High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1582: Chapter 326: High Latitude Warfare

”There are many similar ’nodes’.”

The vampire stared at the ’small lamp’ on his fingertip and said softly, ”Just like in the summer of 1981, if Sirius Black hadn’t changed the secret keeper to Peter Pettigrew, then the Potters hiding in Godric’s Hollow wouldn’t have been killed by Tom, and there wouldn’t have been a third Black Wizard war in Britannia nineteen years later, with so many wizards missing, dying, or suffering for a lifetime... At that time, the thought that flashed through Sirius’ mind was a node of destiny.”

”Insignificant, fragile, yet with a kind of monumental significance.”

”Changing that thought in his mind would alter history. In an impending war, the most important thing for the dominant side is to reduce ’variables’ and ensure that reality isn’t completely changed due to the shifts in certain historical ’nodes.’”

”That’s the meaning of ’nails.’”

”So, before a large-scale wizard war, the disadvantaged side will try their best to alter those nodes in history, letting chaos engulf order; while the advantaged side must dispatch enough hunting teams to guard those nodes within the river of time and space... This ’prewar’ has already commenced before everything happens.”

”That’s why I say the storm has descended, just beyond our sight.”

With these words, Duke Milton sighed lightly, raised his Burgundy glass, and took a satisfied sip of red wine.

He felt he had indeed made a presence in front of the goddess today.

Su Shijun patiently waited a few seconds.

Then she noticed the vampire seemed to have no intention of continuing, and she said with reluctant displeasure, ”And then? ’Things have a beginning and an end, knowing what to prioritize brings you close to the Dao,’ nail, clamp, lock, you’ve only mentioned one... what about the other two?”

Duke Milton’s smile froze on his face.

Regarding the various aspects of the wizard wars, he only had a limited understanding and explaining the ’nails’ was largely due to Prince Old Karen’s instructions not long ago, but for the other two concepts, the duke was truly at a loss.

His throat felt a bit dry, prompting him to use red wine to moisten his lips, and he looked around for help.

William Tapott looked at him with a sneer, full of schadenfreude — the vampire couldn’t help but recall the phrase ’dumb luck’; if he hadn’t pretentiously explained earlier, he wouldn’t be in such an awkward position now.

Fortunately, there was a kind-hearted ghost among the Upper House members.

Silent Souls quickly noticed Duke Milton’s awkwardness, he smiled and floated forward, seamlessly taking over, ”The ancients said, ’Plans made with foresight can succeed; unplanned endeavors will collapse. Foreseen words will not falter; foreseen matters will not fail; foreseen actions will not grieve; foreseen paths will not run dry.’” (Note 1)

He glanced at Milton, his eyes filled with a smile.

Then looking at Su Shijun, he continued, ”’Predetermined path’ is the function of the ’clamp.’ If the ’nail’ is for the advantaged side to nail down historical nodes, preventing the adversary from reversing the river of time and pulling the rug from under them; then the ’clamp’ is for the advantaged side to seize the greatest possibilities of the future, flowing down the river of time, crushing every sliver of potential failure.”

”Does this mean before the battles on the main front commence, there’s already a wizard army fighting in history, and another wizard army waging war in the future?”

Su Shijun’s face showed a hint of admiration, and the four fox tails behind her swayed subconsciously, as if they could sense the surging flow of the long river of time, while she also raised her own question:

”But in my impression, the future holds endless possibilities, yet the number of our hunting teams is limited... how could limited hunting teams seize an infinite future?”

”They can’t.” Silent Souls shook his head slightly, his expression becoming a bit solemn, ”In normal circumstances, a pincer attack refers to a pincer movement tactic, like a crab’s two pincers viciously aiming for the enemy’s soft throat, disrupting their formation.”

”But in magical warfare, the two pincers of the pincer attack resemble ’Yin and Yang Fish,’ clasping head and tail.”

”Hundreds of hunting teams launch offensives on different timelines, half of them skating along timelines to identify every detail along those timelines; the other half eliminates every ’variable’ on relevant timelines that might lead to failure with the advantage of reverse causality.”

”This triggers a cascade of consequences... because the enemy will not allow our hunting teams to arbitrarily alter the future. They will also deploy similar tactical teams to alter the timelines we aim to stabilize.”

”Thus, timelines will be influenced by two different forces. With constant backtracking and solidification, they become more numerous. Each timeline will pull out countless new causality lines.”

”We all know space-time has a lifespan, which means timelines can’t be infinitely backtracked or solidified.”

”Each backtracking makes the causality lines more chaotic... until finally, these timelines and causality lines intertwine into a tangled mess, completely wrapping around a ’spacetime segment’ centered on the ’present’ of this battlefield, causing the region’s spacetime to become ’stiffened.’”

”To make an inappropriate analogy, it’s like a pot of congee, thickening under the flame’s cooking and the ladle’s stirring, until finally, it becomes as hard as stone—a sufficiently solidified and hardened space-time that can accommodate enough high-tier wizards to battle within, without being easily shattered.”

”Meanwhile, this rigid main battlefield—like a puck wrapped in barbed wire—floats on the river of time yet is isolated from the river of time, neither side can rely on the power of time and space to assist in battle.”

”Is this the ’lock’?” Su Shijun, arms crossed, looked out the window with some contemplation, beneath the pitch-black nighttime calm, who could have imagined what colossal waves lay hidden beneath the peaceful depths.

”Bingo!”

Silent Souls snapped his fingers, appreciatively looking at the youngest Big Wizard in the Moon Council, adding, ”Of course, this is only part of the ’lock,’ used to secure the battlefield’s perimeter... on the battlefield, powerful Eight Gates Golden Lock Arrays will also be set up to protect tightly those targets of the demons within the formations.”

”Unable to freely traverse space-time, nor disturb timelines to fish in troubled waters, the only choice demons have is a frontal assault.” Duke Milton finally found another opportunity to interject, raising his glass once more, his face devoid of the previous awkward stammering, and courteously smiled, ”...and what the Black Prison fears least is their frontal assault.”

”When it comes to destroying the world, no one in the entire universe is more adept than the wizards of the First University.”