“I won’t give you any specific time, you just need to know that the faster and stronger, the better. If you still haven’t met my requirements before the deadline —”

Boom—!

A blazing fireball fell from the sky, instantly burning the iconic statue of the Tower of Babel on the side of the square, leaving no ashes.

“Then, the Tower of Babel, and you.”

The tyrannical princess ruthlessly declared: “There is no longer any value or necessity for existence.”

Her anger and urgency were puzzling, but of course, compared to being puzzled, what everyone felt… was naturally more fear.

Unstoppable, the plague known as fear spread among the scholars of the Tower of Babel.

Even Ravenna was stunned by Evora’s incredibly brutal and crazy command. When she reacted and began to analyze all kinds of possibilities, the blood-red flame flower suddenly enveloped her. The puppet’s body was swallowed by the fire in an instant, and the next second… Ravenna’s figure mysteriously appeared in Hendrick’s office.

Here, all the high-level officials and high-ranking wizards of the Tower of Babel gathered.

But in front of that young burner, everyone was silent, not even daring to breathe.

“Because of a certain bastard.”

Evora slowly opened her mouth, and the anger in her voice made the room temperature rise a few degrees.

“I have to tie you up with me and confront her and the Etheric Academy head-on.”

Ravenna almost instantly confirmed who the two pronouns referred to. The only one who could confront the Elder Princess head-on was the Empress, and the “bastard” who could stir up their dispute was naturally the young and evil Hydral.

But knowing the answer, her mood hit rock bottom.

The confrontation Evora was talking about, could it be…

“The Etheric Academy will manufacture alchemical weapons called mechanical armor to fight against the alchemical weapons you manufacture.”

For ordinary scholars, only a sufficiently direct command is needed, but for the high-level officials responsible for operating the Tower of Babel, Evora, while showing such anger, still briefly described the ins and outs to them.

“In a while, two territories will start a war, and your and the Etheric Academy’s alchemical weapons will be responsible for arming them.”

The Elder Princess’s pupils occasionally burned with blood-red flame flowers, indicating her unstable emotions: “Now understand why I want you to focus all resources on developing weapons?”

No one spoke, perhaps because they were shocked by this astonishing news, or perhaps because they had to hide their anger at this absurd act of violence.

“Elder Princess… Your Highness.”

In the end, it was Hendrick, the current leader of the Tower of Babel, who spoke. He tried to maintain a calm tone and asked cautiously and carefully:

“May I ask, the war you mentioned, is it a battle, or…”

“A total war that sweeps across two rich territories, until one side is completely defeated and destroyed.” Evora waved her hand impatiently. “Why are you concerned about the so-called ‘war’? In this matter, is the war important at all? I don’t want to repeat what I just said to you.”

Even if the gap is so huge, Evora has no intention of bowing to Ephesande. She turned her gaze to the woman who had been silent behind these high-level officials of the Tower of Babel, and said coldly:

“Ravenna, you should know something about that mechanical armor.”

The secret between Ansel and Ravenna was known to very few people, and Evora was naturally one of them. But for some reason, she was still keeping this secret for Ansel and didn’t mention anything about him.

“…Yes.”

Ravenna bowed her head slightly: “I have some understanding.”

“Your chances of winning against that thing…well, I don’t need to hear about that.”

The harshness in Evora’s words was almost identical to her mother’s: “I just want to hear the news of your victory, and you also have to pray that you can bring me the news of victory.”

“Otherwise —”

The Elder Princess in a very bad mood didn’t say anything further, and this terrifyingly oppressive silence was more frightening than any cruel punishment.

She turned into a flame flower and left the office again, but the anger that remained here still made the whole room feel like it was in a furnace.

“…War.”

After a long time, a high-level official of the Tower of Babel murmured.

“She’s talking about… a real war?”

“A full-scale war in two rich and vast territories, that could involve… millions of people!”

“Hendrick, we can’t do this! We are seekers of truth, not butchers, not executioners!”

“But if we don’t do everything, it’s all over… Do you want so many people, so many years of effort to turn into ashes?”

When someone started, these powerful sorcerers who were high above in the outside world, in the eyes of mortals, began to argue non-stop. In fear and chaos, their expressions and performances were so fragile.

In the midst of this fear, an indifferent voice, seemingly oblivious to the problem at hand, shattered the chaos.

“Just do as instructed.”

Ravenna spoke, “According to the Elder Princess’s request, we just need to create a weapon capable of defeating the mechanical armor.”

As she uttered these words, she was as calm as if deciding what to eat for dinner.

“Or do you all believe that we are incapable of creating such a weapon?”

“Ra-Ravenna…”

Hendrick was the first to regain his composure amidst the silence. “This isn’t about the weapon, but the consequences… If we further advance the development of alchemical weapons, the war will result in countless victims!”

“And what of it?”

Four emotionless words turned the office, already heated by Evora’s fury, into an icy cave.

Ravenna glanced at the stunned officials around her, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. “What are you all surprised about? I thought you were prepared from the very beginning — when the etheric firearms were mass-produced.”

“Ravenna, you… that’s not the same thing!”

“How is it not the same thing?”

Ravenna responded emotionlessly, “What’s the difference between people killed by advanced alchemical weapons and those killed by etheric firearms? ”

“Or did you think that after the Elder Princess ascends the throne, she won’t use the weapons we made to slaughter the people on the other side of the Celestial Path? What’s the difference between those people and those who will die in the upcoming war?”

At this point, she repeated her earlier statement:

“This is reality. I thought you were all prepared.”

Everyone stared blankly at the young woman standing there, this familiar, recognized, and praised genius, the leader of the Tower of Babel.

— Yet they looked at her as if she were a strange monster.

Her words seemed… unproblematic, but the indifference in her speech sent chills down everyone’s spine.

“…Ravenna.”

Hendrick looked at her with somewhat unfamiliar eyes, his voice hoarse. “Reality is indeed cruel, but why…”

“Why are you so cruel?”

“Is it cruel to not waste energy and time on meaningless regret and hesitation?”

Ravenna frowned slightly. “Can my regret change their fate? While manufacturing weapons that slaughter lives, self-critically feeling guilty, and enjoying the benefits brought by the weapons… do you find this amusing?”

“Listen well.”

The woman didn’t care about the increasingly cold and isolating atmosphere around her, she just spoke emotionlessly, “I acknowledge the weight of life, but that’s not a reason for me to do meaningless things. Since we’re already standing on a pile of corpses, there’s no reason to stop climbing because we might step on more corpses.”

“If we stop now, then what was the previous slaughter for?”

Ravenna looked at these fourth and fifth stage colleagues and elders, who were famous in academic and sorcerer circles and also had outstanding talents. Looking at their silent, disappointed, or alienated expressions, she suddenly didn’t want to speak anymore.

She missed that person, that friend who always agreed with her before betraying her.

“It seems I’ve said some meaningless words.”

Finally, Ravenna said, “After all, we never had a choice to begin with.”

Having said this, she turned to leave the office.

But unexpectedly, the moment she opened the door, she saw the person she least wanted to see at the moment.

“My intuition tells me—”

The young Hydral stood at the door, smiling at Ravenna, “My friend, you need my help.”

*