I Pioneered Scientific Magic

At noon, in the Seccas Empire, celebrated as the 'earthly paradise' and 'where stars shine brightly,' the sound of artillery fire was incessant outside the sacred city, but inside, it was unexpectedly quiet, or perhaps it would be more apt to describe it as deathly silent.

Countless devout followers lay unconscious on the streets and squares, faces still adorned with a fervor that came from deep within, as if they had entered into sweet slumber.

A few days ago, the messenger of the Lord on Earth, His Holiness Archbishop Alves, held a grand prayer ceremony within the sacred city.

He gathered all the citizens of the sacred city to demonstrate their devout faith to the great Lord, narrating the sufferings this land had endured, praying for the Lord to descend upon this land soon, to punish the claws of the demons and dispel the shadows of the apocalypse.

This prayer ceremony was undoubtedly very successful. The Moon Goddess, creator of all, responded to their requests, and the projection of heaven descended upon the sacred city.

Just as described in the holy scriptures, everything was revived, the land was bathed in light, they saw rivers flowing with fine wine, sacred trees laden with ripe steaks, and beautiful, enchanting dream sprites...

And as the most devout followers of the Lord, they were even promised by the Lord not to suffer the tribulations of the apocalypse and could enter the true kingdom of God ahead of time, enjoying endless peace and joy.

After a day of revelry and enjoyment, the citizens of the sacred city hesitated not a moment to embrace the Lord, their souls returning to the kingdom of heaven...

Cardinal Sireid, who witnessed all this, felt a chill in his heart for no reason.

Such a sacred and celebratory event, for some reason, reminded him of those sacrificial scenes offered to the evil gods.

No, this is the glory and grace of the Lord, no desecration shall be allowed!

Cardinal Sireid quickly stopped his wild thoughts and continued to maintain the operation of the divine magic formation.

The attack from those wizards outside the city might not be enough to affect this sacred city, but as maintainers and manipulators of divine magic, these cardinals also bore no small pressure.

Fortunately, according to His Holiness's instructions, the great Moon Goddess would soon descend from heaven, and they just needed to hold on for a while longer!

Meanwhile, the church's new Saint, the earthly incarnation of the Moon Goddess, stood at the highest level of the Tower of the Heavens.

A strange crystal orb, glowing with fluorescent light, floated in the center of the tower, rotating slowly and steadily.

The reason it was deemed strange was that it seemed to exist between illusion and reality, or perhaps the boundary between falsehood and truth, with the scenes of heaven from the scriptures reflected inside.

"Is it still not enough?" The Saint sighed softly.

To gather enough devout followers, she had not hesitated to send the church's most elite troops to stop the wizards' march like a suicide mission, and with divine magic, stirred their inner faith.

At the moment of death, about fifty thousand people became her devout followers, their souls merged into the kingdom of God. Even so, adding to the twenty thousand devout followers who came to the sacred city from across the empire and the church's accumulation over hundreds of years, they were still about one-tenth short of the million target.

"You need not hesitate any longer, my Lord!" Archbishop Alves spoke solemnly.

Now that those wizards had reached the outskirts of the sacred city, although they could not breach the external protective divine magic for the time being, under such an onslaught, the church's priests and bishops could probably last only about a day at most.

The only way was for the church's clergy to make up for these losses!

To achieve their goal, to completely resolve the poison of faith and bring the true God to this land, anyone could be sacrificed, even the high-ranking members of the church!

"If necessary, I am ready to give everything for you, even my life and soul!" Archbishop Alves knelt on the ground, saying decisively.

The Saint's face showed a touch of emotion, then she shook her head: "You have done enough, Alves, even in the new world, your presence is still indispensable."

That was why she had hesitated to make a decision.

The divine magic system that covered the entire empire was the result of her hundreds of years of effort and the key to shepherding this vast land.

As the Saint was about to speak again, the entire Tower of the Heavens suddenly shook violently.

"What's happening?" Alves's face changed dramatically, immediately looking towards the floating crystal orb in the tower, thinking its power was affecting the Tower of the Heavens.

The new Saint's expression also darkened, her dazzling eyes, like stars, pierced through

the walls of the Tower of the Heavens, looking towards various places in the sacred city.

Following a roar from the deepest part of the earth, the ground on the western side of the sacred city suddenly cracked open, and then, terrifying, surging underground fire erupted from below, instantly engulfing a large area.

More than two thousand priests and bishops were killed on the spot, and what's more, the cracking fissures rapidly spread to the surroundings.

The ground cracked open, bricks and stones crumbled, buildings collapsed... Huge rocks and debris scattered everywhere, and in just a few seconds, most of the sacred city had collapsed...

"The sacred city has fallen, it must be those wizards launching an attack from underground..." The Saint's voice was incredibly cold, her anger reaching its limit.

In fact, she had also set up several protective spells on the surface, but she had not anticipated that these wizards would launch an attack from underground.

Even her power could not stop the collapse of the entire city, being able to react in time to save the Tower of the Heavens was already the limit.

The sacred city... has fallen?!

Alves was also shocked, but he had no time to care about that, immediately thinking that the city's defenses must have collapsed along with it.

Those wizards must have already broken through!

The situation was undoubtedly at its most critical moment!

"It seems I may not be able to witness your ascension to godhood..." Alves's face showed a hint of regret and determination, paused for a moment, then spoke solemnly again. "Please focus on merging with this divine essence. Before we are all dead, the Tower of the Heavens will surely be safe!"

After speaking, Alves stood up, quickly walking towards the outside of the tower, the light of faith around him exceptionally dazzling and bright...

The Saint stood still in place, not responding until the Tower of the Heavens' door was closed, then murmured softly.

"If that is your choice, then, Alves..."

"I bless you, you will be invincible, you shall hold the kingdom of heaven, as the right hand of God..."

The words of God are powerful, at the moment of making the promise, the Saint clearly felt a part of the divine power within her vanish, bestowed upon Alves.

Even if this might affect the subsequent ceremony of merging with the divine essence, she did not regret it.

Too many people had already died.

Edweil died, Joshua died, Gustav was captured, the church's elite had all died... Even now, the sacred city was on the verge of destruction.

In just two years, after those wizards emerged from the mist, the church's painstaking efforts accumulated over hundreds of years were lost in an instant.

Alves had been with her the longest and was her most capable assistant; naturally, she hoped he could survive.

After transferring control of the projection of the kingdom of God to Alves, the Saint cleared all the complicated thoughts from her mind, closed her eyes to guide the descent of the divine essence, and prepared to merge with the divine essence.

She ended the war of faith, founded the church, prepared for hundreds of years, all for today!

To completely resolve the poison of faith and ascend to godhood!

Alves, who had just stepped out of the Tower of the Heavens, soon felt the increased power within him.

"Thank you for your care, my Lord!" Alves prayed silently in his heart, then looked towards two figures speeding towards him.

The arrivals were the guardians of the sacred city, responsible for maintaining divine magic protection, the other two legendary clerics, Saint Randall and the ascetic Raven!

The destruction caused by the underground nuclear explosion was undoubtedly catastrophic, the priests, bishops, and even some cardinals who reacted too slowly were buried within, but it was not enough to affect the two of them significantly. They were unable to conduct a rescue and urgently arrived at the Tower of the Heavens.

"Is the Lord alright?" Randall quickly asked.

"All is well, the ceremony has already begun." Alves replied succinctly.

"But the sacred city is destroyed!" Ascetic Raven said silently, his pupils filled with undeniable anger.

Since the conflict of faith, it had been erected on this land as the dwelling of God, now it had turned into ruins!

Only the Tower of the Heavens, protected by the Lord's power, remained stable, becoming the only building preserved within the entire sacred city!

"These blasphemers, unforgivable!" Ascetic Raven looked around the collapsed sacred city, gritting his teeth.

Unlike Alves and Randall, who were high-ranking clerics, Raven spent most of his time not dealing with church affairs but focusing on communication and prayers with the faithful. He was the one with the deepest feelings for the sacred city, and now everything was destroyed!

Alves spoke firmly. "Then let's eliminate them! No matter what, the Lord's ceremony must not be disrupted, even if it requires our lives!"

...

Meanwhile

, outside the sacred city, Lynn and others, who had completed the underground nuclear explosion, watched as the entire city collapsed into a massive pit in a very short time.

Just as they had anticipated, the force field protecting the sacred city was dissolved, but there was something unexpected; the projection of the kingdom of God did not completely disappear...

"It seems we'll have to risk fighting on the enemy's home turf." Harof raised an eyebrow, but there was no hesitation in his actions; the next second, his body transformed into a blue energy state, turning into a streak of light and flying into the sacred city.

This was sonic flight, under Lynn's personal guidance, Harof, who had recently ascended to legend, had also mastered it!

Lynn, Aurora, and Victorio followed suit, disappearing from sight in an instant.

As for Raphael and the other grand wizards, along with tens of thousands of troops from the kingdom, they did not enter the sacred city.

Without a clear understanding of the situation inside, their task was to wait for orders outside.

Hundreds of electromagnetic cannons were already loaded with ammunition, and solar cannons were also ready to fire at any moment...

Entering the sacred city, Lynn was cautiously surveying the interior landscape, wary of sudden attacks.

"With such destruction, even if anyone survives, they probably won't be able to stop us, right?" Aurora's expression was relatively relaxed.

The destruction caused by the underground nuclear explosion was much stronger than she had anticipated. Although there was solid earth and stone for protection, the damage caused by the city's downward collapse was also terrifying.

Even a formal wizard would have difficulty surviving, probably only a grand wizard would have the capability to save their own life.

Along the way, they had already seen countless corpses; these were just those on the surface, many more were buried underground.

Lynn couldn't help but sigh. Although he had prepared himself mentally before proposing this plan, killing so many civilians at once, it was impossible to say there was no fluctuation in his heart.

Harof, on the other hand, noticed something wrong, as many of the partially buried corpses still bore a strange smile on their faces, not the expression of someone facing disaster and death.

So, as they swept through the ruins, Harof casually pulled a relatively intact corpse from the rubble, checked it, and said solemnly.

"They have been dead for several days, their souls must have been taken!"

Surprised, Lynn and the others also used [Mage Hand] to grab a few corpses, indeed, as Harof said, these dead people showed obvious signs of livor mortis, they must have died before they launched the underground nuclear explosion...

"Some kind of sacrificial ceremony? Didn't expect her to start playing with the evil gods' tricks!" Victorio scoffed, the church used to hypocritically advocate for sustainability, harvesting the faithful after death, but now they've obviously torn off this guise.

Lynn, however, became more alert, Aila must have a plan for making such a big move.

Was it to harvest souls to increase her strength, to cope with their siege?

Aila's strength remains an unknown factor, they know too little about legends, but what can be confirmed is that she should still be in the same realm as them.

Eighth-ring legendary wizard or ninth-ring?

Now Aila still plans to increase her strength, could it be above legend?!

Lynn immediately looked towards the sacred city's towering Tower of the Heavens!

In his eyes, it was like a giant target, standing there.

After estimating the distance between them, Lynn decisively raised his hand, several iron balls formed and, after a second of charging, flew out, aiming straight for the distant towering tower.