The Prism Cannon

When the Great Devourer launched its counteroffensive, half of the Second Legion was crushed, forcing them to completely withdraw from the southern region of the old Lucadia Empire.

The newly arrived Fifth Legion was now guarding the front line.

Guardian Ponuo, the commander leading the Fifth Legion, complained as he looked around at the quiet and peaceful scenery.

“How much longer do we have to wait before we can stop these defensive preparations? Lately, we barely even see any small bugs.”

“But won't the orders be handed down soon?”

This was because the Central Council had ordered them to strictly hold their positions and forbade them from taking any rash actions.

Even Celia, who acted like an annoying fly by constantly raiding rear facilities and warehouses, had temporarily halted her operations. With nothing left to do, the front line fell into a calm before the storm, quietly waiting for time to pass.

“...A total collapse and retreat? The beastkin, the dwarves—everyone retreated? They even formed an alliance and still lost?”

Meanwhile, the highest echelon of the Elven Empire, including Sarel, the president of the Central Council, was deeply shocked and thrown into confusion by this news.

Those factions, who usually bickered with one another, had actually formed an alliance, only to be utterly defeated in a head-on clash with Kerrigan's migratory colony. In truth, their retreat was practically a total annihilation.

Seeing them make such a massive fuss over that single defeat made this place feel even more chaotic than the front lines, where no one knew when the Great Devourer might swarm them.

“T-This... doesn't this mean all our plans have gone down the drain?” someone said in a trembling voice.

This was because the elves' original plan was to build up their strength and push forward in one fell swoop while the western coalition further suppressed the Great Devourer and cornered them.

During this process, they intended to reap as many benefits as possible. Thus, they had avoided actively provoking the Great Devourer, focusing instead on clearing out the Great Devourer nests that had invaded their kingdom and other colonies.

Elise had been able to hold them off with relatively few resources while simultaneously supporting Kerrigan precisely by exploiting this opportunistic mindset of the Elven Empire.

Yet, those forces they believed would eventually win, even if with difficulty, had still been defeated even after uniting.

It was safe to say their plans had been completely derailed.

“What should we do, President?”

Sarel flinched under the gazes turning toward him.

In times like these, the servants of the gods would instinctively look up at the sky, hoping to receive some sort of guidance.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Sarel made his decision.

The option of maximizing their benefits had long been torn to shreds.

It was time to act.

“We will proceed with consolidating our internal affairs first; that remains unchanged. Order the Guardians immediately to burn down those horrific hives encroaching upon our interior with everything they have.”

The first target they established was to clear and destroy the nests of the invasion colonies that had crossed the sea to breach the elves' fragile defensive lines.

The invasion colonies were like cancer cells festering from within.

If ignored or neglected even slightly, they would immediately multiply in massive numbers, disintegrating the entire faction in an instant.

“If we lose that place, our losses will be catastrophic. I am willing to go and stop them,” Celia volunteered.

The Great Devourer understood this as well. Thus, Celia had volunteered to head there and stop the enemy.

After all, it was Celia's masterpiece that had originally led the invasion colonies to destabilize the Elven Empire's occupied territories.

Once Elise granted her permission, she immediately took to the sky to return.

By this time, the Elven Empire's army had already begun surrounding the territory under their control.

Before the all-out war began, Celia gazed at the Lictors emerging from their cocoons within the nest, revealing their physical forms.

Even so, they were preparing everything they possibly could here.

“Turn the entire nest into a fortress—an impenetrable stronghold that can never be breached.”

As Celia monitored the gathering Elven Empire soldiers, she poured herself into the nest's defensive preparations by any means necessary.

For the Great Devourer, siege defense was not a familiar type of battle.

Since they had always been the ones attacking and hunting their enemies, they had rarely fought to the death to defend anything.

Thus, Celia clenched her fists, firmly believing that she had to take on this role.

Although Elise and the Great Devourer, having absorbed some human genes, continued to grow, Celia still believed there were things only she could achieve.

Her standing within the colony was also very important to her.

Aside from everything else, as long as she could obtain the recognition of the god, Lin Miao, she would continue to have a voice.

After all, Elise was not the only one who yearned for Lin Miao's attention.

...

Finally, the long-awaited order to attack was handed down, and a horde of soldiers charged forward in unison to the sound of artillery fire tearing through the sky.

The magic missiles fired by the elves erupted from massive cannons embedded with magic stones, triggering explosions that burned and destroyed the tough spiderwebs covering the outer walls of the once-glorious city.

These spiderwebs were annoying defensive structures that hindered the movement of troops; only the Great Devourers, who could secrete a special substance, could move in and out freely without being affected.

The elves—and naturally, anyone who wished to attack the Great Devourer—had to clear away the spiderwebs covering the area first.

“Charge!”

This time, the foreign race forces under their command also displayed a remarkably high desire to fight.

Most of them came from the former Kingdom of Bartonia, a portion of whose land was now occupied by the Great Devourer.

Having been conscripted by force, they usually required overseers to fight with all their might. But this time, their morale was so high that they did not even need overseers to fight to kill the Great Devourer, reclaim their lost lands, and avenge their deceased families.

Recognizing this, the elves recruited more volunteers from the rear and placed those from the Kingdom of Bartonia at the front, using revenge and rewards as bait.

They knew they were being used as meat shields. However, their burning desire for revenge was strong enough to make them forget that fact.

Spreading her wings, Celia stood like a statue atop the spire of the city that had been completely transformed into a nest, looking down and sighing softly.

Although the spiderweb traps had been cleared by long-range artillery, the Great Devourer's defenses were far from over.

“What is that... cough.”

The Elven Empire's ground troops, who should have smoothly reached the vicinity of the nest with fire support, fell in droves to suddenly triggered traps.

The bizarre carapaces clinging to the outer walls of the city's buildings and the ground were not simple shells.

They were a new mutant species of barnacle worm born after Elise preyed upon the barnacles Lin Miao had placed in the terrarium.

These barnacle worms relied on their hard shells to withstand the artillery bombardment, after which their shells suddenly split open, firing sharp venomous needles in all directions.

“Could all of those be...?”

The assault captain, who had passionately commanded his subordinates with a vow to save this city—which was also his hometown—and exact revenge on the Great Devourer, stared blankly at this place, which looked entirely different from the city in his memories.

The barnacle worms were packed so densely they were impossible to count, resembling barnacles clinging to the hull of a ship.

They had clustered into a massive, singular entity that looked like a defensive wall.

To conquer it, they had to carve out a single path while enduring a relentless barrage of venomous needles fired by the barnacle worms from all directions.

This massive hive, built by Celia with every resource at her disposal, had opened the gates of hell and was waiting for them.

“Then we have no choice but to destroy the entire city!” Adela, the Guardian of the Third Legion, spoke through gritted teeth as she watched the local foreign race forces—composed of conscripts and volunteers—fall into panic during their attempt to advance.

Protecting a lost homeland and reclaiming a rightful heritage were sentiments that ultimately only applied to the local foreign race troops.

The elves, who formed the upper echelon of the Elven Empire's military, ultimately decided to raze the entire city.

To them, killing the Great Devourer was far more important than saving the city, even if it meant turning it to ash.

“Fire the Prism Cannon!”

A colossal weapon, incomparable to any ordinary artillery, made its appearance.

This massive, modular cannon, which combined magic, the Elven God, and machinery, was carried in heavy, bulky pieces by giant treants. Once assembled, it formed a cannon larger than an ordinary house.

The Prism Cannon was the most advanced and powerful weapon of the civilization the elves had inherited from their gods, and it could not be fired using simple magic power alone.

A single shot from this giant cannon consumed an entire artificial spirit core capable of illuminating a city for a month. Once successfully fired, it would unleash a massive beam of light that leveled everything in its path—a weapon generations ahead of its time.

“What incredible magic power!” Celia gasped in awe as she sensed the immense power gathering within the fully assembled colossal weapon.

Before the gods descended upon Terra, such a weapon was completely unimaginable. Once fired, not even a fortress could withstand it.

“Those Great Devourers are charging toward the Prism Cannon!”

Numerous flying species took to the skies, soaring toward the elven camp in an attempt to destroy the cannon.

“We must stop them!”

The elves gathered around the Prism Cannon deployed their Winged Squad and unleashed anti-air fire, desperately trying to hold them back.

“Is it already too late?” Celia muttered, realizing she could not stop the Prism Cannon before it fired, and quickly ordered her forces to prepare their defenses.

“Fire!”

Almost simultaneously, the cannon, having finished gathering its energy, unleashed a massive beam of light.

The sudden, immense flash of light was intense enough to blind anyone. The beam vaporized everything in its path, extending straight forward.

Celia had deployed Lictors in various positions beforehand and cast her magic just moments before the Prism Cannon fired.

The magic, cast in synchronization through the hive mind with Celia at the center, was a unique technique exclusive to the Great Devourer colony.

Having fully absorbed and studied the magitech civilization of the fallen Lucadia Empire, combined with the ability to freely stack and resonate magic through the hive mind, their spells were both incredibly fast and powerful.

Holding her staff, Celia precisely calculated the path of the beam, then looked toward the massive, triangular magic prism created by their combined magic, which stood directly in the beam's trajectory.

She intuitively sensed that the firepower of the Prism Cannon was too immense to block head-on; the best approach was to divert and disperse it as much as possible.

Exactly as she had calculated, when the beam struck the prism, it did not shatter it. Instead, it split into several beams of light, dispersing in all directions.

“Ugh...”

Spreading her wings, she channeled all her strength to withstand the violent aftershocks sweeping through the entire nest.

Though weakened, the beams that had split into dozens of directions still contained immense power.

The force tore through the nest, causing buildings to collapse and vaporizing a large number of Great Devourers, resulting in significant casualties.

Even so, Celia had achieved her goal.

Although the nest as a whole had suffered damage, the defensive line had not completely collapsed or broken.

“How could the Prism Cannon... Was that magic? Those horrific parasitic monsters?”

Adela, who had believed the Prism Cannon would instantly obliterate the Great Devourers and their nest, turned pale with fright.

She had never expected the Great Devourers to be capable of using magic to defend themselves.

While she knew the Great Devourers could use magic, the sheer firepower of the cannon was something common sense dictated could not be blocked by ordinary magic, making this outcome all the more unfathomable.

Having blocked that impossible strike with high-tier magic driven by the hive mind, Celia leapt from the spire and took flight.

Although she had barely blocked it, it was only an incomplete defense.

The Prism Cannon was an asymmetrical weapon; it was fundamentally impossible for her to fully block it at her current level. The weapon had to be destroyed.

...

“We're under attack!”

Just as the Prism Cannon was recharging, preparing for its second strike,

countless flying mutants swept across the sky, attacking the main force of the Elven Empire.

Mutants of all kinds, including tiger hornet ants, Dragon Ants, and Great Devourer eagles, charged through the skies already dominated by the Great Devourer, launching an assault on the Prism Cannon—some firing venomous stingers, others attempting head-on strikes.

The elves fought back desperately, launching attacks into the sky in an effort to hold them off.

Although the elves were the ones besieging the city and the Great Devourers were defending it, the appearance of the Prism Cannon had completely reversed the dynamic.

“As expected, those creatures can't keep blocking us forever,” Adela, the Guardian of the Third Legion, murmured, her lips curling into a slight smile as she watched a Dragon Ant fall, pierced by one of her arrows.

She could feel the desperate struggle of the Great Devourer.

Although the first wave of the Prism Cannon's attack had not instantly destroyed the city as expected, it was obvious that the Great Devourer could not continuously withstand attacks of this magnitude.

“Prepare the second strike as quickly as possible. Once we weaken their morale just a bit more, deploy the assault force immediately!”

Her garments fluttering, she raised her bow to aim once more, the path to victory seemingly clear before her eyes.

All they had to do was hold off the Great Devourer's desperate struggles and continue bombarding them with the Prism Cannon.

However, her plan hit a slight snag.

She had thought that defending the airspace as before would be enough, but suddenly, an object enveloped in a dark green barrier flew in at extreme speed, deflecting the arrows fired by the Guardians before slamming onto the ground.

“You are... the Witch of the Great Devourer!” Adela bellowed in rage after waving her hand to summon a gust of wind, dispersing the dust to reveal Celia's figure.

In truth, Celia had already made quite a name for herself in this region.

Furthermore, because Celia had recently been flying around on her own, launching raids and airstrikes on rear bases and warehouses, the Third Legion—which had been desperately trying to stop her—was absolutely furious.

“Kill her immediately! That woman wants to destroy the Prism Cannon!” Adela panicked and screamed her orders upon seeing Celia casting a high-tier spell aimed at the Prism Cannon.