Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 341: Slaughtering Demons… again

Having slept three hours instead of two, Zydrax was set, steady and ready to go.

So, he points out the first thing on the list, which is also the reason he flew back to Quartez.

’I need more negative mana’

To transpose the ice source from his elemental refining and also switch its de facto essence to negative mana, he needed an enormous amount of negative mana.

Not to mention, when the item essence successfully changed its de facto essence to negative mana, he would need to have enough negative mana to refine.

The easiest way to gather negative mana was to kill demons.

The hardest method was to...who needed a harder method when you could use the easier one though?

As such, Zydrax rose from his abode, unleashing his presence to announce his arrival.

Moments after, Fredrick arrived, with the rest of the Grandmasters following behind him.

In the time he was gone, a few peak masters brought in by Cabrera had broken through to Grandmaster rank, increasing their numbers by four, making fifty.

Beyond that, no one had made a significant breakthrough-which was to be expected.

One would need to be like Ezra to gain progress that fast.

Nodding at the increased manpower, he beckoned to Frederick, giving out instructions in a whisper, before leaving right after.

Zydrax looked to the rest, and the magic circle for voice enhancement manifesting in front of his face.

Addressing them, he goes "I am pleased to see that you’re all making steady progress. In a few days time, we will have a demonstration where you will demonstrate your strength against our most wretched enemies, the demons"

"Head back and prepare"

With that, the magic circle faded and Zydrax flew toward where the circle of descent had been placed.

He had shrunk it after their first attack on the demons.

Now, he was going to open it up again.

Using the rest of the negative mana, Zydrax got the circle set to open once everyone was gathered.

After that, he went back into his abode to brainstorm the line of action to take after acquiring enough negative mana.

Four days later, Frederick returns, walking towards Ezra’s abode, while a slew of characters trailed behind him.

Each one a mighty figure, because the entourage was made of every other Grandmaster on Orion.

Sensing the coalition of Grandmasters, Zydrax puts away the ice source and exits.

A sound enhancing magic circle formed in front of his face and he addressed them.

"Apologies for summoning you all on such short notice" he said. "But the situation warranted it"

Not necessary, but to bring out the best of such people, it was best to soothe their egos.

"While I shall not go into details, I can tell you this"he begins his rehearsed performance. "I discovered the demons planning a heinous plot against us, and so I dare not sit still"

Hehe.

An external enemy was best used to foster maximum cooperation. Even better when it was two opposing species.

With such a start, he’d gotten a full grasp on their attention.

"Those degenerate beings are planning an invasion" he says, raising his voice.

"They aim to flood our world with innumerable numbers, killing our young, pillaging our cities, and raping our women"

"To destroy even the possibility of such a thing. I’ve decided to commence a preemptive strike"

Zydrax raises his voice even more.

"But I alone am not enough!"

Stretching his hands while keeping his gaze straight, he speaks "So I’ve called you all here to help me. Help me thwart the enemy that seeks our destruction!"

"It is time for us to bring down our wrath and show our might to these demons so they may never think about plotting against us in the future!"

His tone cools tremendously, "Is there anyone who deigns to reject?"

The Grandmasters just looked at one another.

Not to mention him being Mythic rank. To pull out here-to be against attacking Orion’s worst enemies-in front of so many Grandmasters would damage one’s reputation beyond recovery.

Of course, no one spoke up.

Nodding, Zydrax turns and heads towards the miniturized circle of descent.

In his mind, he was almost cackling with evil laughter.

’Too easy’

With a well timed speech, he had them right where he wanted them.

Clearing his thoughts, he manipulates the circle of descent.

Having prepared beforehand, the shrunken circle, looking like a small red dot, expanded faster than a balloon.

And it wasn’t stopping.

With the circle expanding, the Grandmasters took to air to avoid, while others simply moved aside.

Thanks to Zydrax graciously investing a large amount of negative mana, it continued to expand, growing far wider than the last one and covered a fifth of Quartez’s land.

At the portal’s opening, black fumes and billowing hot lava flowing like rivers across the red earth greeted the gathered Grandmasters.

While surprising to a few, a lot of the Grandmasters were here the first time they launched an attack on demons. To them, it was just familiar scenery.

Soon, the demon’s world’s main attraction came into view.

Demons.

Tons of them. Wailing, fighting and killing each other as always.

During the first attack, Zydrax had marked locations where demons were most populated.

This was the one with the highest figures.

Without fanfare, Zydrax gave the order to begin attacking.

"Keep attacking until I close the portal"

Having readied themselves, the first volley of attacks struck the demons without a hitch.

With the assumption of stopping an impending invasion, the Grandmasters held nothing back.

Meanwhile, having already placed magic circles to gather negative mana beforehand, Zydrax was ecstatic as he fantasized his creation being completed.

So began the second session of slaughtering demons.

Unfortunately for Zydrax, he hadn’t thought about the other invading forces.

Somewhere far away, the draped figure deciphered the satellite’s new readings.

"Khasavar" he calls. "It seems you were right to be cautious"

Khasavar, meditating behind him, opens his eyes. "What has happened?"

"The satellite just sent new readings. From it, I deciphered the signatures of rank 5 incipients. From what I can tell, it seems to be a battle"

Khasavar’s gaze went cold as the uneasiness he felt was now explained.

"So, they were hiding their strength as I suspected, and now a sudden battle...its matches the likelihood of a war mongering race"

Khasavar put his brain to the test.

"I will gather as much a force as I can muster, the date of your the takeover assault moves will also be moved up"

"In the meantime, keep monitoring them closely and report even slightest mishap to me"

"Sure"

"Also, send only troops of incipient rank 1 and 2. That way, they’ll have their guard lowered when we strike"

The draped figure nodded.

Without knowing it, Zydrax’s had countered his original intent, and had brought forward the date of a massive attack.

Whether this was good or bad was up in the air.

What remained to be known, was how it would all play out.

Back in Orion, a week had passed since the Grandmasters began their assault on the demon world.

The concentration of the presence of so many Grandmasters could suffocate Expert ranks and would kill all those of lower ranks.

As such, the adventurers were unable to access the dungeon in such circumstances.

A peak master had to be assigned to it instead, given clear instructions by Cabrera to kill the monsters slowly.

They couldn’t make it look too easy, even though it was.

Another two days pass.

Zydrax now had veins bulging all over his body.

Rather than a slaughter, the acts committed were basically genocide.

So of course, the demon world’s will stepped in.

Unlike the first time where he stopped after a little nudge from the world’s will, Zydrax was determined to farm tons of negative mana.

He didn’t know how much exactly was needed to complete the process he envisioned. So, he benchmarked ten times the amount he accumulated during the first attack.

Surely, with more than sixty Grandmasters pouring out powerful attacks for seven days now, he’d surely reached that amount.

But that was the benchmark, the least it would take.

He wasn’t going to stop while the going was good, he was determined to take as much as he could, and he wasn’t going to let the world’s will stop him from doing so either.

But all good things must end, by the ninth day of the same routine, the Grandmasters were closing in on exhaustion.

More than that, since the fifth day, he’d been wrestling with the demon world’s will to keep the portal open.

While easily bearable at first, it seemed the more demons they killed, the more power the world’s will exhibited.

At this point, much of his veins had burst and he was covered in blood.

But Zydrax’s smile was the widest it’d ever been since being in control of Ezra’s body.

"Don’t you think this is enough"

Speak of the Devil.

"I can’t be sure" Zydrax replied.

"If this is still not enough, you should just give up on the negative mana and find another way"

Making a soft huff, Zydrax’s let’s go of the portal.

Like a stretched ribbon, the portal shrunk at hindsight, snapping shut.

Clearing his throat, Zydrax addressed the Grandmasters while still covered in blood.

"With this! We have left an indelible mark on our enemies as a sign of our might and to show them what happens if they dared to mess with us"

Clapping, he says "I thank you all for honouring my request. It will be rude of me take anymore of your time, as such, I bid you farewells on your journey back"

The Grandmasters looked at one another before one came forth.

It was Ferdinand.

Taking a bow, he speaks.

"My liege" he said, not forgetting that he’d sworn allegiance. "We wish to request a reward"

Having called them here without prior notice to eo his bidding, a reward wasn’t too much to ask for.

"Go one"

He was curious as to what it would be.

Taking a deep breath, Ferdinand speaks.

"We request that you let us stay"

"Stay?"

Well, he didn’t know what he was expecting, but that was definitely not it.

"Yes" Ferdinand nodded. "We wish to stay here and benefit from its unique atmosphere to increase our cultivation"

"...."

Zydrax simply stared.

He wasn’t outraged, but rather surprised.

’How did something so simple slip my mind?’ He wondered.

"Hmm"

Ferdinand almost hiccuped in nervousness, before he saw Ezra nod.

"You mean..." Ferdinand had to reconfirm.

"Yes" Zydrax voiced out. "I will allow you to stay"

"You have my utmost gratitude, my liege"

Beaming, Ferdinand quickly left to inform the others.

With Quartez filled with so many Grandmasters now, Zydrax decided to make a few changes.

To make things easier, he abolished the cultivation lands, and instead had the essence spread over the entire kingdom.

This way, there was much more space and you could cultivate wherever within the confines of the barrier.

With that settled, Zydrax hastened to the dot sized circle of descent.

Giddy inside in anticipation for his prize, he opens it slowly and delicately, not wanting to tip off the world’s will.

Widening it just enough, which was a lot to be honest, Zydrax pulls out a gigantic orb of negative mana, and then closes the formation.

’Ah’

His heart almost melts at the sight.

These sort of things were what he lived for.

At the same time, the runes making up the formation cracked and broke apart

The circle had finished its term of service.

Not that Zydrax couldn’t simply create another, but it was best not to do so any time soon.

Quickly he wills the gigantic orb into the space ring to not draw the eyes of the Grandmasters.

Right after, he reaches the site of his abode in a burst of speed.

Taking a good look, Zydrax furrows his brows.

’It won’t fit’

The abode couldn’t fit the gigantic orb.

So first things first, he had to reshape his abode.