"White, blue, red, black, yellow," the devil's face emerged from the top of the magic wand.
He looked at the five dragons flying in the sky, saying, "Different colors, huh? Even the dragons have united?"
Adam nodded, "It seems the dragons are fearing it too."
Given their nature, the dragons' choice to unite indicated a very tough situation. The fluctuation of the world's origin, the increasing tentacles in the sky, and the expanding rifts must be putting immense pressure on them.
The white one was a Frost Dragon. The others, in order of energy strength, were the Thunder Dragon, Fire Dragon, Wind Dragon, and Earth Dragon. The Thunder Dragon, the largest, measured twenty-five meters, while the rest were under twenty. If these were the elite forces of the dragons, then Okov wasn't bragging; he was among the strongest of them.
The Forest Elves had transformed into plants and trees, hiding in the desolate ruins of the Greenleaf Tribe and the surrounding dense forests. They trembled as they waited for rescue, or, perhaps, a disaster.
Adam's sudden appearance startled a nearby tree, and its oddly green branches whipped towards him with a gusty wind. A voice growled, "Who are you?"
Before Adam could react, an arm grew from the wand and slapped the branch away. The devil muttered, "Lina, do you and your slaves have no brains? What's the point of hiding if you attack anything on sight?"
The tree was struck so hard its roots came out of the ground. It was no match for the devil, a transcendent being, even though it usually wasn't very useful.
The surrounding plants and grass stirred anxiously, like frightened birds. Any slight disturbance would snap their tense nerves.
"Master? Is that you?" A flower bloomed at Adam's feet, with Lina's tentative voice emerging.
Adam planted his magic wand on the ground, spreading a magnetic field that disrupted all the Forest Elves' disguises. They gazed at Adam, bewildered and unsure, including those from the original Greenleaf Tribe who had only known him as Chris Frost.
Lina, tense, emerged from the Tribe's gloomiest corner and approached Adam. Realizing escape was futile against someone who could instantly expose them, she repeated, "Master, is that you?"
Adam nodded and showed her a trace of dragon power.
Lina's eyes sparkled with joy, "Master, what's this about?"
Adam, skipping a response, asked, "Are all the Forest Elves here?"
Lina's eyes, alight with joy, faded slightly. "Yes, only about three thousand of us remain. Those who couldn't get the Blood Exchange Surgery were all killed."
The devil suddenly interjected, "Master, they've found you."
Hearing the familiar voice but seeing no one, Lina's eyes searched frantically, finally settling on Adam's hand. "You, you..."
The face on the magic wand reemerged, and the devil playfully grimaced at Lina, causing her to step back in shock.
"Let's discuss this later. For now, lead your people away from here. I have dragons to slay!" The devil chuckled joyously at Lina's scare.
...
For Adam, dragon slaying had become a trivial task.
The strongest of the five, the Thunder Dragon, was merely an oversized toy in Adam's grip. He could effortlessly take control of the electric elements generated by the dragon language.
Once enveloped by his magnetic field, the Thunder Dragon was knocked out by the wild electric elements within.
The other four dragons met a more miserable fate.
Powered by limitless magic, Adam functioned like a perpetual machine. A deluge of powerful, second-tier spells bombarded them. And his energy magic, now used by him in his true self, was devastating.
The dragons became targets for Adam's magical experimentation, then falling to the ground, barely alive. The explosions nearly razed the surrounding mountains to the ground.
After defeating the dragons, Adam stored them in his portable space, which also validated his hypothesis: Living beings could be put into space; it's just that they would soon die inside because there was no substance like food or oxygen to support them.
Dead dragons were way less valuable than when alive; Adam, however, was pressed for time and lacking research facilities, so he had to put them in there, even it meant they would die.
Resources and trinkets from the Dragon Plane were useful for mage apprentices, but they were of limited value to a real mage.
Adam's focus now shifted to the slaves. During this tumultuous time, he could find as many native races as possible. Then, with simple bloodline enhancement rituals, these races could quickly be transformed into combat forces, making them perfect for frontline battles.
Adam spent an entire year on that. The Makalu Mountains became his hub for amassing slaves and paradoxically, the calmest region in the Dragon Plane.
In times of chaos, peace and security were very appealing to those who were weak. In the end, Adam didn't even have to raid because people from many races started coming to Makalu on their own. Adam told the devil to take these slaves and mark them with his own seal, making them his property.
This caught the attention of the Cthulhu monsters and the dragons. However, Adam had already set up a magnetic field-changing magic grid around the camp using ether crystals. Once it was turned on, it could quickly make a kinetic energy weapon that went around the camp. Any enemy that came close left only a path of dead bodies; they never made it to the edge of the camp.
A year later, the transcendent monsters from Cthulhu had got a whole tentacle into the Dragon Plane through the rift. Everyone could hear its constant roars and sometimes catch a glimpse of its unbelievably horrible shape. The crystal barrier of the plane now looked as fragile as paper. More and more small dimensional holes were opening up, letting out stronger monsters.
Adam left Makalu for the Cthulhu Plane after enhancing his magic array one last time.
"Master, have you really made up your mind? Won't you think twice?" The devil kept asking. He didn't want to take the risk.
The devil believed that the Dragon Plane was safer than Cthulhu, even though the huge monster was about to blast through the plane's barrier anytime soon.
He tried again when he saw Adam ignoring him. "Master, I think the slaves need to be watched, or the losses will be too great. Maybe I should stay here."
Adam raised his magic wand and sent an elemental rocket straight into the space rift. While the devil was screaming, he strode calmly into the Cthulhu Plane."
