As a mega empire, the Mage Country of Arlodante didn't have a large territory. Most of the country's population was concentrated in the capital, Arlo.
For the past thousands of years, the Cloud Tower had existed in the skies above Arlo. At first, it had only been a residence and laboratory for high-level mages. In order to prevent explosions from spreading to other areas, it had been isolated from the rest of the world.
As mage education became more common, the number of mages in Arlo increased year by year. There were more and more undying mages of the previous generation, and the number of permanent residents in the Cloud Tower kept increasing.
With continuous expansion, the Cloud Tower was no longer just a research area for high-level mages. 10% of the total population of mages lived in the Cloud Tower. More than 50% of archmages had their own residences and laboratories in the Cloud Tower. Every academic society had a mage tower in the Cloud Tower.
Even so, the Cloud Tower was still officially referred to as the "Cloud Tower." Even though it had been a real city for several centuries, everyone was used to calling it that.
The Cloud Tower was no longer just a research area and mage tower. Every citizen of Arlodante could look up at the Cloud Tower every day. The Cloud Tower's existence was the symbol of the entire country's prosperity and stability.
"Never challenge an archmage who has a mage tower."
This seemed to have become common knowledge in the entire universe. Perhaps this also meant …
"Never directly challenge Arlo or the Cloud Tower, unless you intend to simultaneously deal with thousands of top-level mage towers and tens of thousands of archmages."
Perhaps the Cloud Tower didn't have any famous combat achievements, and perhaps everyone had already forgotten that it was a mobile Cloud Tower. However, it was precisely because of how powerful the Cloud Tower was that any existence with a certain level of intelligence wouldn't even consider directly challenging the Cloud Tower.
"Attack the Mage Country's capital, Arlodante? There's the Cloud Tower there, tens of thousands of archmages, endless mana reserves, a tremendous number of war puppets and magical creations, countless Dimensional Doors, and spell reserves. That's more than half the Mage Country's combat strength. "
Even the most reckless ruler wouldn't consider attacking the Mage Country's capital. That Cloud Tower was the mages' home and residence, as well as the symbol of the entire country's peace and stability.
The only arrogant individual who dared to provoke Orloss was still the "Foolish King" Orloss. Judging from the current situation, Orloss's arrogant provocation of dragging the Mage Country into this mess was probably the wisest decision in the entire world.
"Ten years ago, the Inner Circle Councilors had a secret agreement with Bardi's former king, Orloss. If necessary, the Cloud Tower would send reinforcements across the sea, and the Bardi Empire would pay for all of our losses. Not only that, but they will also open their treasury and offer at least 100 kilograms of Enchanted Adamantine, tens of millions of gold coins worth of magic materials, one Divine Equipment, and ten SemiGod Equipment as compensation. "
In the Cloud Tower's Hall of Truth, Archmage Rhine was explaining to the other mages the legality of Cloud City's entry into other countries.
This was a small piece of information that only the Councilors knew. The Truth Symposium was actually divided into the Inner Circle Councilors and the Outer Circle Councilors. There were more Inner Circle Councilors and Outer Circle Councilors, but the Outer Circle Councilors were hidden between the Inner Circle Councilors. Only the Inner Circle Councilors knew the identities of the other Inner Circle Councilors.
The inner circle councilors didn't have any special privileges. They were just given more trust and more intelligence support.
And Amara of the Star's Revelation. Together with "Miracle Prayer" Rhine, she was one of the few inner circle councilors who had made their identities public.
"I heard that Orloss died, so I thought that the agreement was naturally invalid. But when Roland brought the agreement and Emperor Halent's letter of authorization to me, I really didn't dare to believe it … They must've been together from the very beginning."
The Hall of Truth, which was usually empty, was now more than half full. Many names that had been forgotten by the world for centuries, ghosts that had shocked the world hundreds or even thousands of years ago, had returned to the mortal world in masks and hoods.
Although Archmage Rhine appeared to be calm and composed, his back was currently drenched in cold sweat. These seniors who had long since retired and lived in seclusion were either former Truth Councilors or former Truth Councilors. Some of them were authoritative figures in their own domains. Normally, they would be hiding somewhere, but now that the City of Mages had made a move, all of them had suddenly appeared.
Perhaps legally speaking, Rhine didn't need to be questioned by these retired seniors. But just like how a junior would always be unable to raise his head in front of a company's founder, a student who had graduated and started working would more or less panic whenever he saw his former homeroom teacher. Being surrounded by these old mages who had watched him grow up, it would be quite inexcusable if he didn't give an appropriate explanation.
"… That's why, little Rhine, you discussed with the other inner circle councilors and activated the Cloud Tower. You sold the Cloud Tower just because of a small favor? You should know that the Cloud Tower has never been moved in all the years since Arlodante was founded. Its stability is the foundation of all Arlodante citizens' stability. Right now, panic is spreading among the commoners … "
A black-haired gentleman wearing a one-eyed mask appeared quite young. His eyes shone with a dangerous starlight. He was Rhine's teacher's senior, the former inner circle councilor, "All-skilled Hands" Noah.
Rhine came to a sudden realization upon hearing this. No wonder these seniors who had been living in seclusion all jumped out from their caves. They were normally living in seclusion among the commoners of the capital. Naturally, they couldn't sit still when they saw the Cloud Tower move.
"Herr, this is probably what that Roland predicted as well. The younger generation will always surpass the older generation. Yet, all of you allowed the Cloud Tower, which has never been moved, to enter another country just for such a small amount of money … "
Noah didn't finish his sentence, but everyone could tell that he was rather dissatisfied.
Rhine felt rather depressed at this point. He finally understood why Roland had to emphasize that moving the Cloud Tower would be a secret. These seniors' reactions were all within his expectations. Moving the Cloud Tower would naturally drag them into the battlefield.
Scheming against an ally wasn't anything glorious, but scheming against an ally could strengthen an ally's power level … Rhine's emotions were quite complex. At this moment, it was his duty to answer his seniors' questions.
As for why he made such a decision, hadn't he already thought about it from the very start?
"No, it's not just that."
Rhine thought about it for quite a while and organized his words. His next words would likely determine his seniors' attitudes.
"This is a struggle for survival. Although the Mage Country is a country of mages, most of the residents here are still humans. That's why we must fight."
He didn't give a long speech, nor did he try to reason with the archmages. Talking would be meaningless against archmages, and debating would only make the archmages hate him. "Because we're humans. We must fight for the sake of our species' survival and prosperity." This was quite practical.
"Is this necessary?"
Noah nodded slightly. This answer was what he expected, as well as the only one he could accept.
Continue the inheritance of the mysteries? Search for the endless truth? Survival would always be the top priority for any species. If the Chaos Lords truly obtained control over the mortal plane, would the mages still be able to maintain their former independence?
Noah's question of "is this necessary?" Had actually already accepted this reason. After all, the archmages weren't deaf. Living in seclusion didn't mean that they wouldn't receive information or be cut off from the rest of the world. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Infiltrating the mortal plane would allow them to have a better understanding of the current situation.
Was this necessary? Didn't he ask if the Mage Country needed to participate? That was because from the very start, nobody would be able to escape this battle. Hiding in their ivory towers and trembling in fear would be the same as handing the butcher's knife to the enemy.
Noah was asking if the current situation had already reached the point of the final battle? Was it necessary to use the Cloud Tower?
Rhine's eyes flashed with a resolute will. Activating the Cloud Tower would be the equivalent of dragging the entire Mage Country into battle. This wasn't a decision he could make by himself, but he had already accepted this decision from the bottom of his heart.
"It's necessary. Only by participating in this battle and obtaining victory will we have sufficient authority and status in this new generation. For the sake of the inheritance of the mysteries and the dignity of mages, as the strongest group in the mortal plane and those who benefit from this, we must obtain combat achievements that match our status."
The rational mages didn't care about logic at all, nor did they care about politics or meaning. They directly discussed the benefits of the future like sly merchants.
"The Hades are far more suitable for us than the Order and Chaos factions. Every single member of the Truth Symposium has agreed on this. "
The Hades, Order, and Chaos factions were destined to have a decisive victory in this Holy War. Since it was impossible for the Mage Country to close their borders and escape, it would be better for the Truth Symposium to choose a location and attack with all their might in order to obtain sufficient combat achievements.
If it wasn't for the fact that the Truth Symposium had already realized this, no matter how nice Roland's words sounded, the Truth Symposium would have ignored him. Agreements and whatnot would be meaningless without sufficient benefits to support them.
Noah closed his eyes and fell silent. However, the elderly mages were communicating with each other in a special way. After a while, Noah opened his eyes with a smile still on his face.
"In that case, little Rhine, us old bones will have to bother you for a while."
Rhine paused in surprise for a moment before being overjoyed. With these elderly mages joining the Truth Symposium, the Truth Symposium would instantly become several times stronger.
At this moment, Noah secretly passed a piece of paper to Rhine on the table. There was only a special spell for communication written on it.
"Perhaps you can use this. This is …"
Rhine's eyes widened when he heard the name that Noah passed to him. His heart almost stopped beating. So the Mage Country's true trump card, the older generation of mages, was still in Rhine's hands. Even the Mage Country's mages didn't know about this at all.
The elderly mages all disappeared from the conference hall. Only Noah and a few others stayed behind to act as communication hubs. The Cloud Tower, which had greatly increased in power, sped up and arrived at the battlefield faster than expected.
When the Cloud Tower descended from the clouds and saw the chaotic dimensional battlefield before them, even the archmages who had experienced countless battles panicked. They were glad that they had used their trump card.
The Cloud Tower entering the dimensional battlefield meant that more than half of the Mage Country's combat strength was now fully invested in this battle for survival that could only be won.
If one looked into the past, such as the Mage Country's foolish actions in the game's history, it would be easy to see that the mages' attitude towards this battle had always been changed by that person.
At this moment, "that person" heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the Cloud Tower had arrived earlier than expected. Sophocles was far too difficult to deal with, and the power that Sophocles had just revealed proved one of his guesses.
"Sophocles, you're no demon at all, right?"
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