Chapter 169: War and Landing

The chaotic void was far from a serene vacuum.

Its boundless expanse teemed with disordered energy, twisted matter, and, most perilous of all, chaotic time flows.

These temporal distortions posed significant challenges to the wizards’ precise plane invasions.

Viola had been softly explaining to Jie Ming how these chaotic time flows could disrupt plans, causing reinforcements to arrive too late or too early at critical moments.

In an instant, those theoretical words became a visceral reality.

For Jie Ming and the others, after the sixth-tier wizard from the Tower of Annihilation announced their arrival and a massive spatial rift tore open the sky, it was but a blink.

Yet, as their gazes pierced the chaotic void to the other side of the rift, they were shocked to see a dense, massive army of colossal creatures already assembled!

This was no mere coincidence but a result of the time flow disparity between the Flame-Frost Plane, the external void, and the wizards’ “ship” plane.

The chaotic time flow allowed the natives to muster their armies in the “instant” of the wizards’ arrival.

Fortunately, when the two planes made contact, their internal time flows stabilized.

Thus, the moment the sky’s rift fully stabilized, the lava giants and snow-beast elite warriors, long waiting outside the rift under their kings’ commands, rode diverse flying creatures. Like a tempest of scorching lava and biting frost, they surged toward the wizards’ “ship” plane in an overwhelming tide!

The lava giants’ flying units were flame-winged magma bats, their massive bodies blotting out sunlight, spewing corrosive lava projectiles.

The snow-beasts’ units were frost-covered bone eagles, capable of wielding icy currents, their wings spanning dozens of meters. When diving, they unleashed ice storms that tore through space.

Vast in number, each emitted at least a first-tier being’s aura, weaving a deathly net of lava, ice blades, and claws, aiming to shred the newly arrived invaders.

Yet, for the battle-hardened wizards, such a display, though grandiose, was negligible.

They had anticipated this and prepared thoroughly.

With a low command from Augustine, tens of thousands of bio-beasts and artificial constructs on the “ship” plane’s surface sprang into action!

Colossal golems, forged from sturdy rock and metal, rose from the ground with unimaginable agility, forming a meat shield at the forefront, impervious to fire and frost.

Following them were bio-beasts covered in sharp bone spikes or scales, crafted from alien plane remnants. Frenzied and bloodthirsty, they boasted astonishing regeneration.

Interspersed were mechanical constructs with rune-glowing eyes and elemental creature swarms, surging like a tide toward the enemy lines.

A torrent of flesh and metal collided with a tide of ice and lava near the void rift!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Earth-shattering roars tore through the sky’s silence!

Scorching lava projectiles met frigid ice winds, erupting in dense white mist and acrid charred odors.

Magma bats’ flesh was shredded under mechanical eagle blades, while stone golems’ thick bodies were coated in ice from bone eagles’ frost breath, cracking under relentless strikes.

Three clashing torrents exploded in the void!

Like swirling inks, they twisted, eroded, and annihilated each other in a frenzied collision.

Countless bio-beasts, lava giants, and snow-beasts were torn apart by powerful energy surges midair.

Severed limbs, metal shards, charred lava, and frozen crystals rained down like a storm, smashing onto the “ship” plane’s surface or falling into the Flame-Frost Plane.

This was a battle that, from the outset, skipped probing and dove into a white-hot meat grinder!

Lava Giant King Karamos and Snow-Beast King Agron, initially stunned and roaring accusations of treachery at each other’s legions flying toward the rift, had no time to dwell as the wizards’ cannon fodder legion poured out like a tide.

Their faces darkened at the sight of the massive army emerging from the rift. They hurriedly directed their troops to face the external threat.

The war raged for four or five days, the sky’s roars never ceasing.

The wizards’ cannon fodder legion suffered heavy losses but held the advantage in sheer numbers, with endless reinforcements from the “ship.”

The Flame-Frost Plane’s native flying units, especially high-tier magma bats and bone eagles, dwindled under the wizards’ constructs and elemental swarms, losing their aerial edge.

As the natives’ air forces waned, the wizards gained the upper hand.

The enemy’s counterattacks weakened, while the wizards’ lines steadily advanced.

Seeing the moment ripe, combat wizards from the rear joined the fray.

Wielding immense power, they summoned elemental giants, unleashed elemental storms, or triggered explosions, diving into the slaughter.

Each second- or third-tier wizard’s entry was like a boulder in a calm lake, rippling out to reap scores of low-tier lives.

As the wizards’ offensive surged, about to breach the Flame-Frost Plane, two roars, nearly tearing the atmosphere, swept the battlefield with tangible, tsunami-like pressure!

“ROAR!!!”

“SCREECH!!!”

Lava Giant King Karamos and Snow-Beast King Agron struck simultaneously!

Karamos’s colossal form became a blazing lava meteor, crashing with unstoppable force into the wizards’ densest frontline.

His massive molten arm swept, unleashing a lava shockwave that scattered thousands of meters of bio-beasts and low-tier wizards, vaporizing several unprepared first-tier wizards.

Agron, like an icy specter, charged from another direction.

His paws conjured frost blades, each swing unleashing a visible torrent of ice spikes, freezing wizards’ mechanical puppets into ice sculptures before shattering them.

Where he passed, all froze, the air itself solidifying.

Yet, the terrifying might of these two kings didn’t inflict the expected damage on the wizards’ legion.

The moment they struck, a brilliant, powerful streak shot down like lightning from the “ship” plane.

It was one of the expedition’s three fifth-tier wizards!

Clad in a simple gray robe, he seemed diminutive before the kings but radiated an aura no less grand.

This fifth-tier wizard, Master Erwin from Noren Workshop, one of the expedition’s commanders, moved with agile precision. His right hand grasped the air, firing pure energy beams like lasers, precisely countering Karamos and Agron’s attacks, deflecting or neutralizing them.

Alone, he halted the combined assault of two peak sixth-tier beings!

Not only that, Master Erwin had the strength to counterattack.

His ghostly figure left afterimages with each move.

Each flicker tore spatial rifts.

Without a staff, he conjured elemental greatswords dozens of meters long, forcing even the kings to be wary.

The wizards’ combat system defied conventional logic.

Before eighth-tier, as wizards advanced, their ability to challenge higher-tier beings grew stronger.

Their uniqueness meant each tier wasn’t just a power increase but a leap in understanding the world’s essence.

This advantage was nearly unreplicable in other systems.

Wizard apprentices, lacking sufficient knowledge and shallow in technique, could hardly fight above their tier.

At first-tier, only the exceptionally gifted with sharp combat instincts could challenge one tier higher.

By second-tier, most wizards could face third-tier beings, even dominating in certain domains.

At third- and fourth-tier, wizards touched plane laws, wielding multiple law forces with ease.

Fighting one tier higher wasn’t just a challenge—it was a crush!

Fifth- and sixth-tier wizards mastered their system to the extreme, dabbling in law stabilization and distortion.

Their power could tear space and warp matter.

In cross-tier battles, they could take on multiple foes.

Now, Master Erwin, a fifth-tier wizard, held off two sixth-tier beings, even briefly holding his own.

However, wizards’ cross-tier prowess ended at seventh-tier.

Eighth-tier wizards could dominate scores of same-tier beings but, against ninth-tier beings’ unique nature, reverted to apprentice-like limitations—nearly impossible to fight above their tier.

Ninth-tier beings’ power wasn’t mere energy stacking, uncounterable by simple tier-jumping.

“Blaze of the Sun!!”

Karamos roared, his body swelling into a hundred-meter lava titan.

Each step spewed flames, scorching gusts scattering swathes of wizard cannon fodder.

His massive fist, trailing lava, smashed toward Erwin.

Erwin flickered, a spatial ripple parting before him, teleporting a hundred meters away, dodging the lethal blow.

Simultaneously, he gestured, summoning hundreds of energy missiles like starlight around Karamos, exploding into blackened craters on the giant’s surface.

Though not fatal, they fueled his rage.

“Frost Edict!”

Snow-Beast King Agron slammed his claws, conjuring a massive frost rune in the void.

Half the battlefield’s air temperature plummeted, freezing countless bio-beasts and unprepared low-tier wizards into crystalline ice sculptures.

Agron’s massive form darted through the frost, seeking Erwin’s weakness.

Erwin’s eyes flashed blue, hundreds of mirror clones appearing, dispersing the frost rune’s effect and Agron’s focus.

His true body conjured a powerful spatial barrier, blocking Agron’s charge, their clash screeching through the air.

The three titans’ battle carried devastating force.

Their arena was like a separate dimension, each clash collapsing space and disrupting elements.

The ordinary legions below suffered greatly.

Stray elemental shockwaves reaped lives effortlessly.

Lava giants’ fire sprays were frozen by frost, snow-beasts’ ice spikes evaporated by energy.

At the battlefield’s center, bio-beasts and native elite warriors fell at a staggering rate!

The three-way struggle lasted nearly an hour.

Though agile and powerful, Master Erwin, facing two sixth-tier beings, showed signs of fatigue.

His robe bore scorch marks, his breathing grew labored.

The two kings grew fiercer, their attacks limiting his movements, though they couldn’t land a direct hit.

Finally, with Karamos’s earth-shattering punch and Agron’s surprise assault, Erwin let out a muffled grunt.

His aura contracted into a streak, retreating to the “ship” plane at a speed far surpassing his arrival.

He was “narrowly defeated” by the kings’ combined assault.

Yet, he had stalled them long enough, securing precious time for the wizards’ main force to land.

The kings didn’t pursue.

Both were heavily spent—Karamos’s massive form steamed, lava flowing sluggishly, his aura unstable.

Agron’s white fur was singed, his presence colder, eyes weary.

They warily glanced at the retreating wizard, then at each other, faces filled with suspicion and confusion.

Reluctantly, they roared and led their battered legions back to their domains.

With the kings’ retreat, the wizards secured the landing point.

Augustine’s stern gaze swept the battlefield’s wreckage, issuing orders to all logistical wizards: “Establish the camp! Defensive systems! Energy furnaces! As fast as possible!”

At the command, Jie Ming, Viola, and other logistical wizards sprang into action.

They were the linchpin, ensuring the stability of subsequent troops and resources.

Immediately, they retrieved alchemical materials, rune puppets, and defensive array cores from their spatial gear.

“Jie Ming, you handle the core energy matrix!” Viola shouted upon landing. “I’ll lead the outer defenses!”

“Understood!” Jie Ming replied. Holding nothing back, his floating cannon array fanned out for vigilance.

His hands wove seals rapidly, mental force spreading like quicksilver.

They had to build protective measures and a temporary outpost before the next assault!

A long, bloody plane conquest had just begun.