Chapter 2160: The End of Destruction

Upon hearing that they needed to probe, many Psionic Scholars and warriors felt a murmur of hesitation in their hearts; attacks launched from within the city could barely interfere with the opponent, and one bold Psionic Master who risked leaving the city to probe had their physical body, and even their Soul, instantly annihilated.

Only a tiny Echo of consciousness remained to be offered to the Artifact; unless a new Artifact were born in the future, it would be impossible to reshape their mind.

Currently, there is no shortage of Echoes of consciousness preserved within the twelve Artifacts of Zhamu Dasi, and even if a new Artifact were born, it might not necessarily be that person's turn.

That was still a Psionic Master; if it were merely ordinary Scholars or warriors, they wouldn't even be able to leave behind an Echo of consciousness—to die was truly to be dead.

Psionic Magic is determined solely by the mind; those who choose Psionics all possess a heart that is solipsistic and subjective.

It is fine for them to sacrifice themselves for the outside world, but if they were to be asked to sacrifice themselves for the outside world without the constraints of the subjective oath made during Psionic Awakening, I fear most people would not have such resolve.

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Not to mention, the oath itself contains clauses against meaningless sacrifice, which further fuels the shrinking, fearful psychology of the Scholars and warriors.

After all, not everyone can face a fated death with composure.

Bujifu noticed the expressions of the crowd and was very dissatisfied, though he did not show it on his face; however, he had already decided to settle accounts with them properly after this battle.

How is it that when fighting the people of Calimshan, they were all more eager than anyone else, yet now that they are being attacked by a northern barbarian, they are all shrinking back, devoid of any will to fight!

The Scholars are one thing, but what is this from the warriors? Since they chose the path of combat, they should be willing to face death without fear, raising their fighting spirit to the limit; that is the orthodox path of advancement for a warrior.

Could this be the "degeneration" that the Anti School often mentions?

Bujifu had no heart to think about these irrelevant things now; he only wanted to know when the reinforcements from the rear would arrive. Judging by the enemy's almost ceaseless attacks, each of which required the Artifact to defend with all its might, such attacks were far from the enemy's limit.

Although he looked down from the bottom of his heart on those barbarians outside of Zhamu Dasi who only knew how to rigidly manipulate the Magic Net, he could not pretend not to see the strength of the enemy this time.

"Sigh, when did barbarians become so powerful! The world is changing too fast!"

For the first time, Bujifu began to seriously consider the new Psionic philosophy proposed by the Anti School regarding equal coexistence with other magic systems, but he had only just begun when he was interrupted by the constant warnings from the Artifact.

……

Floating City, Central Control Zone, inside the 102 Control Room.

While communicating with the Mythallar to complete the various instructions issued by Niya, Feishe'er still had the leisure to mutter a few words to his companion, "What is the situation now? Wasn't it said that Zhamu Dasi is a great southern power? Why don't they even dare to counterattack?"

"Don't be distracted. They counterattacked long ago, but it was blocked by the Mythallar. If it truly reached the point where we had to deal with their counterattack, the Floating City would have already fallen."

Compared to foreign Mages like Feishe'er who joined the Tower of Time not long ago, Aiboke, as an old hand of the Tower of Time and an Arcanist, was naturally able to access more information related to the Mythallar.

Even in this temporary operation, the Permission Level Aiboke possessed far exceeded that of Feishe'er and the others.

The exchange inside the 102 Control Room was merely a small interlude; in the control room next door where Xia Duo was, Xia Duo had already decided to grant the city below its final fate.

The information regarding the reality foundation of the city barrier below had been collected well enough, and it only awaited slow study later. If he were to delay any further now, once the war will of Zhamu Dasi in all its aspects condensed, I fear it would not be something that could be settled in a single battle.

In any war, the greatest difficulty is not how to begin, but how to end.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo immediately began to control the Floating City to ascend and "preheat" the Jump System, while simultaneously issuing the latest instructions to Niya:

"Continue to monitor the surroundings and prepare to return to Nan Jing. But do not lower your guard after returning. Everyone in 102 will take turns on duty; Aiboke and Feishe'er, first shift, responsible for monitoring all unusual movements around the Floating City, especially those related to personnel in the Territory."

The most terrifying aspect of Psionics is actually not the arbitrary Spell effects, but the powerful ability to dominate the mind. A Psionic Mage does not need to face the battlefield directly; burying a few nails inside the enemy is enough to give the enemy a headache.

But Xia Duo does not regret provoking Zhamu Dasi; in fact, it was Zhamu Dasi that provoked him first. As long as he hurts the opponent this time, he won't have to worry about them for quite some time.

Of course, necessary internal protection is also unavoidable; one cannot possibly pin all hope on the rationality of the enemy!

Psionics is something that is almost naturally insulated from rationality. Xia Duo hopes that the preparations he has made are superfluous, rather than waiting until something happens to regret it too late. (Subjectivity also divides into objective and subjective)

……

On the Mythallar control interface, Xia Duo's will lingered for a long time. He had thought he had completed all his psychological preparation before the war began, but when it truly came to the final push of destruction, he still hesitated.

Although the city below is shrouded by a barrier, the situation inside is only impossible to Scrying directly; indirect information can still be obtained in large quantities.

Xia Duo could see the ignorant and wandering Commoners below, the angry and fanatical Apprentices, and a small number of worried Scholars and warriors. In such a city, it can be said that the vast majority inside knew nothing about his being attacked.

Does he really want to destroy them indiscriminately?

Although Xia Duo has a thousand reasons to convince himself that he must teach Zhamu Dasi a lesson that will hurt to the core, he can likewise give himself a thousand reasons to convince himself to spare those ignorant or, one might say, innocent Commoners, even from a rational perspective.

Human nature is complex, and nothing more so than this.

Xia Duo does not know if the pilots who dropped the Little Boy and Fat Man back then had a moment of hesitation at the moment of takeoff, but he is truly hesitating now.

"Niya—"

Xia Duo's original intention was to let Niya persuade him once more, to thereby complete his final psychological preparation. Call him hypocritical or real, he truly thought this way.

It was just that he did not expect Niya to say with great confusion: "Didn't you say you were preparing to return to Nan Jing? Why are you still probing them? Could this be the limit of the Annihilation Light?"

"……"

Xia Duo could not help but feel a bit self-deprecating. Under his influence, Niya did indeed have more identification with ordinary people, but as of now, that was limited to Netherese, or more specifically—only the people of Nan Jing she was more familiar with.

As for the people of Zhamu Dasi, what were they?

"You are so curious about the true power of the Annihilation Light! But it won't work right now; the Floating City is at too low an altitude, and I am worried it will affect the normal operation of the Jump System."

"Then hurry up and ascend!"

"Mm." Xia Duo silently increased the speed of the Floating City's ascent.

When they were about 20 New Li from the ground, Xia Duo did not perform any special ceremony, nor did he even tell Niya, and directly triggered the medium-to-high energy level Annihilation Light.

The attack was focused on Tuokesente City directly below, but its range of influence was something even Xia Duo himself could not determine; after all, he had never conducted Annihilation experiments of such an energy level.

After triggering the Annihilation Light, Xia Duo's state of mind instantly became peaceful, but immediately following that was an invisible pressure surging into his heart, difficult to dispel.