Chapter 1010: The United Witch Club’s Declaration of War
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1010: The United Witch Club’s Declaration of War
"Without war, a union is meaningless!"
This single sentence laid bare the very foundation of the United Witch Club’s existence.
Regardless of the original reasons for its formation, once such a behemoth was assembled, it required nutrients to sustain its operations. It needed a purpose—something to do—to prove that its existence had meaning.
Otherwise, it was nothing more than a charade.
This was an organization entwined with massive interests.
The Main Combat Department, a colossal entity that relied on battle and slaughter to seize resources and benefits, was inextricably linked to every club.
The Transcendent Academic Department—led by the Spell Research Society, the Alchemy and Pharmacy Society, and others—provided a platform for academic discussion within a combat-ready atmosphere. The shifting of resources, manpower, and material wealth toward them represented opportunities they could not afford to abandon.
Then there was the Logistics Department, the stage where ultra-large clubs like the Jack-of-all-trades and Witch Secret Realms showcased their prowess and distributed the spoils.
Anyone who dared to render the United Witch Club meaningless was an enemy!
And who were their enemies?
Spread out the world map, ignore the territory of the Witch Academy, and throw a dart at random. Any point it struck was an enemy!
The Sun Rock Elf Academy, the first to be brought up in this meeting, drew the gaze of the majority.
"Regarding the severe provocations from the Sun Rock Elf Transcendent Academy, I believe our Witch Academy has no obligation to tolerate such transgressions," Olina declared.
"Their acts of violence and their infringement upon the Witch Academy’s interests are plain for all to see. Since they have failed to recognize their place, we shall help them find it!"
"To do otherwise would be to embolden the arrogance of those micro and small-scale Transcendent academies. We have a duty to correct their behavior, using the most direct means to make them reassess the gap between themselves and the Witch Academy!"
"Therefore, given the gravity of these issues, the Witch Academy has only one choice..." As Olina spoke, her gaze instinctively drifted toward me.
"And that is to declare war! Against the Sun Rock Elf Transcendent Academy!"
As Olina finished her sentence, the expressions of the Guardian Clubs shifted most violently.
The representatives of the Eight Core Guardian Clubs merely marveled at the inflammatory nature of Olina’s words. Before this meeting had even begun, they had already convened multiple times.
The conclusion to declare war was set in stone, and the Academy had given its full support.
In truth, those who had initially opposed the war were afraid of Transcendents. Even in an obscure institution like the Sun Rock Elf Academy, the Dean and core mentors were undoubtedly Transcendents. The concept that "Transcendents are invincible" had made them hesitant to act.
However, the Academy had stated that if Transcendents intervened in this Academy War, it would become another Qunluosen Wasteland incident. The Academy would back its students to the very end.
It was this promise that finally allowed the clubs to bared their true fangs!
The Witch race had never been kind.
Even the Prospective Witches undergoing Witchification were the same; they would gradually shed the inherent mindset of a woman and transform into the unique cognitive perspective of a Witch. This was precisely why those Transcendent academies would never, under any circumstances, readmit a student who had been Witchified.
As the rhetoric paved the way for war, a single word was etched into their instincts like a creed.
At that moment, everyone felt a surge of conviction and hot-blooded passion that transcended the entanglement of interests, rushing straight to their heads.
At the peak of this emotional crescendo, I stood up in coordination, meeting Olina’s gaze. I responded firmly and loudly:
"Declare war!"
The words, synchronized with the rhythm of their emotions, sent a jolt through them like an electric shock. With a sudden clatter of chairs being pushed back, the majority of the room stood up, shouting their conviction in an emotional resonance!
"DECLARE WAR!!!"
In that moment, the shocking scene drove everyone to commit to the same goal. The latent urge to conform made them believe fervently that their choice was right.
And so, amidst the proclamations of war, a war machine—as wild and unstoppable as a bolted horse—began to churn!
* * *
The rest of the meeting concluded in a state of strange euphoria as the subsequent arrangements were finalized.
To start a war, the first step was mobilization!
On the Academy Network and the Plant Network, the cries for war were deafening. Public opinion within the Academy had reached a preliminary consensus.
Everything would reach its climax on the day the new semester began.
The declaration of war had to be formal, logical, and justified. The Witch Academy officially proclaimed the crimes of the Sun Rock Elf Transcendent Academy and the price they would have to pay for their provocations.
Furthermore, it served as a notice and a warning to other unrelated Transcendent academies: do not interfere.
Specifically, the Aphra-Hemison Elf Transcendent Academy.
Who would believe the Sun Rock Elves dared to be so bold without that academy’s support?
The notice had been sent; let it not be said they were not forewarned.
If students from other academies were captured on the battlefield, not only would there be no mercy, but their presence would be used as a pretext to strike at their respective institutions.
The Sun Rock Elf Academy was only the first, but it would certainly not be the last.
* * *
Declaration of War by the United Witch Club
Declarer: All members of the United Witch Club
Date: February 27, 1147
To the Sun Rock Elf Transcendent Academy and its lackeys:
Today, I, Yang Yuehan, Teaching Assistant of the Witch Academy, acting as the representative and commander of the United Witch Club’s No. 0 Special Combat Sequence, bearing the glory and mission of the Witch Academy, and with unwavering determination, formally declare war upon you—the shameless wretches who dared to covet and maliciously occupy the Witch Academy’s regulated resources, and who trampled upon and provoked our dignity and bottom line!
The Witch Academy has a long heritage. We once treated all Transcendent academies with an open and free posture, but your greed and arrogance have placed our relationship in an irreconcilable state.
Now, we shall be silent no longer!
We shall defend our dignity and glory with mana and spells!
We once sought peace through gentle means, but you cast it aside. From the moment we declare war, we will no longer accept any form of submission or plea for peace!
We know your vile nature; you are not sorry because you realize you were wrong! You are sorry because you know you are about to die!
Our spells will descend upon your heads like a violent storm, destroying your ridiculous fortifications along with your frail bodies...
...
I, Yang Yuehan, on behalf of the entire No. 0 Special Combat Sequence, hereby make this vow:
The Witch Academy will defend our resources and dignity at any cost. Every single thing the Sun Rock Elves have swallowed, they shall spit back out! Everything they have done, they shall pay back in full!
Sun Rock Elf Transcendent Academy, your end has arrived!
Students of the Witch Academy, prepare your spells. Let us welcome this inevitable war together!
The Witch Academy shall prevail!
* * *
Looking at the declaration of war released by the Witch Academy, it felt as though the entire Core World was suffocating from the shock.
Those lunatics at the Witch Academy were actually launching an Academy War!
Even if the rankings of top academies deliberately excluded the Witch Academy, it didn't mean they could ignore its sheer scale!
How could they wantonly start an Academy War for such a reason?!
War was no game; people would die!
Any movement by a large-scale Transcendent academy would cause an uproar in this world. The Sun Rock Elf Academy had merely poked them with a basic attack, only to be met with the Witch Academy’s ultimate move.
The Sun Rock Elves who saw this declaration broke into a cold sweat. They never imagined things would escalate to this point. Even worse, they had been willing to act as pawns for the top academies, only to find themselves becoming cannon fodder in a gamble between giants.
But no matter how they cried for help or pleaded with their superiors, they never considered one thing: admitting they were wrong.
They never thought they could be in the wrong. It was never them. It was the Witch Academy that was using its power to bully others!
This declaration did not just circulate among Transcendent academies; it caused a massive stir in ordinary society as well. The long-absent threat of war stimulated their survival instincts, triggering a wave of hoarding that drove up the prices of basic materials. This allowed the families to reap a massive windfall of war profits in the secular world.
As soon as the declaration was issued, the Three Top Academies immediately followed up with calls for peace. They condemned the Witch Academy’s "inhumanity" and "bullying of the weak," while subtly hinting at their support for the Sun Rock Elf Academy’s resistance against "unethical invasion."
The Witch Academy’s response was domineering: On the battlefield, life and death are irrelevant! Should any third-party force other than the Sun Rock Elves be found intervening, they would be struck down with thunderous force!
Such an explicit threat immediately caused many Transcendent academies to reconsider sending personnel to assist.
Because they weren't blind.
The leader of this declaration against the Sun Rock Elf Academy was the No. 0 Special Combat Sequence.
Of course, that wasn't the main point. The main point was Yang Yuehan!
Back then, with one person and one blade, she had slaughtered hundreds of experts from the multi-school alliance! The corpses had piled into mountains, and blood had soaked the entire Qunluosen Wasteland.
Though the description was exaggerated, the achievement itself was undisputed. Even if you wrung out the facts, what dripped out would be nothing but blood and wails! After all, they clearly remembered how many people had died there when they paid the ransoms.
Now, even just mentioning that name caused those who had participated in the Qunluosen Wasteland battle to feel a chill crawl from their spine to their brain.
Thus, no one dared to cross the Witches at a time when they were establishing absolute dominance in their first battle.
If they had a No. 0 Combat Sequence, they would have a No. 1, No. 2, and even No. 3 and No. 4...
Even if they claimed the Witch Academy only had one Yang Yuehan and the rest were nothing to fear, they still didn't want a direct conflict. Who knew if the Witches would act like mad dogs, biting anyone they could catch?
Following the declaration, a series of external statements followed. Among the listed crimes, it was mentioned that the Sun Rock Elf Academy had illegally mined the Witch Academy’s regulated material, Hexagonal Crystal Amber, without permission.
Preliminary estimates suggested the loss of Hexagonal Crystal Amber and its associated materials started at the hundred-ton level.
This claim was extremely vague. A hundred tons of Hexagonal Crystal Amber and its "associated materials"... even if it were exactly one hundred tons, no one could disprove it if the Witches claimed ninety-nine tons of that was the Amber itself!
What did that mean?
Even the current reserves of Hexagonal Crystal Amber held by the Jack-of-all-trades didn't amount to a fraction of that mass! This was a regulated material; for students, its use was measured in grams. The fluctuating value of such a massive "loss" was astronomical.
Once the Sun Rock Elf Academy lost, the equivalent return and compensation for regulated resources alone would bleed them dry.
An academy wouldn't disappear; only the students would be wiped out. As long as the Transcendent mentors remained, they could quickly transform and establish a brand-new Transcendent academy elsewhere. This was the Law of Conservation of Transcendent Academies in the Main World.
* * *
The new semester had begun.
No one expected the Witch Academy to prepare such a "surprise" for the start of the term.
Inside the Witch Academy, guided by public opinion, the sentiment had shifted entirely toward "I want to see blood flow into a river." Even if a few anti-war comments popped up, they were instantly drowned out.
The Witch Academy did not force anyone to participate in this war. If you didn't want to join, you simply didn't join the United Witch Club.
In reality, however, the vast majority of students participated. Even many students without clubs were willing to join, being organized into temporary individual units.
For the deployment of the No. 0 Combat Sequence, a resurrection safety net was announced: anyone who sacrificed themselves on the front lines would be resurrected free of charge. This service was specially provided by Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan.
This information wasn't just spread within the Witch Academy; it was deliberately leaked to the Sun Rock Elf Academy. This was psychological warfare.
No one could imagine what a group of people who weren't afraid of death—and who had a resurrection guarantee—would be capable of.
The No. 0 Special Combat Sequence I led consisted mostly of unattached students I had personally selected, as well as those who had participated in the self-generated mana experiments.
To my surprise, Shopkeeper Xia Li, Ying Shiqian, and Senior Sister Tang Yihan also joined the combat sequence.
One could not overlook their combat power. In the past, they were the "old hands" who dared to go to various Transcendent academies with Red Velvet Cakes to provoke people and snatch away students.
What truly surprised me was Shopkeeper Xia Li. Based on our previous interactions, I thought she wouldn't accept an Academy War. But now, she was using her actions to prove that she hadn't meant what I thought back then.
Tan Han, Shi Ruizhi, and Lucianne also came along. Initially, I wanted to persuade them to go to the Expansion Realm branch with the lower-year students to adapt to the new semester.
But in the end... I compromised.
After all, Tan Han and the others possessed top-tier combat strength. Back at the Omni-Link Arena, they had fought so fiercely that the teaching assistants didn't even dare to intervene. That spoke volumes.
Since others could follow me into battle, so could they!
They did not fear the danger of death. This was the best pledge of loyalty they could give me!