Da Xue's streets were locked down, and the entire academy was in the middle of a war. The students who had been assigned to the academy went to pack their equipment without a word, while the other students gathered together under the tutor's orders. They were much calmer than the average student.
After all, they were students who had been carefully selected to enter Da Xue. Naturally, they were not lacking in basic training.
She didn't have much to do with the preparation. She rushed to the command center of the city defense as fast as she could. Her coquettish attire attracted the eyes of the soldiers along the way, but she was stopped by a pair of guards outside the command center.
"Let Teacher Attie in." A slightly young voice came from the back door. A very young staff officer trotted over and bowed to Attie. He stood up straight and said, "Hello, Teacher Attie!"
He wore a Da Xue's emblem necklace, but it was made of copper. It was a souvenir that every Da Xue graduate received, and it was a far cry from the platinum necklace that the most outstanding graduates received.
Even so, a copper necklace would not be a problem for him to become a staff officer in the City Defense Command.
"Now that you've graduated, relax a little." Attie caressed the young staff officer's head as if she was coaxing a child.
A blush appeared on the big boy's face, and he averted his eyes as if he didn't dare to look at Attie's enchanting figure. He asked awkwardly, "Do you need any help, Teacher Attie?"
"Here," Attie tossed a communication slate to him. "Soon, Dale will send over Da Xue's battle plan. You guys need to coordinate well." With that, she did not say anything else and turned to leave. However, just as she was about to leave the military camp, she could not help but stop in her tracks. She turned around and said to the big boy who was watching her leave, "This time, there is no teacher to protect you. Be careful and don't die."
"Yes, ma 'am!" The big boy puffed up his chest and replied, "I'll show you how much I've grown, Teacher Attie!"
Mimicking Baiyi's habit, she waved at him with her back facing him and left. As she walked up the city wall from the military camp, she could not remember the boy's name. She could only remember that he was one of the boys who had risked his life to give her a love letter. Now, he was a soldier who shouldered the lives of millions of people on his shoulders. 'You're growing fast, aren't you?'
At this thought, Attie couldn't help but smile. She seemed to understand part of the reason why her master loved to teach his students. Watching these little fellows grow was also a good experience.
But very quickly, her smile disappeared. In the distant horizon, a black line appeared on the seemingly empty horizon. It was still 3 in the afternoon, and the sun should be shining brightly, but perhaps because of the overlapping of the planes, the world had become somewhat dim. It was more like dusk, and darkness was about to descend. And that black line was like an extension of the black curtain of night.
"They're coming fast …" Attie muttered under her breath. She randomly picked up a short sword from the pile of weapons on the wall and pulled it out. Her empty left hand formed a knife-hand shape, and she lightly cut the blade, leaving only the hilt of the sword in her hand.
Then, the Divine Mark that was originally buried in her chest suddenly appeared on her forehead, radiating a tri-colored light of red, yellow, and blue. The light stretched into three straight lines, with the red being the most dazzling. It was as if the three lines were leading the light, making it look like she was wearing a colorful crown of light.
At the same time, the halved hilt of the sword in her hand suddenly emitted a tri-colored light of red, yellow, and blue, as if it had transformed into the War God's Sword. Attie's body floated into the air, and she aimed her lightsaber at the direction of the black line. The tri-colored light in her hand turned into three colorful ribbons that spun and wrapped around her body, turning her into a colorful conical drill.
The mini scout marionettes that had arrived at the city wall to monitor the situation sent back to Tisdale and the others. Vidomina was shocked. "The War God's Sword? But didn't the Godfather take it away? Why is it in Attie's hands? Is the Godfather back? "
"I don't think so." Tisdale shook her head. "Teacher said that the War God's Sword is actually a part of the War God's Space Authority. If that's the case, isn't it normal for Attie to be given another part of the War God's Space Authority? This is the War God's power, after all. He can give it to anyone he wants. "
"If that's the case, then we'll be much safer with the War God's help," Vidomina said, looking relieved.
"Arfin City is like this, right? But there are many other problems as well … "Tisdale said as she placed a few communication slates on the table in front of her. Vidomina looked at them and saw that they were all messages from other cities. There were more than a dozen of them!
Vidomina's brows furrowed.
How many undead were there? The word 'endless' might not even be enough to describe it. After all, the undead army that had besieged Arfin City like a black tidal wave was composed of the undead that had gathered around Arfin City. The total number of undead was about one-third of the city.
The remaining two-thirds were, of course, carrying out the Grandruler's plan to invade other human cities. Unlike the undead, who were all soldiers and whose numbers only grew with each battle, the undead only had men and a few women who could fight. Not only did the majority of the undead have no fighting power, but they could also become the enemy's fighting force. The difference in numbers between the two sides was too great.
If the cities were closer to the major cities, they could still try to seek help or escape. However, the small and medium-sized cities that were further away were the undead's primary targets.
"They're attacking these defenseless cities first?!" Vidomina's face darkened. "This isn't a war! This is a massacre!"
"Why would you talk about honor and morality with the dead?" Tisdale asked curiously.
"What do we do now?" Vidomina asked anxiously.
Tisdale did not answer. Her brows were furrowed as if she was deep in thought.
Obviously, the Empire did not have the strength to spare to rescue other cities. The only thing they could rely on was the Church, Da Xue, and the Sorcerer's Association to protect themselves. With that in mind, Tisdale quickly picked up a communication slate. She wanted to contact someone, but the slate flashed on its own.
The caller was an old acquaintance. "Good afternoon, Miss Dale. It's a shame that we don't have time to greet you in this situation. I'm Grant, the Vice President of the Sorcerer's Association. I'd like to know Da Xue's stance on this crisis."
Grant, the Vice President who had fought Baiyi in the past, was suspected of having ties to the Godsfall cult. Baiyi had informed the Church's Judicial Court of his suspicions, but for the past ten years, Grant had remained in his position. Even the Judicial Court's investigations had not been able to find anything suspicious. This could only mean that Grant was either innocent, or that he had cut ties with Godsfall in time.
In any case, Grant was a yellow-named, neutral entity, so Baiyi could still talk to him.
Tisdale pondered for a moment before replying, "Esteemed Vice President, I, too, would like to know the Association's opinion on this matter." "That's right, Vice President," Tisdale replied.
The Vice President was silent for a moment, but he did not answer her directly. Instead, he asked, "Is Principal Hope not here? Or His Majesty? "
"Neither. Da Xue is now under the control of Vidomina and I," Tisdale replied confidently.
The man on the other end of the line fell into silence again, as if he was discussing something with someone. After a while, he continued, "To be honest, we've received a lot of requests for help, and we're planning to do what we can. But Miss Dale, you're a sorcerer as well, so you should know the rules of the association. We don't have a lot of manpower to spare, and we can't mobilize too many people."
There were a lot of sorcerers in the world, and most of them would register with the Association. However, only a few of them were actually under the jurisdiction of the Sorcerer's Association. For example, the lecturers and professors of Da Xue, or sorcerers affiliated with other organizations, were not under the Association's jurisdiction. Therefore, when faced with a crisis like this, the Sorcerer's Association did not have much manpower to spare.
Still, it was not a small number. At the very least, they had three to five sorcerer squadrons, each consisting of around two to five hundred people. Although the number of undead they could muster was a drop in the bucket, if the Sorcerer's Association could coordinate with other forces, and with the help of the local defense forces, they could at least hold out until the refugees were evacuated.
However, the problem was still the same. There were too many undead, and the Sorcerer's Association did not have enough manpower to spare.
"How many people can you deploy?" Tisdale asked.
"Three fully formed sorcerer squadrons, that's 1500 people, led by me." The Vice President gave a number that was not very generous. "There's no other way. Almost half of our forces have been borrowed by various forces, including the Imperial City, the Holy City, and the Templar Fort. We can't refuse their request. This number is already the limit."
"What about the Warrior's Association? You've already contacted them, right? "Tisdale asked again.
"They have slightly more manpower, but it's only 5000 people." The Vice President replied.
Vidomina, who was listening to the conversation between the two, could not help but show a look of disdain. 5000 people sounded like a lot. It was much more than the Sorcerer's Association. However, if one took into account the fact that warriors had more people than sorcerers to begin with, and the number of people under the Warrior's Association's command, in the end, they only sent so few people, which was even less than the Sorcerer's Association, it seemed even more stingy.
"Actually, you can't blame them." Tisdale explained in a soft voice, "Their headquarters isn't as safe as ours or the Sorcerer's Association. They need a lot of people to guard it."
After that, she continued to negotiate with the Vice President. She suggested that Da Xue could also deploy a group of people, but it was not enough.
The Vice President was not surprised. As a matter of fact, it was already rare for an academic organization like Da Xue to participate in this kind of operation. On the other hand, although the Doors of Conundrum had generously sent out their executors, it was hard to tell whether the combat power of those nerds who could fight a little was a hindrance or a help. At least in this aspect, Da Xue was much stronger.
All in all, Vice President Grant's goal was to unite as many people as possible and spread them out to save the cities that could still be saved. Before contacting Tisdale, he had already contacted the other associations and the Church. Other than the Church, who refused to cooperate and were confident in going it alone, all the other organizations, including Da Xue, were willing to help.
Just like that, the largest temporary rescue organization in history was established, and Grant became the leader. Tisdale, on the other hand, had no intention of getting involved. She arranged for a few professors and teachers from the Warrior and Sorcerer Academies to bring a total of 300 students to support Grant. She repeatedly emphasized the need to ensure the safety of these students. She even threatened to say, "Vice President, I'm sure you know how Da Xue operates.
"Vice President, you should also know the style of our university. Yes, you should also know the style of my teacher and His Majesty's grandfather. Since you invited us, we must protect these students."
When Grant heard those words, he could not help but break out in a cold sweat, especially when Vivian mentioned Principal Hope and the Sage-Emperor of the Magi. Those two old geezers were unreasonable when it came to protecting their own people, and they would not listen to reason when it came to their actions.
Grant still remembered that two years ago, a student's thesis had been plagiarized by someone from the Sorcerer's Association. When Grant found out about it, he hurriedly tried to mediate the situation, but what happened? The master-disciple pair, Hope and the Sage-Emperor of the Magi, rushed to the Tower of Babel as soon as they found out about the incident. They did not say a word, nor did they meet with anyone. Instead, they took out the black tome that could flip on its own and started mumbling to themselves.
In the end, the master-disciple pair knelt down and apologized to the second-year student in front of everyone. He paid a large sum of money for the psychological damage he had suffered and was expelled from the Association. Satisfied, the master-disciple pair turned around and left.
That was why Grant regretted his decision when he heard Tisdale's words. Inviting them to join the association was like asking a tiger for its skin.
"This isn't our real strength, is it?" Vidomina asked with a smirk after the communication was cut off.
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