Chapter 100: Mirror Cutting and Orbital Bombardment

In a remote ruin of a village in the Middle East, Morey and the elite mage corps of Karmateji stepped onto this land through a portal.

The moment they arrived, they felt an evil presence far heavier than in other places. If left untended and abandoned, this place would one day become a second hell; the soil itself was too suited to the transmutation of infernal energy, which was one of the main reasons Cassilius had chosen it.

“Morey, we found this—human remains, clearly a body whose soul has been completely drained by hellfire,” called Shi Chengzhong, striding over with a strange ashen lump of flesh in his hand. Dark gray dust rose in little puffs from it whenever the wind moved.

Mory nodded. “You’re right. Cassilius is definitely ahead of us by more than a little. Set up the lines at once, locate the Mirror-Space anchor points, and prepare for an attack at any moment.”

His command was deliberate. He knew their arrival could hardly escape Cassilius, whose scouts were already planted. The half-hell vultures circling above them were proof enough—each vulture was, in a sense, one of his eyes.

As one of the foremost mages ever trained in the Karmateji monastery, Cassilius’s assault would not come too late. He too knew that once a band of Karmateji mages gained a foothold and scouted the surroundings, their strength would become as easy and precise as turning a wrist.

In ordinary terms, the force in this party should still not have measured against Cassilius, who had mastered part of the infernal law. In fact, even before he gained it, his personal strength had already exceeded that of every one of them.

They were not unprepared, however. The Hong Kong Temple elites had all received blessings from Shu Mountain. The cycle woven from the Five Spirit Orbs increased their combat power, defense, and endurance, and layered several long-duration wards on them.

The London Temple elites were also blessed by the battle art of the Knights of the Round Table garrison, reducing stamina loss during combat, improving recovery while fighting, and strengthening bodily resistance. In short, their combat effectiveness once battle started was far above their peace-state level.

The New York Temple side had fewer augmentations: each New York elite was issued a full suit of arcane-hardened armor. That plate, superior in both physical and magical resistance, made them harder both to harm and to kill. Beyond that, every one of them was granted access to orbital weapons.

As for why Morey could stand as commander, first, he was the first to pass Brez’s review and had gathered this team himself; second, he alone carried all of the blessings; and third, the combined effect of those three blessings was far greater than any simple sum.

“Temple mana-web connection complete!”
“Mirror-Space construction nodes preset complete!”
“Orbital-weapon target points for expected fire complete!”

Fifteen minutes later, the temple elites’ defensive line had taken rough shape. Morey fixed his eyes on the horizon, his hands tightening, and two energy war axes condensed in his palms.

“Everyone—prepare for battle!”

No sooner did the first slash of red appear in view than he shouted. The ground beneath their feet began to tremble. The vanguard fodder of hell’s army—the lesser devils—surged forward like a tide.

Behind them came the Gege, the ordinary ranged ranks of the infernal host. Beyond that Morey could not see anything, for the demons in front already completely blanked out his sight.

In the face of such a vast army, even the elite mages’ confidence sank. They had prepared themselves, yet the sight still stunned them.

“Review the preset fire points! Prepare for orbital bombardment!”

Morey’s sharp command snapped them out of their shock and restored order.

As soon as the Gege brought the mage line into range, the devils—intent only on destruction—raised their right hands. Hellfire globes rose from their motion and flew toward the highest point where Morey stood.

“Fire!” he roared, and at the same instant hurled himself forward, carving two arcs in the air and detonating the incoming hellfire in advance.

At that moment, several satellites marked with Hecx sigils began to rotate in Earth orbit. The energy they had stored gathered through internal tracks, and vast magical arrays unfolded at their launch throats.

Immediately, a second wave of energy struck the exact center of those arrays. Magnified through them, it fell like a descending beam and drove straight into the Gege line.
A violent explosion carved a trench through the army like a firebreak, and countless Gege were turned to ash beneath that terrible beam.

The orbital fire lasted ten seconds. The Gege force was raked over and over. When it ended, almost no Gege were left.

“Team One, prepare to advance! Use Mirror-Space and strangle them! Team Two, stand by for reinforcement! Team Three, reset targeting points and fire again when cooldown ends!”

With a roar, Morey raised his two returning axes and charged in with the first strike team. The first team was the Hong Kong Temple mages, the second the London Temple mages, and the third the New York Temple mages.

Shi Chengzhong was the first to run out after Morey’s order, leaping into the frenzy of raging lesser devils.

Even after the Gege had been reduced to dust, those lesser devils were not frightened. They only grew fiercer, one more savage than the last.

As soon as Shi burst into their mass, he came under attack from every side. He swept his left hand, and the preplaced Mirror-Space unfolded, swallowing him and the Gege before and to his front-side.

Without expecting an attack from behind, he lifted his right hand: the aura of the Earth Spirit Pearl became outer battle armor; the Fire Spirit Pearl ignited wild flame powder around his gauntlets; the Water Spirit Pearl coursed through his body, replenishing what was spent.

With so many blessings, Shi Chengzhong treated a dozen lesser devils as mere slaughter. He dispatched them in pairs and threes with ruthless ease.

The first squad fared much the same. Mirror-Space slicing formation minimized losses in a battle of few against many and raised efficiency to the maximum.

Only the numbers still stood against them. While they had stamina in abundance, First Team’s assaults remained steady; once their reserves dipped, the line of killing began to press backward toward the mage formation.