A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 509 The Target of Public Criticism

It wasn't just Rorschach researching how to counter the Empire's anti-magic devices; many mages who disdained negotiating with the Imperial Council also began taking action. Suddenly, research into anti-magic and anti-anti-magic became a hot topic.

Not only the mages of Valuwa, but also the unofficial spellcasters of the empire, upon hearing the rumors of the city's plan to build anti-magic devices, were all eager to launch an attack.

Breaking through the magic-suppressing device has become a major point of contention.

As a veiled protest, the Arcane Senate released key texts held by the guilds to all mages. The manuscripts of the mysterious "Baron Leipzig," the founder of anti-magic theory, were revealed, regardless of whether it was the Empire or the guilds. These fragments were originally held by the Empire, the Arcane Tower, and the Tower of Stars, respectively; now, two of them have made the texts public.

Having encountered airships more than once, the Alchemy Department naturally considered the survival of the "Giant Mechanical Breaker" in the field.

Initially, all models were designed for situations of "temporary magic failure," which the developers called "barrier time." Since the magic-suppressing time is limited, the challenge they needed to overcome became ensuring that the machine could sustain itself without relying on magic for a short period and that all functions could be activated promptly once magic was restored.

The final result was called the "Black Coffin System." It placed an oscillating quartz crystal as a fuse inside the power reactor. Once the fluctuations in environmental magic reached an alarm threshold, the quartz crystal would be triggered and the signal amplified. The power reactor would then be sealed off.

The "Black Coffin" is composed of layers of black stone, with a circulating magical loop on top. As long as it is not in the center of the "Magic Tsunami", it can absorb some of the impact.

By keeping the internal power plant running, magic will be stored up. Once the impact is over, the "Black Coffin" will release this magic in an attempt to restore full mobility and combat function as soon as possible.

Then the supply chain stepped in, and the Empire's device changed from a one-shot kill to a sustained damage type! Meanwhile, the giant machines remained "instant kills" against the device…

Even the new model of the megamachine equipped with the "Black Coffin System" can only briefly perform simple activities using steam engines and hydraulics when magic is unavailable. During this time, it loses contact with the controller and will only perform preset actions:

Either you set it to kneel on one knee and wait, or you keep running, hugging the power reactor, this mobile bomb, and saying, "Damn it, I'm going to blow you up."

So when the "Wall of Sighs" was launched, the guys whose hairlines were already receding to the highest point of the human body were both "thanking" Rorschach, the instigator, for his "great kindness" and trying to improve the "Black Coffin System".

Perhaps sensing the warm "greetings" from his old buddies from afar, Rorschach presented a great gift after the manuscript of "Baron Leipzig" was made public.

He submitted his first article since becoming an archmage to the Magic Guild, titled "A Preliminary Exploration of Three Effects of the Anti-Magic Field." The first was the polarization distribution of magic frequency, the second was the existence of a super-ground state in the material world within the anti-magic field, and the third was the "magic string" based on the polarization effect and a new way of casting spells.

Theoretically, it should have been split into three parts before being released, but Rorschach didn't have time to scrutinize the many details. In fact, the other mages were also in a state of great anxiety.

"Teacher, why can't I understand it at all?" Andrei was now very frightened. He was forced to be credited as the third author on this article, but he himself could not understand more than ten sentences when he pieced together all the words in the article.

If the Senate and the arbitration tribunal come knocking on my door, will I be charged with academic fraud?

"Actually, I don't understand either." Rorschach's words were shocking, but he remained calm: "All the theories are built on my unique perspective. To be honest, I first had practical experience, and then tried to explain why my actions were valid and feasible."

For him, the wondrous changes of that day were natural and beautiful, but when it came to expressing them in words, Rorschach felt deeply inadequate and powerless—not only in terms of language, but also in terms of mathematics. Therefore, he mostly described the phenomena, leaving the more detailed and comprehensive theoretical construction to future generations.

If anyone raises any questions, Rorschach can simply reproduce it himself.

Andrei made a very unusual request: "Could you remove my name from the list of authors?"

"No, no, no, what I hate most is burying individual contributions. You've worked hard in preparing the equipment and proofreading the articles. This honorary title is what you deserve." Luo Xia seriously refused his disciple's request.

"What about Martin? He's in charge of the switching mechanism; he's more suitable for the third installment than I am."

"He's immune to magic! If he's exposed to the guild, there's only one outcome: he'll be kidnapped and secretly dissected." Rorschach comforted him, "Don't worry, I'll take care of anything that happens. There's no spellcaster on the entire continent that I can't handle."

Andrei felt suffocated by forced love: "What if several archmages came at me at once?"

"As your teacher," he wanted to say that he could at worst take his apprentice and run away, but his teleportation skills were terrible. "As your teacher, I can buy you and Teacher Caroline some time to escape."

Yes, Caroline's work is a sequel, but she made a real contribution. Caroline attempted to explain the probability distribution of magic and material entities within a field in a spacetime sense.

After the article was published, most mages did not understand it. A small number of mages analyzed some parts of it and gained some results. However, the members of the Arcane Senate valued the last point more, "Magic String" and the corresponding new casting method. If Rorschach was not lying, then it would be a greater revolution than the spell string.

Although the guilds are using research to crack the code as a form of soft resistance against the Empire, the new emperor and the Imperial Council remain united and have passed the "Imperial Supernatural Security Control Act," aiming to deploy long-term anti-magic devices in settlements with more than 10,000 people within ten years.

In any case, the entanglement surrounding the spellcasters reached a temporary stalemate in late autumn. For most mages, it was impossible for them to quickly master the ability to cast spells in the anti-magic field like Rorschach. The empire also did not have the spare energy to implement the new law, except that the capital city had indeed begun to set up more devices.

The early autumn campaign ended. For the Empire, the frontline troops bought time for the completion of the Helmut Line and harvested all the grain in the occupied territories, leaving the already impoverished Republic with the desperately hungry masses in the liberated areas.

As for the Republic, their new weapons have been deployed, and the roused National Guard needs to press their advantage.

In late autumn, the two major powers on the mainland were gearing up for a new offensive.

On the western front, Paul, at the border between the Republic and the Low Countries, received new equipment and new orders.

"A magic weaver?"

"It will be installed into the Black Coffin System of the 'Dawn Singer,' giving it the ability to move within the anti-magic device. However, it is only a prototype, and during operation, the operator can no longer control it remotely; they must enter the Black Coffin to operate the giant machine," the alchemy senior told his former junior brother.

"Understood. Let's look forward to its performance." Paul looked at the outline of the massive fortress of the Low Countries in the distance. It was the western terminus of the "Helmut Line." If it were breached, the closest route to the capital would be opened to the National Guard.

(End of this chapter)