A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 591 Working Together

The mages who remained at the Tower of the First Flame all became nourishment for the Mother Goddess to nurture her minions, and the sacred First Flame was corrupted and transformed into a festering wound on the earth, oozing pus.

In fact, the corresponding demigod "Fire Thief" had long been corrupted, and the monster "amniotic fluid" flowing out through the "fire" was the sewage secreted by its rotting internal organs.

At this moment, there was no great mage on the tundra to stop these "ground flies".

Their long limbs exerted maximum speed as they sprinted in all directions, using their sense of smell, hearing, and innate sensory abilities to search for all life on the material plane.

Wherever they go, plants mutate rapidly, their stems, leaves, or roots swell, and then they release grayish-black spores.

These spores float in the air as the monsters pass by like the wind, drifting for a while before landing, killing more creatures and turning into black water just like the Tower of the First Flame.

Animals that didn't have time to escape were naturally devoured by the monster. A few "lucky ones" inhaled the spores that had drifted across the ocean before the monster arrived, quickly decaying and releasing swarming flies from their wounds.

The mages of the Tower of Time in Istani arrived at the scene completely unprepared for these monsters. Similar to the Saga, they lost control of their will upon hearing the piercing cries and the approaching pollution, almost losing their ability to cast spells.

A small number of mages who were among the first to access the spell cloud miraculously withstood the overwhelming howls. At most, their minds were dulled, but with the spell cloud, they could still launch attacks quickly in emergencies.

They soon discovered that these abominable creatures that had invaded their world and were trying to destroy their homes were surprisingly tenacious.

Magic that kills with energy can be repaired or protected by an exoskeleton unless the mouthparts or air vents are concentrated.

Using kinetic energy to kill, such as enhanced firearm shots or mages' own [Arrow] spells, will certainly cause temporary damage to the "Groundfly," but the monster's wounds will heal quickly.

It was not only healing, but also proliferation. Those thick tumors became a cushion, and there were also tumors with pus. They could be considered reactive armor.

In short, low- to mid-level magic cannot break through the defense.

The mages fought and retreated, and some were bitten by ground flies if they were not careful. Their bodies would then change, either turning into new ground flies or spreading fuel.

In short, the situation at the Tower of First Flame greatly surprised the Magic Guild. The Istani Magic Tower, which came to reinforce, also retreated repeatedly until it reached a so-called "safe distance".

The chief of the Tower of Time used many precious alchemical items, and for a moment his whole body began to shine, with different spiritual lights radiating out from him.

This time, more spellcasters broke free from the mental interference emanating from the monsters' roar. The archmage once again gave each person a signal, and together they began a large-scale spellcasting ritual.

Everyone now has an extra crystal, essential for the Tower of Time. They adjust their orientation so that the refracted light converges and shines on the Chief of the Tower of Time.

They began to perform star magic, forcibly breaking through the ice field to let the aurora and starry river descend, even though it was still daytime.

Whether it's the aurora borealis, which resembles a ribbon, or the comet with a trail that looks like it's fallen to earth, they precisely target and cover the members of the ground fly army.

They froze instantly and suffered a great deal of damage.

Considering the transmutation flow between the prime material plane and the astral plane, it's hard to say exactly what fell down, but it's useful anyway.

Unfortunately, for many monsters, there is still a little bit of difference between completely eliminating them and not long after, they will heal and return.

Unless there is a force capable of annihilating all of these things in one blow.

Hmm, maybe there really is.

In the starry sky, a ring gradually emerged.

The chief master of the Tower of Time narrowed his eyes. As a member of the Arcane Senate, he certainly recognized what the ring in the sky was—it was the super-large ring of the "Sky Ladder System"! It wasn't even the first ring of the airship; it was a high-altitude ring that relied on reverse thrust engines to adjust its attitude.

Sure enough, the ring lights up, but this time what came out were not extraterrestrial visitors or flying machines, but rather distinctive airships. They sounded piercing alarms and descended directly.

The fact that the airship used a teleportation portal is very strange, and the fact that the giant teleportation portal was maintained for a considerable period of time indicates that the teleportation distance was not far.

The chief of the Tower of Time was a bit confused until he clearly saw the airship's meaningless imposing ram, its brownish skin, and its cabin that resembled a North Sea speedboat.

It's a fleet of dwarven airships! And the next level of the ring is nearby.

It seems that the cooperation between Byrne and the Dwarf Confederation is progressing rapidly, and they can even replicate the ladder system.

If the cooperation goes well, at least for now, we urgently need help.

The leader of the "groundflies," a winged creature, was enraged upon seeing airships much taller than himself and regarded these aerial dwarves as mortal enemies.

The monster bent its hind legs, gathered its strength, and with all its might, pushed off while frantically flapping its wings, trying to gain the upper hand in flight and climb onto the airship to deliver a fatal blow to the passengers inside.

Upon their arrival, the dwarves' airship threw mithril alloy ropes from both sides of the cabin. The chains were almost blown to the ground, which immediately excited the monsters, who began to pull and climb the ropes.

Will the airship be pulled off balance and capsized by them? Can the leader's flapping wings reach the airship itself?

Impossible. The dwarves would never allow such a thing to happen.

After releasing the chains, the airship swarm immediately began one action—energizing themselves. They converted stored power units into generators.

All of it is released in an extremely short time. The ultra-high voltage current rushes down along the good conductor, and can even penetrate the air between them, weaving an inescapable net of electricity.

"By the way, electricity. Lightning magic has a special effect on monsters created by the Mother Goddess." This has already been verified.

The situation went from being utterly dire to being temporarily brought under control, but the pollution center continued to produce groundfly monsters and release spores that inhaled pollutants.

As long as the airships and mages stop, the balance will tilt back towards Mother Earth, because she has been providing continuous support.

In the midst of the tension, the ring light flickered again instead of remaining lit continuously, indicating that this teleportation came from a very distant place.

The objects that fell this time were several rocket-like contraptions. They flew upside down at great speed and only slowed down slightly when they hit the ground, resulting in them being half-embedded in the ground near the source of pollution.

Those are anti-magic devices airdropped from the ground. They are housed in sturdy shuttle-shaped vehicles and begin operating once they are launched into the ground.

It was something Rorschach had been preparing since the beginning of Oward. It was similar to the No. 1 missile fired by the Imperial Cannon, but it was long-lasting. It could be quickly deployed to a location in groups of six, and its own energy could last for a month. It could also be replenished with transmutation dust fuel.

Once the device started operating, the most superficial spores and tiny flies began to fall and shrink, and the primary pollution receded like melting snow, revealing the scarred ground.

Within the device's reach, the electrocuted monsters, having lost the support of the Mother Goddess's power, collapsed to the ground in agony.

(End of this chapter)