Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 3072: Twelve

Emery’s insult had no effect on them. There was no flicker of anger, no change in expression, not even the slightest hint of amusement. Whatever emotions these people had once possessed had been stripped away by the infection, leaving behind only cold, unnatural intent.

The twelve responded as one.

The four Two-Cosmos experts immediately split the group, each taking two of the One-Cosmos cultivators beneath them and forming four units of three. They scattered in four directions, moving with precise coordination to cut off every possible avenue of escape before unleashing their battlefield domains simultaneously.

The giant, nearly four meters tall, summoned a Metal Domain. The air around him seemed to grow heavy as metallic energy surged outward, while liquid metal crawled across his massive body like living armor, covering his limbs in gleaming layers.

The dark elf answered with a Fire Domain, twin flaming serpents coiling into existence around his body. Their mouths opened in silent roars as waves of scorching heat rippled through the air, distorting the space around them.

The elderly spear master’s domain manifested next. A dozen spectral frost spears appeared around him, each one suspended in perfect formation. Frost rapidly spread across their surfaces, and the temperature of the surrounding air plummeted.

Then there was the dark-haired woman—the one who had spoken first.

Behind her, a radiant image of herself appeared, seated gracefully atop a lotus. Golden light spilled from the illusion in slow, deliberate pulses, yet beneath its beautiful appearance was an unmistakable pressure that seemed to reach directly toward the soul.

Emery took the measure of them in an instant.

The woman was the strongest by far, a peak Two-Cosmos cultivator at the third layer and only half a step away from Three-Cosmos. More importantly, her abilities were clearly rooted in soul attacks.

There was no surprise that she had been the one to speak.

Alliance intelligence had noted the pattern before. The Scourge favored hosts with high mental capacity, using them as more capable vessels for their parasitic consciousness.

Soltz stood ready, golden sand already crawling up his arms as he watched the twelve surround them.

"How do you want to handle this?"

"Quickly," Emery said. "Who knows what else is coming."

"Agreed."

The twelve struck at once—spells, weapons, and spectral spears converging on Emery and Soltz in the same breath. The air trembled under the combined force as flames, frost, metal, and spiritual energy tore through the desert.

Soltz moved first.

The sand beneath their feet suddenly erupted, surging upward in a roaring wave that swallowed the surrounding dunes. Grains of golden sand spiraled through the air before rapidly gathering together, reshaping themselves into a towering fortress that rose around the two of them.

[Sand Castle]—Soltz’s Tier 8 defensive spell, reinforced by the overwhelming power of his Three-Cosmos domain.

The incoming attacks slammed into the fortress one after another.

Flames exploded across its walls, spectral frost spears buried themselves deep into the sand, and waves of metallic energy crashed against its surface. Yet the fortress remained standing. The sand absorbed the impacts and dispersed their force through its massive structure, leaving not so much as a crack.

Then, without warning, the fortress changed shape.

Its towering walls collapsed inward before surging outward again. Four enormous arms formed from densely compressed sand, the grains packed so tightly that their surfaces were harder than stone. Each arm drew back for a moment before shooting outward like a falling meteor.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Four colossal sand fists crashed into the twelve infected simultaneously.

The stronger ones reacted quickly, raising their domains to block the impact or twisting aside at the last moment, though even they were thrown backward by the tremendous force. The weaker cultivators were not nearly as fortunate.

Several were swallowed beneath the crushing mass of sand, their bodies disappearing completely as the earth closed over them. A few struggled desperately before the pressure tightened around them, the muffled sound of bones grinding beneath the immense weight barely audible through the roar of shifting sand.

Four of the weaker Grand Magus cultivators died on the spot.

The rest staggered backward, battered and wounded, their previously flawless formation already broken.

Even the Two-Cosmos leaders had failed to escape unscathed.

The dark elf coughed up a mouthful of blood, his fire domain flickering violently around him. The elderly spear master stood amid the shattered remains of his spectral frost spears, his breathing ragged as cracks spread across his frozen weapons.

Blood trickled from the dark-haired woman’s lips, staining her chin as she stared at Soltz and Emery with those same empty, blood-red eyes.

Only the giant remained untouched.

With a roar, he charged straight through the settling sand, his massive fist swinging forward with enough force to crack the air. The sheer momentum of the attack sent a pressure wave rolling across the battlefield.

Soltz met him head-on.

His Tier 7 gauntlet glowed with golden-brown energy as he drove his own fist forward, meeting the giant’s punch with a deafening collision.

BOOM!

The impact shook the surrounding dunes. Sand erupted beneath their feet as Soltz was forced several steps backward, his expression shifting with genuine surprise.

"These giants really are something."

The giant, however, wasn’t laughing.

His enormous arm hung at an unnatural angle, the bones shattered beneath the skin. Blood poured freely from his forearm, dripping onto the sand, yet the infected giant showed no sign of pain. His blood-red eyes remained completely empty as he raised his broken arm and prepared to attack again.

While the two traded blows, Emery had already moved.

A single Rift Step tore open the space beside him, and Emery emerged directly behind the dark elf—the most wounded of the remaining group.

The dark elf reacted faster than Emery expected. The two flaming serpents surrounding him immediately twisted around, their jaws opening as they lunged toward Emery from opposite sides.

Excalibur answered.

Emery drew the blade in a single fluid motion, and a brilliant golden arc swept across the battlefield. The two flaming serpents were cleaved apart before they could reach him, the same strike continuing forward and cutting through the last One-Cosmos cultivator standing beside the dark elf.

The dark elf barely had time to turn.

Emery’s second swing followed, carrying the full weight of his Dao.

The golden blade flashed.

The dark elf’s body split cleanly in half, both halves falling into the sand as his flames rapidly faded.

Half their number was gone in seconds.

Six remained.

Any sane force would have broken formation and fled by now. These infected had no such instinct left. There was no fear in their blood-red eyes, no hesitation, and no concern for their fallen comrades.

They simply reset their stances and continued fighting as though nothing had happened.

Emery let out a quiet sigh.

This was exactly what he had feared.

The Scourge wasn’t foolish enough to throw away twelve Grand Magus cultivators for nothing.

They were buying time.

For what, he didn’t yet know, and that thought alone kept his guard from ever fully dropping.

Without another word, Emery and Soltz pressed forward.

The giant proved stubborn even while wounded. His defensive capability far outstripped his offensive strength, allowing him to endure blow after blow without slowing down. Every time Soltz struck, the giant’s metal-covered body absorbed the impact, leaving deep dents and cracks across his armor but refusing to break.

The elderly spear master was equally troublesome. Several artifacts hidden beneath his robes activated whenever Emery attacked, forming layers of protection that blunted his strikes and diverted the force away from vital points.

The dark-haired woman was the most annoying of them all.

She kept both Emery and Soltz under constant pressure, golden lotus projectiles filling the air around them. Each burst of radiant light carried more than physical force. Some sought to restrain their movements, while others slipped through their defenses and attempted to plant illusions directly into their minds.

None of them touched Emery.

His spiritual defenses easily rejected the woman’s attempts, allowing him to move freely through the storm of golden light.

Soltz wasn’t so fortunate.

Every pulse of golden light sent a sharp lance of pain through his skull. His expression grew darker with each passing moment, his patience rapidly wearing thin.

Snarling, he threw everything he had left into the giant, crushing the man into the sand until there was nothing left to identify.

By then, Emery had already finished the rest

Only the woman remained.

She had been the reason he stayed to fight in the first place. As a Vessel, there was still a chance—however slim—that some fragment of her original memories survived beneath the Scourge’s corruption. Killing her outright would destroy that possibility.

So instead of delivering a killing blow, Emery changed his approach.

Elysian roots erupted from the ground and shot toward her, wrapping tightly around her limbs before she could react. The vines constricted and dragged her toward the ground, binding her movements while Emery stepped closer.

He followed with a soul attack, carefully probing through her mental defenses. His intention wasn’t to destroy her mind, but to subdue her completely and extract whatever answers might still be buried beneath the corruption.

He was halfway through the process when his Divine Sense suddenly screamed a warning.

Something was approaching.

Fast.

The oppressive presence was closing on their position at a terrifying speed, growing stronger with every passing second. Emery’s instincts immediately went on high alert.

The cultivation of the approaching entity was beyond he could properly measure.

There was only one possibility that made sense.

A Supreme.