Chapter 526: Chapter 512: Hidden in Plain Sight

A half-month was enough time for many things to happen. One hundred of the three hundred Earth Vein Magic Furnaces were already in operation, and the rest were being constructed at an accelerated pace. The northern defense line had been established, with three outposts driven like nails into the edge of the fallen territory. The mines across the land were bustling with feverish activity. Everything was progressing in an orderly manner.

Just then, a communication request connected to the bridge. The sender was the True Silver Council.

"Lord, the sweeping inspection of the entirety of Ionia has been completed," Jarvis reported, converting the communication into a concise readout and presenting it to Allen.

Allen shifted his gaze from the production data to the report.

"One hundred and sixty-eight hidden sacrificial sites have been confirmed.

"Among them, seventy-one are in the Cyan Tower’s control zone, and ninety-seven are in the True Silver Council’s control zone.

"Some Cultists have been lying in wait for over twenty years."

Allen tapped his fingers lightly against his armrest, showing no surprise. As expected, the Star Secret Place was merely the first festering wound to burst. The entirety of Ionia had long been rotten to its very core.

On the communication screen, the True Silver Grand Chairman’s face was dark with fury. The anger in the eyes of this Witch King, who had lived for nearly a millennium, practically overflowed from the display. If this mysterious Morning Star Wizard hadn’t forced them to conduct a self-inspection, these "nails" buried deep in their heartland would have undoubtedly given them a deadly surprise the moment Sargeras’s main force descended.

"Lord Wesren, we have locked onto the locations of all the cultist sites," the True Silver Grand Chairman said hoarsely. "We are preparing to... eliminate them simultaneously."

"Approved," Allen replied simply. "This is your internal affair."

The communication cut off.

"Jarvis, mark the coordinates of all one hundred and sixty-eight nodes and lock the Celestial Throne’s weapon systems onto them. If any node shows abnormal energy fluctuations, eliminate them physically without waiting for my authorization."

"Do you need to avoid friendly units?" Jarvis asked.

"No, blow them up together."

At that very moment, the situation across the continent of Ionia shifted drastically. The Cyan Tower and the True Silver Council—the two colossal entities that had ruled the continent for a millennium—coordinated their movements with unprecedented efficiency for the very first time.

Under the personal dispatch of the four Witch Kings, elite squads led by Wizards swooped down on the one hundred and sixty-eight cultist strongholds hidden in cities, the countryside, and even within Wizard Towers. Battles erupted simultaneously.

Flesh and blood altars buried beneath noble manors were blown sky-high. Demon Believers’ liaison points disguised as merchant shops were reduced to ashes by the Wizards’ Magic. There was even an entire Wizard Academy—from its headmaster down to the lowest apprentices—that had secretly been serving the Burning Legion.

The Witch Kings’ swift and ruthless measures yielded astonishing results. Without any need for Allen’s intervention, stronghold after stronghold was breached, and the stubbornly resisting Cultists were crushed in the face of absolute power.

However, just as the purge was nearing its end and everyone believed the situation was under control, a sudden crisis erupted!

Located in the center of the continent, the Azure Sky Fortress—which had just weathered a bloody battle two weeks prior and was regarded by all as Ionia’s most impenetrable bulwark—suddenly lit up. A pillar of green light shot into the sky from the most heavily guarded core of the fortress, viciously piercing the clouds! The source of the beam was directly beneath the very hall where the Witch Kings used to hold their councils.

BOOM!

An indescribable wave of Evil Energy exploded from the center of the fortress like a tsunami, instantly engulfing the entire city.

In that moment, time seemed to stand still. Inside the fortress, an old man who had been carrying bricks remained with his stone suspended in mid-air. The young soldier beside him was frozen with his lips parted mid-sentence. Further away in the plaza, a group of apprentices repairing an Array were locked in the posture of raising their hands.

Their Fires of Life were simultaneously snuffed out as if by a massive, invisible hand. Majestic Soul Energy and Essences of Life transformed into a visible torrent, frantically sucked into the earth below. In mere seconds, the imposing fortress was reduced to a silent ghost town—a colossal tomb.

It was a massive blind spot right under their noses. What they had assumed to be the safest place was the first to collapse.

Inside the bridge of the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine, piercing alarms instantly blared.

"Warning! Ultra-high-grade Evil Energy fluctuation detected!

"Energy Level: Dawn Star Level!

"Location: Azure Sky Fortress!"

Allen slowly stood up and walked to the porthole, looking in the direction of the Azure Sky Fortress. Even though they were thousands of kilometers apart, he could still see that sickly green pillar of light piercing the heavens and earth, violently tearing apart the Plane Crystal Wall. A stable cross-realm portal was forming.

Allen stared at the beam of light, his gaze darkening.

The souls of two hundred thousand people. Sacrificed all at once.

The cross-realm portal completely stabilized. Viscous Evil Energy, exuding a bizarre and sinister aura, cascaded down from it like a waterfall, corrupting the land. Immediately after, an endless Demon army roared as they surged out of the portal! The passage continued to expand, and the swarming masses of the Demon army behind them stretched as far as the eye could see!

Fifty thousand. One hundred thousand. One hundred and fifty thousand. Two hundred thousand! The data transmitted back by the Demon Eye was still climbing.

In the center of their formation, a towering figure shot into the sky. He was nearly thirty meters tall, wielding a massive Battle Blade ablaze with ghastly green flames. It was none other than the Abyssal Commander whom Allen had focus-fired with five Plasma Cannons and completely erased from the material plane—Baroque!

"Resurrection? And... he grew stronger?" Allen murmured.

Baroque. Allen had personally confirmed his death—the focused bombardment of five Plasma Cannons hadn’t even left ashes behind. Yet at this moment, that very figure stepped out of the cross-realm portal entirely unscathed, just as arrogant as before.

Inside the bridge of the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine, the light screen cast a faint glow over Allen’s face. He stared at the entity that should have ceased to exist, a flash of unconcealable astonishment flickering deep within his pupils. Were Demons... truly unkillable?

Just then, the reborn Baroque seemed to sense something. He looked up, his gaze accurately piercing through thousands of kilometers of space as if making direct eye contact with Allen on the bridge. A cruel smile squeezed out from between teeth sharp as blades. His voice resonated with Evil Energy, transmitting across the vast distance:

"We meet again, Wizard.

"Did you think killing me once could stop all of this?

"In the grand Purgatory, death is nothing but a brief slumber! Every time we are slain by you mortals, it only allows us to return with even greater power!"

Baroque let out a deafening burst of maniacal laughter. He raised his flaming Battle Blade high, pointing it at the sky as if swearing an oath to some supreme being.

"Tremble! Face the true wrath of the Burning Legion! Prepare for the descent of my Lord, Sargeras!"

The two hundred thousand-strong Demon army roared in unison, generating a sound wave that nearly tore the heavens apart. They had already established a firm foothold and began constructing an Evil Energy stronghold. A massive convergence of power gathered, as if brewing a Curse that would blanket the entire battlefield.

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