What a freak!

  This was the only thought echoing in Gwendolyn's mind.

  She had always known Pierce's aptitude was outstanding—even to the point of being monstrous.

  But she never could have imagined that this guy would be on the verge of advancing to a Rank 2 Wizard in less than a year!

  This speed of progression was simply too terrifying!

  After advancing to a formal Wizard by purifying a Soul Crystal, Gwendolyn had felt a sense of smug satisfaction, believing she had somewhat closed the gap between her and Pierce.

  But looking at it now, let alone closing the gap, it had widened even further!

  For a moment, Gwendolyn's heart was filled with a mix of shock and utter dejection.

  Pierce was equally surprised.

  This Vampire Wizard's perception and insight were incredibly sharp. With just a single glance, she had seen through many of his secrets.

  And this was while he was actively maintaining his mental forcefield.

  If he were to disperse his forcefield, she would probably be able to read him like an open book.

  High-tier Wizards truly are a terrifying bunch.

  Pierce felt a slight chill in his heart.

  "The scent of your blood isn't bad either," Enevia said, her nostrils flaring slightly. "But it's still quite a bit inferior compared to Gwendolyn's."

  Gwendolyn covertly rolled her eyes upon hearing this.

  She didn't feel the slightest bit happy about being complimented in this regard.

  Pierce looked at Gwendolyn, then at Enevia, a flash of realization crossing his eyes.

  He had been wondering how Gwendolyn had managed to associate herself with a high-tier Wizard like Enevia. It turned out Enevia had taken a 'special liking' to her.

  The two had likely reached some sort of transaction.

  Perhaps this was the real reason Gwendolyn had been able to advance to a formal Wizard so quickly.

  Pierce had long noticed the mental forcefield surrounding Gwendolyn—the unmistakable hallmark of a formal Wizard.

  Logically speaking, it should have been impossible for Gwendolyn to advance so quickly.

  After all, Yuna, who had also practiced a top-tier Advanced Meditation Technique as a Wizard Apprentice, took nearly three years to successfully advance.

  Even if Gwendolyn were more talented than Yuna, the difference couldn't possibly be that vast.

  Not everyone in this world had a cheat code like the Omniscient Eye.

  "What are you heading out to do?" Gwendolyn's voice interrupted Pierce's thoughts.

  Reigning in his wandering mind, Pierce didn't hide his intentions. He said frankly, "I'm going to purchase materials for inscribing Alchemical Etchings."

  Seeing Gwendolyn's confused expression, Pierce patiently explained what Alchemical Etchings were.

  Upon hearing the explanation, Gwendolyn's mouth fell open slightly.

  An enchantment pattern even higher-tier than Magic Tattoos!

  And its effects and power are two to three times greater?!

  If only I could inscribe one myself...

  As if remembering something, a slight blush crept onto Gwendolyn's cheeks. She glanced at Pierce, but quickly composed herself. Looking at him with eager anticipation, she asked, "Could you help me inscribe one too?"

  Before Pierce could speak, Enevia poured cold water on her hopes.

  "Stop dreaming, Gwendolyn. The requirements Alchemical Etchings place on the inscriber are far higher than Magic Tattoos. Without the Physique of a Tier 3 Legendary, you can't even transform into an Alchemical Body, let alone inscribe an Alchemical Etching."

  Gwendolyn looked at Pierce. Seeing him nod with a smile, she was instantly filled with disappointment.

  Unlike Pierce, she hadn't paid much attention to practicing breathing techniques. Even though her Physique had been significantly enhanced after advancing to a Wizard, it was still only at the level of a Tier 1 Legendary Knight—miles away from Tier 3.

  Enevia offered a considerate suggestion at just the right moment: "I have a way to help you rapidly enhance your Physique... provided you are willing to pay an equivalent price."

  Gwendolyn subconsciously grabbed her own arm, glaring at Enevia.

  Recently, Enevia had been drawing two hundred milliliters of blood from her every day. While the process wasn't painful, it certainly didn't feel good.

  However, thinking of the Alchemical Etchings, her resolve wavered slightly.

  "How much blood do you want?"

  To her surprise, Enevia shook her head slightly. "No matter how delicious something is, eating too much at once will quickly ruin the appetite. For now, two hundred milliliters a day is enough."

  Now it was Gwendolyn's turn to be confused. "Then what price do you want?"

  Enevia smiled faintly. Her lips moved slightly, seemingly using a Message spell.

  The next moment, an incredibly conflicted expression twisted Gwendolyn's face.

  But ultimately, the temptation of the Alchemical Etchings won out. The young woman gritted her teeth and nodded heavily.

  "Fine. Deal!"

  The corners of Enevia's lips curled up.

  Watching the interaction between the two, Pierce's mouth twitched slightly.

  Only then did Gwendolyn remember that Pierce was still standing there. Blushing, she quickly grabbed Enevia to leave, but stopped after a few steps and turned back.

  "I almost forgot to ask. You're staying in Red Maple City... are you planning to answer the Call to Arms?"

  Pierce nodded slightly. "That's right."

  Gwendolyn's expression brightened. "Me too. I'll see you on the battlefield then."

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  Pierce smiled and nodded.

  After Gwendolyn and Enevia left, Pierce continued on his way to the shops.

  Having purchased all the necessary materials, he spent the evening inscribing the Energy Forcefield and Dimensional Blink Alchemical Etchings. The process went extremely smoothly.

  After the inscriptions were complete, Pierce was left with only 12,000 Merit Points.

  He then purchased seven standard units of metal alloy combinations, upgrading Silver Star to the +7 level in one fell swoop.

  With that, the 50,000-plus Merit Points he had gradually acquired since returning from the Mithril resource point had dwindled to a meager 600.

  If other Rank 1 Wizards knew of his spending rate, their jaws would likely drop in shock.

  "Now I just have to wait for my mental energy level to reach the critical threshold."

  Pierce let out a long breath, drank a bottle of Resonance Potion, and began his meditation.

  As he consumed more of them and his mental energy level rose, the effects of the Resonance Potions grew increasingly weak.

  Even paired with the Visualization Technique, his daily meditation only yielded an increase of 0.17 energy levels.

  "At this rate, it will take over a month to reach 96 energy levels."

  A month wasn't long, but with an all-out war on the verge of breaking out, Pierce didn't know if the current calm could last that long.

  If he could advance to a Rank 2 Wizard before the Great War erupted, his safety on the battlefield would undoubtedly increase significantly.

  However, reality ultimately did not unfold as Pierce had hoped.

  Astral Calendar, Year 14525, June 12th.

  The Turin army slowly advanced toward Red Maple City, assuming an offensive posture.

  After a standoff lasting nearly two months, the Great War had finally arrived.

  On the boundless wilderness.

  The countless Turin troops had long since formed their battle formations.

  At the very front were millions of infantrymen. Wearing mismatched leather armor and wielding varied weapons, they were clearly the cobbled-together private armies of various nobles. In the coming war, they would serve as little more than cannon fodder.

  Behind them stood the fully armed Church Knight Legions.

  These fierce, elite Knights wore exquisite armor, wielded refined steel longswords, and boasted towering morale. They were the true core strength of the Turin army.

  On both flanks of the army were countless cavalrymen riding beasts that resembled horses but were covered in scales.

  These were the elite cavalry regiments, ready at a moment's notice to utilize their devastating charge capabilities to tear through the enemy's formations.

  However, the most eye-catching element was the dense swarm of Turin war chariots hovering in the sky above.

  The heavy bronze bodies of the chariots reflected a cold, metallic gleam under the sunlight. The array runes on their exteriors pulsed with a faint light. With a single command, they would unleash their prepared divine spells upon the enemy lines.

  And amidst the tens of thousands of Turin chariots hovered over a hundred massive, palace-like metallic structures. They radiated incredibly intense fluctuations of Divine Grace.

  One could clearly feel it even from tens of kilometers away.

  "Those are the Turin war fortresses. Alchemical constructs that integrate offense, defense, and mobility," Enevia said softly.

  Her appearance had drastically changed; she had transformed into a small bat perching on Gwendolyn's shoulder.

  According to her, it was to avoid drawing attention.

  Although Pierce didn't quite understand why she wanted to come to the battlefield, he figured that having a high-tier Wizard present meant an extra layer of security. If they truly encountered lethal danger, she probably wouldn't just watch them die. Thus, he didn't press the matter.

  "War fortresses, huh? How do they compare to a Wizard Tower?" Gwendolyn asked curiously, glancing back into the distance.

  Opposite the Turin army, the forces of Red Maple City had also long since formed their battle lines.

  At the very front was the slave legion, comprised of Barbarians, Goblins, and other alien races.

  In the center was the Golem Legion.

  Tens of thousands of golems stood in perfect formation, motionless as stone statues, projecting an aura of overwhelming, unyielding might.

  Over eighty percent were Flesh Golems and Clay Golems, but there were also many Stone Golems and Iron Golems.

  There was even an Adamantine Golem!

  This was a terrifying construct whose combat prowess rivaled a Rank 3 Wizard!

  A single Adamantine Golem could annihilate a fully armed Church Knight Legion head-on!

  Behind the Golem Legion stood the Silverlight Legion and the Crimson Blaze Legion.

  The former was Aurora City's most famous ace legion, while the latter was Crimson Lotus City's most powerful elite legion.

  These two legions, which spent year after year fighting on the frontlines of planar conquests, were the elite of the elites.

  A single glance revealed a forest of spears that blotted out the sky, and mirror-like armor that dazzled the eye.

  On the flanks of the army were perfectly aligned squares of cavalry.

  Clad in full heavy armor, wielding long lances, and with heavy broadswords at their waists, they sat atop their warhorses. Even from afar, their imposing, oppressive aura was palpable.

  The only force within the entire army whose presence could suppress theirs was the Wizard-Hunter Force positioned at the very rear.

  Over a thousand Wizards hovered in the air. They lacked dazzling armor or an aggressively martial aura, but the combined mental forcefields they exuded merged together, enveloping more than half the battlefield.

  Even the Turins far in the distance could feel that heavy, suffocating pressure.

  If the Wizards were the sharp daggers on the battlefield, then the Wizard Towers hovering high above the army were undeniably the ultimate weapons of war.

  Over forty towering Wizard Towers hung suspended a kilometer in the sky.

  Even from the ground, one could clearly see their majestic, colossal structures. They seemed to obscure the sun and dominate the entire sky, instilling a profound sense of insignificance in all who looked upon them.

  Hearing Gwendolyn's question, Enevia chuckled and said leisurely, "While the Turin war fortresses are decent alchemical constructs, they cannot even begin to compare to a Wizard Tower."

  "The Wizard Tower is the absolute quintessence of Wizard civilization. A qualified Wizard Tower must be able to withstand the assault of a 9th-Circle spell. It must also possess a stable mana supply, a localized Mythal defensive forcefield, ultra-long-range strike arrays, an integrated Golem Legion, a Tower Spirit Construct Commander, and much more."

  "The resources required to build even the most basic Wizard Tower amount to at least a million Magic Crystals."

  Gwendolyn gasped.

  Pierce was also somewhat stunned.

  A Magic Crystal was a higher-tier energy crystal than a Magic Stone, created by refining and condensing a massive amount of Magic Stones.

  A single Magic Crystal was worth a thousand Magic Stones.

  A million Magic Crystals... converting that into Magic Stones yielded a number so staggering it made one's scalp tingle.

  "Although exorbitant, the power of a Wizard Tower is absolutely worth the price," Enevia stated.

  Pierce and Gwendolyn exchanged a glance, both silently agreeing with her assessment.

  The Wizard Towers of the Wizard Plane were renowned throughout the entire Multiverse. To date, the number of planar civilizations that had capitulated under the bombardment of Wizard Towers was innumerable.

  Their terrifying reputation had long since spread across countless planes.

  Pierce gazed at the majestic towers in the heavens, a trace of yearning flashing in his eyes.

  If he could possess his own Wizard Tower, it would be immensely beneficial not only for enhancing his own strength but also for his future planar conquests.

  Unfortunately, to even consider building a Wizard Tower, one had to be at least a Rank 4 Wizard.

  He was still a long, long way from that level.

  After a long while, Pierce withdrew his gaze and looked around.

  He was currently positioned on the right wing of the formation, surrounded entirely by fellow Free Wizards.

  All the Free Wizards in Red Maple City who had answered the Call to Arms had been deployed to the left and right flanks.

  This was to be expected.

  After all, these Free Wizards had never trained in formation tactics. If they were placed in the main army, the chaos of a fierce battle would likely cause them to lose coordination, disrupting the entire formation. Assigning them to the flanking battlefields, where the pressure was relatively lower, was the most suitable arrangement.

  Wooooo!

  A sonorous horn blast suddenly tore through the air, echoing across the sky above the wilderness.

  As the sound reverberated, the Turin army began its slow advance, rolling forward like an impossibly colossal beast.

  At the exact same time.

  A deep, resonant voice boomed from the sky above the Red Maple City army.

  "ATTACK!"

  The next moment, war drums thundered from the walls of Red Maple City in the rear.

  The massive army began to move, gradually accelerating, carrying an earth-shattering momentum as they ruthlessly charged to meet the enemy.

  The two armies collided with terrifying force like two raging torrents. In an instant, blood sprayed into the air, and severed limbs and flesh flew in all directions!

  Deafening roars of slaughter instantly pierced the heavens!

  Looking down from high above, the front lines of both armies had already devolved into a chaotic, apocalyptic meat grinder.

  It was like drops of red ink splashing onto a white sheet of paper and slowly bleeding outward. The vast wilderness was drenched in blood in the blink of an eye.

  Simultaneously, the Turin chariots in the sky slowly moved forward. Their speed continuously increased until they were streaking toward the Wizard Towers like bolts of light.

  The forty-plus Wizard Towers stood immovable. However, near the top of each tower, specks of starlight suddenly emerged. The light rapidly expanded, ultimately transforming into dazzling, sun-like orbs.

  The next second, countless crimson rays shot out from the light orbs, sweeping toward the Turin chariots in a dense, sky-blotting barrage.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  The Turin chariots struck by the crimson rays instantly exploded into balls of fire.

  In the span of a single breath, hundreds of Turin chariots were reduced to scrap metal, plummeting to the ground.

  Only the massive ice shields that materialized in front of the metallic fortresses managed to block the crimson rays. They immediately launched a counterattack. With a flash of light, countless ice dragons condensed out of thin air, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they ruthlessly pounced toward the Wizard Towers.

  The Great War instantly reached a boiling point!