The First Magic World War

Charles was meditating with his eyes closed when a thought entered his mind: "Machu Picchu has completed its secondary maze-ification!"

He opened his eyes, smiling faintly. He felt it, the brand-new Machu Picchu Fortress, this ancient Beastman Kingdom stronghold was actually quite vast, after all, it was once claimed to be — 'the unbreachable Machu Picchu'.

It was built between two mountain peaks and was itself a vital passageway. At its peak, it had housed up to 270,000 troops, with hundreds of barracks, serving as the last bulwark protecting Strasbourg.

After the Sherlock Dynasty conquered this fortress through strategy, they preferred to set fire to Machu Picchu, turning the stronghold of the ancient Beastman Kingdom into ruins, precisely because it was too hard to attack. The Sherlock Dynasty had lost a lot of forces, and since they were in a hurry to capture Strasbourg, they didn't have enough troops to garrison.

Later, the Sherlock Dynasty, which had overthrown the ancient Beastman Kingdom, simply constructed another official road that bypassed Machu Picchu, giving up on repairing the fortress.

With the secondary maze-ification of Machu Picchu, Charles could do much more with the ruins of this ancient Beastman Kingdom's stronghold. He could even remove some of the collapsed buildings and set up completely new structures, although the creation of new buildings was very time-consuming and required the cooperation of NPCs.

Charles's consciousness swept through the maze, and he quickly sensed what was happening. Without any hesitation, he stepped forward and arrived at the scene of the incident.

Charles stood on high ground, looking down, and commanded in no uncertain terms, "Members of the Westwind Knighthood who are willing to obey my orders, head east!"

With a gesture of his hand, a stone archway appeared. This was one of the original constructions of the Machu Picchu Fortress, known as the Homer's Gate. It was built entirely out of stone and was not burned down, just overgrown with moss and vines.

Charles had shifted this gate over here, a move so masterful it immediately intimidated everyone.

Mason, Homonsa, and other members of the knighthood with an adventurous background, rushed towards Homer's Gate without delay. They all had rich experience and knew there was something tricky between this smooth-talker and the fortress.

Dobin hesitated slightly but then led a group of people straight toward Homer's Gate.

Yellow Bear, Philedrica, and Taoles were the third batch to head for Homer's Gate, bringing along seven or eight hundred people with them. The rest were unwilling to relent, causing a racket and cursing loudly.

Charles snapped his fingers, and instantly numerous stone walls appeared, dividing these people. Homer's Gate rose slightly, so that everyone could see those who had followed Charles's orders.

Charles stood atop a tall pillar, looking like a deity as he shouted, "I give you one last chance. Those willing to follow my orders, raise your left hand. Those who do not will remain forever in the ruins of this fortress, until they turn to dry bones." Find more to read at empire

Even though the Old Continent had Transcendents, no one possessed the secret techniques associated with the labyrinth. These knighthood members, originally criminals and gang affiliates, had already been shocked by Charles, but they were simply too emotional for the moment to back down.

Now, with Charles standing atop the tall pillar, casting a cold, emotionless gaze below, the noise from the people still bickering steadily decreased until there was silence. People began to raise their left hands, some raised their right hands, and still others raised both hands.

On Earth, elementary school children are trained to differentiate between left and right hands, but in the Fars Empire, nobody teaches this, and many people can't tell their left from their right well into adulthood.

Charles didn't make it difficult for this disorganized crowd. As long as they raised a hand, no matter which one, he opened a pathway for them. Soon, there wasn't a single person left inside the maze of Machu Picchu Fortress; they had all walked out.

Charles also felt a tinge of sentiment; Machu Picchu was a very special place for him. He hesitated for a moment, then let Mason and Homonsa, his two "old subordinates," take a hundred men to stay behind. He planned to remake Machu Picchu into a fortress anew.

Although there are only so few of us, it's still a "seed."

Charles also felt somewhat worried, thinking that if something were to happen to Homonsa, he would be much more at ease if she stayed in Machu Picchu.

Having left Mason and Homonsa behind, Charles continued on his way with the Westwind Knights, heading towards the Behemoth Duchy.

Sitting in the carriage, Charles glanced through his journal for a while and thought to himself, "So, Agmillar's Labyrinth doesn't necessarily require finding fifteen ruins; one can also layer the labyrinth onto the same city."

"I wonder what the conditions would be for stacking a third labyrinth?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Or, could I find another city ruin somewhere?"

Charles flipped through the journal again, spending some time looking at the Vampire Secret Scrolls. There are fifteen pages of Agmillar's Labyrinth and seventeen pages of the Vampire Secret Scrolls. Charles had already mastered three of them: Blood Flame Qi, Bloodflame Transformation Art, and Flame Hand, and he was studying the fourth page, Flame Scorching Blast Bullet.

After browsing for a while, Charles put away his journal. He patted his right leg where, in the Bloody Vortex within, dwelt a pale golden rune spider. After spending eighteen days in Machu Picchu, he had finally cultivated the runes for the Spirit Spider Technique.

If Sixth Order Transcendents were to be graded, Charles would likely be at the very top. He possessed six special abilities: Insight, Blood Flame Qi, Quickness Technique, Spirit Spider Technique, Angel's Thorn, and Bloodline Mantra.

The Bloody Glory surged within the six Bloody Vortices, occasionally being amplified several times like the tide, suddenly accelerating its circulation inside his body.

Charles mused to himself, "Having mastered the Spirit Spider Technique, with my speed, not even an ordinary High Order could catch up."

"As long as I'm a bit more cautious, there should not be any danger to my life on this trip to the Behemoth Duchy."

Just as Charles was thinking this, a scout from the Westwind Knights returned with a report that two armies were engaged in battle up ahead.

The Westwind Knights, having spent eighteen days in the Machu Picchu Labyrinth, were initially at risk, but after the crisis passed, they actually gained some cohesion. The squad, which was often sent by Charles to requisition provisions, had been transformed into scouts and were surprisingly qualified for the role.

Even Taoles was somewhat astonished, thinking that Charles must have taken military courses in college.

Of course, Charles hadn't taken such courses, and Huang Hai Sheng wasn't versed in military matters. Even his online political commentary was amateurish. The current cohesion and discipline of this patchwork knighthood could only be attributed to "good luck."

Charles dispatched several more scout teams. He had no intention of getting involved in the battle between the two armies; he only wanted to find a way around them.

But before the scouts could return, there were sounds like that of mountains crumbling and tsunamis approaching, followed by countless chaotic shouts piercing the sky.

In this knighthood, the one with the richest experience on the battlefield was actually the leopard girl Philedrica. Her expression shifted slightly as she said, "One side has been routed; those are the victory shouts of the pursuers."