlefield. He could never quite connect the big star in her white dress with the Valkyrie on the battlefield.

“In fact, there are other reasons why I ordered the Knights of Dawnblade to act as the vanguard in opening the last fortress.” Ivy paused for a moment, then decided to be clear. “I need to use your divine magic, or more accurately, the power of the Morning Flower Goddess Shane, to experiment with a spell.”

“Speaking of which, Kuntorli, are my spellcasting materials ready?” Ivy turned her head to look at the little elephant who was writing furiously at the table. Kuntorli Kant, the Planeswalker from another world who was Ivy’s messenger and acting historical advisor for the Fifth Holy War, was also there.

He was also Ivy's apprentice, so helping his teacher collect spellcasting materials was also part of his job.

"Of course! Everything is ready." The little elephant stood up abruptly, knocking the chair behind him to the ground. His trunk was tightly curled up, as if he were ready to punch someone at any moment.

Ivy gestured for him to sit down and said, “Alright. Your only task in this battle is to secure my spellcasting materials and then cooperate with me in casting spells. After this meeting, I will give you the spell model, incantation, and other materials. This spell doesn’t require much personal understanding from you; you just need to study it thoroughly and memorize it.”

The baby elephant nodded, picked up the chair, and sat down again.

"What about the prophet in prison?" Irina couldn't help but ask. "Who's going to rescue her? What if the demons really did use her to carry out an ambush? Will they kill her to vent their anger because we didn't fall for it?"

“You don’t need to worry about that, I’ll go there myself.” Ivy concluded the war meeting. “The pre-war meeting is over. After the oath-taking ceremony, Queen Godfrey will make her appearance. Next, we will cross the drawbridge and attack the City of Favor.”

"Meeting adjourned. Kuntoli, stay behind."

The Crusader officers left the map room one after another, and Queen Godfrey resumed her disguise as Kirani of the Green Raven Knights.

Soon, only Ivy and Xiao Kun, the master and apprentice, remained in the room.

The spell that Ivy was going to test in the City of Favor was, of course, the [War Magic] that he had been conceiving for some time.

In his design, the divine spells of the followers of the sun goddess Shanere of Grallion, as well as the items prepared in advance by the little elephant, can all be considered as spellcasting materials.

After all, this was a spell of unprecedented scale, and it also needed to verify Ivy's ideas about cooperative and assisted spellcasting.

Even though he only has the little elephant as a spellcasting assistant, Ivy still needs to devote all her energy to him.

After capturing Jueze City, the Holy Army will undoubtedly transform from an expeditionary force into a military organization with a fixed base.

At that time, Ivy might even consider training local Crusader battle mages to create unprecedented large-scale war magic.

However, these ideas are based on the premise of the first war spell that was tested in the attack on Juanze City.

Although it sounds complicated, creating a war spell was easier than Ivy had imagined.

The main challenge lies in amplifying the power of magic using additional casting materials and runes. As for the original spell model, the core components don't actually require much modification.

Furthermore, Ivy wanted the power used in this experimental spell to be something she was familiar with. This way, even if the spell failed, the resulting backlash would be easier to absorb and recover from.

The divine arts of the Morning Flower Goddess, who shares the same origin as the sun goddess, are undoubtedly a suitable source of power.

Thinking about it this way, Ivy's first war spell was a special magic that combined divine and arcane magic.

(End of this chapter)