Chapter 103: The Conference

**Chapter 103: The Conference**

Most crucially, despite the fall of two “evil gods,” the foreign demons showed no signs of faltering.

Clearly, the loss of two deities meant little to these invaders.

The implications were chilling, suggesting that even greater forces might still lurk behind them, yet to reveal themselves.

“According to the divine oracle, the ‘foreign demons’ who followed the evil gods and infiltrated through the breached planar barriers are indeed numerous,” a priest in a pristine robe said softly from a corner, his voice carrying a holy resonance.

“They’ve spread like a plague across our lands, already causing significant damage to our kingdoms and tribes.”

“The trouble is,” the dwarf elder said, stroking his beard with a voice like muffled thunder, “they’ve landed mostly in the heart of our allied territories, and they’re so scattered it’s nearly impossible to wipe them out in one fell swoop.”

The human king nodded gravely. “Ever since these self-proclaimed wizards intensified their frontal assaults, most of our strongest warriors have been tied up. It’s nearly impossible to spare forces to deal with these deeply hidden pests clinging to us like maggots on bone.”

A brief silence fell over the hall.

These scattered “wizards” were like fleas burrowing through their body—not highly lethal but endlessly irritating, steadily weakening their rear defenses.

“How’s the progress on reading the souls of these new invading wizards?” the dragon king, who had been silent until now, asked in a low, rumbling voice.

At his words, all eyes instinctively turned to one side of the round table.

A massive eyeball, adorned with several writhing tentacles, floated silently there—the overlord of Elosia’s underground world: the Demon Eye Clan.

As a race that had once built an underground empire, though inherently evil, they had no choice but to ally with other races in the face of the plane’s crisis.

As a naturally malevolent race, the Demon Eye excelled at manipulating the minds of other creatures and extracting intelligence from their brains and souls.

“…It’s failed,” a strange voice emanated from the eyeball.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t the Demon Eye itself speaking but rather its immense mental energy vibrating the surrounding air to simulate sound.

After all, few in the room were weak, and its psychic transmissions couldn’t breach their mental defenses.

“We’ve lost three elder-level members. It’s all but confirmed that even the weakest of these foreign demons cannot be probed through mind-reading or brain consumption. Attempting it even risks backlash…”

After the Demon Eye spoke, all eyes shifted to a dark-skinned elf beside it.

The dark elf queen waved a hand casually, her simple gesture brimming with captivating charm. “It’s useless. Neither torture nor enchantment works. These creatures act strangely—they don’t seem to have particularly strong willpower, so something must be preventing them from divulging information.”

“So, even the weakest of these ‘wizards’ have soul-deep protections in place?”

“What a hassle. Is this some kind of racial innate ability?”

“They don’t seem like a hive mind…”

“Are you saying these creatures were engineered from birth for world invasion?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

…

“Ladies and gentlemen.”

As the room buzzed with heated debate, a young mage seated at the far end, who had remained silent until now, spoke up.

He wore a simple mage’s robe, but his eyes gleamed with wisdom beyond his years.

All the leaders, upon seeing this “young” mage, showed expressions of respect.

Even the leaders of the evil races, despite a flicker of wariness, displayed deference toward him.

The young mage cleared his throat. “I have a proposal. Since this is the case, why not issue a bounty?”

Seeing the puzzled looks, he continued, “Though these invading ‘wizards’ are numerous, compared to the frontline forces, they aren’t particularly powerful—still within the range that high-tier adventurers can handle.”

“Their greatest trouble lies in their scattered, hidden presence across our heartlands. Searching for them would require immense manpower and resources. Instead, why not mobilize an equal number of adventurers?”

“We can issue high-value bounties, designating these hidden ‘wizards’ as targets. This would harness the power of the adventurers’ guilds, spurring them to hunt actively. As long as we’re willing to pay a steep enough price, we can muster enough hands. Even if they can’t kill them all, it will severely restrict the invaders’ movements.”

“More importantly,” the mage’s eyes gleamed with cunning, “through this process, adventurers who excel in the bounties will have their strength and loyalty proven. We can recruit them directly into our armies, even bolstering our knight orders and warbands to ease the pressure on the frontlines.”

His words sparked a wave of excitement among the leaders!

They had fallen into a rut of conventional thinking. When the wizards first invaded, their overwhelming strength rendered adventurers not only unhelpful but even counterproductive.

In a society with extraordinary powers, the truly capable adventurers had long been recruited as nobles, leaving only mediocre stragglers behind.

As a result, when dealing with this new wave of wizards, they hadn’t immediately considered this approach.

This strategy would leverage civilian forces to clear out the “invading demons” while also replenishing their desperately needed fresh blood to bolster their armies.

“Brilliant!” the orc chieftain slammed the table, his rugged face breaking into an excited grin. “Those greedy adventurers will do anything for gold!”

“Not a bad idea,” the elven queen said softly, a glint of approval in her eyes.

After brief deliberation, the leaders unanimously agreed.

Bounties and orders poured out from the palace, swiftly spreading to every adventurers’ guild, mercenary tavern, and town noticeboard across the Elosia plane.

A “universal hunt” targeting the wizard apprentices quietly began.