"Lord Lance, the monsters have destroyed the entire city and are now surrounding the city hall!"
In a town called Kastera within the Lance family's sphere of influence, Hal Lance and five other mage apprentices were at their wits' end.
"Aren't these monsters supposed to be mindless? Why are they sparing no one, not even city hall?" an apprentice muttered in despair.
They were now the only humans left in the city. All others, including the slaves and servants, had mutated, even managing to kill an apprentice caught off-guard.
Curses and toxins had no effect on the infected. In fact, they only facilitated further mutation of the virus, rendering the group helpless despite their formidable powers. Conventional ancient elemental magic could deal substantial damage to the creatures, but the apprentices were not proficient in it. More critically, the number of infected seemed infinite. Even insects, which they could easily crush or blow away with a breath, joined in the onslaught.
"I've already requested assistance from my family. The mages will come to save us. Hold the city hall!" Hal croaked, completely out of ideas. Even escape through flight was not an option; the airborne creatures were as numerous as those on the ground.
"They're coming! They're coming!"
The infected attacked silently. Without any roars, they followed the devil's command to carry out a silent massacre. There was no hesitation, no retreat. The deceased infected were devoured in the next second by their peers, fueling further mutation.
With the number of infected spanning the entirety of Ceylon Island and all in opposition to the antimagic forces, the gap in quantity compensated for the difference in quality. Although the infected were no match for formal antimagic mages, they could surround and kill an average antimagic apprentice in unison.
Kastera City didn't last an hour before it was torn apart by the infected. Similar situations were happening all over Ceylon Island every second.
Adam was not in a hurry to hunt down formal mages. In fact, in the three days since the virus spread, he'd gained over six hundred Points while sitting in his laboratory. Adding to his existing points, he was nearing the thousand-point target.
"Cackle, Master, this is too fun! Too easy! I feel like a deity!" The devil was engrossed in the new game, taking the initiative to sack cities without Adam's prompting.
Adam stood expressionless to one side. In front of him was a large screen displaying a magnified map of Ceylon Island. Each city was marked; red indicated conquered areas, and green denoted unexplored areas. Using this method, he extrapolated the distribution of high-end forces on the island.
The mission was no longer challenging. Adam was not content to waste time here. Although each person only needed a thousand points, transdimensional mages didn't forbid apprentices from continuing to collect points after reaching their goal. Adam decided to gather as many points as possible to expedite the trial process.
Meanwhile, the majority of the apprentices from the War Alliance had already gathered outside the defensive circle of the antimage family. According to their initial plan, they would have encountered the defensive circle of the antimage family after advancing a thousand kilometers. Now, they encountered obstruction, and what stood in their way were uncommunicative infected bodies with no consciousness.
The apprentices were relentlessly attacking the infected bodies, while the War Alliance hastily established a command post to discuss how to deal with the infected bodies.
"Lilith, you were the first to investigate the situation. Do you have any updates?" asked one of the apprentices sitting at the round table where thirty members gathered.
"We can now confirm that the mutation comes from a virus that spreads through air and blood. It is deadly to normal creatures, but ineffective against mages," Lilith shared, looking exhausted. There was little more she could find out as the infected bodies were unable to communicate.
"I don't think that the virus came from the antimage," Lilith paused, then said.
"Do you mean that it was done by an apprentice?" someone questioned.
Lilith took a deep breath. "Yes, you should realize that this matter is severe. If it was done by the antimage, they would have issued it as a task for us to solve. But three days have passed and there's been no movement on our bracelets."
The room fell silent. The absence of a task was a major point of doubt. They had also speculated whether the virus was spread by an apprentice. But as they recalled, none of the current apprentices excelled in potion-making.
"If it was done by one of us, who could it be? And what could be gained from doing so?" someone else asked.
"I don't know."
For some reason, the name Adam flashed across Lilith's mind. Although she had no evidence, she felt it was something Adam would do. But the mystery still remained - what could he gain from wiping out all normal life forms?
In the middle of the discussion, an apprentice suddenly announced, "Those monsters have retreated."
In a basement deep within the mainland, the devil asked Adam, "Master, how should we handle the apprentices?"
A probe was inserted into the virus' parental body named Garfield, the screen connected to the probe showed what was happening at the apprentices' gathering place.
Although the number of the infected seemed endless, there was a significant power gap between them and the elite among the apprentices. A simple spell from the apprentices could easily evaporate the infected.
"Divide a batch of infected insects to monitor them, the rest can retreat," Adam replied, continuing to extract cells from the mutated infected subjects.
Recently, the devil had grown arrogant, and he replied, "Master, although the infected are not a match for them, we could still have them at their wit's end. Wouldn't it be too easy to just let them go?"
"No, I need to end this tedious trial as soon as possible. Alone, I cannot kill all the mages from those big families, because I'll need their power."
The devil was not quite satisfied, "Master, that War Alliance isn't quite our friend now. Perhaps you're already a wanted man among them."
Adam dismissed it casually, "I know, but they are not worth my scheming. Their survival is more beneficial to me. The infected bodies need not hinder them, they can even reveal some information to them."
The devil's eyes rolled, understanding Adam's intentions. With a wicked grin, he replied, "I understand, Master. I'll find some tough nuts for them when the time comes."
