Chapter 98: Chapter 98: One Year
One year later.
A horde of over a thousand third-tier demons was gathering beneath the ruins of a massive canyon, each demon displaying immense excitement.
At their feet lay nearly a hundred broken, massive spaceships.
Each of them clutched hundreds of tiny phantoms in their hands, occasionally swallowing one with excitement.
"This is just wonderful!"
"Indeed."
"Don’t just focus on eating, remember to save what needs to be submitted."
"Hmph, no need for your reminder."
...
A cacophony of noisy chatter echoed continuously.
Occasionally, spaceships would approach, but upon seeing the situation in the canyon, they would decisively leave.
The demons were aware of these spaceships, yet none had any intention of pursuing them.
After more than a year of war, they knew that any spaceship appearing alone was a tough nut to crack.
Even if they caught up, defeating it wasn’t guaranteed, and even if they did, capturing it was difficult. If by chance they did, it held little meaning, as there was typically just one soul on board.
About an hour later.
The demons ceased their enjoyment, storing the remaining souls they held in various ways while discussing their next target.
"Harold, where do we go next? How do we attack?" A Bone Demon enthusiastically asked an Eye Demon at the center of the demon horde.
They had successfully taken the canyon almost solely due to the Eye Demon’s previous strategies.
Thus, they had great faith in it now.
"Have you heard of the Wizard who can cast Meteor?" Harold responded with a question.
As it was known, a Wizard who could cast Meteor was particularly hostile to their kind.
The Meteors released by him were unavoidable; once locked on, death was almost certain.
Moreover, wherever he appeared, other demons might manage to escape by sheer luck, but no Eye Demon was ever spared.
More crucially, the Wizard’s attack range was extremely far, so far that Eye Demons couldn’t even sense his exact location.
Now that Harold had gained the right to speak within this demon horde, his primary target was that very Wizard.
Abyssal Demons were often chaotic, but once they believed a demon could lead them to victory and great benefits, they dared to risk everything.
Upon Harold’s words, most demons shook their heads in confusion.
More than a hundred various demons had dark elements boiling around them, and they became agitated.
"I know."
"I’ve encountered him."
"Harold, do you plan to kill him? Count me in."
...
The demon horde was in an uproar, no longer showing any sign of excitement.
"Go ahead." Harold fixed his gaze on a Winged Demon.
"Last time we almost broke through the energy shell, he came over and dropped a few meteors, killing three Eye Demons. We tried to chase him, but we couldn’t find where he was," the Winged Demon said angrily. "In the end, the remaining Eye Demon came up with a plan to scatter us all and search everywhere, which finally scared him off."
"When did you encounter him?" Harold asked.
"A month ago, twelve thousand miles that way," the Winged Demon pointed westward.
"Got it," Harold nodded, then turned to other demons who claimed to have met Lor. "When did you meet him, and where?"
"Half a year ago, at..."
"Three days ago, I was at..."
...
"Huff—"
Lor piloted the Black Cliff Spaceship above a vast forest.
"In one year, I have amassed a total of twelve million contribution points, enough to exchange for twelve thousand divine power crystals."
Lor calculated in his mind, "If I absorb all these divine power crystals, I can increase my spiritual power by 900 points."
"If it continues like this, in five more years, I will become a Third Ring Great Wizard."
In the past year, he received a total of sixty-three rescue missions, averaging one mission every five days.
Fifteen times, when he arrived, the stronghold had already been breached, and the Wizards had used Fourth Ring Witchcraft Scrolls, leading to mission failure with a deduction of over a million contribution points in total.
To make up for these deducted points, he would need to escort these Wizards and the mortals to the next stronghold.
That would take at least half a month, which Lor found uneconomical, so he never took up the escort missions, letting the contribution points be deducted.
In some missions, because he arrived slower than other Great Wizards who had already taken control of the situation, he could only earn a small number of contribution points.
Thus, after tallying everything, he earned a total of twelve million contribution points.
"Being able to become a Third Ring Wizard in five years isn’t bad," Lor thought to himself. "As for the Fourth Ring... we’ll take it slow."
He closed his eyes, intending to rest for a while but suddenly noticed the Continent Communication Device in his Space Ring vibrating again.
"Another mission?" Lor checked the Continent Communication Device. "The Jadeite Duchy, not too far from me."
Without hesitation, he immediately activated all defense and perception measures, turning the spaceship northward.
Moments later.
When he reached the Jadeite Duchy, four thousand miles away, he discovered over a thousand demons scattered across a two-thousand-mile stretch of the sky, fiercely attacking the Defense Magic Array below.
Due to the significant level difference, the Wizards within the magic array appeared powerless in counterattack.
Lor sensed the battlefield, intending to prioritize locating and targeting the Eye Demons, but found that the demons were spread far apart.
No Eye Demon was within the three-hundred-mile range he could sense.
To lock onto an Eye Demon, he would have to advance the spaceship a bit further.
However, doing so might bring him into the perception range of other demons.
"They’ve become more cunning," Lor shook his head helplessly and decided to settle for second best, setting his sights on a Winged Demon.
Mark, aggregate, dive.
Gravity Technique enhancement!
"Huff—"
A massive meteor, with power reaching 3.6 rings and a diameter of nearly thirty miles, streaked across the sky, rushing towards the Winged Demon, with violent fluctuations of earth and fire elemental energy within.
"Meteor..." In an instant, despair flashed in the Winged Demon’s eyes as it sensed the falling meteor.
Without any intention of dragging fellow kin down, it stood quietly in place, awaiting the arrival of death.
From prior discussions about meteors, these demons were already well aware of their nature.
Knowing that there was no avoiding them, they were almost impossible to withstand, and it was impossible to identify which Wizard had released the meteor.
When encountered, the only option was to await death.
"Boom—"
A meteor crashed down, smashing a Winged Demon into pieces, leaving no trace of life.
"There’s definitely something unusual about this demon horde," Lor furrowed his brows slightly.
It was the first time he had seen a demon face the meteor without any struggle.
As a result, his Meteor Technique could only kill one demon, failing to achieve its usual effect.
Lor restored his elemental energy with a Magic Crystal while carefully observing the movements of the other demons.
"Hmm? What’s this?"
In his perception, the other demons reacted extremely swiftly; at the moment the meteor appeared, they ceased attacking the defense shield.
Instead, they instantaneously scattered in all directions, seemingly searching for something.