Spider silk?
Malcolm Dunnett's face showed a very brief look of astonishment, but in the next second, his astonishment turned into horror.
The spider silk instantly fused into his spiritual body, and then as if it was growing out of his body, endless spider silk emerged from his skin and began to wrap around his entire body. The former pope, who had turned into a spiritual body, let out a roar of shock and anger, and then tried to summon the power of the gods to help him escape, but there was no response despite his best efforts — some kind of power had blocked the connection between him and the gods!
This was the fact that terrified Malcolm Dunnett the most, even more than the strange runes that Philip had shown and the bizarre spider silk that had emerged now — how could there be something that could block his connection with the gods? How could there be something that could block the power of the supreme god of war?! At this very moment, he had an unprecedentedly stable connection with the gods, how could this connection be so easily severed?!
Amidst his shock and anger, he roared with a hoarse and chaotic voice, "What have you done?! My connection with the Lord is the most intimate, how could — "
His roar came to an abrupt halt as the spider silk that had invaded his spiritual body had completely taken over his mobility, and the figure of a white-haired girl appeared in his gradually freezing vision.
The white-haired girl came to Malcolm Dunnett with a serious look on her face. "Because you are closer to me now."
Unfortunately, Malcolm Dunnett could no longer hear the answer.
It was only at this moment that Philip truly breathed a sigh of relief. He calmed his pounding heart as he exhaled deeply, and then looked at the soldiers and civilian staff who were nervously watching the situation and ready to help at any time. Everyone had taken out the 'mind protection device' they carried with them, and the senior staff closest to them had already placed his hand on the button to sound the alarm. Seeing everyone's reaction, the young imperial general nodded in relief. "Crisis averted, everyone return to your posts."
Then, he looked at Naretil who was standing by the side, and Malcolm Dunnett who was sealed in layers of spider silk in a strange 'cocoon-like' state. He could not help but say, "This is the 'emissary' sent by the gods to spread corruption when they are on the verge of madness? I didn't think it would be so easy to catch him … "
Naretil immediately shook her head. "Because it's just a clone, it's very simple."
"Just an avatar?" Philip's eyes widened.
"Yes." Naretil nodded. "The soul is empty, and the personality and thinking are fake. Most of the actions should be controlled remotely by a hidden body. Or it needs a large number of such clones to form a body. In short, the connection between this avatar and the 'original' has been severed, and I can't trace it. It's not in my web, and the spider silk can't spread too far away from the neural network. "
Philip couldn't hide the disappointment on his face. He couldn't help but ask, "Then, is this empty shell useful to us?"
"It's still useful," Naretil thought for a moment and replied seriously. "After I go back, I'll ask Duwalter and Metro to help me open it up. Maybe there are some memories left in it."
"Then I'll have to trouble you."
Philip nodded. Then, he couldn't help but return his gaze to Malcolm Dunnett's body. When his gaze swept across the familiar sacred symbols on Malcolm's clothes, his expression couldn't help but become a little complicated. The young imperial general opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, all the words turned into a silent sigh.
He used to believe in the god of war, and even at this moment, he couldn't tell if he had really given up this belief.
When he first learned about Typhon's divine calamity, Philip went through a period of difficult thinking. He even stepped into the church of the Church of Holy Light to discuss the problem of faith with the clerics who found new doctrines, and it had some effect. After that, he carefully studied many of His Majesty Gwen Cecil's treatises on social order and religious beliefs, which also had some effect.
At the very least, his mind became firm again after that, and he was no longer confused by his own words and actions.
But at this moment, when he saw the symbol of the god of war again, and saw a high-ranking cleric from Typhon who had become the spokesperson of the mad god, he couldn't help but sigh and feel a sense of loss and emptiness in his heart.
He suddenly thought of something that Emperor Gawain Cecil had once said to him in a casual conversation … Probably, this was the "pain" that many people in this world were destined to face once.
Naretil circled Malcolm Dumont's avatar twice and 'pulled' out more spider webs from the air. As if she was wrapping them up carefully, she wrapped the spiritual body tighter around it. Then, she grabbed the web around the avatar's waist and lifted it up. A robust adult much bigger than herself was as light as a feather in her hands. After doing all this, she looked up at Philip and said casually, "You have to be careful. After all, you have been baptized and have a very devout faith. According to the research of the human rebels, the 'connection' has been established under such circumstances. Even if your consciousness is not that devout, the connection doesn't seem to disappear so easily."
Before her voice trailed off, she had already taken a step forward. As if crossing an invisible barrier, the 'God of the Past' and her 'goods' disappeared before everyone's eyes.
Philip did not have the time to thank Naretil. This made the young general, who had always valued etiquette, a little annoyed. But he did not have much time to immerse himself in personal feelings.
"General." An adjutant walked over from the side when he saw the commotion. There was still a trace of nervousness and fear on the adjutant's face. It seemed that the sudden change had left a deep impression on him. "That was the 'emissary' who spread the pollution, right? It seems that the divine calamity in Typhon has completely gone out of control … "
Divine calamity was either an unheard of concept for most countries in the world, or it was classified information only circulated by the higher-ups. It was even taboo. But Cecil's people, who had faced two divine calamities, were no stranger to it. The concept of divine calamity was written in Cecil's textbooks, newspapers, radio, and all the combat manuals of the frontline army.
Everyone here knew what they might face, so they didn't avoid talking about it.
"We could still have some doubts before …" Philip's face was solemn as he said in a deep voice, "But now we can basically confirm that the out-of-control God of War's pollution has infiltrated Typhon's military system. The divine calamity has broken out in Typhon. From now on, we will be fighting against the out-of-control God of War."
Philip seemed to have used all his strength to finish this sentence. Then he slowly raised his head, but he did not look at his adjutant. Instead, he looked over the adjutant's shoulder, across the busy hall, and across the thick and solid walls of the Contract Castle — he was looking in the direction of Winterwolf Fort.
…
The sun had set two hours ago, and the thick darkness of the night shrouded the entire wasteland.
However, the night that was supposed to be silent was torn apart by the continuous barrage of cannon fire. The explosions of the magical crystal cannons and the flashes of the Scorching Rays lit up the cold night again and again. Amidst the chilling whistles, explosions, and rumbles, Winterwolf Fortress seemed to be besieged by countless ferocious beasts in the night. It shook violently under the continuous barrage of cannon fire.
But this' shaking 'was just an illusion. Andesha was familiar with Winterwolf Fort, and she knew that the fort was still sturdy. All the shield nodes still had a high margin of safety, and the enchanted walls had not suffered any substantial damage. The mages guarding the fort and the soldiers manning the ballistae still had time to rest, and the defenders were still full of energy.
This was the most gratifying stalemate at the moment, and most of the credit for this was due to the timely arrival of the Black Flag Mages.
Above the southwest wall, a large hazy magical halo rose into the air along with layers of runes that appeared out of thin air. Under the powerful amplification effect, the Legion level spell was formed once again. In the next second, a lightning storm descended from the sky a few kilometers away from the wall. Thick lightning bolts crisscrossed the battlefield, and Andesha's vision was fully activated. She could vaguely see that Cecil's cannons were at the edge of the lightning storm's range.
They seemed to have retreated a little further, and this would further weaken the power of their long-range cannons.
Not all 'Heavenly Fire' could strike a target from a distance of several kilometers or even a dozen kilometers. The Cecil's magical devices also had various shooting ranges. Once the distance was increased, a considerable number of small to medium sized 'Heavenly Fire' would no longer be able to threaten the walls of Winterwolf Fort.
But this wasn't something to be happy about.
The Legion level spell that the Black Flag Mages were so proud of was able to produce destructive firepower on the battlefield, but it could only be used as a passive defense here. The mana that was gathered was consumed in the 'Deterrence Bombardment' that had no effect. The mages were using their precious mana to bombard the ground, and they could only occasionally destroy a few enemy squads. This wasn't even considered a result of the battle.
Ever since night fell, Count Palin's complexion hadn't improved at all.
But Andesha knew that there was nothing she could do about it. There was only one reason for this predicament — Cecil's men were willing to scatter their troops across the plains, and even if they destroyed a few squads, there would be more to reinforce them. But Winterwolf Fort was unwilling to let the Black Flag Mages take a single step out of the walls.
But this wasn't how it should be …
Andesha stood on the balcony at the top of the castle, her brows furrowed as she looked at the chaotic and turbulent night. Everything in front of her made her feel a little absurd.
She knew that there was a problem with the Church of the God of War that caused Typhon's side to mistakenly start this' war '. But why did the opposing side, Cecil's men … have such a strange reaction?
They seemed to be determined to fight, but this didn't match the judgment of her grandfather and many of the military advisors in the country.
"General," the adjutant's voice suddenly came from behind, bringing Andesha back to reality. "The Count of Wintercastle has requested for you to discuss tonight's defense plan. He's in the East Hall."
Andesha turned back to look at the city walls one last time, and nodded to the adjutant. "I understand."
She took a step forward and prepared to leave the balcony, but before she passed by the adjutant, she suddenly stopped.
"General?"
"Is there a reply from the capital? Mathilda, His Majesty, or my grandfather. "She asked," Is there a reply? "
"No." The adjutant shook his head. "Oldenheim has sent your letter three times, but there's no reply. The communication tower network from the border to the capital has just been modified not long ago, and it's hard to say if there's a transmission delay in the nodes. If you're worried that there's a problem with the transmission, we can send it again. "
Transmission delay … at this time?
Andesha looked at her adjutant and said, "Claudian, if we fall into chaos here, as the headquarters of the Church of the God of War, Oldenheim's side …"
"This is a terrible possibility, but at this stage, we can only trust in His Majesty and the council's judgment and ability," the adjutant said. "Everyone has their own things to do."
"… You're right," Andesha hesitated for a few seconds and said helplessly.
No matter what, she had been taught to obey orders since she was young, and as the commander of the border, she knew that her authority was limited.
"General, do we need to contact Oldenheim again?" The adjutant asked.
"No need, I'm going to the East Hall to look for Count Winterburg." Andesha shook her head and walked forward. At the same time, she ordered the adjutant, "Go to the hall on the first floor, and look for me immediately if there's any situation."
"Yes, General."
Andesha left the balcony and walked down the spiral staircase. She passed through the connecting corridor between the tower and the wall, and quickly walked towards the East Hall.
The cold night wind mixed with the sound of cannons in the distance blew past her fine hair.
When she passed by a fork in the road, she suddenly stopped.
Andesha raised her head and looked at a tower not far away. It was a building that looked like a mage tower, but there was a strange ring floating at the top. It was slowly rotating under the support of a force field, and a low buzzing sound echoed in the night.
It was the Communication Tower of Winterwolf Fort.
Andesha did not usually step into this facility because she did not have the talent to be a spellcaster. She did not know how to operate the Communication Tower, and she did not know how to use the Magic Devices inside. Thus, this was something that her subordinates did for her.
Now that the war had broken out, Winterwolf Fort was in chaos, and she did not have the time to take a breather. She did not even have the chance to pay attention to the operation of the Communication Tower. This was not something that she, as the supreme commander, should pay attention to.
But at this moment, she stopped in front of the Communication Tower.
This situation … … Something was wrong. She felt that she might have missed a detail, or she might have been blinded by something.
Andesha's expression suddenly became serious. She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and walked towards the Communication Tower.
There were two battle statues in front of the Communication Tower, and they seemed to be working normally.
Andesha walked past the statues and pushed open the door of the Communication Tower.
The smell of blood wafted into her nostrils.
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