Free Web NovelChapter 485: Chapter 419: Unusual Activity
After verifying some hypotheses, Jeming and the other two quickly left the outpost camp.
On the way to the next location, the three exchanged information through the Spiritual Link.
"The Reaper Race that were entirely stored away and immediately disappeared upon retrieval, and those vanished old instruments trigger paradoxes in clearly different ways," Vivian calmly analyzed. "Instruments were stored during the fourth cycle, used in the fifth, and erased only after the sixth cycle’s time reversal began. But those Reaper, from our recent verification, their existence was erased from the timeline right at the beginning of this cycle."
Roland continued: "The differences may lie in two aspects. First, the source of material. Instruments were made by us wizards using ’foreign’ materials beyond this Plane, while the Reaper Race are entirely composed of native elements. Second, the nature of existence. Instruments are non-living entities, whereas the Reaper Race are lifeforms possessing souls, memories, and complex causal connections."
"Even if they are dead, it’s very likely they have other marking methods..."
"Or it may be both," Jeming quickly deduced while flying at high speed, "We need to control the variables to verify this. Fortunately, a sufficient number of samples were stored in the last cycle."
In the last cycle, with the help of the logistics research team, Jeming collected numerous native minerals and soil samples from this Plane.
The samples were wholly stored within the Grotto Heaven, and their sources were clearly defined.
"So next up... let’s go to this place." Jeming shared a set of coordinates through the Spiritual Link, which was about eight hundred kilometers away from their current position in a valley. Records indicated it was rich in a type of stable ’Ash Crystal Ore,’ from which he had extracted over fifty tons of raw ore.
Roland and Vivian did not object.
However, shortly after turning towards the new destination, a moving "black cloud" on the horizon ahead caught Vivian’s attention.
"A massive legion! Number... over a million! Energy reactions are dense, confirmed seven Seventh Level fluctuations, with over a thousand above the Fourth Level!" she quickly alerted, "They are moving in our direction, the enemy seems to have already discovered us, it appears to be a troop mobilization."
"Circumvent or...?" Roland looked to Jeming, seeking advice.
With their strength, they could handle it, but it might delay their plans.
Jeming quickly reviewed the recorded information.
According to information from previous cycles, such large-scale troop movement shouldn’t occur in this area at this time.
"Something is off," he frowned, "The information doesn’t contain related intelligence...their perception of the overall battle and response patterns have changed?"
With the Reaper Race’s habits, this wasn’t impossible.
"Since the opponent has discovered us, avoiding it entirely might lead to tracking or premature exposure of our investigation intentions." Jeming decided, "Quickly eliminate them. Vivian and Roland, please contain all creatures above Level 5 so they don’t interfere with me. Leave the rest to me."
"Understood." The two Sixth Level Wizards stepped into battle mode without hesitation.
When the black insect swarm entered within a range of twenty kilometers, combat erupted.
Roland was the first to strike, holding his Magic Staff high, five solidified "Gravity Chains" stretched across space, accurately wrapping around the five most prominent Seventh Level Reaper Race leaders in the swarm.
The chains, with powerful binding and pulling force, forcibly dragged those five enraged giants out of the legion formation, towards the high-altitude side wing, away from the main battlefield.
Meanwhile, Vivian also raised her palm towards the army ahead. Amid space distortions, all biological energy readings reaching or exceeding Level 5 were teleported to high altitudes.
Next, layered defense and confinement barriers expanded around Roland, forming a temporary "Dueling Arena" trapping those high tier enemies.
At the forefront, the million-strong Reaper Race army surged like a black flood, rushing towards Jeming suspended alone in mid-air! fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
The roar of wings, the scraping of carapaces, and almost tangible pheromones filled with murderous intent.
Jeming remained calm, with his right hand grasping vaguely, the brilliance of Fire Extinction Divine Light already condensed in his hand.
Yet he did not immediately activate it.
With a thought, three seams quietly opened at his side from the entrance of his Inner Grotto Heaven.
Three identical dark golden Magic Staffs, fully charged, slowly floated out, hovering beside him.
The tips of all three staffs simultaneously glowed with an unsettling dark golden light.
"Perfect, time to test the efficiency of full saturation coverage." Jeming muttered softly.
His Spiritual Power along with the Five Elements Rainbow Transformation Mirror calculated at terrifying speed the optimal attack parameters—coverage range, energy density, duration, environmental impact...
Charging lasted only a brief moment.
The next instant...
Buzz!!!
Four dark golden light beams, like giant swords swung by deities, erupted from the three staffs in front and beside Jeming!
Under Jeming’s control, the beams spread out instantly like blooming lotuses at the moment they were shot, expanding rapidly!
Dark golden aureole swept out like a fan from Jeming’s origin, enveloping the sky ahead.
Where the light passed, space groaned under the strain, light twisted, and temperatures soared at a pace defying physical laws.
Jeming precisely controlled the range and intensity of the aureole.
He did not seek the limit of distance coverage, instead concentrating the main power within a front area about one hundred kilometers across, approximately ten kilometers deep—the core impact formation of the densely packed Reaper Race legion.
The speed of light was unavoidable.
As the dark golden aureole touched the forefront of the black swarm, time seemed to freeze for a frame.
And then, came the most thorough annihilation.
Whether durable carapaces, resilient souls, or boiling energy, faced with Fire Extinction Divine Light’s decomposition properties, were like ice and snow under sunlight.
Upon contact with the aureole, Reaper Race beings, regardless of level, their forms instantly became transparent and blurred, then decomposed into elementary energy particles and material dust, not a hint of smoke rose.
The aureole advanced, annihilation followed.
Like an eraser wiping over pencil marks, the black tide evaporated swiftly under the dark golden flames. Five kilometers, ten kilometers... In mere blinks, the dark golden aureole swept over the entire predetermined area, then slowly dissipated.
The sky grew bright again, but the ground below had transformed into a smooth and silent glassy plain.
The million-strong Reaper Race army, apart from the Lucky Ones held by Roland and Vivian, was utterly wiped out.
No remnants, no blood traces, only the air filled with high-temperature distorted air barely dissipated, and the land emitting a peculiar luster from instant vitrification.
"Quite powerful." Jeming contentedly stowed away the three Magic Staffs.
Though indications showed he had likely released a round of triple staff combined attack before, from the physical sensation, this should have been his first time using such a method.
He could only say the effects were surprisingly good, no wonder later he was closely monitored by the Reaper Race.
Elsewhere, this brute force blow akin to a miracle even startled Roland and those five Seventh Level Reaper Race leaders in fierce battle high on the side wing to momentarily pause.
For the first time, a nearly fearful emotional wave flickered in the compound eyes of the Reaper Race leaders, while Roland, shocked, elevated his assessment of this "consultant" to an unbelievable level.
Jeming slightly panted, simultaneously manipulating four extensive high-power attacks was quite taxing on his Spiritual Power and Spiritual Power control.
However, he was more concerned with the combat data from this engagement.
"Area coverage, clearance efficiency against dense Low Tier legion... almost one hundred percent. Energy utilization rate exceeded expectations by eight percent, possibly related to environmental element concentration. Decomposition effect residual interference time..." He quickly recorded while looking at that scorched earth, feeling little inner turmoil.
Such is the nature of war, especially when the opponent must be eradicated.
The aerial battle soon ended as well.
Entirely losing militia cover and morale support, those high tier Reaper Race couldn’t withstand much longer against Roland teaming with the freed Vivian and were successively slain.
With the fight concluded, the trio immediately resumed advancing towards the Ash Crystal Ore valley.
Jeming harbored some concerns.
The frequency and scale of tactical adjustments by the Reaper Race were increasing, they no longer entirely relied on the "cycle trial and error" old path and began conducting more proactive, daring strategic explorations.
Behind this change, was it them perceiving a fatal threat from wizard research, or did the "manipulator" hidden in the cycle’s depths issue new orders?
Ruminating on this, he encapsulated information about this unusually large enemy troop encounter, its appearance coordinates, and approximate force composition into an information crystal.
He then sent the same set of information through the Magic Network Terminal back to the main base.
