One, two, three, four, five, six.
A total of six Void Fortresses, filled to the brim with Demon-Hunter Sorcerers and soul slaves were about to descend.
As the Void Fortresses were about to pass through the time gate into the Infernal Spirit World, they dropped their shields. In an instant, a dense crowd of ferocious-looking soul slaves spread out from the deck at the command of their masters. They spread out in all directions like floodwater.
There were a total of more than fifty million soul slaves from the six Void Fortresses. As they cast a shadow upon the capital city of the Dark Destroyer Kingdom, the thousand-meter-tall flame burrows, symbols of their prosperous past, were quiet and empty. The air was intense.
The Acraepoids knew that the war that would determine the fate of the Acraepoid World had finally arrived!
In the Void Fortress where Black Isotta was in.
“Hmm?”
With his high position due to his Rank-1 Honor Badge, Grimm clutched his Sabbatic Goat Staff as he hovered above, overlooking tens of millions of Acraepoids that were looking at them and the soul slave legions from a distance. Yet, they did not begin their assault immediately as if they were hesitant.
Hundreds of thirty over meter tall black-flamed World Guardians, under the allegiance of both Sky Guardian and Earth Guardian of the Infernal Spirit World that had hundred-meters-tall black flames, were also looking back at them. Their eyes were filled with malice.
This…
So, is this the force of the sorcerers from the mystical Sorcerer World?
“Caw? Master, look at those Acraepoids, they’re not attacking us at all!”
Little Myna called out in astonishment as it was perched on top of Grimm’s shoulder. It seemed to be puzzled by the scene.
In the eyes of Little Myna, these Acraepoids were very foolish. Though the gap between their powers were too wide, and there was no way to reverse their fate of being destroyed no matter how hard they tried, but they could at least attack when the forces of the Sorcerer World were most vulnerable during their descent into the world to inflict the highest damage possible.
There was a standoff between the huge army of Acraepoids that blocked out the sun as well as similarly innumerate Demon-Hunter Sorcerers and soul slave legions.
The air was utterly intense.
At the drop of a hat, the battle between the two forces could easily turn the land into a sea of blood. The land would soon become barren; void of any vegetation. The battle would wipe out what was once the proud, glorious civilization of the Darkborne Kingdom.
Each Acraepoid, regardless of whether they were warriors, commanders, or even nobles, were filled with the anxiety and intensity that were common before a huge battle.
They were ready to pay the ultimate price to protect the Acraepoid World they call home, and to spread the beacon of the Acraepoid civilization!
This price included their own menial lives.
Only the World Lords who knew more about the secrets of the world held out a slim hope in their mixed feelings of rationality and despair!
Maybe, they could use their huge wealth and strike up some kind of peace treaty that would allow the Acraepoid Civilization to continue on?
Wealth was also one of the forces and foundations of a world.
Through wealth, World Lords could by some means, achieve things that were beyond their physical capacity.
For example, the Infernal Spirit World could use pacts and easily summon powerful creatures from distant worlds to join in on their fights. After all, it was immense wealth that enabled the ancient sorcerers to shift their world out from its original position.
However…
After the Seven Rings Celestial Sorcerer had broken off all means of communications through the void space, their wealth had lost its uses.
Even a powerful entity like Power Supreme could only get connected to the Infernal Spirit World for a brief moment, other World Lords were not any different.
The Infernal Spirit World had been completely isolated.
Unless they could get the attention of another Eternal Dominator and break apart from this blockade to connect through the void space again, the wealth of the Infernal Spirit World that acted as one of the world’s forces and foundations would be rendered useless.
At the same time.
Other than the Burrow World, the Infernal Spirit World had also cultivated massive soul slaves in the rest of their enslaved worlds. They were known by the Acraepoids as God’s Servants.
As the Seven Rings Celestial Sorcerer had shut off their means of communication through the void space, they were unable to open up the world gate to call in their reinforcements.
Even though the Seven Rings Celestial Sorcerer had yet to descend upon the Infernal Spirit World himself, he had already blocked off considerable enemy forces.
Only with such a mastery of powers would a Level-7 or above creature be known as the Eternal Dominator, the God Among Gods.
Slowly.
The congested and messy soul slave legions gradually spread out, connecting the six Void Fortresses in a formation. The Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were still holding their ground, waiting patiently.
Under the watchful eyes of the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers and soul slaves of the six Void Fortresses, a three-hundred-meter tall black flame slowly flew out from the frontlines of the Acraepoid army.
“Caw? Master, what’s he trying to do?”
The Myna was puzzled.
This had never happened in any of the ancient sorcerer’s expedition that the Little Myna has been through.
Since they had no destiny lever, the ancient sorcerers basically brought soul slaves that outnumbered them by hundreds or thousands when they descended upon the foreign worlds with various means. Most of the inhabitants of these foreign worlds would lose their will and break down at the first sight of them.
In the expeditions of the ancient sorcerers, they were only given a general direction and the duration of their expedition was calculated by the millennia. They would conquer worlds upon worlds until the highest Celestial Sorcerer was satisfied and allowed them to return to the Sorcerer World.
Therefore, some of the ancient sorcerers could still be a Level-1 sorcerer when they first set off for the expedition but would come back to the Sorcerer World as a great Level-3 sorcerer.
For most of the ancient sorcerers, if they had participated in just two Demon-hunting expeditions, they would have crossed more than ten worlds.
For a proper sorcerer with a lifespan of ten thousand years, this was already the limit of discovery.
It was exactly due to the discovery of the destiny lever that changed the primitive way of the Sorcerer World’s conquest!
Beneath the pale-grey Mask of Truth, Grimm’s eyes lit up. He took a guess. “Negotiation?”
“Negotiation?!”
The myna screeched. “How foolish are they to face the cruel evolutionary rule of the boundless worlds. If negotiation would work, what’s the point of us gathering so many forces to come here?”
Grimm shook his head. In his heart, he did not agree with what Little Myna said.
It was not foolish, it was just helplessness.
If it were not for the Sorcerer World that came into this world cluster using the destiny lever, in the future, no one would ever know if this Infernal Spirit World had developed into a civilization.
Moreover.
With the establishment of the Sorcerer’s Alliance, the sorcerers today no longer played by the same rules as the ancient sorcerers. Little Myna’s views only represented the ruthless rules of the ancient sorcerers.
If the Infernal Spirit World had not been listed as an enemy by the Seven Rings Celestial Sorcerer, and if the Sorcerer World was not sitting on the brink of the Third Civilizational World, then perhaps the negotiation would work.
But now…
Grimm could not help but think about what happened a century ago at the world gate, the words spoken to him by the World Guardian of the Acraepoid World who acted all high and mighty.
“Give up your foolish resistance.
“Great warrior from the Burrow World, your persistence has earned the respect of the great Acraepoid’s will. If you have someone to blame, blame it on your lowly birth in the Burrow World… stop your insolence, the great Acraepoid’s will is not something you can defy. The great Acraepoid’s will shall crush any enemy who dares to stand against us. The Burrow World is not something you can protect.
“Foolish creature, perhaps you are the strongest of the Burrow World, there might not be anyone who can oppose you there. But in the eyes of the great Acraepoid World, you’re just a puny bug that we can squash at any moment.”
With a cold laugh, Grimm and the tens of millions of Demon-Hunter Sorcerers quietly looked ahead.
***
“Venerated Sorcerer World, the Acraepoid World has no intention to make an enemy out of the great Sorcerer World. If the Acraepoid World has offended the great sorcerer’s will in any way, I am ready to give out my wealth in place of all my citizens as compensation and do my utmost best to de-escalate the conflict between our worlds to achieve peace.”
The three-hundred-meter tall black flame was burning profusely in front of the Acraepoid army. It was communicating through soul ripples.
“Heeheeheeheeheehee…”
Even though he had not shown up, Black Isotta’s sinister laughter could already be heard.
A seventy-meter long giant crocodile, covered in red scales flew up from amongst the hundreds of hideous soul slaves.
On a bone throne on top of the giant crocodile, a sorcerer who was reading his arcane tome in his hands slowly raised his tempestuous eyes to look at the black flame in front of him.
“Do your best to de-escalate the conflict between our worlds?”
Black Isotta spoke out in a demeaning manner.
On the bone throne of the giant crocodile that was surrounded by the multitudes of soul slaves, Black Isotta said each word slowly. Yet, each of his spoken words were like punches to the First Acraepoid King’s chest.
The seemingly small figure underneath the collapsing space…
That must be it!
An existence as strong as the World Lord Power Supreme, that must be someone who was more powerful than the World Lord!
They must not fight!
After drawing a deep breath, the blue-eyed First Acraepoid King was trying to calm himself down. In a low voice, he spoke,” Yes, I will do my utmost best.”
“Heeheeheehee, how would you do your utmost best? Tell us, and I will consider it accordingly.”
As if he had taken an interest, Black Isotta placed the arcane tome behind his back. The frail corner of his lip curled up in a sinister twist. He closed his eyes slightly and reclined back on his bone throne.
Black Isotta seemed ready to listen and make his judgment.
It was serious business indeed.
The First Acraepoid King tried to lower himself down. He raised his pair of blue eyes to look at Black Isotta and spoke slowly. “A piece of World Lord crystal that still has ninety percent energy, fifty million soul essences, a hundred thousand pieces of high-quality Blood Jades, high-quality…”
As Black Isotta had not shown any sign of acceptance, the First Acraepoid King did not dare to stop. He listed out more and more of his immense wealth.
At this moment, each word that came out from his mouth felt like a drop of blood.
Occasionally, the First Acraepoid King would look at Black Isotta, whose eyes were still closed as he sat on top of the bone throne underneath the collapsing space.
There was no reaction from Black Isotta. He was slumping lazily on the bone throne, and he appeared to be asleep.
Still, the First Acraepoid King dared not stop. He only wished that his opponent would look at him, satisfied with his conditions.
Time passed by gradually.
Never in his life had the First Acraepoid King felt more humiliated.
In front of his hundreds of millions of citizens, and in front of his immensely powerful enemies, he was selling out the great treasures that had been painstakingly collected by the Acraepoid World, and also… the pride and honor of the Acraepoid’s will.
The First Acraepoid King had no courage to defy them resolutely. He knew it would mean certain death.
“…fifteen Fragments of the Trapped Ground Air, seven hundred Lavaflow Crystals…”
A few hourglasses had passed. The wealth of the First Acraepoid King was dwindling. Yet, Black Isotta did not seem to have any reaction at all. His expectation was becoming higher.
‘Go on and agree to it already!’
The First Acraepoid King was lamenting in his heart.
Suddenly, a strange ripple of will appeared.
Hum…
On top of the Void Fortress, above the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers and the thousands of three-hundred meter long voidships, an invisible sorcerer’s barrier was established.
It was a success! The principal will of the Sorcerer World was able to penetrate into the world.
At the same time, Black Isotta opened his eyes slowly. In a ruthless manner, he said,” Hmph, how dare you use what’s going to be ours anyway as your salvation? Looks like you have no intention of seeking peace…”
Black Isotta did not care for the First Acraepoid King’s panicked howls and lifted his hand.
Black Isotta’s voice was unnaturally calm. “Destroy this world.”
