Chapter 66: The Sky Strike Incident

The Holy Alliance

Within an uninhabited zone under the jurisdiction of the Holy Light Church.

Inside a hollowed-out mountain, countless core technicians of the Church were busily preparing for the test of their latest magical weapon.

****

Atop the mountain peak, a paladin sat silently upon a colossal boulder, his eyes closed in meditation.

His figure appeared exceptionally solemn in the twilight glow, as if he had merged with the surrounding nature. The paladin carried a massive sword on his back, its scabbard inlaid with mysterious runes, and the gem on its hilt shimmered faintly under the setting sun.

Though his eyes were closed, an invisible pressure emanated from his entire being, silently proclaiming his formidable power.

The surrounding air seemed to grow heavy with his presence, and even the mountain breeze became reverent, daring not to stir a single strand of his hair.

“Aturu, it seems nothing unexpected has occurred over there.”

The frivolous voice of a colleague reached his ears through the magic communicator. Paladin Aturu slowly opened his eyes, responding to his friend’s inquiry.

“It seems the Church’s finances aren’t as tight as I thought,” he remarked. “To think they’d still let you use long-range communication as freely as you please, Albert.”

“How could they not be tight? We’re preparing for war!” Albert retorted. “After all, our esteemed Pope can’t stand even the slightest good in the tyrannical Alara Empire’s king.”

Albert paused, then added with surprise, “How rare! You actually noticed me wasting money.”

Aturu honestly replied, “Because you previously complained to me that the Church frequently misused long-range communication, wasting Church funds, and called it highly improper behavior that led to financial strain.”

Albert’s voice remained discordant. “I’m using my own magic for this! Besides, what’s wrong with caring about the Church’s latest weapon? This is something a cardinal should be seriously concerned about. Really, do I usually give you the impression that I don’t do anything proper?”

“You know, so there’s no need to say it out loud.” Aturu rubbed his nose, gazing up at the sky.

Thousands of meters above, a spire-like structure floated silently. It was called ‘Sky Strike’.

This weapon could unleash ultra-long-range magical light beams to strike target locations with extreme speed. Due to its remote launch position, enemies could not sense its firing in advance.

Currently, its only drawbacks were significant power attenuation over long distances and the immense resources required for each launch, in addition to its high construction cost.

“There are no anomalies here, rest assured.”

Albert’s voice became noticeably calmer. “What do you think of Sky Strike? I’m very curious about the opinion of you, the Sword Saint of Light and the Church’s strongest warrior, on the Holy Alliance’s latest magical technology.”

Aturu hummed softly before responding, “Its range and speed are commendable. However, it’s too expensive, and its power still needs improvement. At the very least, it should match one of my slashes.”

Albert’s booming laughter erupted through the communicator. “Hahahaha, you’re trying to kill off the research institute staff! You’re among the world’s top ranks, after all.

“While power can indeed be increased, the cost would rise by more than just a little. You should consider the Church’s finances more.

“Moreover, this weapon isn’t designed to deal with entities like you. It’s meant for ultra-long-range strikes against critical enemy facilities, command centers, and important battlefields.”

After a moment of thought, Aturu offered an idea.

“Then why not use this device to send me over?”

Albert burst into laughter. “You’re truly… send you over, and then we expend tremendous effort to rescue you? When did you get such a sense of humor?”

Aturu earnestly replied, “I would return on my own.”

Albert sensed something was amiss. “…Are you serious? Do you truly believe you’re invincible? Come on, brother, your value is ten times greater than that thing in the sky.

“We can’t afford to use you as a disposable weapon. By the way, haven’t the targets been delivered yet?”

Aturu shook his head. “Not yet. I don’t understand why large target dummies for testing new weapons need to be transported by a teleportation array. This is also—”

Albert interrupted, “Aren’t they using a new type of teleportation array? We’re experimenting with two things at once, and it saves some money.

“Using the teleportation array can save a lot of costs. It’s very friendly to managers like us.”

Beyond that, it also largely depended on the real-time nature of information transmission.

If administrative information from various regions and the information derived from it experienced high delays, it often led to administrative redundancy, inefficiency, and a loss of control over local areas.

In the era preceding the Elf Alliance, the Dragons, Giants, and Elves were able to maintain control over the entire world largely because their efficiency was extremely high.

They were races inherently possessing immense magical power, requiring no reliance on magic stones or similar resources to store magic for remote information transmission or to activate teleportation arrays to travel across the globe.

They could easily satisfy these needs with their own magic, much like how people in Theresia’s world possess their own magical power. They could charge all household appliances themselves under normal circumstances without causing a severe burden to their bodies.

However, Dwarves and Humans did not possess this level of magic, so they relied on tools and magic ores.

The magical machinery invented during the Dwarf Empire era was incredibly powerful, capable of compensating for their inherent deficiencies.

Humans, on the other hand, had originally inherited the Dwarf Empire’s legacy. Unfortunately, they lacked the Dwarf artisans’ techniques, and the Dwarves had encrypted their technologies.

This encryption rendered these techniques impossible to reproduce, forcing the Human Unified Empire to reverse-engineer Dwarf technology step by step.

The answer they received was that the encrypted codebook had been destroyed, and they did not know how to decrypt it.

Whether this statement was true or false remained unverified. However, with the destruction of the Unified Empire, the reverse-engineering project also collapsed midway.

To this day, only a handful of Dwarf Empire technologies have been restored, and these do not include the most crucial low-energy teleportation arrays, information transmission orbs, and high-speed magic conduits.

“Hmm, it seems they’ve arrived.”

Feeling an unusual spatial fluctuation, Aturu abruptly sat up. He then witnessed a massive spatial black hole appearing in mid-air, close to the ground.

The extensive spatial distortion annihilated all creatures within a five-hundred-meter radius.

He frowned slightly. “This new teleportation array creates too much commotion. There’s no way it could be deployed inside a castle.”

Albert, on the other end, was stunned.

“Did they set the power too high? Never mind that, just tell me if they were delivered.”

Aturu nodded. Then, to his astonishment, he saw two enormous creatures fall out of the spatial black hole one after another, with several people seemingly clinging to them.

“Those two huge creatures seem to be a giant and a black dragon? It looks like… they’ve been delivered.”

“Really? If they’ve been teleported, half the battle is won. Then I’ll tell them to start the test.”

Albert’s relaxed voice came through. “Yes, yes, you’ve seen them, right? Then begin. Oh, the target dummy is already there, isn’t it? Oh dear, it’s just a target meant to be destroyed. Whether it’s shocking or not doesn’t matter.

“Why are you asking so many questions today? Just start it quickly.”

After giving instructions to the other side, Albert lazily said, “Alright, has Hoziah (the on-site manager for the Sky Strike test) been criticized recently?

“Why is he so cautious today, repeatedly asking me if what was teleported really is the target dummy? Honestly, if it’s not the target dummy, is it entertainment supplies for them?”

Aturu mused, “Speaking of which, isn’t the Church’s target dummy a bit too extravagant?”

Albert was unfazed, even joking, “Extravagant? What, did the Second Research Institute send over their research building? Haha.”

Aturu clarified, “No, I mean, a black dragon with some materials still clinging to its body, a giant over ten meters tall, an elf, two bloodline users, and an ordinary person wearing magic armor.

“Honestly, it’s too wasteful.”

“What is that giant? I’ve never seen such a massive creature before. Is it an alchemical product of some cultist? Also, when did the Church hide a black dragon?

“Is this to destroy it quickly to prevent Dragon Island from finding out? But I see its scales, horns, claws, teeth, and tail are all still intact. Aren’t these all valuable materials?

“That ordinary person is even wearing magic armor, which looks quite expensive. Aren’t they planning to salvage it? That elf looks like a dark elf, and those two bloodline users…”

Albert: “ (°Д°) Wait, what did you just say? Repeat that.”

Aturu repeated his words, then added, “Oh, and they all seem to be alive, though severely injured.”

Albert was silent for a moment, then let out a shriek that could scare away a banshee. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?! How could those be target dummies?!”

Aturu replied, exasperated, “You didn’t tell me what the target dummies were! And they really did just suddenly teleport here.”

“Even if I didn’t tell you what the target dummies were, anyone with common sense would know they couldn’t be target dummies!!!!” Albert’s voice was so loud that it could be clearly heard even outside his office.

“Is His Eminence in a bad mood today?”

“No way. I saw him cheerful ten minutes ago. Could it be that some debtor isn’t planning to repay the Church’s money?

“If so, His Eminence would have already sent the Inquisition to that person’s house. Why would he be angry?”

(Albert was in charge of the Church’s finances.)

Perhaps because of this, Albert subsequently yelled at Aturu.

Ignoring the discussions outside the office, Albert, after yelling at Aturu, immediately asked, “Are they within Sky Strike’s attack range?!”

Aturu confirmed, “Right in the center.”

“No!!!”

Albert’s voice was filled with despair. He immediately contacted the on-site personnel. “Hoziah! Those are not targets! Stop it immediately! Aturu might lack common sense about this weapon, but has your brain also stiffened up?!

“What? You confirmed with me?! You confirmed with whom?! Next time, describe the specific target! Otherwise, you’ll be responsible for the Church taxes of all allied nations next time!”

“It can’t be stopped! It can’t be stopped?!

“Only thirty seconds until launch?!”

Albert, a person who usually paid great attention to his composure, completely broke down under the tacit cooperation of his two colleagues. He shouted at Aturu, “Aturu, save them immediately!”

Aturu honestly replied, “I can’t. Their bodies are too large, and their injuries are too severe to withstand any more disturbance.”

Albert reiterated, “Then block Sky Strike.”

Aturu continued, “I can’t. Sky Strike’s attack range is vast, and their bodies are so large that I wouldn’t be able to protect them all.”

Albert: “Then, Aturu, can’t you do anything?! Whatever method you use, save them!”

Aturu seriously stated, “I can destroy Sky Strike.”

Albert: “Hm?”

Aturu confidently said, “I can completely destroy Sky Strike before it fires. Should I do it?”

Albert: “Can it not be salvaged at all?”

Aturu regretfully replied, “No, the architectural debris would likely inflict severe damage on those targets.”

“Aturu, now remove them from the category of targets in your mind! You will never list them as targets again, understood? Do it! Do it! It’s not your money anyway!”

As Albert’s mournful voice faded, Aturu gripped his greatsword, his gaze sharpening, and swung a sword energy towards the sky that shone brighter than the sun.

A second before Sky Strike was about to launch, he vaporized the entire structure.

Aturu looked up at the sky and said, “Sky Strike confirmed destroyed.”

Albert weakly responded, “Understood. Secretly and safely deliver them to the City of Light. You know what ‘secretly and safely’ means, right?”

Aturu offered his interpretation. “If other people or creatures see them, I cut them all down, ensure they are dead, and no death information is transmitted.”

Albert: “Aturu, I’m truly… I’m shocked that the Pope would proclaim you the most outstanding paladin of the Holy Light Church. You should be working for the Inquisition instead.”

“Bring those discoverers back to the Church. Only use such extreme methods if they offer fierce resistance, understood?”

Aturu nodded. “Understood.”

“We’ll meet again in the City of Light. I’ll settle accounts with you properly then, Aturu!”

Albert’s voice was filled with sorrow and indignation.

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