Perhaps due to the large-scale fluctuation of magic power affecting the atmosphere, the wind in the Great Wall seemed to never stop. These turbulent winds flowed freely on the weathered and corroded land regardless of season and pattern, stirring up contaminated dust and debris of the past civilization as they wandered on this dead land day after day. In these never-ending winds, almost nothing new happened in the Gondor wasteland for centuries.
But now the situation had changed. The plan that had been brewing for centuries had finally begun to be executed. Like the gears of fate turning, a machine that had been stagnant for a long time quietly began to operate out of the sight of human civilization.
It was gradually pushing the world towards a predestined future, but the mediocre mortals outside the Great Wall did not even know of the machine's existence.
"Just like what the God of Fate said, fate has begun to move forward," Firna said softly as she looked at the mutant giants who were busy around the ruins of the giant building. "From here, a small change, then a series of small changes, and finally, the future of the entire planet is turned … wonderful."
"Fate is indeed wonderful, but the so-called God of Fate is just a pathetic existence that could not last more than a few hours in the face of the fleet," Rayna said. "Ah, as pathetic as all the life on this planet."
A smile appeared on Ferna's face. "But now, their pitiful lives are finally going to have some value … my sisters."
Rayna did not say anything but turned to the stairs beside the platform. She saw a cluster of withered and twisted vines spreading up from there, and then the vines quickly merged in a strange and terrifying form and transformed into an old face. The face of the Grand Hierarch Borken appeared before the twin elves. His tawny eyes looked past them and at the mutant 'labourers' digging in the ruins.
"They have been digging here for two days. Are you sure this is the place?" The strange face formed by the vines looked over there for a few seconds, and then slightly raised his head with a suspicious look. "Or …"
"You've become more and more impatient recently, Grand Hierarch." Felna shook her head, and Layna, who was beside her, immediately followed. "Of course, we're sure that it's in this place — another network node that meets our requirements outside the surveillance range of the Deep Blue Well."
Borken was silent for two seconds before he said cautiously, "… I can feel the subtle magic fluctuations in this area, and the residual magic flow deep underground, but it is far from what you have described."
"A long time can change a lot of things. It is not easy to make those dusty old things shine again," Rayna said slowly. Firna looked back at the ruins where most of the collapsed structure had been cleared. "This used to be the largest 'node city' in the northwestern region of the Kingdom of Gondor. The magic from the Deep Blue Well would be redistributed here and supplied to countless towns and villages nearby. The building you see was once a magic control station. In its glory days, thousands of mages and apprentices watched over it day and night …
"And this is the sad and ironic part. They only knew that this was a convenient magic focus, and the energy from the Deep Blue Well could be easily controlled and converted here. But they never discovered the deep connection between this magic focus and the Deep Blue Well. It was not until the eve of their demise that they vaguely realized the massive 'planetary power system' behind the Deep Blue Well. They missed the opportunity to make a leap for their civilization, but they did not even know what they had missed, and were complacent about the results of their crude development."
Rayna turned her head, and her eyes swept across the wreckage of the ancient city that had been reduced to fragments in time. She glanced at the skyscrapers and palaces of the past, and a mocking expression appeared on her face. Her tone was contemptuous, and almost angry. "They were only a piece of paper away from the truth, and only a small step away from success. They struggled all their lives, and then fell at the last moment before reaching the end. It is always like this, the cycle repeats itself."
"Weak and incompetent," Firna said flatly. "Sad and lamentable."
The vines moved slowly on the platform, and the sound of the plants rubbing against the cement was coarse and harsh. Borken's tawny eyes stared at the twin elves before him, and let out a hoarse laugh. "Ha, it is rare to hear such spicy and direct words from your hypocritical sweet lips. As expected of the elves who have lived for so long and witnessed the disobedience plan, your evaluation of this world is quite novel. But I am curious, after saying so much, are you trying to tell me that I will also fail at the moment of success?"
"You?" Rayna glanced at the face of the vines before her, and the corner of her mouth curled. "Of course not, my great priestess. How could your plan fail? That is no longer just your plan … "
Borken snorted coldly, but he was not in the mood to care about the elven twins' sarcastic way of speaking. His real body was still in the distant valley headquarters, dealing with all kinds of important matters. This place was just a 'line of sight' that he projected from the underground network of roots to monitor the progress of the project at this node. Before getting any substantial results here, he did not have the extra time to tangle with the two elven sisters who never spoke human language.
At this moment, a commotion suddenly came from the direction of the excavation site, attracting Borken's attention, and also the elven twins on the platform.
They saw that the mutant giants had successfully removed the last part of the dome that covered the ruins and activated an ancient mechanism under the ruins as ordered. A low hum came from the depths of the ruins that had been dead for seven hundred years. Accompanied by a slight tremor of the earth, some dissipating blue light spread out from the cracks in the ground near the ruins, strongly stimulating the sight of everyone at the scene.
"… It's beautiful." Firna stared at the light that was getting brighter, and a smile slowly appeared on her face. "Do you see it? Great Priestess, this is the light of pure magic … It has been sleeping under here for seven hundred years. "
Borken's eyes were fixed on the light that was flowing out from the cracks in the ground. He suddenly reacted and loudly reminded the elven twins who were still carefree. "What are you waiting for?! This focal point is going out of control! Damn it, the maintenance equipment here has long been burned, the cracks you opened will melt this place, and the ensuing explosion will attract the entire Ironmen army!! Do something to stop this! "
"Calm down, esteemed Great Priestess. We know the Deep Blue Network, the collapse of the energy balance will not happen so quickly. Instead, shouting will affect your bearing and image." Rayna laughed as she spoke unhurriedly while walking towards the edge of the platform with Firna. They walked as if they were walking on solid steps towards the ruins that were already full of blue cracks. The mutant giants who were responsible for excavating the ruins were still where they were. Without further orders, they ignored the light that flowed out from the cracks in the ground, as if they were not aware of the danger of the massive energy and stood there blankly.
A cluster of beautiful blue light finally flowed to the feet of the nearest aberration. In the silent burning, the hideous and ugly giant quickly turned into a bright torch and turned into a cloud of dust in just a dozen seconds.
Firna turned to look. The dust in the air was mixed with specks of blue light, and the light dust was reflected in her eyes. She shook her head and said with a slightly regretful tone, "It can't be burned."
As they spoke, they had arrived above the dispersing light and stood a few meters above as if they were standing on the ground. The primordial mana gushing out from the depths of the earth had begun to connect into a sheet, with cracks of various sizes surging with pure radiance. Streaks of bright blue fissures intertwined into a spiderweb form, and where the light reached, the aberrant giants responsible for excavating the ruins were set ablaze one after another, while the surrounding treants nervously retreated. Borken's gaze was fixed on the elven sisters in the air. He knew that the two freakish fellows must have some sort of plan, but he could not help but ask, "How do you plan to control this thing? With your magic? "
"Strictly speaking, this requires knowledge and wisdom," Firna said faintly. She raised her left hand, runes were flowing on her fingertips. "The massive energy has the power to destroy everything, but as long as you find the 'node' at the right time and the right place, and then use a very subtle external force to 'push' it …"
"It's like using a pebble to stir up a ripple in a pond," Rayna followed closely behind. She raised her right hand and precisely coordinated with Firna's spellcasting, using an ingenious technique to change the flow of magic deep in the earth. "Everything will change."
The silent magic soaked into the 'deep blue spring' that was gushing up from the ground, and the blue cracks all over the earth dimmed in an instant. After a short two to three seconds of silence, a dazzling blue beam suddenly burst out of the ground, accompanied by a faintly frightening magic agitation. The entire ruins seemed to be attracted by some kind of powerful gravitational force from the center, and began to collapse and compress from all sides to the center!
Tough boulders and decayed steel creaked under the powerful suction force, and after a brief resistance, they fell into the depths of the blue beam. The treants who were active in the periphery of the ruins also retreated in horror, trying to get as far away from the deadly gravitational vortex as possible. However, in such a terrible scene, Firna and Rayna were still standing in the air with no expression on their faces, indifferently watching everything that was happening before them.
The powerful gravitational force that was collapsing inward did not seem to exist to them.
The whole process lasted for a full ten minutes, and the terrible 'collapse' finally came to an end. As the tremors became weaker and weaker, some kind of 'balance' seemed to have been established at the center of the collapse. The original building ruins had completely disappeared, and a large area of the ground had become a deep pit. The blue beam that rushed into the sky gradually shrank and dimmed. At the place where the beam rose, a structure that looked like a 'hole' was floating abruptly at the bottom of the pit.
The blue light was flowing in a certain space in the hole, and waves of pure magic were constantly escaping from the hole. It was like a door inlaid in the real world, presenting a spectacular view of the depths of the planet.
"Grand Hierarch," Rayna walked slowly to the side of the pit and smiled at the stabilized 'door' at the bottom of the pit. "This is the entrance to the new net that you want. Please take a look."
"… You used a natural magic focal point to 'blow up' a door to the Deep Blue Net?" Vines stretched out from the platform, and Borken's shocked face appeared among the withered, twisted, and intertwined vines. He stared at the door and suddenly reacted. "Wait a minute, it's so easy for you to open the door to the Deep Blue Net?"
"Yes, it's not difficult for us," Rayna and Firna said in unison.
Borken's voice was furious. "… But you made us spend half a month in this valley to build the runic ring and the net node, and almost exhausted the magic reserve that we took from the Deep Blue Well!"
"Grand Hierarch, calm down. Where's the judgment that you are so proud of?" Firna smiled as she looked at the angry face in the vines. "The door that we opened is just a temporary door for you to bury the runic stones. It will close in a few hours. The door in the valley is permanent. It's the foundation of our cause, the control center of all the nodes. Don't you think it's worth it to work for half a month?"
Borken stared at the elf's face. After a few seconds, he said in a low voice, "When you put on that fake smile, I don't even want to believe a word you say."
Rayna laughed. "Don't be like that, Grand Hierarch. We will tell you how to open this temporary door. After all, we still need to open many more rifts and bury more runic stones. The two of us don't have the energy to open every door by ourselves."
"Very well, I will seriously verify the 'method' you brought. And this time, I hope you won't hide anything from me," Borken said in a low voice. "Now, let's move on to the next step. Since this is a temporary door, we don't have much time to waste. Put the runic stones in."
"As you command —" Rayna and Firna bowed slightly and said in an exaggerated tone. After that, Rayna straightened up and looked at a nearby treant. "Are there any other mutants that can move? Go and move the runic stones over. We are going to 'unload'. "
The treant shook its treetop, and a trace of anger appeared on its twisted and horrifying face. "It was all burned by you just now!"
"… Ah, that's a shame." Firna seemed to be a little surprised. She shook her head and said, "I thought we had enough, so I used the consumables to test it …"
"Go and catch a few more. It's fine as long as they can be used temporarily," Rayna said in a flat tone. "They are no longer glorious citizens of Gondor anyway."
(End of Chapter)
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