Chương 231

Despite being hidden in Pauline's shadows, the Archmage's spell left an afterimage burned into the back of Orion's retinas, and that was through his glasses, which offered more than a little protection. Maybe there's a reason why everyone looked away, but how often will I get to see something like that? When his sight finally cleared, the clearing was eerily silent. The siege engine sat still in the churned mud, a smoking wreck with a clean hole punched straight through its armored chassis.

And just like that, the tension vanished, only for a flood of notifications to flash across Orion's vision, startling him out of his intense focus on what little data he'd managed to gather from the tier four spell. System Notification +415, 000 Exp Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! ORION A.

VOIDWALKER Class: [Causal Epistemologist] [B-rank] Level: 70 Mind: 376 Attunement: 370 Body: 51 Traits: Mana Manipulation [B-rank]; Hypotheticism [B-rank]; Falsifiability Criterion [B-rank] A sudden rush of warmth flooded his veins, washing away the lingering fatigue from casting such complex magic. Earning three levels at once wasn't common at the second tier, but considering the risks involved, it was probably the minimum required to participate in the destruction of enemies far beyond his current rank.

Even receiving just a small portion of the total experience shared among the Collegium mages was enough to bring him considerably closer to the third tier. His mind felt clearer without the fatigue weighing it down, and even through the remnants of the Silence, he could sense that his connection to the Field had strengthened. Once Pauline finished her checks to make sure no more surprises would come from their surroundings, she let him step out from the shadows.

Orion took a moment to take in the scene, and it was quite something, considering they were on the shores of a mana pool and that a tier four battle had been fought, short though it might have been. Yunius stood by the ruined machine, gazing at it with a blank expression. His chest rose and fell steadily, and the only outward sign of the effort to unleash such powerful magic was that he was no longer floating.

As the other mages began securing the area and removing the Centurions from the ground where they had been buried by the shockwave, Orion approached the Archmage.

"I must confess I did not expect you would be so useful," Yunius said casually. Orion blinked in surprise.

"I did not doubt your talent, not considering who your parents are, but I've seen many prodigies in the theoretical field fail to become much at all," the man continued, apparently uncaring of how his words could be perceived by someone more sensitive than Orion.

"But to strike a decisive blow against such powerful creations… Yes, I can see now why the Speaker covets you so much, and why the Sanctum is so reluctant to let you go." That was definitely not how Orion saw the situation, but before he could ask for clarification, the man moved away, joining his subordinates as they started isolating the remaining pockets of Silence that had to be removed, or they would taint the pool they'd fought so hard to protect.

Jonatan arrived shortly after, wiping a streak of soot from his forehead. He looked thoroughly drained, but wore a satisfied grin. Orion nodded in acknowledgment before shifting his focus to the shore. The tank of Silence remained undisturbed near the glowing water, as the engineering cart had tipped over during the chaos. It was still inert, which explained why the others hadn't bothered to secure it yet, but its presence made him nervous, so he decided to take action.

Extending his hand, he gently wrapped a gravity field around the cylinder and carefully lifted it to avoid disturbing the pristine mana pool beneath. Casting any magic on a tank of Silence was no easy feat, but whether because of his level-ups or the pool's effect on the Field, Orion didn't struggle as much as he'd expected. Slowly, he guided the container to the shore, where Pauline took charge of it, swallowing it into her shadows with almost no effort. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road.

If you see it on Amazon, please report it. She's improved a lot at that. I guess all the practice paid off, but not every tier three caster can interact so smoothly with the Silence, even when it's sealed. Now that the primary goal was achieved, he was finally able to relax, and his academic curiosity was reignited. He moved closer to the smoking wreck of the siege engine and could hear the metal still groaning as it cooled against the damp earth.

With some effort, Orion grasped the torn edges of the hull with his magic, applying opposing gravitational forces to pry the molten plating apart. Fortunately, the Dreadnought's resilience relied heavily on internal mana manipulation, meaning that once deactivated, it was only as durable as enchanted steel heated nearly to the melting point. It was still a lot, but he believed he could influence it.

More crucially, he wanted to understand how a machine of this size executed its commands and kept its network running. He also suspected that the Collegium mages wouldn't let him examine it once they had control of it. He cast a quick glance around and felt relieved to see that, beyond Jonatan, no one seemed to notice what he was doing, as they were too busy stripping the engineers of their gear and fighting over who got what.

The young apprentice, meanwhile, was staring at him with curiosity shining in his eyes, but he didn't try to stop him, which was enough for Orion to proceed with his examination. Deep inside the armored chamber, beneath thick layers of shielding and broken cooling pipes, he discovered the central processor. It was a wide alchemical vat, cracked and leaking pale fluid onto the scorched interior.

Suspended within the remaining liquid were multiple human brains, wired together in a gruesome cluster, with copper needles piercing the grey matter in dozens of places, connecting the biological components to the machine's central circuitry. It was obviously some kind of server, designed to handle the complex telemetry of a heavily armed squad while also powering a moving fortress.

The fact that the engineers had been taken out during the initial round of fighting was probably the only reason Orion found a gap in the network. If they had been alive, he doubted he could have managed. This isn't the sort of thing you can just deploy carelessly. It likely requires substantial resources to operate, and although it is remarkably resilient, the Iron State commanders need to know we won't be steamrolled as easily as the druids were.

Which raised the question: why was the Dreadnought sent behind the Centurion unit, but not alongside them? Orion had initially thought it was delayed by something, but that didn't make sense. The engineers wouldn't have been stupid enough to approach the pool without it if they knew it was there. That means it was probably sent after them and only caught up while we were fighting. This forest is certainly dense enough, both in vegetation and mana, to hide even such a monster moving around.

But if it was sent after, it suggests that their plans have changed. Feeling a cold knot of dread tighten in his stomach, Orion stared at the dying core. To expend such a valuable resource means they considered it absolutely necessary. Hell, Mom's reports show the fighting is extremely intense near Oakhaven, which means sending out a single Dreadnought is a significant loss for whoever is the frontline commander.

That meant either the Iron State had enough similar machines not to notice their absence—something he sincerely doubted, as that would have allowed them to easily overpower the rest of Cyril—or the objective was so important that it couldn't be left to Centurions once they discovered something.

Pulling back from the chassis, he grabbed the decrypted map from his coat, smoothing the vellum over his knee, and compared the marked coordinates to the enemy's deployment patterns, piecing together the broader strategic puzzle. Back in the mountains, they found a single scout burying a canister in a crevice. Now, they faced an entire engineering squad accompanied by four advanced golems and a heavily armed mobile fortress. Why commit such overwhelming force to this particular area?

Clearly, the Sanctum would have noticed if they sent such a detachment to the mountains, but their stealth units already demonstrated they were capable of setting up an anti-air array without being detected, so why not rely on them? With that in mind, there was only one answer. The Iron State wasn't aiming for the Sanctum, at least not yet.

After all, there was another mana pool they had identified as worth tainting, located within the territory of a different major faction, but not known to be protected by anyone as powerful as Seraphina.

"The Adamantine Forge," he murmured. As the words left his mouth, he felt the last pieces click into place and knew he had figured it out. Rolling up the map, he walked back toward the Archmage.

"They aren't heading for the Sanctum," Orion said, interrupting whatever another mage had been saying, and holding out the vellum.

"At least, not their main force. Their target is the dwarven territories." He then explained how he had reached that conclusion, emphasizing the encounters they had with the Iron State's units so far and the differing resources used. Yunius frowned as he listened, and his eyes scoured the map. Luckily, Orion didn't need much convincing before the man got it.

"Of course. Why else would they risk diverting their advance when our forces are already engaged at Oakhaven?"

"They probably need more resources," Orion replied, even though the question had been rhetorical.

"To wage a war against the entirety of Cyril, they need to set up a massive industry, and we know that the path from their homeland is still treacherous. They need foundries, deep ore veins, and skilled labor. If they capture the dwarven strongholds, they can mass-produce these fortresses, and all their problems get solved at once." It was such a simple realization that he was surprised he hadn't figured it out earlier, but to his credit, the Iron State had taken a very scattered approach so far.

Likely to hide exactly this. Jonatan examined the map over the Archmage's shoulder, and when he made a confused noise, the man gestured for him to speak.

"The dwarves are heavily fortified. Their underground cities are widely considered impenetrable. Surely they can hold off an assault from a few of these machines?" That was an understatement of the damage the Dreadnought would have caused if Yunius hadn't been there with them and if the mana pool's presence hadn't limited the disruption from the Silence, but Orion understood what he meant.

"They mostly rely on runic enchantments and geographic isolation," Orion noted, recalling the extensive texts he had studied about the continent's various factions.

"Dwarven society is deeply clan-oriented and stubbornly traditional. Their entire defensive strategy is built around unbreakable warded gates and the strength of their constructs." He then gestured toward the destroyed siege engine.

"The Iron State uses Silence. They will dissolve the dwarven wards like sugar in water, and for all their skill in craftsmanship, the clans won't be able to face an enemy that simply no-sells their magic. Furthermore, the dwarven leaders are unlikely to present a unified front, meaning that even a smaller Iron State army will crush them piecemeal before they can mount a coordinated defense."

That appeared to be enough for Yunius, who, in the end, was the only person Orion needed to persuade, since the others would follow whatever he decided.

"We have no way of knowing if another detachment has already moved further down the line or if a parallel force was sent ahead to test the dwarven borders," the man said.

"Yet at the same time, we can't abandon this position. It's just as likely they will send another unit here once they realize the first one was wiped out, and then our struggles will be pointless." Orion lifted an eyebrow as the man's eyes settled on him with intensity. Pauline took the chance to appear at his side, briefly causing Yunius to glance at her, but whatever expression she was making, he didn't seem to think it was worth changing his mind.

"Take some of my mages with you and head to the Adamantine Forge to warn them," he said, and Orion almost sighed. He had insisted it was extremely urgent, after all.