Chapter 613 Entering Faen
Bringing a bunch of metal golems to fight in another world?
The witches present were first stunned at first but quickly began to snicker secretly.
These witches had some idea of these metal golems' power, seeing how they were encased in their dozens of centimeters of armor. These one hundred golems alone could raze a sizeable human city of several hundred thousand people with no difficulty.
However; what about it?
The number of magical crystals needed to raise so many metal golems was astounding.
It was true that they were undefeated and unchallenged when pit against human armies. But what happened after that? Could the losses incurred in powering the golems be covered by the damaged armor and weapons captured from the opponent? Where was the value in conquering other planes if every battle only incurred further losses like that?
Every single adept's tower of the Northern Witches contained many different steel statues, metal golems, voodoo beasts, and construct lifeforms. However, they could only remain within the tower as part of its defense system. It was very rare for a golem or a statue to be transported and placed on a faraway battlefield.
Otherwise, just the amount of magical crystals spent on activating them would be a headache.
Organizing them into an army of steel and having them be the cannon fodder of war was an act of excessive waste and extravagance! That was why the Sidonthirian apprentice witches betrayed such an odd expression upon seeing Alice bringing such a large group of metal golems to Werning City.
Before the sneer from their faces could be wiped away, a few tall silhouettes emerged from the ship and caught their attention.
It was a group of foreign adepts and their followers. There were both men and women in the group, numbering a total of twelve individuals.
The Sidonthirian witches were surprised by the high number of Second Grade adepts in this group. It was important to note that Second Grade adepts were the backbone of most adept clans. It was very rare to catch even a glimpse of them if something big hadn't happened.
Yet, despite only having six adepts in this group, half of them were Second Grade.
All the apprentice witches were secretly terrified when they saw the ferocious bodies and intimidating auras of these adepts. They quickly flew back on their flying brooms.
"What's the matter, Alice? Why are there so many foreign adepts?"
Iola once again flew toward Alice and demandingly questioned with a frown.
Werning was the headquarters of the Witch Council, after all. It was the place where the witch leaders held their sacred meetings. Ordinarily, no adepts other than Northern Witches were allowed in here.
It was also currently a gathering of witches, which made it even more impermissible for unrelated adepts to come 'strolling' through Werning!
"They are peripheral adepts of the Tower of Fate. They will be following us into Faen this time." Alice pursed her lips and smiled as she casually explained.
Iola swept across with a glance. As expected, she saw the unique balance emblem of the Witches of Fate pinned to the chests of these adepts.
"This…"
Iola fell silent for a moment. She knew this wasn't appropriate, but after a moment of thought, she realized she couldn't find any flaw in Alice's words.
Almost all witch towers had some number of male adepts. Their positions were always inferior to witches of the same grade, and they were often at the fringe of any form of power or influence. That was why it was ordinary to find male adepts amid the ranks of witches!
However, in this particular party, it was apparent that these 'peripheral adepts' were the ones who held the dominant position. In comparison, the Witches of Fate appeared to be supporting characters.
That was why this scene felt peculiar and upsetting for Iola, who had always been accustomed to witches holding the superior position!
However, this much wasn't enough to say that Alice was in the wrong either.
Iola had a bizarre and complicated expression for a while. She had no choice but to lead Alice and her group of people to the teleportation hall located underground.
…………
Faen Plane.
It was an exceedingly beautiful mid-sized plane.
The landmass of the plane took up more than forty percent of its total area. Plenty of small islands and smaller continents were also scattered across the vast and boundless ocean.
Among them, the two largest continents were governed by humans and elves, respectively. A vast ocean also separated the two continents. Only large ships meant for long-distance travel could make the journey. It had been 1,100 years since the Pale Witches had invaded this plane. Sadly, they had been incapable of establishing a stable foothold on either of these two main continents.
Faen was a top-tier mid-sized plane. With the two large continents and the vast oceans as its foundation, powerful native deities had been born to the plane. Naturally, three pantheons were born- the oceanic, the humans, and the elves.
All ocean creatures among them, including the maritime empire that ruled over a vast territory, worshipped the same powerful deities- the God of the Sea, Dions!
Sea God Dions was estimated by the Pale Witches to be a fearsome Sixth Grade. He had under him God of the Sea Beasts, Atri (Fourth Grade) and God of the Shallow Bay, Sintra (Third Grade). Apart from these two, there were also several minor deities no higher than Second Grade.
The Garan Continent that the elven empire ruled over had a population of thirty-four million forest elves. They worshipped a powerful nature deity- the God of the Elves, Saoirse. She was yet another terrifying Sixth Grade deity. She had as her subordinates: the God of Archery, Marco (Fourth Grade), the God of Rangers, Eisner (Fourth Grade), the God of Luck, Visenna (Third Grade), the Heart of the Forest, Yurga (Third Grade), the God of Moonlight, Meve (Third Grade), as well as a host of demi-gods and sacred creatures.
In comparison, the Faen Continent upon which the humans lived had more substantial lands, higher population, and more abundant resources. Unfortunately, they had yet to give birth to a sufficiently powerful human deity. Instead, many, many minor deities had been born. For example: God of War Kael, God of Strategy Bourecq, God of Assassination Keira, God of Wealth Bining, and God of Justice Dornfelder.
Their followers and believers wandered the continent, working hard to spread their faith. It gave rise to a strange and complicated situation where the deities and their followers lived in coexistence.
Almost every city-state and village populated by humans on the Faen Continent were home to a multitude of religions. They fought and contested with each other, yet mysteriously enough formed a parasitic relationship of coexistence and shared prosperity.
The survival of native forces in this strange and great world was already difficult. As invaders, the lives of the Pale Witches were even harsher!
The Pale Witches had locked onto Faen 1,100 years ago. They had broken into this world under the guidance and help of Great Adepts in the outer realms.
The point of invasion back then had been the elven continent.
Unfortunately, the elven gods had already turned the place into a mighty empire. The Pale Witches had faced a brutal retaliation from the elven pantheon and the elven empire during their very first invasion.
The two parties had broken out into a bloody battle upon the elven continent.
The Pale Witches had killed as many as five elven gods. Though these were all minor deities of only Second and Third Grade, they had still dealt a heavy, severe blow to the elven pantheon. Even the Sixth Grade Goddess of Elves Saoirse had been forced into a deep sleep of a thousand years.
The Pale Witches had also suffered horrifying losses.
Two of their Great Adepts from the outlands had participated in the war. One died, and the other had been severely wounded. Still, they had barely managed to stave off the attacks from the elven pantheon.
The Pale Witches had also lost clan adepts counting up to double digits. In the end, they had no choice but to retreat from the elves' continent and escape on their last legs to a place known as Shadow Island.
The Pale Witches erected a tall adept's tower upon Shadow Island and constructed an interplanar teleportation array. They then obtained some reinforcements from the World of Adepts. It was only then that they barely managed to hold a forward camp in Faen.
Over the next thousand years, the Pale Witches would launch an invasion at the Garan or Faen continent every time they accumulated sufficient strength. They would use war to rob and ruin the villages and cities of these two continents such that they might obtain the resources they required.
Faen was a top-tier mid-sized plane after all. The Pale Witches alone would have a hard time expanding their lands and obtaining more resources when Faen had sufficient power to defend itself. That was why the Pale Witches took the opportunity of the Witch Council's suggestion of sharing resources to offer up Faen.
At any rate, the teleportation coordinates of Faen were in their hands. Why wouldn't they do something as convenient as using the strength of the other branches to expand their territories? The small share of resources they would have to give up on couldn't compare to the land and population that they would be able to own forever.
Thus, on this day, an intense magical radiance shone upon the adept's tower on the isolated Shadow Island.
Several magical halos stirred the air around the island like an unrelenting tide, causing the wind to ripple outward. The dense mist that always hung around Shadow Island was pushed into the distance by this strange force. The bright sunlight finally fell upon the jagged and uneven Shadow Island along with all of the protective arrays laid upon it.
A massive portal slowly opened up in the center of Shadow Island when the magical aura radiating from the tower reached its peak.
At this moment, no one knew how many pairs of strange eyes around Shadow Island were silently witnessing this phenomenon happen.
They didn't dare go too far into Shadow Island due to the existence of the protective arrays and the tower. They could only wait silently on the small islands nearby.
"Cough! Go back and tell the priest. The witches are moving again. It seems yet another slaughter is about to befall our plane of Faen."
A strange merfolk watched the happenings in the distance. They couldn't help but sigh as they gave the order when they sensed the intense spatial aura in the air.
Thus, everything that had happened on Shadow Island was subtly spread to all the major forces of Faen!