"Did you see that?"
"Of course!"
Elminster drew out his precious pipe, but he had no appetite for a leisurely smoke. "A black cloak, a purple eye sigil, and the holy symbol of a dark disc! It's the Goddess of Shadow — she's returned..."
"Lady Night —
For the dark goddess who had once competed with her mother, Alustriel's heart was filled with unease and dread.
"Yes, and she's established a new Shadow
Elminster understood all too well the pragmatism of wizards — or rather, their realism.
Their faith had always been feeble, and after the Weave Goddess's fall and the collapse of spell slots, it had become virtually nonexistent.
The period during which they had lost the ability to cast spells was the most humiliating and sorrowful stretch of time any wizard could endure. Some, driven to despair, had even defied divine decrees and taken their own lives.
But now the Shadow Goddess Shar had appeared, and with her the Circle of Shadow. All one had to do was join, and the power lost would be restored!
Only those who had lost something truly understood its value. Precisely because they knew how hard-won power was, the shadow wizards who had joined the Circle of Shadow had actually become more devout and more fervent.
For the sake of power, wizards would even deal with devils and demons. Compared to that, pledging allegiance to Shar required no deliberation at all!
Even Elminster had faltered in his heart on more than one occasion. Had he not already stood at the peak of the legendary tier, had he not retained his own power, and had he not once been
"Judging by the spatial fluctuations just now, this was clearly the work of a legendary-tier wizard. Has that level of power already defected to their side?"
Elminster's brow furrowed deeply.
"And furthermore... they came to stop our army from destroying the Mother Hive. They have clearly thrown in their lot with the Warlock faction..."
As the Weave Goddess's divine champion and a peak legendary wizard, Alustriel possessed access to far more comprehensive intelligence channels. She had a clearer picture of the affairs of higher beings.
"So the Circle of Shadow has defected to the Warlock faction. In other words, the former Shadow Goddess has allied herself with the enemy camp?"
This reality pressed down on Alustriel and Elminster like a physical weight.
Though during the ancient Godsfall the wizards and the gods had been bitter enemies, a defection of this magnitude at the highest level had never occurred before.
Shar, as the first to do so, would deal incalculable damage to the morale of the divine world.
"Those who betray the glory of the gods will ultimately face judgment before the Pantheon!"
No matter how attenuated his faith had once been, the harshness of their circumstances and the relentless pressure of external forces had compelled Elminster to become a genuine and fervent supporter of the gods.
"Let us hope so... Besides, this raid has exposed enormous gaps in our defenses. Shortages of garrison personnel, delays in emergency preparations..."
Fatigue lined Alustriel's face. "Send for Saladin... I fear we must merge our armies immediately — or at the very least, tighten coordination. We cannot afford to be picked off one by one any longer..."
For Alustriel to take this step, given the bitter hatred between the northern humans and the orcs, was essentially gambling away every ounce of reputation and trust she had accumulated over a lifetime.
That she was willing to do so spoke volumes about the blow the Circle of Shadow had dealt the Silver Moon Alliance.
...
Two days later, a combined human-orc army finally reached the swamp's perimeter.
Purple, rotting sludge reeked of a foul stench, and thick green mists rippled across the water's surface, shifting into countless ephemeral shapes.
Each time a Mother Hive appeared, it transformed the surrounding environment beyond recognition. Whatever the terrain had been before, it gradually turned into swamp — and the festering, highly toxic swamp water was paradise for the insectoid beasts.
"At this rate of transformation, the Mother Hive is about to awaken..."
Inside a hastily erected command post, Elminster pointed to a scene captured by a scrying spell, his face etched with unmistakable worry.
"Once the Mother Hive matures, it will immediately begin producing an endless stream of worker drones and other unit types, devouring the flesh of everything nearby. It will create even stronger war-beasts and eventually new Mother Hives... Based on the intelligence we've gathered, if we fail to stop them in this first phase, the probability of success afterward drops to... zero!!!"
Seated around the circular table alongside Alustriel were Saladin the Orc Emperor, several human officers, and orc warlords. They sat in grim silence, staring at one another until sparks seemed to fly from their eyes.
"In other words, if this operation fails, everything surrounding us — vegetation, water sources, grain, and whether orc or human — will be devoured by those Hive Tyrants. They will fabricate a second Mother Hive, open a new nest..."
Alustriel spoke slowly, her voice heavy. "If this continues, in the end the entire Material World will be destroyed. Therefore, I demand — no, I implore you, my officers: set aside every grudge of the past and fight for our future!"
"What the Queen says, I echo!"
Saladin fixed his orc warlords with a glare. "If any of you dare disobey, I will twist off your heads and shove them up your backsides!!!"
There was no denying that orcish autocracy and iron-fisted rule served a useful purpose in moments like these.
Under Saladin's crushing threat, the orc warlords expressed their submission even more quickly than the human officers.
"How much time do we have?"
Saladin turned to Elminster.
"Twenty hourglasses, perhaps less..." Elminster exhaled a few white smoke rings.
"Then we move now. My Divine Avatar is ready!"
Dense, spiraling runes of power surfaced across Saladin's body. "For this operation, my god has also agreed to bestow additional divine might — and even send down an avatar!"
"Thank you for everything you've doing."
Alustriel rose and bowed deeply.
...
Under the pressure of imminent crisis, the army mobilized without delay.
"Wizards, prepare — Gust of Wind!"
Elminster now commanded the wizard corps. At his order, dense clusters of wind-elemental particles were drawn toward the assembled mages.
A faint breeze swept across the entire stretch of terrain.
Relying on his legendary mastery and the support of the great magical array, Elminster fused the many wizards' low-level Gust of Wind spells into a single unified torrent.
"Centuries of research into arcane fusion — Legendary Fusion Spell: Tornado Storm!"
*BOOM!* The howling gale instantly coalesced into a massive tornado, its central eye shrieking as it devoured everything within range.
Under Elminster's direction, the tornado swept across the vast swamp. Endless volumes of brackish water were wrenched skyward, while the green corrosive mist was driven apart layer by layer.
After the tornado had passed, Alustriel's figure materialized at the swamp's forefront.
"Summon — Earth Elemental Elder Legion!!!" A ring of earthen gold on her finger pulsed with blinding light. Supported by teleportation magic, countless massive Earth Elemental Elders stepped through from the Elemental Plane, their roars shaking the earth.
Earthen-yellow elemental particles coalesced, channeling into the spells that had been prepared in advance.
— Mud to Stone!]
— Mud to Stone!]
— Mud to Stone!]
Under the combined efforts of the Earth Elemental Elders, brilliant cascades of spell-light engulfed the sludge-choked swamp.
The rotting, yielding mire began to solidify rapidly, transforming into hard granite. A broad, firm road through the pathless swamp was carved open by sheer force, leading straight toward the battlefield.
*Buzz... buzz...* The deafening sound of countless beating wings filled the air as a terrifying green cloud rolled toward them — a writhing mass composed entirely of grotesque insectoid beasts.
From the lowliest Light-chasing Grubs to the towering Red Beetles, and further still to the fearsome Golden Longhorn war-beasts, the sheer number of creatures sent a wave of terror through the assembled army.
Standing atop those golden war-beasts, several shadow wizards in black cloaks looked down with imperious contempt.
"Those traitors — they actually rallied reinforcements from other Mother Hives!!!"
Alustriel's face flushed crimson with fury. She had known about their collaboration, but this brazen act still exceeded every limit she could tolerate.
"Well done, all of you. Leave the rest to me."
At that moment, Orc Emperor Saladin stepped forward.
He marched to the front of the formation and tore away his cloak, revealing a torso bristling with thick fur and covered in a map of old scars.
"In the name of my god, I pray... Grant me strength!!!"
A massive, extraordinary hammer wreathed in purple lightning materialized in Saladin's grasp. Invisible power poured down from on high, and his body swelled violently.
*BOOM!* In the blink of an eye, the most powerful of all orcs had transformed into a titan whose head nearly touched the sky.
Epic Spell — Divine Avatar]!!!
*CRASH!* The giant Saladin took a single step, and the ground around him heaved.
*CRACK-BOOM!* Boundless lightning split the虚空, converging upon Mjolnir — the divine weapon — and causing it to expand in kind, matching its wielder's colossal new form.
"You damned insects — die!!!"
Saladin roared, and swung Mjolnir!
Purple lightning swept across the battlefield in an instant, drowning out everything else. It tore a brilliant silver trail through the pitch-black sky, bringing with it a glimmer of hope and light.
Huge swathes of the insect swarm burst into flame and tumbled from the sky. Entire clusters of shadow wizards were annihilated by the bolt in the space of a heartbeat.
"Charge!!!"
The wolf riders howled their war cries, thundering along the freshly forged road, charging deep into the swamp.
"Charge!" The human legions, eyes blazing red, threw themselves into the fight for their very survival.