Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

The disparity in individual combat prowess, on top of running into Dongfu City’s elite squads, was why the battle had become so one-sided.

’Haven’t the Teleportation Gates been destroyed yet? Or are these people from their main base?’

To make matters worse, beyond the advance scouting party, the distant sky was already blotted out by a dense swarm of flying Summoned Beasts closing in.

”We fight to the death.”

Colonel Griffin’s voice was hoarse. There was no path of retreat.

The personnel in the rear seemed to be deliberately guiding people to Teleportation Gates 16 and 17. In just a few seconds, another hundred or so people surged through the Crystal Barrier like a tide.

However, judging by their attire, they were clearly not part of the military. Their equipment wasn’t particularly good, but their morale seemed high. Looking fierce and vicious was at least better than looking sickly and defeated.

’Still not enough.’

This handful of reinforcements wasn’t nearly enough to counter the enemy’s overwhelming offensive.

If neither side backed down, this place would inevitably turn into a meat grinder.

Their side simply couldn’t sustain the losses.

”Didn’t they waive the fees today? Why have so few people shown up?” Colonel Griffin was perplexed. ’Given how critical the situation is, they should have sent several thousand troops, at the very least.’

He had seen the forces stationed at Dongfu City’s Rune Core from a distance. It was a veritable sea of people; if each one of them spat, it would be enough to drown his entire contingent.

A comms soldier, teleporting back and forth, soon arrived with news from the command center in Oran City.

”It’s true, they aren’t charging extra fees, but most of the public isn’t willing to participate. Worse, a bunch of Holy Mothers and church members are instigating them, leading protests and obstructions. Many streets in the outer districts are blocked with vehicle barricades.”

Upon hearing this, the assembled officers were speechless.

From the perspective of Oran City’s citizens, it was impossible to rally everyone behind an invasion. Not to mention the rampant, dehumanizing exploitation carried out behind the scenes by the major corporations. To expect the entire populace to then join in as cannon fodder was just a pipe dream.

”If things start to look bad, preserve our strength and pull out immediately,” Colonel Griffin said bluntly.

Long before their arrival, the general had authorized his forces on both the eastern and western fronts to retreat if the situation turned sour. In fact, they had already made one thing perfectly clear to the other factions: unless the war reached the border towns, the army would not commit all of its chips.

They wouldn’t act without a clear incentive.

It was a way to preserve their own strength and stabilize their faction’s foundation.

The army had fallen from being the sole dominant power to one of four jointly-ruling factions; it was impossible for them not to feel resentful. They weren’t about to act as a vanguard and do the corporations’ dirty work for them. The other side would have to show some real commitment and good faith to persuade them.

Plan for defeat before planning for victory.

With so much internal strife, they stood no chance against their opponent.

...

WHOOSH!

In a patch of airspace far away, the air roiled like a furious sea.

Astride a Wind Eagle, a silver summoning book in his right hand, Su Chen silently looked down at the figures continuously emerging from the Teleportation Gates in the forest rift below.

After rushing over from the front, Ruoruo immediately began to channel Telekinesis into him. Through the Mind Transmission link, a stream of pure energy flowed into Su Chen.

In an instant, his nearly depleted Telekinesis Rune Energy was restored to at least sixty percent. Boosted by the Recovery Potion he had taken, it began to climb at a rapid pace.

She was his personal, external power bank.

He wasn’t in a hurry, instead gathering his strength and waiting for the next offensive.

However...

The scales of victory had already tipped, and the outcome of the battle was becoming clear.

The numerous aerial forces flying in from the border town didn’t bother with formations; they simply charged forward all at once in a reckless wave.

A sea of various fliers and summoned creatures swooped down to kill, a magnificent and terrifying sight that blotted out the sun.

Magic Beams crisscrossed and exploded in the sky. Amidst the weaving of thunder and fire, bursts of Light and Shadow Power erupted.

The sky had become an absolute meat grinder.

BZZZT!

Without warning, an aura of extreme cold erupted from the edge of the battle.

An ice phoenix took to the sky, its feathers shimmering with a frosty blue light. With a single beat of its wings, it unleashed a powerful Ice Storm. The air itself crystallized in its wake, instantly encasing numerous flying beasts in thick ice and sending them plummeting from the sky.

The next moment, the phoenix’s beak opened slightly. A Rapid Freeze Beam shot across a thousand meters of sky, precisely striking a lightning-fast figure and freezing it into a solid crystal.

For a moment, all eyes were captivated by the flash of wintery white.

Huh?!

Even the warriors from Dongfu City were surprised. They hadn’t expected such a powerful ice phoenix to suddenly appear on their side.

Facing an encirclement, the ice phoenix simply executed a ”Frost Nova,” its body dissolving into countless Ice Elemental Particles. It then reformed within a massive blizzard, ruthlessly tearing through its attackers.

”Not bad.”

Su Chen noted Xiaolin’s performance.

The drawn-out aerial battle was finally drawing to a close.

In less than two minutes, Dongfu City’s forces had gained an overwhelming advantage, turning the battle into a one-sided slaughter.

The cumulative disparity in individual combat strength was like knocking over the first domino...

In a flash, the enemy’s formation crumbled.

’No contest.’

Su Chen observed with indifference.

Soon, volleys of Celestial Fire and Thunder Strikes rained down upon the Barriers. Each impact sent dazzling ripples across their surfaces, but under the continuous assault, the Barriers were forced to constantly repair themselves.

Ridiculously, perhaps realizing the battle was lost, a group of soldiers on the front lines had already begun a disorderly retreat, crashing right into the fresh reinforcements still emerging from the gates behind them.

Several officers and their personal guards had already slipped away unnoticed.

They managed to retrieve two of the Magic Guide Crystal Pillars, causing the supported Barrier to shrink rapidly. The other Teleportation Gate was left completely exposed.

After a group of personnel quickly teleported back, the high-explosive time bomb planted at the base of the Teleportation Gate detonated at the end of its ten-second countdown.

BOOM!

Both Teleportation Gates were shattered in the massive explosion. A powerful wave of spatial turbulence ripped through the area, tearing to shreds those who hadn’t retreated, as well as the unsuspecting newcomers who had just arrived.

’Ruthless, as expected.’

Su Chen smiled. He might have lost out on the contribution points for destroying the Teleportation Gates, but a conservative estimate put the number of their own combatants abandoned by this retreat at over seven hundred survivors.

Still, it was the right call—a drastic but necessary sacrifice. Otherwise, Oran City would have just kept sending more people to their deaths.

A merciless hunt was now inevitable.

”Let’s go.”

Su Chen’s gaze locked onto a familiar figure. Without hesitation, he took Ruoruo with him and activated Aurora Flash, swooping down in pursuit.

Emil, the Mysterious Warlock, was seething with frustration and rage.

As a hired contractor, he had been abandoned without a word of warning. To make matters worse, a sense of inexplicable danger now loomed over him.

The moment he looked up, the ice phoenix clad in Spirit Core Battle Armor was already diving toward him. The Mysterious Warlock had ways to counter it, but under the influence of the Psychological Invisibility that Xiaolin had cast, he suddenly and inexplicably lowered his guard.

The image of the ice phoenix blurred and faded in his mind, eventually vanishing completely, as if it had never been there at all.

’Something’s wrong...’

He only came to his senses when the bone-chilling cold came crashing down upon him.

It was too late.

BOOM!

Xiaolin’s ”Frostfall Comet” struck the forest like a meteor, and the terrifying tide of ice and the force of the impact flattened the surrounding trees.

Unable to make his escape, the Mysterious Warlock perished on the spot.

After his third encounter with Su Chen, he was finally and mercilessly slain by his Summoned Pet.

Though its attack had utterly obliterated the body, the Lv7 Dark Gravity Rune, numerous Lv6 Runes, and the Spirit Marrow Crystal—now frozen into an Ice Pearl—all remained intact. Xiaolin opened its beak and held them inside for safekeeping.

As for Xiaolin’s master...

...he had another target.

A Light Element user, who had revealed himself to be a Lv7 Corona Guard, was now in Su Chen’s sights.