Chapter 39: History

The Black Mountain Army.

As soon as the newspapers blanketing the city of Volsini were distributed, they mobilized their troops immediately.

The Black Mountain Army appeared very relaxed in their camp, but they had been making preparations all along. Upon receiving Grand Duke Benito's military orders, two fully integrated armored divisions quickly set into motion!

An armored division was undoubtedly Grand Duke Benito's trump card. Each armored division commanded two armored brigades, one infantry brigade, one artillery brigade, one combat aviation brigade, one engineer brigade, one anti-aircraft artillery battalion, one military intelligence battalion, one signal battalion, one direct support battalion, three forward support battalions, one aviation support battalion, one chemical defense company, and one magitech squadron, totaling approximately 15,000 to 20,000 personnel per division.

Volsini was originally within the bombing range of the Black Mountain Army's bombers, but in this campaign, both sides tacitly refrained from deploying bombers or airships. Or rather, in the civil war, neither side intended to utilize their air force, not even deploying the magitech squadrons.

This civil war was strictly confined to the ground.

Grand Duke Benito sat inside a command vehicle converted from a heavy-duty truck, surrounded by a dazzling array of various mechanical instruments.

Balbo stood loyally by the Grand Duke's side, awaiting his instructions at any moment.

"Grand Duke, a message has come from Volsini. It's from Robin Rommel," said Damien Ritchie, the Grand Duke's chief of intelligence, who was personally holding down the fort inside the command vehicle. What surprised him somewhat was that the Grand Duke had actually granted Robin the clearance to contact the command vehicle directly, which was why the sonic telegraph transmitter and the transmitter aboard this command vehicle were able to establish a connection.

"Speak," the Grand Duke said indifferently, glancing at Damien.

Shortly after, Damien recounted Robin and his companions' subsequent experiences, including the fact that Robin had now rejoined the ranks.

"Mm, understood," the Grand Duke nodded.

"This Robin is truly a talent, and he has certainly added the finishing touch to this war," Balbo smiled and said. "The Roland Studio, Delos—once this news gets out, Marquis Hyde will find it very difficult to fend off."

"Hah, mere Hyde," the Grand Duke pulled out the handgun at his waist and silently began to polish it. "He is not worth my consideration."

"It's mainly his reinforcements," a trace of mockery flashed in Balbo's eyes. "If we were to directly rout Marquis Hyde, those people would probably set up defensive lines in the rear waiting for us to advance, which would certainly be very troublesome to deal with."

"Now it's for the best. Marquis Hyde is panicked, urging those reinforcements to speed up their support, and those fellows are now making a forced march toward Volsini."

"An army on the march and an army dug into a prepared defensive line are two entirely different things."

"Indeed," the Grand Duke closed his eyes. "Tomorrow, we take Volsini directly!"

When the Black Mountain Army had retreated earlier, they had not pulled back very far, and it would not take them long to reach the outskirts of Volsini.

Seeing that the two men offered no comments regarding Robin's situation, Damien returned to his own duties.

***

Grand Duke and Balbo chatted a bit more before the conversation finally turned back to Robin.

"Damien, enter the city and bring Robin out," the Grand Duke said softly. "I want to meet this interesting Delosian."

"Understood!" Damien accepted the order.

Volsini was currently under a total lockdown, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving, but that could not stop Damien! Bringing out just one person was a breeze for him.

............

Since there were no further orders from above, Robin had nothing much to do. After all, major military operations like this had little to do with a lone soldier operating behind enemy lines.

Finally finding some spare time, Robin asked the assassin for some reading materials and began studying knowledge related Transcendents.

These kinds of materials were basically inaccessible in Forrest; they were only held by large organizations possessing Transcendents.

So-called Transcendents were unquestionably the protagonists of the continent a thousand years ago. Once a Transcendent's power reached a certain level, they truly possessed the capability to act as an army of one and destroy a nation single-handedly. In the eyes of powerful Transcendents, ordinary people were no different from ants.

Ever since the voice of the gods began to fade a thousand years ago, the power of Transcendents had suffered a significant decline. No matter how hard they trained, they could never reach the heights of the Age of Gods.

Comparing historical records, Robin discovered that a continent-destroying divine war had nearly taken place a thousand years ago. After the divine war, the voice of the gods vanished. As for why the divine war was initiated, the historical texts at hand contained no records.

Only unofficial histories recorded that a human Transcendent had awakened to a certain degree, becoming a new god. In a world claiming that everything was created by the gods, the emergence of someone becoming a god was clearly a challenge to divine authority. Because it told the world that gods were not invincible, gods were not beyond scrutiny, and mortals could also become gods.

Enraged by the appearance of this blasphemer, the gods initiated the divine war. However, this period of history was no longer verifiable.

In short, after the gods disappeared, the power of Transcendents was drastically weakened, and no matter how people practiced martial arts or magic, they could no longer attain the levels of yesteryear. Even so, the status of Transcendents remained exceptionally high, as they were still the top-tier combat power in the world.

It wasn't until five hundred years ago that Transcendents weakened by another massive margin compared to before, with their upper limits dropping even lower than previously recorded.

"This sense of déjà vu..." Robin lay in bed, covered by a soft quilt. He rested the book on his thighs and closed his eyes in deep thought.

Why does this feel somewhat like spiritual energy gradually thinning and slowly turning into an age of the end of magic?

Therefore, interpreted through the lens of cultivation logic, there used to be an abundance of spiritual energy, causing Transcendents to be frighteningly powerful. As time passed, the spiritual energy gradually thinned, making the path of Transcendents increasingly difficult.

Much like Jin Yong's martial arts novels: people in the early eras possessed vast internal energy; by the time of *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*, combat techniques accounted for a severe majority; and by *A Deadly Secret* and *The Deer and the Cauldron*, the world of martial arts had essentially reached its twilight.

Robin continued reading.

Powerful Transcendents from a thousand years ago enjoyed long lifespans, whereas powerful Transcendents from five hundred years ago lived to a maximum of two to three hundred years.

After being nerfed twice, the lifespan of a powerful Transcendent dropped to around one hundred years—slightly better than a healthy ordinary person, but only marginally.

Not only that, but after the divine war, the lifespans of Transcendents from a thousand years ago began to plummet off a cliff. Some people were perfectly fine one second, only to reach the end of their natural lifespans the next.

The same went for the Transcendents of five hundred years ago. Originally capable of living past two hundred, on a sudden day five hundred years ago—known as the "Day of Divine Abandonment"—the lifespans of powerful Transcendents were drastically shortened once again.

"Hmm... This feeling, doesn't it feel a bit like *Black Myth: Wukong*? Relying on spiritual resonance to achieve eternal youth?" Robin stroked his chin. "The energy absorbed by people here isn't spiritual energy, nor is it spiritual resonance—it's magic power."

"To put it into perspective, the gods were merely powerful Transcendents. They fed on magic power, and as long as everyone kept absorbing it, everyone stayed full. Then one day, the magic power suddenly decreased, leaving no choice but to launch a divine war to fight over the limited magic power."

"No, it shouldn't just be a matter of quantity; there's also the issue of quality."

"If the quality of the magic power wasn't enough, no matter how much they consumed, they couldn't fill their stomachs... and then they starved to death?"

"Did the Transcendents of a thousand years ago and five hundred years ago all die because of a decline in the quality of magic power?"