stonecrandall Page 288
Page 288
P.S.: Fourth update
Wizarding Civilization: Chapter 733 The Kingdom of Basel
Dilano Delport is a wizard. At least in the eyes of mortals who are completely isolated from the "wizard" community, he is a powerful and mysterious "wizard" who can easily kill multiple formal knights and whose will even the Grand Knights dare not disobey.
Even though Dilano Delport was actually only a second-level wizarding apprentice, not even a third-level wizarding apprentice, the ignorant Muggle mortals obviously did not know the difference between a wizarding apprentice and a full wizard, and the few who did know these differences would not risk offending a wizard by revealing them.
When Dirano Delport returned to the capital of the Kingdom of Basel after fifteen years, he was greeted with an almost fawning welcome from the entire royal family.
Besides being a "wizard," Dilano Delport was a nobleman of the kingdom fifteen years ago. However, he was discovered by a passing dual-striped wizarding academy to have the aptitude to master witchcraft (a special element with a probability of no more than 0.03% among ordinary people). So he gave up his title and wealth and chose to become a wizard.
In Dilano Delport's fantasy, he should have severed ties with these ignorant mortals the moment he set off for the Two-Striped Wizarding Academy, just as those great, ordained wizards, even with lifespans far beyond what mortals could imagine, would not waste a single second on contact with them—that would mean the wizard had lost the focus of the wizarding will and fallen into depravity.
And Dilano Delporte did just that. In those fifteen years, except for the first two years when the enormous resource demands of learning witchcraft forced him to seek help from his family, there was almost no further contact. If nothing unexpected had happened, this wizard apprentice would have followed the same path of growth as any wizard, severing ties with the mortal world, abandoning all meaningless connections, and embarking on the path of wizardry with wisdom and composure... Unfortunately, an accident occurred in his fifth year as a first-level wizard apprentice, when he was about to become a second-level wizard apprentice.
The high-ranking official wizards of the Dual-Striped Wizard Academy issued orders to each apprentice. Most of these orders revolved around investigating a mysterious alien civilization, while a few were related to kingdoms: they were either former nobles, princes, or princesses, with the more illustrious and noble their status, the better. These individuals were instructed to contact their respective kingdoms, notify them to assemble their armies, and that the great wizards would assign them a mission.
"The will of wizards reigns supreme. Since when have the affairs of wizards become the concern of ignorant mortals?"
Sitting in the palace-like carriage specially reserved for him by the King of Basel, Dirano Delport pondered with some complaints, completely oblivious to the King of Basel's embarrassed expression.
"Gather your knights on the southern plains. The great wizard has a task for you. If you can complete it, the wizards will not hesitate to bestow upon you a potion that can repair your body or even prolong your life."
After receiving the wizard apprentice's "assurance," the elderly King Basel's breathing immediately became heavy.
Mortals are mortals, a race that inhabits the western coast of the continent. They control the vast majority of the land, yet this does not change the fact that they are merely mortals. They can be injured, they can die, and they too suffer the fear of aging and illness. As a mortal who already possesses fame and power, the only thing the current King of Basel lacks is to ensure that these things remain in his hands for a longer period… or rather, a longer lifespan. The guarantee from the “wizard” undoubtedly fills this gap.
What is a wizard?
Even without ever having seen their existence, every Basel king would hear tales of the wizards from his predecessor upon succession. Every year, all the kingdoms of the West Coast, including the Kingdom of Basel, had to contribute a large amount of precious resources to those mysterious wizards in order to ensure the survival of their kingdoms.
They possessed power unimaginable to mortals; even the most powerful knights could not compare to the weakest wizard apprentices—the former representing the limits of mortal strength, while the latter was merely the starting point of transcendence. The boundary between the mundane and the extraordinary was laid bare before them in such a stark way, how could these high-ranking kings not tremble with fear?
While possessing extraordinary abilities, these wizards are also mysterious in ways that are unimaginable to mortals. Every wizard has a lifespan that surpasses that of ordinary people. Legend has it that the lifespan of some powerful wizards can even be compared to that of the stars. For these wizards, extending a person's lifespan is nothing. It is only a bottle of magic potion, which is of little use to them, that makes mortals fight to the death for it.
Now, King Basel doesn't even need to go through the struggle; he can obtain such a potion simply by mobilizing his army to accompany the great wizard on his expedition. How could he not be excited? As for danger… you're kidding! With a mysterious wizard accompanying him, what on this continent could possibly be considered dangerous?
With this in mind, the Kingdom of Basel immediately mobilized three thousand knights from within the kingdom—including two thousand squires, eight hundred knights, and two hundred regular knights. To show his sincerity, the king even dispatched the royal guards who had served the royal family for generations.
"Great Wizard, may I accompany you on this military expedition?"
Approaching the apprentice in the grey robes humbly, King Basel was somewhat worried about his "potion." If the wizard forgot about the "reward" after leading the knights to complete the mission and simply left, even he, as king, would be powerless to stop him: anyone with basic common sense would not be foolish enough to provoke a wizard, not even on the king's orders.
With a disdainful glance at the groveling king, Dirano Delport coldly snorted before taking to the skies (using a magical artifact he had acquired at considerable cost). He then commanded the legion below, which was becoming somewhat agitated by his flight, to advance. King Basel, behind him, gritted his teeth and ordered his bewildered entourage to follow, marching towards the expeditionary force's base...
Meanwhile, the same scene was unfolding across the entire western continent in various kingdoms. Without any guarantees, the mere mention of the word "wizard" was enough to make these beings, who had already reached the pinnacle of secular power, abandon their resistance and mobilize their armies to march toward the same destination.
P.S.: "Starting point" has become a sensitive word...
Wizarding Civilization: Chapter 734 The Knight Charging Towards the Tank (Part 1)
In the context of medieval European civilization, such a large-scale march launched simultaneously by dozens of kingdoms could not escape the reconnaissance of the drones spread across the sky by the otherworldly expeditionary force. Although what was seen were only a few thousand to less than ten thousand marching troops, and the smallest was even less than eight hundred people, the sheer number of marching troops was enough to attract attention. Even dozens of groups of ants placed on the road would attract the attention of newcomers, let alone a human army.
"If I'm not mistaken, these should be the elite knightly class of the medieval army."
It took AR team five days to successfully withdraw to base, bringing back two surviving reconnaissance team members and various pieces of information that the base urgently needed, including intelligence about the Knight class.
Licking his lips, Knox's pale face, which had just struggled back from the brink of death, revealed undisguised schadenfreude: "I think I'll have the chance to witness what happened in Poland more than two hundred years ago."
"Don't be careless. These knights also possess extraordinary abilities. Although the intelligence from Tulip Town indicates that they cannot be compared to wizards, no one can guarantee how much of that intelligence is true."
One of the commanders, watching the footage transmitted from the drone, suggested, "Should we send out a small unit to scout ahead?"
"Unfortunately, that's impossible."
As soon as the words were spoken, the image transmitted by the drone turned completely gray.
"...As you can see, although those wizards have not continued to launch a full-scale attack on the base this week, they have launched a mobile warfare centered on the base, constantly destroying the various drones and small units we have deployed. With the various anti-air and anti-materiel weapons in the base, we can barely withstand their attacks and inflict casualties, but once we leave the base, we will only be slaughtered on one side."
One commander asked somewhat reluctantly, "What about the 'Griffin' side? Haven't they determined the coordinates of any wizards yet?"
"The 'Griffin' mission is still ongoing. Those wizards are extremely vigilant. I suspect they don't even belong to this world, this civilized era. Modern tactical thinking offers them no cover whatsoever. Often, what they inadvertently display is far more advanced than ours. 'Griffin' is encountering difficulties during the search..."
He changed his tone: "But that's good too. Even if we find the wizards' stronghold now, we can't take any action, at least not until we deal with these knights."
Unfolding the topographical map of the "base" that had been painstakingly drawn after losing over a hundred military drones, Zhang Longshao pointed southwest: "The portal is located in this forest. Because it's still an undeveloped area in this world, there's no direct route for them to advance. This limits the breakthrough of armored forces, but it also limits the advance of medieval armies, unless those wizards have the ability to 'space teleport' tens of thousands of people—of course, that's very unlikely, otherwise we would have been wiped out by the invading knight army long ago. So the decisive battle can be held in front of the base."
"Bombing zone?"
Meeting Knox's questioning gaze, Zhang Longshao nodded: "We cannot underestimate the 'abnormality' of this world. The previous wizards have already shown us their powerful side, but at the same time, we don't need to overestimate the 'abnormality' of this world. Even wizards can be crushed by cannonballs. These abilities are still limited to the flesh and blood of knights. No matter how excessive they are, they should still be considered 'human'. Coincidentally, our weapons were created with the goal of 'killing humans'."
"For the sake of Earth, we cannot lose this war!"
----------------------segmentation--------------------
As the army advanced, King Basel gradually realized that the situation was not as simple as he had initially imagined.
It wasn't just the Basel Kingdom's knightly army; half an hour earlier, the Foster Kingdom's troops had appeared on the flank of the army. You have to understand that these two neighboring kingdoms were sworn enemies for quite some time, wishing each other dead. But at this moment, under the wizard's authority, they had no choice but to obediently mobilize all their troops to serve under the same side. It was undeniably ironic.
Moreover, while the appearance of the Foster Kingdom's army only displeased King Basel, the subsequent appearance of armies from the Macduff Kingdom, the Casilla Kingdom, the Sadie Kingdom, and many other kingdoms thoroughly alarmed the king, not to mention that these kingdoms' armies also had wizards present.
If the only requirement is to wave flags and cheer, so many knights would be rather chaotic. After all, the knights of each kingdom are under different commands, and even if they shout, they cannot speak at the same time. Not to mention that dozens of different colored flags and armor placed together do not have any imposing presence at all, but rather look more like a rioting civilian army.
So, what if the wizard didn't gather these knight legions just to cheer them on?
"No, no, no, how could a great warrior have anything he can't handle? This must be my imagination..."
While talking to himself, his gaze inevitably drifted towards the location of the wizard apprentices above.
The wizard apprentices did not notice the King of Basel's unusual behavior below, and even if they had, they would not have cared. After all, the moment the wizards made their decisions, all these mortals had left was obedience. Compared to the class obedience between nobles and commoners that relied on "bloodline," this kind of obedience between mortals and superhumans, based on "power," was far more reliable.
An assassin might kill a nobleman for a high bounty, but would never be foolish enough to assassinate a wizard. After all, the worst that could happen if an assassination of a nobleman failed was death, but the worst that could happen if an assassination of a wizard failed was death itself. Legend has it that some wizards skilled in soul magic can imprison a person's soul and then torment that soul forever...
"Stop."
The sudden sound startled the wizard apprentice, who quickly recovered.
He ordered the knights below to stop advancing. Before long, all the troops that had gathered on the plain stopped. A wizard in a gray robe appeared out of thin air in front of them. This scene caused quite a commotion, but after the wizard apprentices severely "punished" a few people, things quickly returned to calm.
Wizarding Civilization: Chapter 735 The Knight Charging Towards the Tank (Part 2)
"mortal."
Beneath his robes, Madison, a second-level wizard, surveyed the uneasy crowd before him: "Your lives were originally worthless, only fit to be born like livestock and die like livestock, unable to bring any change to this world. But now, an opportunity has presented itself for you to demonstrate your worth."
The staff in his hand pointed into the distance—to that lush, green forest.
As a dozen or so magical fluctuations erupted in the distance, a large number of trees fell amidst the violent shaking of the ground. In the blink of an eye, a "road" large enough for hundreds of knights to charge at the same time appeared before people. The soft soil turned up by the fallen trees became solid under the effect of the magic, so that even if fully armed knights charged on their warhorses, they would not leave a trace.
This earth-shattering scene far exceeded the knights' expectations. If it weren't for the restraint of the wizard apprentices above them, there would probably be people kneeling on the ground by now. Even so, chaos still spread uncontrollably among the crowd.
This time, the wizard apprentice was not punished further, because the second-level wizard of Madison had already taken matters into his own hands.
Level 2 Spell: Mass Frenzy.
This sorcery originated from the wizards of the Wizarding Continent. During an interdimensional expedition, they encountered an alien race and developed this sorcery from their unique bloodline and shamans. It can stimulate the life force of a designated target to enter a frenzy, greatly increasing their strength and speed for a short period of time. However, the price is the loss of the ability to think and more than 90% of their remaining lifespan.
This spell has little value to a wizard who uses wisdom as a weapon, but it is perfectly suited for use on servants or slaves, just as it is now.
"There lie the enemies of the wizards. Now wield your spears and swords and slaughter them all—the great will of the wizards will watch over you!"
"kill--!"
"Kill them!"
"The wizard's enemy!"
……
Madness and chaos replaced all ability to think. Under the horrified gaze of King Basel, who was kept at a distance and thus not caught up in the "mass rage," not only the three thousand knights of the Kingdom of Basel, but also the soldiers of the surrounding kingdoms, were like madmen who had lost their minds. They brandished their weapons and shouted various slogans as they charged forward.
Those who lost their footing along the way were knocked to the ground, while the charging knights completely ignored the presence of their allies, trampling the unfortunate people into a bloody pulp as if they were mortal enemies, and continued to charge on the ground paved with their blood and flesh.
"They've gone mad...they've all gone mad..."
At this moment, the King of Basel no longer hoped to prolong his life, nor did he expect his body, which had been ravaged by wine and women, to be repaired. He only wished to leave this place, to leave this place that had become a purgatory.
"Where do you intend to go, Your Majesty?"
"—!"
Turning around, he saw the wizard's apprentice standing amidst the corpses scattered on the ground, withdrawing his hand from a follower whose mouth was agape but who could not utter a sound. With this action, the last follower of King Basel also entered the chaos of death, and next, naturally, it was the king's turn.
"No, no... Your Excellency Wizard, I have obeyed your every command, you cannot do this to me—"
“If that’s the case, you should have charged with your knight just now, instead of sitting here like a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.”
r5扒⑶磷玖玲霓久⒌把冲锋。
The Kingdom of Basel immediately abandoned this option. With his abilities, let alone surviving a battle against an opponent who could force wizards to seek support, simply charging on horseback would be a challenge. The most likely outcome would be being knocked down and trampled into mincemeat during the charge.
However, the current crisis is equally imminent.
The King of Basel racked his brains for words to persuade the wizard to spare him: "I still have a use, my lord wizard. I have gold, the wealth of a nation. I can make those nobles hand over everything they own, and I can command more lowly peasants to don armor and take up arms—"
Seemingly persuaded, the wizard apprentice stopped in his tracks. Just as the Kingdom of Basel felt he had escaped a calamity, a violent tremor from the ground knocked him to the ground. He thought it was an attack from the wizard and was about to despairingly face death when he saw the wizard's shocked face.
Following the wizard's gaze instinctively, King Basel noticed the battlefield where the knights were charging.
—A "boiling" forest.
The King of Basel could find no word other than "boiling over" to describe the scene.
If the tranquil forest is the ground, then the flames that erupt and burst throughout the forest are the bubbles. The knights who charged forward with the power to sweep away anything in their way were instantly engulfed by this firepower that was not even in the same league. Along with the forest, which was almost the size of the Kingdom of Basel, they all succumbed to the flames and the impact.
Unlike King Basel and his wizard apprentices, who were experiencing the terrifying destructive power of Earth's civilization for the first time, the well-prepared wizards launched their attack while the base was unleashing a barrage of firepower on the knights' positions.
While slaughtering these mortals who lacked supernatural abilities, the expeditionary force's base also faced the fourth attack from the wizards.
"hidden!"
"Up there, where are the anti-aircraft gunners? Shoot them down!"
"boom--"
"Ignore the cavalry, deal with these wizards first!"
"Top left, quick—"
The once-turbulent forest returned to calm after the wizards' attack. The knights, who had suffered heavy casualties in the previous bombardment, did not retreat, or rather, they had lost the ability to even consider the option of retreat. Their hooves trampled the scorched, blackened earth turned up by the bombardment, as they charged toward the camp that was now within reach.
"Boom!"
The heavy roar carried far and wide, and the dozen or so knights at the front were directly thrown over by the impact. Through the smoke from the gunpowder, five "chariots" made entirely of metal, resembling carriages but more than ten times larger, with long tubular protrusions, blocked the knights' way.
After a brief silence, a tsunami-like roar erupted from the knights' side. They mounted their warhorses, gripped their lances, and charged toward the "chariot" before them with frenzied momentum. They firmly believed that the only thing in the world that could stop the knights' charge was a wizard, and now the wizard stood behind them. What in the world could possibly stop the knights' charge?
This strangely shaped "carriage," when Frenda, having reached the pinnacle of a formal knight, thrust out that spear with all his might, he felt he had reached his limit and officially entered the realm of a great knight. Under this spear, nothing could—
"clang--"
Wizarding Civilization: Chapter 736 The Knight Charging Towards the Tank (Part 2)
Even though they are all metals, their strength can vary depending on the forging level and technology.
Great Knight Frenda used a lance passed down through his family for generations, from his great-great-grandfather. Its over 100-year lifespan was still impressive enough to prove its strength. In Frenda's memory, he once used this lance to pierce through three civilians holding shields without causing them any harm.
And what about the modified Tiger heavy tank?
It was created less than ten years ago and was mainly used for positional warfare and assault operations. Its 200mm load-bearing armor has not been tested in any actual combat—to this day, it has never been hit by fire of the same level. Its only advantage is in historical records.
More than two hundred years ago on Earth, the prototype of this heavy tank was born on the battlefield, and it was eventually phased out in subsequent developments. It was only after the discovery of another world that it was redesigned and put into use in order to adapt to the war environment of that other world.
Now, what would happen if these two "weapons," both made of metal, collided?
This question was also answered in Poland more than two hundred years ago.
"clang--------"
Compared to ordinary people, the Grand Knights, who have reached the limits of human strength, are undoubtedly much more powerful. The same impact force would send an ordinary person flying, but the Grand Knights can still withstand it. Thus, Frenda, who had just been promoted from a regular knight to a Grand Knight, witnessed this scene.
His family had passed down the weapon for generations, and it could easily pierce through three shields. It was considered one of the kingdom's strongest weapons. The weapon, known as the "Storm Spear," twisted and deformed against the surface of that strangely shaped "carriage" amidst a piercing sound. In stark contrast, the surface of that "carriage" was like that—the piercing attack that could pierce through three shields only penetrated to a depth of less than 30mm before breaking off and bouncing away.
In this utterly straightforward clash, the great knight Frenda's hands, gripping his lance, were decisively broken by the recoil. His warhorse fared even worse, carrying the knight headfirst into the surface of the "chariot." With a short scream, he was then smashed into a bloody pulp by the cavalry that followed.
This is merely a microcosm of the battlefield. Accompanied by the knights' charge, a "war" between flesh and metal erupted in such an abrupt manner and ended in such a straightforward way.
After being initially startled by the impact, the tank drivers quickly recovered and ordered the gunners and machine gunners to fire at full force as they advanced. The five heavy tanks lined up in a row thus carved a nearly empty "passage" through the countless piles of flesh and blood of the cavalry...
As it turns out, everything has its limits. For the "Storm Spear," the limit is to pierce through three shields without being damaged, while for level two sorcery, the limit is that a berserk state lasting half an hour results in more than 80% casualties.