A powerful energy gathered in front of Lind, forming a sphere. The transdimensional mage, with arms wide open, embraced this primal force and then slammed it into the center of the magical array.
A great fire ignited across the entire Dragon Plane. Adam could clearly see everything in this world turning into a mysterious substance, feeding into the Heart of the World of the mages.
The flames grew more intense, the Dragon Plane shrank, and the six-pointed star brightened.
Suddenly, at the tips of the star, the fire solidified into chains that stretched in all directions, as if to pull something out of thin air.
Seconds later, the chains tightened, showing incredible power, and the broken essence of the Dragon Plane appeared before everyone.
It was a simple Heart of the World of the Dragon Plane, with only instincts and no consciousness, looking weak and battered. Its spherical body was like a patient paralyzed, unable to control its form.
Once its creations were captured or betrayed, it lost all its strength, helpless and at the mercy of others.
Every mage heard the Dragon Plane's sad cries. Then, all native beings, including those enslaved by the mages, felt immense sadness and unbearable pain. They cried, knelt, struggled on the ground, and their muffled sobs carried messages of grief.
Lind, silent through it all, watched the world nearly burn away. When the star finally trapped the Dragon Plane's origin, he lifted the gigantic Heart of the World, stepped into the sacrificial magic array, and gently pushed it forward.
The chains split and connected at both ends, rapidly draining the Dragon Plane's power and sending it along the chains. A bright light filled the void, too bright for Adam to see what was happening inside.
This lasted an hour, and then the light faded. Eventually, the Dragon Plane and its origin completely vanished, as if they had never existed.
"Is it over? Nothing happened?" Adam asked, puzzled, to the nearby Evans.
"Be patient. It's about to begin."
As soon as the words were spoken, Adam felt a slight fluctuation in his soul. A mysterious energy pathway from the Mage Network activated.
In the void, the origin pulsed, then a new type of energy, different from ether and magic, infused into Adam's soul.
In that moment, Adam felt a clarity in his senses, and his computational ability surged. Negative states and substances in his soul and body seemed to vanish. His mage armor appeared automatically, circulating magic rapidly to integrate the new energy, enhancing its defensive power.
The speed of the magic circulation increased, eventually forming a tide within him. After a rise and fall, Adam felt his total magic reduced by twenty points, but its quality was higher than before.
Then the energy channel closed. The six-pointed star magic formation in the void shattered, turning into a mist that revolved around the origin, before disappearing from everyone's sight.
Evans asked Adam, "How does it feel? Good, isn't it?"
"It's beneficial, but..."
Evans laughed, "But not very useful?"
Adam nodded, feeling that this 'reward' was minimal, offering only a slight improvement to his strength.
"It's normal," Evans explained. "Firstly, this Plane is too weak, lacking the environment to birth transcendent beings. Secondly, the essence is too fragmented. The Mage World didn't gain much, so the feedback to us is also limited. If the sacrificed plane had been larger, the feedback would have been tremendous."
Evans paused, then said, "Let me tell you a secret."
Adam was surprised. Anything termed a secret by a mage had great value. He wondered why Evans, who wasn't very close to him, would share such information.
Understanding Adam's doubt, Evans casually waved his hand and pointed towards Lind's true form in the void.
"It's called a secret, but actually, every high-level mage knows this. To advance from level four to five, besides having foundational knowledge and energy, one needs to absorb enough origin. Each transdimensional mage can be considered an origin, albeit the weakest kind."
"This is the unique evolutionary path for mages and the reason why level-five beings in the Mage World are far stronger than other beings in the void."
Evans didn't say more, but his revelations were enough to spark Adam's imagination. '*If a transdimensional mage is the weakest form of origin, then perhaps a Great Archmage represents a complete origin? Adam recalled the dean, Victor, mentioning that Great Archmages live in their own small spaces, which Adam initially thought were just stable environments created using spatial knowledge. Now, it seems these might actually be true planes, with Great Archmages possibly capable of creating worlds with themselves as the origins.*'
...
With the Dragon Plane gone, the Plane War had reached its halfway point. The starship bustled with activity as the command center coordinated alchemical golems to transport massive amounts of materials and captives back to the Mage World. Once only battlemages remained on the starship, Lind's vessel would dock with Cthulhu's other ships, combining forces for a sweeping assault.
All captives were restless, filled with an inexplicable, deep-seated sorrow, igniting a courage to resist, even if they didn't understand the significance of the essence's disappearance.
The forest elves, not yet fully transformed, lacked the combat strength to contend with radiation creatures, their natural counters. Although they were Adam's soul slaves, they too were temporarily sent to the Mage World.
Lina, already aware of the mages' intentions, forcefully quelled unrest within her race and obediently stepped into the portal, while other races were forcefully pushed through after suffering heavy casualties.
The mages were never gentle with captives, and the emotionless alchemical golems followed orders strictly, executing any who hesitated or resisted.
Adam's room was cold, filled with transparent gems. The devil, bored, was counting beads on the floor---Sofia's tears that had turned into ice crystals, containing energy that kept them from melting.
Seeing Adam return, the devil pointed to the fainted young dragon, saying, "This little one was crying terribly just now. Seems she's not as foolish as I thought. She knows what happened outside."
Adam hadn't yet signed a summoning pact with Sofia or transformed her, so she too would be sent to the Dragon Plane. To prevent her from starving out of fear, Adam had prepared enough food for her to last decades.
"Really? What did she say?"
"Bad people, evil dragons, stuff like that. Oh, and she said she has no home now."
Adam was quiet for a moment, not saying much. He simply handed over the food and nutrients he had prepared to the alchemical golem standing behind him, then ordered it to take Sofia away.
Adam was surprised that the silly little dragon was so sharp, but he didn't plan to explain anything.
This was fate. In this dangerous void where countless worlds and lives greedily pursued energy, every individual, including mages, had to adapt to the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak. Advancing might not guarantee a bright future, but retreating would surely lead to doom.
...
Two days later, the starship was cleared, traveling towards Cthulhu through dimensional hubs using space jumps, and then finished docking.
The laws of the mage world formed an embedded plane in the space above Cthulhu.
Large-scale wars and solo missions were entirely different concepts. On this kind of battlefield, individual power was no longer sufficient to sway the outcome. Even transdimensional mages were restrained by the lords of Cthulhu, lost deep in the void.
War was the best catalyst. In a short time, and it caused all Cthulhu creatures to complete a metamorphosis in their thinking mode.
The hierarchy of authority became more distinct, with higher beings having absolute control over the lower ones. Orders were executed without hesitation, even if it was suicide, and the lower beings had no doubts about it.
Battlemages often saw large numbers of low-level radiation beings committing suicide, becoming food for the higher beings, promoting evolution and ensuring the strength of the upper ranks.
The fourth and third rings were completely abandoned. Billions of radiation beings held their ground on the boundary of the second ring, not retreating an inch, and the war entered a stalemate and tug-of-war.
After the docking was completed, Adam and the other battlemages on the starship spent a month sweeping for remnants and collecting resources before receiving orders from the joint command to officially join the front line.
...
"Coordinates (13245, 54845, 63248). The radiation race has gathered over twenty level-four beings, more than a hundred level-three beings, and countless level-ones and twos. They launched a night raid on Camp 760, and the mages stationed there were almost entirely wiped out. Your mission is to clear the enemies near the coordinates, re-establish defense works, fill the gaps in the front line, and prevent the radiation race from breaking through to the rear. Stanley, Campbell, and Salona, three level-four mages, will lead the team."
On the Dimensional Hub Platform, a senior combat officer delivered the mission requirements to everyone. The mages, accustomed to life and death, showed no emotional fluctuation when speaking the words "entirely wiped out."
"Any questions?"
Adam stayed quiet. At this time, he couldn't speak. He was just amazed by the number of camps. The battlemages had fully surrounded the second ring, and no one knew how many camps were there. Many were being destroyed all the time.
"It looks like things aren't as good as I thought," Adam said quietly to himself.
Next to Adam, a very strong alchemical mage with powerful mage armor, holding a big longsword, heard him. In a low voice, the mage said, "Yes, it's not good. We've lost a lot, and every day we hear about camps being destroyed. More help has come from the main world, but the battlefield is like a never-ending pit."
"Oh, my name is Woll," he said, then with a hard expression added, "These creatures are everywhere, so many of them."
Adam thought about how the radiation race reproduced. They didn't have genders and reproduced in a special way, like splitting, but more complex. When mutant energy eroded body parts from higher beings, these parts strangely turned into new life forms.
To fight this scary way of reproducing, the mages had to make sure they destroyed every part of the enemy's body in battle; if not, many creatures could appear overnight.
Woll reached out his hand to Adam, but then pulled it back because of their height difference and patted his chest instead. "Don't worry, if we're careful, those creatures have no chance. When the transdimensional mages come back from the void, it will be their end."
"Hi, I'm Adam," Adam replied, also hitting his chest.
Adam was still at level one, but he was at the top of it. After the plane sacrifice, he looked almost like a level-two mage.
Woll, a level three mage, seemed to have a kind heart, which was unusual for mages.
"I know you, the Explorer of this time," Woll said, a bit shy, scratching his head. "You know, alchemical mages don't have much. Could you tell me if..." He stopped, then said, "I can protect you. The creatures' ray attacks can't get through my defense."
Adam didn't know what to say. He had just thought of Woll as kind, but now his real reason was clear.
Before Adam could answer, a devilish face appeared on his magic wand and said, "If my master couldn't protect himself, he would have died on the exploration long ago, and wouldn't need any help..."
Adam quickly pushed the mischievous face on his wand back into its place.
Woll, a bit sheepish but not upset, showed he was truly nice. "Oh, okay, I understand. Forget about it then."
Adam thought for a bit before asking, "Mage Woll, are you a body-refining mage studying bloodline?"
Woll's eyes shone as he nodded quickly. "Yes, that's true. Do you have anything to exchange? I heard you got some valuable servants. I can make them better. I'm really good at it."
"I'm looking forward to working with you," Adam said.
Woll smiled, ready to say more, but then the light for teleporting shone. He quickly gestured 'we'll talk later' and got ready to be sent to the battle area.
