On the wilderness.

  A long procession comprised of golems, puppets, barbarians, and vassal Knights marched slowly forward.

  At the very front, eight Wizards sat upon the shoulders of eight Clay Golems. It was Hubert, Lucius, and their squad.

  "I really don't know what Pierce was thinking, daring to attack a resource point alone. Especially the Mithril resource point, which is heavily guarded by the Turins. He thinks entirely too highly of himself."

  "Exactly. Even with the eight of us joining forces and bringing an army, we barely have the confidence to take it down. I have no idea where Pierce gets his confidence from."

  "Maybe he thinks the garrison at a resource point is the same as a normal fortification."

  "Are the guys from Aurora City all this blindly arrogant? Losing the tournament to a bunch like that really pisses me off!"

  As soon as the Wizard finished speaking, Lucius shot him a sharp look.

  The Wizard instantly realized his slip of the tongue and looked at Hubert sheepishly.

  During the twin-city tournament, one of the people who had lost to Pierce was Hubert's cousin, Hugh. It could be said that Hugh contributed a significant 'share' to Red Lotus City's defeat.

  Hubert's expression remained indifferent. "Hugh's defeat and death were due to his own weakness. He can't blame anyone else."

  "Also, do not underestimate Pierce. The fact that he could single-handedly conquer two Turin fortifications in a row proves not only his immense strength but also that he is absolutely not a reckless, impulsive person."

  "Since Pierce dared to accept the mission to seize the Mithril resource point, it means he was confident he could complete it."

  The group exchanged glances before Lucius finally spoke up. "That's impossible, right? According to the intelligence, there are over a dozen Winter Frost Priests there, and the actual number is likely only higher. No matter how strong Pierce is, he couldn't possibly take it down single-handedly."

  "Unless he has already advanced to a Rank 2 Wizard!"

  The others nodded in deep agreement.

  "Perhaps Pierce has secretly purchased a powerful golem army, or maybe he has other, more potent means," Hubert said coolly.

  "But regardless of what trump cards he holds, the Mithril resource point is already ours."

  "Hubert is right!" Lucius laughed heartily. "We've prepared for so long. We will definitely take down the Mithril resource point in one fell swoop this time! By then, no matter how many trump cards Pierce has, it will be useless."

  The group laughed and echoed his sentiments, the atmosphere within the squad light and relaxed.

  When the laughter subsided, Hubert's voice turned grave. "Alright, enough idle chatter."

  "We are only forty kilometers away from the destination. The Turins have most likely already spotted us. From this moment on, everyone remain vigilant and prepare for battle."

  Following Hubert's command, the expressions of the other Wizards turned solemn, and they began casting various buffing spells on themselves.

  The vassal Knights and barbarians also drew their weapons, looking around warily.

  With such a massive army slowly approaching the resource point, the Turins would have to be blind not to notice them.

  Based on past experience, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance the Turins would ambush them on the way.

  However, to the surprise of Hubert and the others, the anticipated ambush never came, even as the valley housing the resource point appeared in their line of sight.

  "Could the Turins have failed to notice us?" Lucius frowned.

  But the moment the words left his mouth, he knew he had said something foolish.

  If the Turins hadn't noticed such a glaring target, with that level of tactical incompetence, they would have been wiped out by Red Maple City long ago.

  "Could it be a trap?" another Wizard asked hesitantly.

  No one answered his question, but their intuition as Wizards made everyone faintly sense the scent of a conspiracy.

  Seeing their morale begin to waver before the battle had even started, Hubert decisively shouted in a deep voice, "Stop being so paranoid! We're already at the target; are we going to turn back now? Since the Turins won't show themselves, we'll attack them head-on!"

  The group realized he was right. They had already come this far; retreating without even seeing the enemy's faces would be absurd.

  Furthermore, with the strength of their army, even if the Turins really did have a trap, they had nothing to fear.

  In the face of absolute power, all schemes and tricks were paper tigers!

  The group rallied their spirits and launched the assault.

  Accompanied by deep, rumbling sounds, the massive golem army charged toward the wall defending the valley, their imposing momentum led by the eight Clay Golems and followed closely by fifty Flesh Golems.

  The vassal Knights and barbarian Knights trailed right behind the golems, their weapons gleaming with cold light, radiating murderous intent.

  Hum!

  Halos of light flickered as a transparent defensive barrier materialized above the city wall, halting the golems' charge.

  Hubert and the others weren't surprised in the least.

  The Turins had occupied the Mithril resource point for over three months. It would be strange if they hadn't constructed a divine defensive system by now.

  "Do it! Finish this quickly!" Hubert shouted.

  As soon as the words left his mouth, a ball of fire erupted from his palm, expanding rapidly in the wind. By the time it reached the defensive barrier, it had transformed into a raging sea of fire, crashing violently against the shield.

  Simultaneously, the other seven Wizards launched their attacks.

  In an instant, multi-colored spell halos lit up the area. A torrential downpour of fire, lightning, and acid slammed into the defensive barrier, causing it to tremble violently and its light to dim drastically.

  With eight Wizards joining forces, a single volley was enough to significantly drop the barrier's strength.

  A look of joy appeared on the faces of Hubert and his squad.

  But in the next second, a sudden change occurred.

  Crack! Crack!

  Accompanied by a series of sharp, sudden noises, a swath of pure white abruptly spread outward from within the defensive barrier, surging across the ground in all directions at terrifying speed.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  In the blink of an eye, everything within their field of vision was transformed into a vast expanse of freezing snow and ice.

  A bone-piercing cold permeated the air, and snowflakes began to fall gently.

  Howling, freezing winds whipped past, stinging their faces.

  Visibly, a layer of frost coated the bodies of all the golems, instantly sluggish their movements significantly.

  The vassal Knights and barbarians fared even worse; a massive number of them were instantly blown over by the freezing wind. Many barbarians below the Legendary Knight level were frozen solid into ice sculptures in an instant, falling stiffly to the ground, dead before they even hit the floor.

  "Domain of Winter Frost!"

  Hubert's face instantly changed color, and he cried out in shock.

  The expressions of the other Wizards also drastically warped.

  The Domain of Winter Frost was an infamous, lethal trump card used by Winter Frost Priests on the battlefield!

  Once cast, it could transform an area spanning dozens to even hundreds of kilometers into a freezing, snow-covered wasteland ravaged by howling winds.

  Enemies caught within it would be constantly subjected to the erosion of extreme cold, severely crippling their combat capabilities.

  Conversely, the Winter Frost Priests and Turin warriors, protected by the Winter Frost, wouldn't be affected at all and would even experience a boost in their strength.

  Relying on this divine spell, the Winter Frost Priests had initially suppressed Red Maple City in numerous small-scale skirmishes, until the Wizards developed counter-measures, easing the situation.

  However, this wasn't the main reason for Hubert and the others' terror.

  What terrified them was the fact that casting the Domain of Winter Frost required at least one Rank 4 Priest to lead it.

  Which meant there was currently a Rank 4 Priest inside the valley.

  Upon realizing this, a fine layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on the foreheads of Hubert's squad, and the blood drained from their faces.

  Why would there be a Rank 4 Priest at the Mithril resource point?!

  Mithril was certainly precious, but a resource point that yielded at most ten to twenty kilograms of Mithril shouldn't logically warrant a Rank 4 Priest personally garrisoning it!

  But thinking about this now was useless. Retreating was far more important.

  Their group was no match for a single Rank 4 Priest, let alone the dozen or so Rank 1 and Rank 2 Priests also inside the valley.

  Unfortunately, before Hubert could even order a retreat, the freezing winds howled around them, and over a dozen figures wearing priest robes abruptly materialized out of thin air, completely surrounding them.

  Among them was a middle-aged man with a commanding aura. Four snowflake patterns were clearly embroidered on his sleeve.

  As their eyes landed on the middle-aged man, the last shred of hope in the hearts of Hubert's squad vanished into thin air, plummeting to rock bottom.

  "I've waited so long, and finally, someone delivered themselves to my door."

  Andrej's icy gaze swept over the Wizards, a mocking sneer curling his lips.

  "I almost thought Red Maple City had decided to abandon this resource point."

  Hubert and the others remained silent, their faces deathly pale as their minds raced frantically for a countermeasure.

  Sadly, no matter how they looked at it, the situation was extremely dire.

  Just as they had thought earlier, in the face of absolute power, all schemes and tricks were paper tigers.

  —Regrettably, they were no longer the ones holding the absolute power.

  For a moment, a trace of despair crept into everyone's hearts.

  But those who could become Wizards possessed tenacious wills and mentalities. Hubert and his squad naturally weren't going to surrender without a fight. Exchanging a glance, they unanimously launched a sudden attack.

  In an instant, countless spells shot outward in all directions, dazzling multi-colored spell halos flashing incessantly in the void.

  However, the Winter Frost Priests had been on guard against them from the start. Seeing the attack, they unhurriedly cast divine defensive spells to block the onslaught before launching their counterattack.

  A dense, overwhelming barrage of ice spikes and freezing currents crashed down upon Hubert's squad.

  Buffed by the Domain of Winter Frost, the power of their divine spells was massively enhanced.

  In just the first round of exchanges, Hubert and the others were thrown into a chaotic, miserable panic, struggling desperately to fend off the attacks.

  "Ahhh!!!"

  Right at that moment, an agonizing, blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

  Hubert looked over, only to see Andrej standing behind one of his companions, slowly withdrawing an ice-encased hand from the man's chest.

  The Wizard, who had already reached the Rank 1 Liquid Phase, fell to the ground, his eyes wide open, his face filled with sheer unwillingness.

  Watching this scene, Lucius and the others felt their scalps go numb, their hearts consumed by absolute terror.

  "Damn it!"

  Hubert was filled with a mixture of shock and fury, but he was utterly powerless.

  He was already starting to regret his actions. Had he known a Rank 4 Priest was garrisoning the Mithril resource point, he never would have attacked this place.

  But regret came too late.

  Inexplicably, Hubert suddenly remembered Pierce's words from earlier, and his heart skipped a beat.

  Did Pierce know about the situation at the Mithril resource point all along?! Was that why he was so certain we wouldn't be able to complete the mission?!

  If that was true, then they had been completely played by Pierce!

  However, realizing this now was of no help. Accompanied by agonizing screams, Hubert's companions met grisly ends at Andrej's hands one by one.

  Simultaneously, a thunderous rumble echoed from the valley. The city gates flew open, and countless fully armed Turin warriors charged out, clashing head-on with the golems, vassal Knights, and barbarians.

  These Turin warriors were all enveloped in a faint halo of light.

  Buffed by the halos, they were not only completely unaffected by the freezing wind and snow, but they also became even more ferocious and valiant. The moment they clashed, they drove the vassal Knights and barbarians back in a steady retreat.

  The golems were specifically targeted and surrounded; nearly half of them fell within just one or two minutes.

  The defeat of the invaders was already a foregone conclusion.

  Witnessing the scene before him, an uncontrollable despair finally consumed Hubert's heart.

  In the next second, a figure flashed before him, and Andrej's expressionless face suddenly filled his vision. A hand encased in solid ice thrust toward him like lightning.

  Only then did Hubert realize with horror that, under the Winter Frost Priests' one-sided slaughter, all of his fellow Wizards were dead, leaving him as the sole survivor.

  Crack!

  The layer of solid ice on Andrej's hand didn't seem to be an ordinary divine spell, but rather some powerful holy artifact.

  The Tier 2 Magic Tool Hubert used for protection barely held out for a fraction of a second before it was shattered. The icy hand drove straight in, piercing into Hubert's chest with a sickening squelch, right before his terrified, despairing eyes.

  Andrej's expression remained icy. He clenched his fingers violently, instantly crushing Hubert's heart.

  Thump!

  Another corpse fell to the ground.

  Andrej withdrew his hand, the ice covering it slowly dissipating along with the blood.

  Looking at the ground littered with corpses, a flash of contempt crossed his eyes.

  Compared to that young Wizard he had encountered last time, this group of Wizards was completely pathetic.

  Even without the assistance of the other Priests, he could have easily finished them off alone.

  But that young Wizard on the other hand...

  Even now, recalling the events of that day sent a lingering shiver of fear through Andrej's heart.

  Shaking his head, he dispelled the distracting thoughts, ordered his subordinates to clean up the battlefield, and flew back toward the valley.

  Red Maple City, Spell Laboratory.

  Pierce dismissed his Mage Hand and looked at the newly inscribed Magic Tattoo on his right arm, a satisfied smile on his face.

  Without hesitation, he decisively activated the Magic Tattoo. He felt a surging wave of energy instantly wash over his entire body; the density of his muscles and bones skyrocketed by several levels in an instant.

  "Such a powerful effect. As expected of a High-Tier Magic Tattoo."

  Pierce excitedly flexed his body, then began buffing himself with Lightning Runes.

  It wasn't until he had simultaneously buffed himself with twenty-two Lightning Runes that his body finally transmitted an unbearable sense of saturation.

  "That's an increase of five Lightning Runes compared to my normal state."

  Pierce nodded in satisfaction.

  Every additional Lightning Rune demanded significantly higher requirements from his Physique.

  Being able to add five more was already a testament to the formidable power of the High-Tier Magic Tattoo.

  "Let's try fusing with Silver Star."

  Pierce began a new round of testing, and the results left him highly satisfied.

  Under the dual buffs of fusing with Silver Star and activating the Fortitude Magic Tattoo, the maximum number of Lightning Runes he could bear simultaneously skyrocketed to an astounding thirty-seven.

  And this was just in his normal state.

  If he disregarded mental power consumption, his absolute limit could reach up to forty!

  This number was already double what it was during his battle with Zachary!

  "And this is only from activating it. I wonder what the effect will be if I Overcharge the Fortitude Magic Tattoo?"

  Pierce was itching to try, but after a moment's thought, he abandoned the idea.

  The materials to inscribe the Fortitude Magic Tattoo had cost him a full 6,000 Magic Stones.

  Right now, he had barely 1,000 Magic Stones left to his name. He couldn't afford the cost of a second inscription.

  Wizards were exactly this type of creature: eternally existing in a state of being incredibly wealthy, yet simultaneously dirt poor.

  "Should I brew some Resonance Potions to sell?"

  Pierce pondered inwardly, but quickly dismissed the thought.

  If he had the time to brew Resonance Potions to sell, he might as well use it to earn more Merit Points.

  Merit Points could equally buy the materials he needed.

  "One High-Tier Magic Tattoo and five Intermediate-Tier Magic Tattoos... this is already my current limit of endurance."

  "If I want to inscribe a second High-Tier Magic Tattoo, I estimate I'll have to wait until my Physique increases to at least 40."

  Pierce estimated that by that time, his Omniscient Breathing Technique should be close to breaking through to the sixth layer.

  And the seventh layer was the advancement milestone for a Tier 4 Legendary Knight.

  A Tier 4 Legendary Knight already possessed combat capabilities no inferior to an ordinary Rank 1 Liquid Phase Wizard.

  Dismissing the Silver Star fusion state, Pierce left the spell laboratory.

  Just as he walked out the main doors of the building, he saw Sophia and Payne standing outside.

  Spotting Pierce, the two immediately hurried over.

  "My Lord." Sophia's face carried a strange expression, a mix of shock and a hint of schadenfreude. "Hubert's squad failed. They were completely annihilated by the Turins."