The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 975: Prelude to War



Black Rose Empire

At roughly 150 kilometers northwest of Sunpeak City, a group of twenty blue-skinned Celestials appeared in the sky, hidden above the white ocean of clouds. It was not the first time they had been here, and they didn't plan on it being their last either.

If one had a closer look, the blue-skinned Celestials were actually moving around on solid clouds. Moreover, various facilities and infrastructure were found hidden within the clouds.

This particular cloud region did not possess the usual properties of clouds; it was more like solid land, and given the magnitude of its size, it was no different from a floating fortress.

It wasn't the only of its kind but one of several remnants of the lost Etherean civilization, which the Celestials had found when they first occupied Pangea.

After countless moons, the remnants of the Etherean civilization had been completely absorbed by the Celestial Kingdom.

The blue-skinned Celestials used the floating cloud fortress of the Ethereans to spy on the Sunpeak City's development.

"We have already been observing them for many days now. High Command is being too wary of this Land-Dweller country. Besides the Great Devil Slayer, who might pose a bit of a threat, the rest of the Land-Dwellers aren't even worthy of our concern."

"That's true. They don't have a single person comparable to the Divine Origin realm. The strongest among them are the dragon lords, who are only equivalent to the Half-step Divine Origin realm at best. They are far too weak."

"Exactly! I don't see why we don't just take over their damn space tower and destroy their space bases! The longer we let them develop, the higher the chances of Doomsday coming! I really don't understand what those in High are thinking!"

"This is why you are only stuck with this job and not part of the High Command; you only see the smaller picture. So long as the Great Devil Slayer is alive, these Land-Dwellers can just build new space bases."

"So High Command is planning an elaborate trap to kill the Great Devil Slayer? Then, what was the point of us observing this region? I thought we were preparing to take over the space tower?"

"Hehe, killing the Great Devil Slayer isn't the only way to stop the Land-Dwellers from

rebuilding new space bases in the future. Capturing the space tower is only a means to attract attention."

As the blue-skinned Celestials had a full-blown discussion, many of them were suddenly startled by the subtle insinuation of genocide.

Gulp!

"H-Hold on a minute... the High Command is planning to wipe out the Land-Dwellers...? That's crazy! No matter how inferior the Land-Dwellers are, they still share human origins like us!"

"Since the Land-Dwellers are no longer satisfied with the land, we have no other choice but to destroy them utterly and thoroughly. Such sacrifices are necessary for the survival of our kind."

"But..."

"But what? Doomsday must be prevented at all costs! Don't forget your history lesson! You haven't forgotten what happened to Celeste, Obos, Cruna, Mypso, Solreitis, and Lundeon, have you?! Do you want Pangea to be next?! Pangea is all we have now!"

"The painful past of the Celestial Kingdom is something that has been ingrained into every Celestial. Of course, I have not forgotten about them. However, you speak as if Gehenna doesn't exist."

The moment Gehenna was mentioned, half of the group immediately glanced at the naïve speaker and snickered with disdain.

If Gehenna were so easy to conquer, the Celestial Kingdom have already done it.

However, the truth was that they still hadn't even found out how the Holy War between Pangea and Gehenna abruptly ended. More importantly, they couldn't comprehend the concept of Realm Lords and didn't dare to underestimate it.

Even so, Thanatos's sole existence was enough to make the Celestial Kingdom think twice before invading Gehenna.

"You can only consider Gehenna because you don't understand the terror of Gehenna's Realm Lord. Our Celestial Kingdom has sent people to investigate the strength of Gehenna in the past. The result they brought back was-Never offend Thanatos."

"Why is that?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Because Thanatos alone can wipe out our Celestial Kingdom's army if we send it into Gehenna. It only takes him a thought to kill anyone whose soul hasn't reached the Divine Star realm."

The naïve speaker immediately felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly understood why Thanatos was to be feared. Death Law Users were no different from grim reapers.

Even if the Celestial Kingdom sent Divine Star realm experts after Thanatos, they would only end up getting exhausted to death before they could reach the person since they would have no army of their own to fight the endless hordes of demons and undead.

Divine Star realm experts might be very strong, but their source of power wasn't endless.

"I'm sending the latest report to High Command," the Cloud Fortress Leader stated. However, just as he was about to hit the [Send] button on the report he had prepared, he received a new mail from High Command.

The other blue-skinned Celestials glanced at the Cloud Fortress Leader's frozen hand with surprise before looking up.

"What's the matter?" they asked.

"High Command has received intel of the Great Devil Slayer's last traces in the Western Sea and has given us the green to take action in three hours. The three armies of Blackshell City, Razorfin City, and Tidalsong City will immediately attack the UN's northwestern, northeastern, and eastern borders after confirming we have drawn the enemy's attention."

When everyone heard the Cloud Fortress leader say this, their eyes immediately lit up with excitement and anticipation.

"Finally! After sitting around, watching the Land-Dwellers for so many days, we can finally take action and relieve our boredom!"

The Cloud Fortress Leader's solemn gaze swept over his subordinates before he said, "Although the Land-Dwellers are weak, our mission requires us to attract all of the enemy's attention."

"In the event that our enemy's strength is actually much higher than we have thought, then this operation is no different from a suicide mission. I also want you all to treat it as such-Be prepared to die."

"We will be the spark that lights the flames of war between the Celestial Kingdom and the UN. So, make peace with yourselves now because, in three hours, there will be no turning back."

"Yes, Sir!" the blue-skinned Celestials answered with equal seriousness.

Unbeknownst to them, Fourth Dream had been lurking in the area with her invisibility spell, eavesdropping on their group discussion. After realizing the seriousness of the situation, she quickly returned to Sunpeak City to alert everyone.

As a result, Sunpeak City secretly entered high alert, followed by Blackthorn City, the rest of the Black Rose Empire, and then the rest of the UN.

Within a single hour, the Red Dragon Clan and Great House of Caelestis tirelessly travel with their spatial abilities to pass the information around to other members of the UN.

"Lady Fourth Dream, are you certain the Celestial Kingdom will attack us in another two hours?" Henrietta asked after making the secret trip to Sunpeak City.

Even though she had already instructed every border city to strengthen its defenses, she still

had to hear the news from Fourth Dream in person.

After all, the Celestial Kingdom's plan was not a small matter.

Once the Celestial Kingdom launched its attack, it would most likely be very swift and destructive. No one could guess how they would be hit due to their limited knowledge of its

military might.

"I am certain that was what I overheard them saying," Fourth Dream confirmed seriously.

Henrietta was silent for a moment before asking, "What did you make of the Celestial's

strength on that Cloud Fortress 150km away?"

"Most of their strength ranged between Third-stage Divine Warrior to Seventh-stage Divine Warrior. Their leader's strength, however, I could not tell for certain. I suspect he might be at least a First-stage Divine Knight," Fourth Dream guessed.

"First-stage Divine Knight..."

Within the City Lord's manor, a depressive and suffocating atmosphere immediately filled the room. Henrietta and everyone else gathered inside all felt heavy-hearted. Forget about the three armies that will their borders; just the independent force alone placed unimaginable pressure on them. No matter what, they couldn't let the Celestials take control

of the Heavenreacher.

After all, if the Celestials figured out how to use the Heavenreacher, forget about sending people to space; they could use the Heavenreacher to shoot down the space station. "Please ask Lord Astarot to disconnect the space station from synchronized orbit and enter

battle fortress mode."

"At once, Lady Henrietta."

The Red Dragons outside the City Lord's manor immediately heeded Henrietta's instruction

and departed. "Has anyone been able to contact Vaan? What about Lady Hecate?"

"No one has been able to contact Lord Vaan since he entered the Western Sea," sighed a Red Dragon outside the City Lord's manor.

"Lady Hecate is currently in a life-or-death retreat to advance to Rank 7 Divine Being. Until

she succeeds or fails, no one will be able to contact her," Fourth Dream stated solemnly.

"However, I have already sent Seventh Dream to seek help from the Dreamdust Territory. Even so, it will take time for reinforcement to arrive. They won't be able to arrive on time." "We shouldn't count on them to face the first wave of attacks," Fourth Dream stated

objectively.

Henrietta's mind spun for alternative solutions.

If there were no other choice, she would have to rely on her master to deter the Celestial

Kingdom's independent force.

However, that should be a last resort.

Moreover, she still had to figure out how to defend against the Celestial Kingdom's three

armies that planned to attack their borders.

"Recently, the situation in Gehenna has been rather strange. The Great Devils seem to obey Vaan now..." Henrietta suddenly recalled.

"We should use the dimensional cracks to seek help from Wolf God Domain and Evernight Territory. Their reinforcements will arrive much faster than the Dreamdust Territory."