Translator: AnubisTL
The chaotic void was far from a tranquil vacuum.
Within its boundless expanse surged chaotic energy, twisted matter, and, most critically, erratic temporal currents.
This temporal instability posed a significant challenge to the wizards' precise planar invasions.
Just moments ago, Viola had been whispering to Jieming about how these chaotic temporal flows could disrupt their plans, causing reinforcements to arrive prematurely or be delayed at critical moments.
In an instant, those theoretical concepts transformed into visceral reality.
For Jieming and his companions, the moment the colossal spatial rift tore open in the sky and the sixth-tier wizard from the Tower of Annihilation announced their arrival at the destination felt like the blink of an eye.
Yet when their gazes pierced through the chaotic void and peered into the other side of the rift, they were stunned to discover that the supposedly desolate destination was now swarming with vast legions of colossal creatures!
This was no mere coincidence, but rather a consequence of the temporal discrepancies between the Flamefrost Plane's internal time flow, the external void, and even the "Ship" Plane carrying the wizards.
The chaotic flow of time allowed the indigenous inhabitants to assemble their massive army in the "instant" the wizards arrived.
Fortunately, once the two planes made contact, time stabilized within both realms.
Thus, the moment the rift in the sky fully stabilized, the lava giants and elite Snow Monster warriors, who had been waiting outside the rift for ages, charged forth at their king's command. Riding diverse flying creatures, they surged like a tidal wave, unleashing torrents of molten lava and frigid ice toward the wizards' "Ship" Plane, engulfing the sky.
The lava giants' aerial units were flamefiend giant bats, their fiery wings casting vast shadows that blotted out the sun. These colossal creatures spewed corrosive lava projectiles from their maws.
The Snow Monsters' aerial units were frostbone giant eagles, their icy bodies capable of manipulating frigid currents. With wings spanning dozens of meters, their dives created space-rending ice storms.
Numbering in the thousands, each creature radiated the aura of at least a first-tier being. Together, they formed a deathly web of lava, ice blades, and razor-sharp claws, intent on tearing the newly arrived invaders to shreds.
However, to the battle-hardened wizards who had weathered countless wars, such a display of power, though grand in scale, was hardly worth mentioning.
They had anticipated this and prepared thoroughly in advance.
At Wizard Augustine's low command, the hundreds of thousands of bioweapons and artificial cannon fodder instantly mobilized across the surface of the planar "ship."
Massive golems, defying gravity, soared into the air with unimaginable agility, forming a living shield at the vanguard of the formation. Forged from solid rock and metal, they were impervious to fire and frost.
Close behind surged bioweapons covered in razor-sharp bone spikes or armored scales—creatures forged from the remnants of otherworld beings, ferocious and bloodthirsty, with astonishing regenerative capabilities.
Interspersed among them were countless mechanical constructs with rune-glowing eyes and swarms of elemental creatures, all surging toward the enemy lines like a tidal wave.
The torrent of flesh and metal clashed violently with the tide of ice and lava in the skies near the void rift!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions tore through the sky's tranquility in an instant!
Blazing lava projectiles and icy frost winds collided, erupting into dense white mist and a pungent, scorched stench.
The lava giant bats' fleshy bodies were torn to shreds by mechanical eagle blades, while the stone golems' massive forms were encased in thick layers of ice from the frostbone giant eagles' freezing breath, ultimately shattering under the relentless barrage.
Three vastly different torrents of energy simultaneously exploded in the chaotic void!
Like three swirling pools of ink, they twisted violently upon impact, eroding, devouring, and annihilating each other.
Countless bioweapons, lava giants, and Snow Monsters were pulverized by the overwhelming energy surges in mid-air.
Severed limbs, metal fragments, charred magma, and frozen shards rained down like a torrential storm, crashing onto the surfaces of the wizards' "ships" or plummeting into the Flamefrost Plane below.
This was a brutal, no-holds-barred battle that escalated to a fever pitch from the very start—a meat grinder of a war!
Karamos, King of the Lava Giants, and Agron, King of the Snow Monsters, had initially watched each other's armies race toward the planar rift with suspicion and uncertainty, roaring accusations of treachery and cowardice across the void.
However, as the wizard cannon fodder legions surged from the rift like a tidal wave, they had no time to dwell on such matters.
The two monster kings watched the massive army erupting from the rift, their expressions darkening. They could only hastily direct their respective forces to meet the threat, turning their spears outward in unison.
The war raged for four or five days, the sky never silent from the thunderous roars of battle.
Though the wizard cannon fodder legions suffered heavy casualties, their sheer numbers and constant replenishment from the "ship" proved decisive.
Meanwhile, the Flamefrost Plane's indigenous aerial forces, particularly the high-tier flamefiend giant bats and frostbone giant eagles, dwindled rapidly under the wizard mechanical constructs' and elemental creatures' attrition tactics, gradually losing their aerial advantage.
As the Flamefrost Plane's aerial power waned, the wizards began to gain the upper hand.
The enemy's counterattacks grew feeble, while the wizards' battle lines steadily advanced.
Seeing the opportune moment, the Combat Department wizards, who had been stationed at the rear, finally entered the fray.
Harnessing their formidable power, they summoned elemental giants, commanded elemental storms, and unleashed explosive spells, joining the fray to decimate the enemy ranks.
Each second- or third-tier wizard who entered the battle was like a massive boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples that reaped the lives of countless low-tier creatures.
Just as the wizards' offensive reached its peak, and their battle lines were about to push into the Flamefrost Plane, two earth-shattering roars tore through the atmosphere. Two equally terrifying waves of pressure, like materialized tidal waves, swept across the entire planar battlefield!
"ROAR!!!"
"SCREECH!!!"
It was Lava Giant Karamos and Snow Monster King Agron unleashing their full might simultaneously!
Karamos transformed his colossal body into a blazing meteor of molten rock, carrying the weight of ten thousand tons as he crashed into the densest part of the wizard army's front lines.
His massive lava arm swept across the battlefield, unleashing a scorching shockwave that shattered the formations of thousands of wizard bioweapons and low-tier wizards within a several-kilometer radius. Several first-tier wizards who failed to evade the attack were instantly vaporized.
Agron, like an icy phantom, charged into the battlefield from another direction.
His palms conjured two frost-covered blades. With each swing, a visible torrent of ice spikes roared forth, freezing the wizards' mechanical puppets into ice sculptures before shattering them instantly.
Wherever he went, everything froze, the very air solidifying.
Yet the terrifying might of these two monster kings failed to inflict the expected damage on the wizards' legions.
Almost the instant they struck, a radiant and powerful beam of light descended from the "Ship" Plane like a lightning bolt.
It was one of the only three fifth-tier wizards participating in this campaign!
Clad in a simple gray robe, the wizard appeared diminutive before the two monster kings, yet radiated an aura of grandeur that rivaled theirs.
This fifth-tier wizard was Master Alvin, a commander dispatched by the Noren Workshop, one of the three major powers at the junction point, to oversee this expedition.
Agile and swift, he clenched his right hand in a fist. Beams of pure energy, like lasers, shot from his fingertips, precisely intercepting Karamos and Agron's attacks, forcibly deflecting or neutralizing them.
Alone, he blocked the combined assault of two peak sixth-tier creatures!
Moreover, Master Alvin, a fifth-tier wizard, still had the capacity to counterattack.
His figure moved like a phantom, leaving trails of afterimages in his wake.
Each flicker was accompanied by a spatial rift tearing through the air.
Though he held no staff, he conjured a colossal elemental sword dozens of meters long from thin air. A single strike from this blade would make even kings wary.
The combat power system of wizards, in a sense, defied conventional logic.
Before reaching the eighth-tier, as a wizard's rank increased, their ability to challenge higher-tier creatures from other combat systems grew even stronger.
The unique nature of wizards meant that each advancement wasn't merely an accumulation of power, but a leap in their understanding of the world's fundamental essence.
This advantage was virtually impossible to replicate in other combat systems.
Wizard apprentices, lacking sufficient knowledge and possessing only a rudimentary grasp of techniques, stood almost no chance of challenging higher-tier creatures.
By the first-tier, only individuals with exceptional innate talent and keen combat instincts could challenge creatures one tier above them.
By the time they reached the second-tier, most wizards could challenge third-tier creatures, and in their areas of expertise, they could even defeat them with ease.
Third and fourth-tier wizards began to grasp the plane laws, skillfully manipulating various elemental forces. Their effortless dominance over creatures one tier higher could no longer be considered "challenging a higher tier"—it was outright crushing!
Fifth and sixth-tier wizards achieved mastery over their wizard systems, delving into Law Solidification and Distortion. Their power could easily tear through space and warp matter. In battles against higher-tier opponents, they could even take on multiple enemies simultaneously.
For example, Master Alvin, a fifth-tier wizard, was currently holding off two sixth-tier powerhouses alone, maintaining his ground without falling behind.
However, a wizard's ability to fight beyond their tier peaked at the seventh-tier.
While eighth-tier wizards could crush hundreds of creatures of their own tier with a single hand, the unique nature of ninth-tier creatures meant that, in terms of pure tier-crossing combat, eighth-tier wizards reverted to a state similar to wizard apprentices—making it virtually impossible to fight beyond their tier.
Ninth-tier creatures derive their immense power not from mere energy accumulation, making it impossible to compensate for the tier gap through sheer force.
"Wrath of the Blazing Sun!"
Lava Giant Karamos roared, his body suddenly swelling into a colossal lava titan hundreds of meters tall.
With each earth-shattering step, flames erupted, and scorching winds scattered vast swathes of the wizard cannon fodder army.
His massive fist, trailing magma, hurtled toward Master Alvin.
Master Alvin's figure flickered, and a spatial ripple spread before him. He instantly teleported a hundred meters away, narrowly evading the lethal strike.
Simultaneously, he gestured with his right hand, summoning hundreds of energy missiles that materialized around Karamos like starlight. They detonated in rapid succession, blasting charred craters across the lava giant's molten hide.
Though the strikes failed to inflict critical damage, they enraged the titan further.
"Frost Edict!"
King Agron of the Snow Monsters slammed his massive claws together, conjuring a colossal frost rune in the void.
Instantly, the air temperature plummeted across half the battlefield. Countless wizard bioweapons froze solid, and even some slow-reacting low-tier wizards were instantly encased in crystalline ice sculptures.
Agron's massive form surged through the frost, relentlessly seeking Master Alvin's weaknesses.
A blue light flashed in Master Alvin's eyes, and hundreds of illusory clones instantly materialized around him.
These clones shattered the influence of the frost runes, diverting Agron's attention.
Meanwhile, Master Alvin's true form conjured a powerful Spatial Barrier, forcefully halting Agron's charge. The collision of their forces erupted in a deafening, grinding screech that reverberated through the air.
The battle between these three apex warriors unleashed devastating power with every strike.
Their battlefield resembled a separate dimension, each clash tearing rifts in space and disrupting the elemental balance.
The ordinary legions locked in mortal combat below suffered the brunt of this chaos.
Rampant elemental aftershocks swept across the battlefield, reaping countless lives.
The lava giant's fiery torrents froze into icy sculptures, while the snow monster's ice spikes evaporated into steam.
At the heart of the conflict, both the wizards' bioweapons and the indigenous warriors' elite forces were being consumed at an alarming rate!
The fierce battle between the three powerhouses raged for nearly an hour.
Master Alvin, though agile and powerful, was ultimately fighting two opponents alone. Against the combined assault of two sixth-tier creatures, even a fifth-tier master like him gradually showed signs of fatigue.
Several scorch marks appeared on his robes, and his breathing grew labored.
The two monster kings, however, fought with increasing ferocity. Though they failed to land a decisive blow on Alvin, each attack restricted his movements.
Finally, with a world-shattering punch from Karamos and a surprise assault from Agron, Master Alvin let out a muffled groan.
The light around him suddenly coalesced into a stream of light, retreating toward the "Ship" Plane at a speed far exceeding his initial approach.
He had suffered a "narrow defeat" against the combined might of the two monster kings.
Yet even in defeat, he had successfully held them back long enough, securing precious time for the main wizard forces to land.
The two monster kings did not pursue.
They too had expended considerable energy. White smoke billowed from Karamos's massive body, the flow of lava slowed, and his breathing grew ragged.
Agron's white fur was scorched in places by the battle's aftershocks, his aura grew colder, and exhaustion filled his eyes.
They exchanged wary glances at the retreating wizards, then turned to each other, suspicion and confusion etched on their faces.
Afterward, the two monster kings could only let out resentful roars as they led their heavily battered legions back to their respective territories in disgrace.
With the retreat of the monster kings, the wizards successfully secured the landing zone.
Wizard Augustine's cold gaze swept across the battlefield wreckage before he issued orders to all logistics wizards: "Establish a camp! Defense systems! Energy furnaces! As quickly as possible!"
At his command, Jieming, Viola, and the other logistics wizards immediately sprang into action.
They were the crucial link in this invasion, responsible for ensuring the stability of subsequent reinforcements and supplies.
The moment they received the order, they retrieved their stockpiled alchemy materials, rune puppets, and defense array cores from their spatial equipment.
"Jieming, you're in charge of constructing the core energy matrix!" Viola shouted as soon as she landed. "I'll lead the team to set up the perimeter defenses!"
"Understood!" Jieming replied. He wasted no time, deploying his Floating Cannon Array, which swiftly flew out from behind him to patrol the skies.
Meanwhile, his hands moved in rapid hand seals, his mental power spreading out like mercury spilling across the ground.
They had to quickly establish various defensive measures and set up a temporary forward camp before the monsters launched their next assault!
The long and bloody Planar Conquest War had only just begun.
(End of the Chapter)
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