Chapter 1321 - War at Dusk (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Calaxus and the pope may not have understood the concept of space armaments, but those scary-looking, humongous mechanical weapons and the stunned look on the Lord of the Mountains’ face was enough to assure them that these weapons could deal heavy damage to Lockmarton—they would definitely be more powerful than some giant fireball attack from a group of magisters.
“This scale…” The Lord of the Mountains sighed after a long silence. His eyes glistened brightly as he spoke in a trembling voice, “When you did you start…”
“After I came to this world and understood the threat coming from Lockmarton, they began to make preparations out there.” Hao Ren explained while making slight adjustments to the timeline. The truth was, the MDT and Nolan had already started placing those cannons right after he and Lily reached Collow. Nevertheless, it would be easier for everyone to accept that the weapons were put in place after the threat from Lockmarton was confirmed. “You should know by now that I am not from Collow, but from the ‘outside world’. In all my adventures across different worlds, I have seen many things similar to Lockmarton, so we are very familiar with dealing with them.”
“It does look like you are very familiar with this part…” Geddon mumbled thunderously like the giant he was. “These devices make me uncomfortable. I must say that they can deal with more than just Lockmarton.”
Hao Ren spread his arms and smiled. “I’ll be frank. If I want to take down Collow, I can set up these weapons anytime.”
A tiny smile began to spread on Geddon’s face as well. “Lockmarton seems to be your priority right now. Alright, your weapons have convinced me that your plan is feasible. Ah, now I’m getting excited too to see Lockmarton suffering under those cannons. There’s just one thing I want to confirm… Are they really as powerful as they seem? I can only recognize some of these weapons… They are a little different from the weapons we used last time, so a demonstration will be helpful.”
“Of course.” Hao Ren poked the MDT. “Why don’t you explain our products?”
The MDT bounced to life just before Hao Ren’s finger touched it. “Enough with the poking!”
It then activated its holographic projector again and directed some of the weapons for a firing demonstration.
When the demonstration ended, Hao Ren spread his arms. “As you can see, they are stable and reliable weapons, designed to highly precise and immensely powerful. Most of the smaller cannons can sustain thousands of hours of high-frequency firing and will continue firing up to specs until the energy core melts. The larger caliber cannons are powerful but don’t be deceived by their looks. These guys can track fast-moving targets and fire at very high frequencies. To be precise, they can track targets moving below the speed of light in real time or engaged in unencrypted superluminal traveling…”
Nangong Wuyue poked Lily with her tail. “Since when did the Landlord become an arms dealer?”
“The Landlord is a maniac, don’t mind him.”
“Huh? I never noticed before, but what happened to your tail?”
“Shut up!! Can’t I be a little useful to others sometimes?”
Indeed, Hao Ren was suddenly entering his “arms dealer” mode and went on and on until two minutes later before he finally sobered up and said, “Cough, cough, all in all, these weapons are quite reliable. They are at the very least more powerful than what you can manage here, and they are immune to Lockmarton’s mental attacks.”
“I am now even more convinced that your plan is well thought through and brings us more hope than ever,” Geddon said solemnly. “There is only one problem left—Lockmarton will not your trap willingly. Even if someone opens the prison door, it will not make its escape immediately, but rather feel surprised and wary. How are you going to convince it that its sudden release is not a trap, but an opportunity to escape?”
Hao Ren chuckled. “Of course it will not run away at first. I have a plan for that too, but first, I will require your assistance…”
…
Against the background of eternal dusk in the Nightmare Realm, the bells in Fidelinopolis began to chime.
The first bell to chime was from the oldest and tallest bell tower, Dawnstar Tower. The bells in the churches followed, and then the ones in the commoner’s area, the commercial area, the public square and so on… All the bells in the city began to chime. The ancient mechanical structures creaked as the bells were tolled. Every chime sent reverberations throughout the city, which then rippled outward into the plains.
The bell-tolling ceremony of Fidelinopolis was held at the beginning of every War against Chaos—the pope and all 12 cardinals would bear witness to the ceremony, which signaled the beginning of Chaos. When all the bells chimed at once, the city’s strongest knights and warrior priests would board the enchanted warships and travel through cross-continent portals to join the frontlines in countries around the world in their battle against the forces of Chaos. When the battle ended, the surviving soldiers would prepare a roster of their names and bring it back to Fidelinopolis. The monks would sound their bugles from all the bell towers to declare the end of the War against Chaos and the beginning of the time of Peace.
This was the first time Fidelinopolis tolled its bells before the War against Chaos ended.
It was a declaration of the beginning of another war.
Compared to the bell-tolling ceremony when the War against Chaos began, the bells sounded softer this time. This was because six of the twelve cardinals had sacrificed their lives in order to transport Fidelinopolis to the Forgotten Abyss. What remained of them, including the pope, will join this final decisive battle. The people on the bell towers and on the stage conducting the ceremony were either young probationary monks who were not selected for battle or the weak and old.