Chapter 360 Aerial Battleship (1/2)

Starfall Year 833, 20th of June.

Northern Empire, Holy City of the Triplet Mountains, dawn.

A dragging breeze blew through the green plains and emerald hills in the heart of Imperial territory up to the Triplet Mountains. It filled the streets with herbal aromas, and the pleasant sunlight raised the spirits of the residents who were already up and at it, telling them that it would be a good day.

In one of the guest rooms within Morlaix Palace at the Imperial Capital, a black-haired warrior stood beside the window and looked up towards the shifting clouds.

Joshua was already awake.

After leaving the royal study yesterday, he was led by one of the palace servants to this room which was usually reserved for the ambassadors of other nations. Joshua had simply planned to look for a hotel, and wait for Ling, Ying, and Black's arrival tomorrow before going off.

But since Israel had invited him to stay in the palace, he cordially accepted the Emperor's goodwill.

He had also quietly sorted some intelligence from the Far South.

To his memory, before the Draconic Plague started in his preexistence in the Far South, the first dragon attack on the city happened on Spring, Starfall 834 while the war only broke out midsummer in the same year. Perhaps it was due to zero interference from warriors and players that the plague came almost a year earlier.

That was why the memories regarding the various turn of events were meaningless—many things could change in a year.

Naturally, the bigger picture would not change, such as the Evil God of Pestilence and His followers manipulating and inciting the Pentashade Dragons to unleash their fury behind the scenes.

The mad dragons wanted to take down the Far South and spread their forces across the Continent. But two things stand against their way—the first was the Central Defense Line of the Kingdom of the Far South, the second was the Sacred Mountain of the Distant Sea, the holy land of the Church of Seven.

Unable to take down the Central Defense Line, the dragons soon diverted their attention to the Sacred Mountain. The Church knew what they were up to and did not go on a passive defensive stance.

Instead, they gathered any who would answer their call and formed an Alliance—with Joshua being one of them. They also seem to have something in mind to stop the dragons' advance.

From one of the higher levels on the palace that overlooks the urban zones of the Imperial Palace, Joshua looked at the residences of noble and common folk alike. Those rooftops laid out with black and red tiles were starting to show signs of life, with streaks of smoke coming off the chimneys in diagonal lines.

It was dawn and every family was preparing breakfast. Although there were several houses without chimney smoke, Joshua knew that it was not because they were not preparing breakfast yet, but because they have the latest magical core.

Technology on the Mycroft continent dulled in comparison to those that Illgner's elves possessed. That was because mana and magic were still thick here and lost entirely for the latter. Still, they were unique—since 'magical machines' was invented by all the famous Mage Academies of the Eastern Plains, this technology built based on magic and runes slowly bore fruit in this world.

The ease of life it provided even ordinary people made it everyone's pursuit—the nobles and the rich being the first to get their finger over it.

In the Royal Mage Guild, more than half of its members were developing all sorts of mystical mechanism, the magical armor Joshua and the dwarves designing being one of the classical types, albeit also turning out to be one with high-end applications. Not only could it be used in combat, it could also be equipped by technicians to improve their work efficiency.

Where has magical technology reached?

Joshua thought about the pre-existence while tapping a finger on the window sill. Without player opinions and assistance, new little gadgets would probably be rare, but things like War Titans would probably be produced one way or the other.

With the surging numbers of players in the preexistence on the Mycroft Continent, mages involved in magical mechanical development were given plenty of hints and inspiration.

They created many useful trinkets like wristwatches that determined the elemental concentration of the user's surroundings, magical night-vision glasses as well as 'a thing that looks suspiciously like a mobile phone but is actually something that carries a self-replenishing communications formation'.

Others, of course, included the inevitable creation of magic carpets, flying broomsticks as well as puppets made exclusively for housework.

Nonetheless, the invention of those items inspired the mages as they slowly took it to the next level. When the magical hearth successfully debuted at the magical labs of the Skypiercing White Tower, all the elites of every nation bought the patent and created countless killing machines from that.

Mycroft has long toiled in war. The nervous elites notwithstanding, the moment the common folk learned that even they could access magic through new technologies, the first thing they thought of was not how they could make life easier. Instead, all they envisioned were destructive weaponry—magical rifles, enchanted bow and arrows, airborne battleships, floating fortresses, etc.

It was almost a culture that the people have. Everyone is alert and wary of the unpredictable figure, which was why most in the continent would not care about keeping their lives mundane, opting to seek power.

Now, every nation was developing magical technology for the next generation. In the wealthy Trade Federation and the Eastern Kingdom of Mages, a new army equipped with magical armaments has appeared.

As the largest country of the world, the Northern Empire naturally did not fall behind. Joshua recalled the first War Titans appearing at the southern fortresses of the Empire. They did not lose out to the ancient Colossal Titans, suppressing the Dark Tide easily then.

While the warrior frowned in old memories far gone and things that happened so many Starfall years ago, someone knocked on the guest room door.

”My Lord, His Majesty is waiting for you at Fort Aden.” The respectful voice of a servant rang from behind the door. ”Would you like to leave now, or do you need some time to prepare?”

”Let's leave now,” Joshua replied.

Turning back to reality, the warrior moved, ready to leave for the South.

Joshua had discussed and agreed with Nostradamus for the elderly mage to transport Ling, Ying and Black here. However, since the Imperial Capital had the magical formation of vigilance, dimensional lockdowns as well as prohibits teleportation, they had to be sent to the fort on the Triplet Mountains by the edge of town.

The servant who led Joshua away from Morlaix Palace did not talk much, seemingly due to extreme fear. As they walked past the many corridors, every move from the warrior seems to make the middle-aged man jump. It was until Joshua left the palace and boarded the carriage to the Fort that he breathed one huge sigh of relief, his cold sweat flooding his forehead as if surviving a major assault.

”…That Count's far more terrifying than the rumors…” He mumbled, watching with a traumatized gaze at the slowly departing carriage. ”There's no telling what sort of terrible lives his subjects lead… Anyone could tell from his eyes he's a tyrant…”