Soon, reinforcements from the planar ship arrived.
Two colossal floating fortresses, their surfaces bristling with menacing turrets and arcane rune bases, slowly detached from the planar ship.
They crossed the stabilized planar passage, officially descending into the Giant Spirit Realm!
Jie Ming, alongside other wizards, stepped onto the deck of one fortress.
As the fortress fully breached the barrier, the inner vista of the Giant Spirit Realm unfolded unreservedly before him, eliciting a slight gasp even from him.
From the void outside, he could only glimpse the continent below cloaked in metallic sheen.
Now, standing within, he realized it wasnât entirely covered in steel but dotted with countless skyscrapers rising from the ground.
Their exteriors, forged from an unknown metal, glinted with a cold hue.
The buildingsâ surfaces were adorned with dense neon tubes forming strange patterns and Giant Spirit Realm script, creating a bizarre, kaleidoscopic display.
On the streets below, figures of mechanically or biologically modified natives were faintly visibleâsome half-mechanized, others fused with peculiar organic tissues.
âThis feelingâŠâ Jie Mingâs eyes flickered, âitâs almost like⊠cyberpunk?â
Images from games in his past life overlapped with the scene, stirring a strange sense of déjà vu.
But this surprise quickly faded.
For wizards who had explored countless planes, such a technologically and biologically modified civilization, while unique, was hardly shocking.
His gaze shifted from the cleared, tomb-like metallic city below to the distant horizon.
There, the Giant Spirit Realmâs natives had regrouped into a massive army.
Sky-darkening warships, diverse giant mechanical golems, and indescribable bio-weapons lined the horizon, their combined energy fluctuations forming an oppressive force.
Yet, strangely, they only stood ready, refraining from immediate attack.
âWhat are they thinking?â A trace of doubt rose in Jie Mingâs mind.
By logic, a desperate civilization would seize the moment when invaders were still unsteady, launching a thunderous strike to inflict maximum damage.
Even if the outcome was inevitable, they could make the invaders pay dearly.
But they didnât.
They merely encircled silently, facing off against the billions of wizard fodder troops flooding the ground like a tide.
The air grew heavy, as if it could drip, filled only with the low growl of energy engines and the suppressed roars of fodder beasts.
This unnatural silence felt eerier than a frenzied assault.
Moments later, the stalemate broke.
The boundless enemy array parted like a tide, revealing a wide passage.
Dozens of towering mechanical golems, radiating power equal to the previous Tier-7 natives, slowly emerged.
They came alone, without an army, flying toward the wizard fortress.
âWhat are they doingâŠâ Jie Ming watched, brow furrowed.
Suddenly, an absurd thought struck him: âCould they⊠be seeking to negotiate?â
He wasnât alone; many wizards sensed the possibility.
A wizard scoffed openly, âUtterly foolish! Negotiating with annihilators? If wars could be settled with words, why would we cross the endless void?!â
âThey clearly donât grasp the law of survival under absolute power disparity.â
Amidst the jeers, Dixon, the Tier-7 wizard who had been observing, flashed a knowing, amused glint in his eyes.
He raised a hand, signaling the wizards to calm.
Then, under countless gazes, Dixon flew alone from the fortress, confronting the dozens of intimidating Tier-7 mechanical golems.
The two sides faced off in the battlefieldâs central airspace.
What followed exceeded nearly every wizardâs expectations.
The lead golem, the largest and most ornate, emitted an arrogant, condescending mental wave that blanketed the battlefield:
âCease your futile resistance, warriors from an unknown world!â
The opening line stunned every wizard.
The voice thundered on, laced with a patronizing tone: âYour tenacity has earned the recognition of the great âKorgâ! Blame your birth in an inferior world!â
âThe Giant Spirit Realm is beyond your resistance! Ignorant creatures, you may have reached the pinnacle in your world, lording over all, but to the great Korg, youâre mere insects to be crushed at will!â
âYouâve shown your worth by causing such losses. Surrender! We can grant you a respectable position. Serving His Majesty Korg is your supreme honor!â
The Tier-7 natives spoke in turn, their tones dripping with arrogance.
As if they faced not fearsome enemies capable of capturing their peers, but unruly subordinates.
In their perception, Dixon, flying out alone, was undoubtedly the invadersâ strongest.
Even if he were stronger than he appeared, heâd surely perish under the onslaught of dozens of âequalâ beings!
Moreover, above them loomed the Giant Spirit Realmâs supreme masterââKorgâ!
A being beyond the comprehension of these âlowly worldâ creatures.
Hearing this, Dixon in midair, Melist and Oboros watching via screens on the planar ship, and all wizards and fodder on the fortress fell into an eerie silence.
Not anger or shock, but an indescribable sense of absurdity.
Like watching a frog at the wellâs bottom boast to a sky-soaring dragon about the vastness of its well.
The natives, seeing Dixonâs silence, assumed he was cowed by Korgâs name or weighing his options, and impatiently sent another mental wave:
âChoose, invader! Submission or destruction?!â
Then, Dixon finally moved.
The gentle smile habitual to his face was gone, replaced by an absolute calm, like an unfathomable icy pool.
He didnât look at the clamoring golems, instead raising a hand expressionlessly, casually waving at the wizard army behind him.
His voice, low but clear, reached every wizardâs ears, devoid of any ripple:
âAnnihilate them.â