Chapter 222: Waning Moon

A surge of bloodthirsty, violent emotion rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the back of his head. Ace instantly felt a desire to tear everything apart. Just then, the hexagram badge on his chest emitted a soft golden light.

The sudden change in emotion triggered the badge’s emotional threshold. The permanent Soul Spell effect Mechanized Mind activated instantly. Ace felt as if he had been doused with cold water, chilled from head to toe. The red light in his eyes dissipated instantly, and his sanity returned.

The golden Mimicry Heart Force continued to operate, guiding Ace’s emotions positively, removing the influence of negative emotions, and reinforcing his will.

The golden Mimicry Heart Force enveloped Ace’s head, blocking the influence of the unknown external entity—the so-called Mental Block. This method could block external influences on the mind, especially the Soul Sanctuary, but correspondingly, his own mental power could not perceive the outside world.

Ace, having regained his sanity, began to ruthlessly kill and clear the Monsters in the harbor district, thinking:

“It is certain that the power of the Abyss has affected this land, causing all Monsters to become manic. I wonder how Nightlight City is faring.”

Ace organized the Wizard Apprentices to clear the Monsters on the periphery of the harbor district. Relying on the harbor’s walls, he settled the ship’s people and goods in the harbor district for the night. Then he activated the Grimoire and contacted the mirror image. Words appeared on the last page of Ace’s Grimoire.

“Host, according to my inquiries, this Monster riot is called the Monster Tide by the locals. It will reach its climax on the night of the waning moon and then end.

Based on recent research on manic Monsters and humans, it can be confirmed that this influence should come from some Abyssal existence. I speculate it is the influence of the skull and flesh of the terrifying demon rumored to be buried here.

We have repelled one large-scale Monster attack. I suggest leading all people and supplies to Nightlight City as soon as possible. I will dispatch Ancestar to lead the musketeer unit to meet you.”

The next day, Ace led everyone to wait for the arrival of the musketeer unit.

Orderly footsteps gradually came from the paved avenue. About a quarter of an hour later, Ancestar rode a horse, leading the entire musketeer square formation to the harbor district.

“Knight Ancestar, leading 200 Musketeer Soldiers and 300 Musketeer Militia, has arrived for escort duty. Please review them, Your Excellency the Archon!”

Seeing Ace from afar, Ancestar dismounted and jogged to him, speaking loudly.

Ace nodded, offered a few words of encouragement, and then organized the relocation.

Two hundred Musketeer Soldiers led the way, three hundred Musketeer Militia guarded the flanks, and fifty Wizard Apprentices brought up the rear. Although there were inevitable attacks by sporadic Monsters causing some casualties, they were fortunate not to encounter large groups of Monsters and arrived safely in Nightlight City.

After a simple welcoming ceremony, Ace announced their treatment to the anxious estate slaves.

“You have all faithfully labored for me at the Ace Estate for several years and are my first batch of ‘subjects.’ We have arrived at the High Tower Territory. Here, your status is no longer slaves, but Freemen of the High Tower Territory.”

Ace paused. several public officials from the High Tower Territory Administration Office began to explain the rights, status, and promotion channels of Freemen in the High Tower Territory. Seeing the somewhat reassured crowd, Ace smiled.

He no longer needed slavery to maintain his authority over the estate residents. In the High Tower Territory, he was the City Founder, the Lifetime Archon, and the Mentor of all Wizards. He possessed natural and legitimate authority.

As long as these people lived within the system he established, they were naturally ruled by him.

Subsequently, Ace pressed his hands down a few times. Powerful mental power swept across, and everyone quieted down involuntarily. He said:

“The stewards of the Estate Administration Office have contributed much to the prosperity of our estate. It was under their orderly management that my will was correctly executed, allowing us to bring so many supplies to the High Tower.

Therefore, the members of the former Estate Administration Office will be promoted to Reserve Citizens and integrated into the High Tower Territory Administration Office.”

Then, Ace introduced Carson to Leon and appointed Carson as the Secondary Magistrate. At the same time, he removed the word “Temporary” from Leon’s title, appointing him as the formal Chief Magistrate.

Seeing the two beaming with joy, Ace offered a few words of encouragement and let them discuss the settlement and integration of the new residents.

Inside the Magic School castle, Ace and the mirror image organized the apprentices to smelt high-carbon steel and manufacture rifled gun barrels and rifled cannon barrels.

Bayen bowed 35 degrees to Ace, then said calmly but seriously:

“Apprentices are our important seeds for research and teaching. Although they should experience some combat, we should try to avoid senseless losses in the early stages.

There are fifteen days until the waning moon. We must mass-produce muskets and cannons to achieve universal conscription in a short time to defend against the Monster Tide riot on the night of the waning moon!”

Ace nodded and said to Bayen:

“In addition, we must use a method to prevent everyone from being influenced by the tyrannical whispering during the Monster Tide. I already have a plan for this. The Knights’ Heart Force has extremely strong efficacy in resisting external mental influences. I will use their Heart Force to cast Mental Block on everyone.”

Ace did not explain about the Mimicry Heart Force. As personal research, it was not suitable to disclose to others.

At the same time, Ace ordered Ancestar to arrange for the musketeer unit and militia unit to leave the city entirely, clearing out small groups of Monsters wandering nearby to reduce the pressure on the night of the waning moon as much as possible.

Because of his excellent performance in several battles, Carlo was promoted to squad leader of a ten-man squad. However, he wasn’t happy because he was a squad leader in the militia.

“Standardize your movements! Every step must become your habit. Bite the cartridge, pour the powder, ram it down, insert the lead bullet, ram it down, pour loose powder into the priming pan, aim at the Monster, and pull the trigger!”

Carlo roared out the usage steps of the rifled flintlock musket extremely skillfully, commanding the militia to practice repeatedly. The militia unit was different from the musketeer unit; their ammunition supply was much lower, and they had far fewer cannons. Everything had to be used sparingly.

Suddenly, an urgent bugle sounded.

Carlo skillfully bit open the paper cartridge, followed the battalion commander’s order, led his squad of militia to turn, load ammunition, and fire at the ordinary low-level Monsters running from the west.

Simultaneously, the horse-drawn cannons were fixed in place and began shelling groups of Monsters.

According to firepower tests, as long as a musket hit the head, heart, or neck of an ordinary low-level Monster, it could kill it successfully. Even if it didn’t hit a vital spot, it could incapacitate the Monster.

However, muskets could not seriously injure powerful low-level Monsters. To deal with them, only rifled cannons could be used. As long as they were hit or grazed by a cannonball, even powerful low-level Monsters would die or be seriously injured on the spot.

While soldiers and militia fought bloody battles to clear nearby Monsters, a large number of guns and cannons had been manufactured and quickly distributed to the populace to defend against the impending night of the waning moon.

Every musket was numbered and assigned to a person, to be collected and returned to the armory immediately after the night of the waning moon passed.

In the central Fountain Square of Nightlight City, Wizard Apprentices were earnestly inscribing Rune Arrays one by one, connecting them with magical patterns. This was a composite super-large Magic Array capable of accommodating five hundred people at a time.

Days passed. In the blink of an eye, the waning moon was approaching. All musketeer units and militia units returned to the city, guarding the city walls.

The Magic Array was finally completed. The Rune Array was also composite, mainly including two aspects: permanent Lesser Mechanized Mind effect and permanent Mental Block effect.

During this time, Ace was not idle. He prepared a large number of Glycerin Magic Tubes and stored them in his spatial stomach pouch, making necessary preparations.

Ace, Ancestar, and Arno injected Mimicry Heart Force and Heart Force as seeds into the array. Then, they placed Mana Stones created from pure Mana converted from active Fire Element Mana siphoned from underground magma at the bottom of the Magic School castle.

This super-large Magic Array consumed almost all the Mana Stones produced by the Magic School’s Mana Stone Conversion Magic Array. Ace watched as Wizard Apprentices and residents stood on the Magic Array one by one. He activated the super-large Magic Array. Accompanied by the pulse of Mana and the setting sun, darkness fell.

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