Chapter 430: Chapter 373: The Grand Melee
The duel announced by the Nolun Wizard instantly ignited a fire in the hearts of all eligible wizards.
The number of wizards present who had not yet reached the Sixth Level was quite considerable. Together with the protégés brought by several Seventh Level Wizards who accompanied the Nolun Wizard, the total was nearly a hundred people.
Although some First and Second Level Wizards, knowing their lack of strength, voluntarily gave up their eligibility to compete, there were still more than sixty who stepped onto the stage.
With so many contestants, ranging from Third to Fifth Level, each with vastly different combat styles and research inclinations, a traditional arena match couldn’t fairly reflect their true capabilities.
After a brief contemplation, the Nolun Wizard made a simple yet brutal decision that perfectly matched the wizard’s style—a chaotic battle!
After all, they were currently in Anton Buchanan’s private plane, and the space was large enough.
The Nolun Wizard leisurely walked out of the palace, and with a casual circle of his silver magic wand over the vast prairie and hills in the distance,
an invisible yet clearly perceptible enormous boundary was instantly outlined, forming a giant circular area over a thousand kilometers in diameter.
This was to be the "stage" for the competition.
The rules were extremely simple: all contestants would be randomly thrown into this area, and the melee would begin.
No allies, and except for not deliberately killing, there were no restriction rules. The last person standing in the area would be the winner, claiming the coveted "Death Replacement Doll".
This mode was somewhat disadvantageous for those who required time to arrange large arrays and build permanent fortifications for positional warfare.
But undeniably, it was the closest to a real Plane Battlefield environment—enemies wouldn’t give you time to prepare leisurely.
Therefore, this plan was almost universally accepted by all contestants.
The Nolun Wizard said no more, gently tapping his wand on the ground.
Jeming felt the power of space around him fluctuate violently, and the scene before his eyes instantly blurred and twisted.
When he could see clearly again, he was in an unfamiliar hilly area, with knee-high strange grass glowing faintly underfoot.
"Phase Space!"
Almost upon landing, without a second thought, Jeming immediately activated his Spatial Magic.
His figure blurred, seamlessly slipping into the gap between the main plane and the phase space, vanishing entirely from the material world.
Having concealed himself, Jeming’s mind began to work rapidly, devising strategies.
Jeming had a clear understanding of himself; although he was indeed strong, the wizards present were also geniuses among geniuses.
Especially since just now, he sensed no less than ten Fifth Level Wizard auras!
In this melee gathering of dozens of geniuses of the same and even higher levels, Jeming knew he did not have the absolute upper hand.
If faced with a sudden encounter, relying on the elite Black Giant Priests within his body space and his Spatial Magic, he was confident in defeating any Fifth Level Wizard one-on-one.
Even simultaneously facing two or three Fifth Level Wizards in siege, leveraging the suddenness of the Black Giant Legion and the mobility of Spatial Magic, he might not lose—after all, "eccentrics" capable of carrying an army with them were rare.
While cannon fodder units were species specifically modified for combat, they also needed eating, drinking, adjusting, and maintaining during non-war times.
Thus, most wizards figured ways to pack up their "cannon fodder" units only during Plane Wars, unable to utilize them so flexibly otherwise.
But Jeming’s weaknesses were equally apparent.
If the battle timeline stretched too long, allowing the opponent ample time to summon a Wizard Tower phantom, arrange a Rune Array, or discern the Black Giant’s combat pattern and devise targeted setups, he would be almost certainly defeated.
Ultimately, his true level had yet to surpass the Fourth Level, and in terms of absolute energy reserves and instantaneous witchcraft mobilization, he was qualitatively behind a real Fifth Level Wizard.
"Must fight quickly! Use overwhelming force to prioritize eliminating the most threatening Fifth Level Wizards!" Jeming quickly set his core tactic.
Once the top threats were neutralized, dealing with the remaining Third and Fourth Level Wizards would be much easier for him.
With a clear plan, he immediately took action.
First, he momentarily left the phase space, and with a wave of his hand, tens of thousands of "Patrollers," each the length of arms, noiselessly dispersed outward like a disturbed swarm of bees, commencing a carpet reconnaissance over the extensive competition area.
Subsequently, he concealed once more within the space gap.
Here, he boldly began applying various enhancement states to himself.
Wearing the Accelerating Talisman Witchcraft bracelet increased his perception and reaction speed by dozens of times, at the cost of accelerated cell aging and a subtle sting from deep within his soul.
He drained several bottles of magic potions, each shimmering with different hues, causing his Spiritual Power to expand and solidify like a pebble thrown into a pond.
Layers of auxiliary witchcraft spirit lights enhancing physical strength, elemental resistance, and mental protection were lavishly bestowed upon him like layers of armor.
"Spatial Magic is indeed uniquely advantageous for concealment and self-protection." Jeming couldn’t help but lament while casting spells.
If outside, such frequent and intense energy fluctuations would’ve long been detected.
But under the protection of phase space, all fluctuations were perfectly isolated.
This was also his advantage, enabling him to prepare thoroughly to arm himself.
At this moment, within the space gap, Jeming, surrounded by witchcraft spirit lights in vibrant colors, appeared like a humanoid neon light, extraordinarily dazzling.
However, outside, Jeming showed no sign of fluctuation whatsoever.
Since his entire being was within the space gap, conventional active detection methods were rendered ineffective, yet this posed no problem for Jeming.
Although other energy fluctuations were masked, mere visual aspects remained unaffected, meaning passive detection leveraging vision didn’t entirely fail.
After casting various reconnaissance spells like "Life Vision," "Thermal Perception," and "Element Tracking," he began moving swiftly within the phase space like a ghost, searching for traces of prey.
Soon, through a Soul Link, he sensed a signal from a Patroller in the northwest direction abruptly vanish!
"Found it!"
A sharp gleam flashed in Jeming’s eyes, and he dashed toward the direction where the signal disappeared.
Simultaneously, with a thought, he commanded all nearby Patrollers to converge from all directions on the same spot like sharks smelling blood.
In a mere moment within phase space, Jeming reached the target area.
Through the spatial barrier, he "saw" clearly the figure standing beside a roaring river of lava.
It was a male wizard clad in a dark red rune magic robe, surrounded by scorching Fire Element spirit lights, evidently a Fifth Level Wizard adept in fire-based Laws.
He had just casually obliterated another Patroller with a lethal magma ray for coming too close.
Realizing he was exposed, he warily scanned his surroundings.
A cold curve formed at Jeming’s mouth.
What luck that the first target was such a prime "big fish" to eliminate.
