The Wizard's Pursuit of Truth

Wang Ya's brief outburst caused the three men's expressions to shift, but they reacted in time. Arcs of Particle Energy resisted the incineration of the formless Fear-Burning Fire.

Conversely, their Witchcraft Attacks and the attacks from their Biological Puppets overwhelmed Wang Ya's position.

The Biological Force Field, which had expanded with the glow of the flames, was swiftly suppressed.

Wang Ya's goal wasn't to see how effective his Witchcraft would be. He knew full well that he couldn't rely on his own Witchcraft to fight so many experts of the same level at once.

Especially with two Mechanical Wizards still secretly observing, yet to reveal themselves.

The outburst of Witchcraft bought Wang Ya an opportunity. Harak's silhouette had appeared in the sky at some point and was now swooping down.

Wang Ya grabbed hold of its talons. As Harak spread its wings, it carried him up into the sky, away from the barrage of Witchcraft below.

The Earth Element Witchcraft Giant Spike descending from above had already been incinerated into fine sand by the intense heat of the expanding Fear-Burning Fire when the Flame Demon Domain was released, causing it to dissipate.

Below, the three men watched Wang Ya's silhouette above the shimmering heat. Their expressions showed little surprise.

Jim Novy cracked a smile. "Is this your trump card? A flying cultivated bird!"

Dante Qiuji let out a sigh of relief. 'It seems this opponent really is out of tricks.'

The next moment, two dark figures suddenly appeared, breaking through the air from high above as they dove toward Wang Ya and Harak, claws ready to strike.

They were two more flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures. They were of different species and attacked from different directions, a clear sign that they had different masters.

What they had in common, however, was their massive wingspans and bodies, far larger than typical flying Extraordinary Creatures. They were raptors—giant eagles.

Seeing this, Zack Antuun also breathed a sigh of relief. He naturally had an Extraordinary Cultivated Creature of his own, but he hadn't been able to resist converting it into a Biological Puppet. In the earlier eruption of the formless Energy Flame, its wings had been burned, and it had lost its ability to pursue targets in the air.

'These two have kept their cultivated creatures hidden all this time. Now they can finally be put to use.'

In truth, most of the freshmen entering the Secret Realm chose flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures to make up for their lack of aerial capability and to serve as a trump card.

To avoid being targeted by enemies, they were usually kept hidden, revealed only through the Consciousness Brand when absolutely necessary.

A trump card known by all is no longer a trump card!

The three of them had been trying to guess what Wang Ya's trump card was all along.

'It now seems he has truly played all his cards.'

'His Particle Energy must be nearly depleted. If he thinks he can escape just by relying on a flying cultivated creature, he has seriously miscalculated.'

The observing Mad Brothers also cast aside the last of their worries.

'Now we just have to think about the other opponents.'

Zack stared at the man and bird being assailed by the two giant flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures, his expression tinged with mockery. 'What use could an Extraordinary Cultivated Creature that small be?'

Suddenly, Dante Qiuji's expression faltered, a strange look in his eyes.

The same thing happened to Jim Novy beside him. He blurted out, "How is that possible? I suddenly lost the connection to my Consciousness Brand."

High in the sky, the two flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures that were supposed to be attacking Wang Ya came to a dead stop right in front of him. They then turned and supported his body with their sturdy backs, allowing him to lie down.

"How can this be? Our Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures are obeying him instead."

Dante Qiuji's pupils contracted, his face filled with disbelief.

'These were Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures provided by our families! This shouldn't be happening! The Consciousness Brand is still intact, yet they betrayed their masters!'

"This is Wang Ya Harak's handiwork," Jim Novy said, his expression turning grim.

Just like that, they had lost their aerial capabilities and could only watch their opponent from the ground below.

Even by combining the strength of all four parties, they still couldn't take him down.

WHIRRR!

A swarm of red, floating creatures, their transparent wings vibrating at a high frequency, shot up from the ground in pursuit of Wang Ya.

Beams of concentrated high heat began to strafe wildly.

But the red, floating swarm had a limited flight ceiling and couldn't reach the altitude of the two flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures.

By now, he was just a blurry dot high in the sky.

Aitri slammed his fist on the mechanical instrument before him, his expression hideous. "That bastard still got away! Who knows what kind of variables will pop up now."

'Especially now that the enemy has absolute air superiority.'

Guterres's thoughts ran deeper, and his expression was just as grim. 'With such a terrifying enemy lurking in the shadows, or perhaps watching from high above, will any of the remaining people dare to compete openly against each other?'

A large number of Dark Badges were held between the six of them.

"Brother, I'm suddenly detecting a huge number of Biological Energy signatures. You've got to be kidding me... this number... this is..."

Aitri stared in horror at the instrument display. He was using the remaining Gray assistants to scan the surrounding fifty-thousand-meter area, and any target possessing Biological Energy would appear on the screen.

Previously, there were very few red dots on it—just the scattered remnants of a few Extraordinary Creatures, as the two brothers had already cleared most of them out.

But now, the instrument display was densely packed with hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of red dots.

And they were all swarming toward their position.

When the Gray assistants transmitted a visual feed, Guterres couldn't help but leap to his feet in terror. "You have to be kidding me! So many Soul-Devouring Snakes, Yin Souls, and other Extraordinary Creatures... Is this a Beast Tide?"

A dense, dark mass of gray-spotted Soul-Devouring Snakes burst from the soil and out of the Yin Wood. Their appearances were no longer normal; some had extra heads, some had limbs, others had wings. They were utterly bizarre, and a repulsive black liquid dripped from the corners of their mouths.

In the sky above, waves of dark shadows swooped in. They were a species of avian Extraordinary Creature unique to the Erosion Forest—a tiny type of hummingbird that fed on a special liquid secreted by the Yin Wood. Normally a part of the ecosystem, they were also on the menu for the Soul-Devouring Snakes.

But at this moment, the Mad Brothers saw that predator and prey were not attacking each other. Instead, they were all purposefully converging on their position, surrounding them.

It was as if they had been discovered and were now the target.

'This isn't normal. This is way too abnormal!'

'To be honest, this is seriously fucked up.'

'Have all the Extraordinary Creatures in the entire Erosion Forest gone mad?'

"Brother, what do we do? We're completely surrounded, from the ground to the sky," Aitri said in terror.

Creatures were already ramming into and gnawing on the exterior of their sealed mechanical combat platform.

Guterres's pupils contracted. He saw a crack appear at the base of his metal platform. The crack widened, and a snake's head poked through, its tongue flicking as its pitch-black eyes stared coldly at them.

A chill ran down both their spines, because more cracks were appearing.

'What in the world was happening?'

Meanwhile, on the battlefield of flames, the three men frowned, their expressions grim. They could only watch from afar as the flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures circled overhead, making no move to leave. The eyes of Wang Ya Harak were watching them.

"What is this? Is he toying with us?" Zack Antuun furiously slammed his fist into the Biological Puppet beside him.

He had lost about half of his Biological Puppets without achieving the desired results.

"Wait, do you hear something?" Dante raised a hand, signaling for silence.

His Physique was far superior to the other two, as were his five senses.

SKITTER SKITTER!

It was a rustling, skittering sound, as if a vast number of small creatures were moving across the grass and through the trees, mixed with the buzzing of wings.

"What is it!" Zack asked, frowning.

Dante took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I think we're in big trouble."

Just then, Jim also saw the "big trouble" Dante was referring to.

"Are you kidding me? What the hell is this!"

At some unknown point, an endless tide of Extraordinary Creatures had appeared and surrounded the entire fiery battlefield. There were seemingly endless Soul-Devouring Snakes, as well as other herbivorous and carnivorous Extraordinary Creatures of all shapes and sizes. All of them had, in unison, surrounded the battlefield of flames.

The Energy Flames were steadily being extinguished as the massive horde of Extraordinary Creatures relentlessly closed in.

Zack's face was deathly pale. Compared to such a vast number of Extraordinary Creatures, the Biological Puppets behind him seemed utterly laughable.

It was like comparing a firefly to the brilliant moon.

'But when did this happen? The approach of so many Extraordinary Creatures should have made a huge commotion.'

He suddenly thought of something, and his horrified gaze shot toward the flying Extraordinary Cultivated Creatures in the sky. It felt as though, across the vast distance, his eyes met those of the robed figure on the creature's back.

They were eyes filled with cunning, calm and detached.

Then he recalled how they had noticed fewer and fewer Extraordinary Creatures over the past few days.

'It was all connected.'

'This was Wang Ya Harak's doing. He had a way to control these Extraordinary Creatures!'

'One against five, the battlefield of fire, creating an advantageous terrain—it was all a sham. They had been tricked!'

The constantly expanding Energy Flame and the clash of powerful Biological Force Fields had disrupted the surrounding Qi, completely nullifying their Extraordinary Spiritual Power and senses.

'Once the Extraordinary Creatures had them surrounded, and with their own flight capabilities gone, they were like fish in a barrel, with no hope of escape!'

At this thought, Zack's palms grew sweaty and his limbs turned ice-cold.

'His Ability as an Elemental Wizard was just for show. The truly terrifying part was this power to control Extraordinary Creatures—and even influence the cultivated creatures of others.'

'This was the checkmate!!'

Jim and Dante exchanged wry smiles. They looked around at the dark, oppressive mass of the approaching horde of Extraordinary Creatures, then gazed further out at the seemingly endless, dense tide of bodies. There had to be tens of thousands of them, if not more.

Perhaps a third of all the Extraordinary Creatures in the entire Erosion Forest were here.

How could they possibly fight this?

There was no way to fight!

They had lost!

Without any further hesitation, Dante and Jim both chose to withdraw from the Secret Realm.

Zack stared fixedly in Wang Ya's direction, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. The indignation in his heart was no match for this cruel reality.

It was a setup!

They had been outplayed by Wang Ya Harak from the very beginning.

One wrong step led to a cascade of errors!

They were the ones who had made the mistake.

Their opponent's mind was so meticulous that he was even willing to use himself as bait to deceive them.

Zack had to admit it. He had lost, and he had lost miserably.

The taste of blood filled his mouth, but he forced himself to swallow it down.

His figure vanished from within the Secret Realm.