Outside the White Tower, at an open-air café, Aixia was having coffee with Ingrid.
It really was just drinking coffee—they weren't even chatting. Ingrid had her head down reading a book, while Aixia had her light screen open, scrolling through forums.
Ingrid didn't care for small talk, so Aixia never forced a conversation. Whenever they hung out, it usually went like this: find a place to sit for the afternoon, one reading while the other browsed forums, and then have dinner before heading to their respective homes.
Although Aixia had plenty of friends—prophecy sorcerers never lacked friends—the only friend who made her feel relaxed and comfortable without having to utter a single word was this girl from her hometown, who used to trail behind her when they were growing up.
Perhaps it was because cultivating the prophecy faction led Aixia to unconsciously scrutinize everyone's actions. Much like how mind sorcerers could never trust anyone, prophecy sorcerers suffered from a similar occupational hazard. Only a straightforward, slightly naive swordswoman like Ingrid could make Aixia genuinely lower her guard.
However, this outing wasn't purely a meetup with Ingrid. In between browsing the forums, Aixia would casually glance toward the River of Flowing Gold inside the distant White Tower.
In just a few short months, three concentric walls had been erected around the White Tower, covered in barrier arrays. Thousands of sorcerers had imbued every single brick with miracles, while the Fortress Legion, the Gryphon Company, and the Starflick Guard were permanently stationed there—luxurious treatment even the imperial palace didn't enjoy.
Yet Aixia hadn't given up. As one of Surge's few "Surge-riders," she and other prophecy sorcerers had lurked at various points around the White Tower, attempting to scout out exploitable flaws in the fortress.
The White Tower fortress was by no means invulnerable. Even though it was a fortress built by sorcerer legions, that River of Flowing Gold piercing the sky curtain had wrecked most of the interior arrangements.
In fact, Aixia had already discovered a seventy-third exploitable flaw. But these flaws were far too minor, like a hangnail peeling at the edge of a fingernail—even if you tore it along a strip of skin, it wouldn't cause significant damage.
As an anti-Starry Sky organization already blacklisted by the Throne Room, Surge couldn't stage large-scale assaults. Heading into the uninhabited zone of Nash City last time had already been the boldest venture since Surge's founding. Most of the time, Surge simply waited for the Starry Kingdom to expose a massive flaw, and then delivered a gentle prick—like lancing an enormous boil to drain the filthy pus from the Starry Kingdom.
Undoubtedly, this ceremony of the River of Flowing Gold piercing the sky curtain would deal a severe blow to the false starry sky if disrupted. That was why Aixia had taken the risk to observe the White Tower from so close.
However, sitting here alone all afternoon peeking at the White Tower would be far too conspicuous. As a prophecy sorcerer, the Throne Room paid no less attention to her than to a Sanctuary sorcerer. That was why she had asked Ingrid out.
Two vibrant college girls finding a random place to squander time—that was the standard plot of countless youth dramas.
However...
Aixia finished her third cup of coffee and sighed softly.
There simply was no flaw they could capitalize on.
With the Starry Kingdom's millennia of accumulated foundation and thousands of sorcerers standing guard, if Surge could disrupt this ceremony with ease, it would be an insult to the Divine Lord of Stars.
Moreover, as time went on, the minor loopholes Aixia observed would only grow fewer, because the sorcerers inside the White Tower were continuously fortifying the bastion. Thus, the best opportunity to cause havoc was today, when the ceremony began.
Once the ceremony succeeded, it would mean the Divine Lord of Stars' power would grow even stronger, and His rule even more unshakable.
At this rate, when would they ever tear through the sky curtain?
"Something on your mind?" Ingrid closed her book, looking at Aixia.
"Nope."
"Oh." Ingrid reopened her book and went back to reading.
After a moment, Aixia couldn't resist asking, "Aren't you going to ask more? What if I was lying?"
"Whether you're lying or not, you don't want to tell me, so there's no need to ask."
Aixia blinked and smiled. "You know, Ingrid, you might actually have talent in both the prophecy and mind factions."
"I only like swordsmanship." Ingrid shrugged. "Talent in other factions is meaningless to me."
"Every time I talk to you, I feel like I'm the one who's bad with words." Aixia poked at her cake with a dessert spoon. "Have you ever thought that maybe sheep have intelligence too?"
"Sheep certainly have intelligence," Ingrid said. "Once the ram back home realized he couldn't butt harder than me, he'd drop to his knees in surrender the moment I entered the pen."
"If sheep have intelligence, shouldn't they try to destroy the pen?" Aixia asked. "What if there are sheep who know the world outside is dangerous, know their life in the pen is happy, and understand that they could never be a match for the shepherd—do you think they should try to destroy the pen?"
"Why not just run away?"
"Maybe because they can't escape without destroying the pen," Aixia shrugged, "or maybe they just despise the pen."
Ingrid closed her book, thought for a moment, and said, "There is no 'should' or 'shouldn't,' only whether they want to."
Aixia glanced toward the distant River of Flowing Gold. "But maybe they shouldn't. After all, if the pen is destroyed, the other sheep who never thought of escaping might be put in danger."
"Why worry about the other sheep?" Ingrid said. "Danger and happiness are relative. No matter how safe the pen is, there is always the shepherd controlling everything. No matter how dangerous the outside world is, it's possible to live free and easy. As for happiness... sheep that don't want to live in the pen are already unhappy.
"Living beings will find their own way. Every being is responsible only for itself. If there are sheep that want to destroy the pen, naturally there will be sheep that want to defend it. Whoever wins gets their way—just like when I beat that ram, he had to kneel."
"What if destroying the pen truly is a mistake?" Aixia asked.
Ingrid took a sip of coffee. "We only have 1,668 years of history, while the Void Realm has existed for tens of thousands of years. I'm sure we sorcerers have made countless world-ending mistakes, let alone sheep.
"Most people aren't prophecy sorcerers. Only when they reach the end do they know what was right and what was wrong."
Aixia rested her chin in her hand, quietly gazing at Ingrid.
"Is there something on my face?"
"Two eyes, one nose, one mouth."
Aixia stretched lazily, stood up, and shook out her limbs. "Let's go somewhere else—how about browsing the mall?"
"But I still want to read."
"My butt hurts from sitting!"
"All right."
Through her miracle bracelet, Aixia notified the others that she was abandoning the reconnaissance. Since no exploitable vulnerability existed, there was no point squandering more time, unless Surge intended to launch a frontal assault on the White Tower fortress.
Yet setting aside the interior, the outermost wall alone was a three-dimensional defense system fortified by the "Leyline" miracle. From sky to underground, an invisible barrier separated the interior from the exterior. Because it was tied to the leylines, every point on the barrier possessed the defensive strength of the entire wall, and a war of attrition was impossible—if not shattered in a single blow, the wall's barrier would rapidly draw upon the leylines to regenerate.
By Aixia's estimate, only the strongest strike from a top offensive-type legendary sorcerer stood a chance of breaching the outermost wall. And take note: an ordinary legendary sorcerer wouldn't do; it had to be a top offensive-type legendary. Someone like "Painter," who had countless flashy tricks, didn't fall into that category.
Looking across the entire Starry Kingdom, perhaps only the Duke of Vosroda possessed that kind of power. But according to intelligence that Dimi had taken over as acting head of House Vosroda, the Duke was either garrisoned inside the White Tower right now or in the Void Realm escorting the ritual.
Since no one could breach the White Tower fortress, Aixia naturally wasn't going to bang her head against a brick wall. Besides, she had drunk a bit too much and needed to find a restroom at the mall.
"Ingrid, let's go!"
Yet Ingrid remained seated without moving, turning her head toward the White Tower with a look of confusion. Following her gaze, Aixia saw five figures dressed in purple-and-blue clothing appear on the main thoroughfare leading to the White Tower fortress, looking like...
*People from Surge?!*
Aixia was stunned and hurriedly contacted the other Surge-riders, but they all responded that no members were taking action.
Just then, the sorcerers in the White Tower fortress also spotted the five figures. Surge had been on the blacklist for a long time, so they naturally recognized the purple-and-blue attire as Surge's hallmark. Still, facing a fortress garrisoned by over a thousand sorcerers, for five people to stride over so brazenly made it hard not to suspect performance art or voluntary surrender.
"Military restricted zone ahead! Halt immediately!"
The loudspeaker's voice cut through the sky, drawing the eyes of nearby pedestrians. Yet the five showed not the slightest hesitation, stepping straight over the yellow line painted on the ground.
"Fire!"
The gun sorcerers atop the walls unleashed a volley, the gunfire ringing out beneath Jialesi's starry sky!
Yet though the bullets poured down like a storm, creating rippling waves around them, not a single one hit their bodies!
Sanctuary sorcerers!
All five of them were actually Sanctuary sorcerers!
Even if you counted every Sanctuary sorcerer in Surge, there weren't five of them!
Frightened pedestrians scrambled to flee the gunfire, but Aixia pulled Ingrid into hiding, pressing a hand to the ground to activate the reconnaissance miracle "Ground Listening"!
Through the vibrations of the earth, Aixia caught their conversation from afar:
"...Argh! How annoying! Why do I only have one sorcery spirit? Even at my absolute lowest, I was never this pathetic!"
"Same here."
"Like hell you're the same! Yours is a god—and a god you have full control over! You're the strongest one among us!"
"Why didn't the Gospel project over? Doesn't the Gospel count as ours?"
"At least not yet."
While talking, they had already walked up to the wall. The gun sorcerers ceased firing and shouted sternly, "Warning to the sorcerers outside: raise your hands and surrender immediately! The Starflick Guard is already on its way! If you do not surrender, suffer the consequences!"
Aixia held her breath. Five Sanctuary sorcerers alone couldn't accomplish anything—not even ordinary legendary sorcerers could. If they couldn't breach the outermost wall, they were merely slapping the White Tower fortress on the backside, drawing the Throne Room's attention, and in the process... Dammit, they were pulling aggro onto Surge!
"Who's going?"
"Let me do it! I'll smash it to pieces with one halberd strike!"
"Let us do it! We'll blow it away with one punch!"
"I can do it too."
Aixia was stunned, wondering if she had misheard—they were all confident they could smash through the White Tower fortress? That defense was virtually the crystallization of the collective wisdom of every sorcerer in the Starry Kingdom!
"Let me. In the Wave Sword sorcery spirit system, there happens to be a move perfectly suited for this."
"All right."
The next second, the red-haired female sorcerer suddenly spread her wings and took flight. But unlike ordinary void wings, hers were pitch-black feathered wings that looked just like... the wings of a fairy-tale demon.
She approached the wall, drew her sword, and swung.
*Dong—*
Like the tolling of a bell echoing from a distant shore, every onlooker inside and outside the walls felt as if a hammer had slammed into their heart.
Then they saw a sphere.
A scarlet crystal sphere enveloping the wall.
As if a spherical pocket had been sliced out of space, severing inside from outside. Inside the sphere, the wall and the gun sorcerers were pulverized into the finest dust. When space snapped back to normal, dust and flesh crashed to the ground simultaneously, mingling into an indistinguishable mass.
The invisible barrier shattered.
The outer wall, capable of withstanding the relentless bombardment of legendary sorcerers, was punched clean through.
Yet none of that was half as shocking as the sight of that scarlet crystal sphere.
"What a beautiful Turning Extinction Wave..." Ingrid murmured. "B-but isn't that the secret heritage of the Vosroda family?"
*At least Surge won't be the only one taking the blame,* Aixia thought.
Chapter 857