Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 585 Bitter Vision

It takes time for the Emperor's wrath to fall.

But it won't be long. When six special shells were specialized in [Guided Shooting], they landed accurately on the city of Opfer.

In an instant, six colorful hemispherical shock waves rose up. When the transmutation dust released its energy, the "shock waves" shattered, releasing an invisible but extremely powerful tsunami of magic.

The black fog was completely annihilated wherever it passed, and all the abnormalities disappeared in an instant.

Those crawling believers of the Mother Goddess who were immersed in hallucination and indulgence were instantly turned back to their original forms. Their mutations disappeared, but the injuries they suffered and the tumors and bone spurs that grew on them did not disappear. The mere loss of the Mother Goddess's gift was fatal enough for them.

The landing point was chosen very cleverly, and the "tsunami" perfectly covered the entire city, leaving almost no blind spots.

The corrupted Archmage Saga was forced to break away from his elemental form, but his body had been destroyed. After being washed away by the extreme turbulence of magical power, a sticky, shapeless corpse fell out of the flames. His soul was still imprisoned there, echoing the unrepeatable words of the Mother Goddess.

Gregory was in a similarly tragic state. He had not yet recovered from the Archmage's fatal blow, and was washed once more by the screaming of magic. Now he had lost his human form, revealing his true nature after gaining new power from Oward:
A mass of dark flesh and blood that is constantly multiplying and self-devouring. He is like a living shadow, but with all kinds of disordered connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves.

Obviously, without the Mother Goddess's blessing, he wouldn't be able to hold on for long.

But Gregory could still laugh—the puddle of mud had lost its mouth, but every cavity could become a mouth and make sounds:

"William backstabbed you?" He sighed at the power of the new weapon again: "It's really powerful, but the current situation is not something you can solve."

The six brilliant special shells were a signal, and other imperial troops closer to Opfer took it as a signal and began to indiscriminately inflict artillery fire.

Whether it was the old antique solid bullets or the new air-blast bombs, they were all pulled up and bombed.

There were even more than a dozen gunboats, each equipped with a large-caliber naval gun, swaying and struggling along the Oder River, bringing Opfer within their range.

After the front-line artillery finished a round of bombardment, the railway gun operated by Richard's troops cooled down and was ready for reloading.

In a world without magic, the firing intervals of the railway cannon might be frighteningly long, but now Richard and the other accompanying wizards can quickly cool down the barrel. Although thermal stress will reduce the life of the barrel, the order they received at this time is to use all means to fire as many shells as possible.

The No. 2 bomb is a special high-explosive ammunition.

Richard didn't know when the Empire developed this high-performance explosive. It was said that it was secretly imported through special channels, and it was only enough to equip these giant cannons with several tons of heavy artillery shells.

It might be the dwarf's technology, Richard thought randomly.

There was a slight deviation in the timing of each gun firing and landing, so at Opfer the deafening roar lasted for six times.

One after another, after Richard's cannon had finished firing, the gunboats, field guns and mortars on the front line launched a new round of salvos.

Not only that, but there were also airship units on the scene, which could now freely enter the skies above Opfer, as there was no ominous, dangerous black fog. These air units fired another round of tilting explosives, and the last two anti-magic devices for the final cleansing.

The whole process lasted about three hours.

When all the shells on the train had been fired, two gun barrels had been severely deformed. Without Richard's spell to repair, reshape and reinforce them, the terrible explosion would have been the inevitable outcome.

At first, the soldiers who carried out the order were confused. Now they have put their confusion behind them. Whether Opfer is irreversibly contaminated or not is not important anymore.

As countless shells landed, buildings collapsed, and rounds of firepower razed the glorious city to the ground, those who witnessed the "feat" felt numb and excited.

Destroy, wreak destruction wantonly, and don't worry about the enemy's counterattack. After experiencing wars big and small, these soldiers can experience incomparable pleasure. Although it was once a city belonging to the empire.

Richard began to sense again. He carefully extended his perception range and gradually approached Opfer. He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there was no obvious contamination.

It would take some time for the troops to unlock the fixings of the railway gun, so he stood aside and continued to read the letter from William II.

"I believe you have accomplished your mission. You are my most trusted minister, general, and spellcaster, Richard."

Yes, your majesty.

He continued to look down, but his pupils couldn't help but dilate a little:

"Perhaps for you and for many imperial soldiers, this will be the last major mission.

"After careful consideration, our country has reached a secret armistice agreement with the Valois Republic.

"Their conditions are not harsh, especially with the Istani acting as the middleman. What's more important is that these 'noble men' who claim to bring change to the continent of Floren are now expressing deep concerns about the alliance.

"It's a humiliation to me, to us, that the alliance will be more of a threat to them than my empire.

"But at this moment, I can only take advantage of this shame, because in this way, they are even willing to provide implicit support. There is no need to go into details about this matter.

"From the moment of the truce, the title of emperor will become a mere formality, and the territory I actually rule will shrink to a size almost close to that of the Kingdom of Marin. In other words, we can negotiate with the allies in a more flexible manner in the future.

“Perhaps the Empire will become a historical term like the old Empire, or perhaps it will be able to regain its glory, but that is a matter for the future.

"My people and I are deeply tired. Countless problems have plagued generations of people who have experienced the war. Even the brave and warlike Kingdom of Marin needs to be patient, take a breath, and reflect on why it has come to this point today."

William II's decision and his honesty in the letter surprised Richard. Then, the emperor, no, the ruler of the Kingdom of Marin, chose to give up.

He then read the last part of the letter and understood more or less what William II was thinking:
"Magic, divine arts, and all supernatural powers should be treated with caution. They are now being abused all over the world, and correspondingly, disasters caused by these supernatural things are becoming more and more frequent.

"They only sing the praises of the blessings brought by miracles, and never mention how heavy the corresponding price is, even the end of the world, as they themselves admit. However, these spellcasters, especially the guilds, insist that the cult is the source of all disasters.

"They are exactly the same. I know that very well.

"The race that thinks it is wise will eventually be swallowed up by their greed and abuse of miracles. I will use this as a resolute step to carry out what was not accomplished during the war - to ban all magic and divine arts.

“We will watch from the sidelines as those who abuse their power eventually suffer the consequences. When the outside world is destroyed, the land that my ancestors left for me to protect will become the last pure land.

"Then we will return with the greatest pride, to build a perfect, stronger, purer world.

“As long as I rule, only one kind of magic is allowed to be studied and used. Other magical technologies are prohibited. Only one spellcaster, an outstanding wizard, is allowed to exist in my country, and that is you, Richard.

"I long for friendship, so I will absolutely respect your will, even (erased) even if you choose to join the alliance, I will still thank you for everything you have done for me and the empire.

"Yours, William."

(End of this chapter)