Chapter 1038: The Worldshaper
Staring at the densely packed undead army, Dida La let out a strange, guttural roar. Instantly, the swirling vortex of fire behind him began to tremble violently.
A torrent of orange flames, dozens of meters thick, erupted forth like a volcanic explosion. Endless fire surged across the land, spreading rapidly in all directions as if unleashed by a flood.
Within the flames, fire elementals were spat out alongside the inferno. In an instant, a thousand-meter radius became a sea of fire, which continued to expand at breakneck speed. The undead caught in the blaze were burned to ashes one after another.
The stronger undead, however, were quickly surrounded by the fire elementals.
More and more fire elementals appeared, each one stronger than the last. Within seconds, fire elementals above level thirty had joined the fray.
Dida La raised his staff and chanted loudly. After a full thirteen seconds of incantation, massive clouds of fire appeared in the sky, and fireballs rained down like meteors.
The spell covered a range of two to three kilometers—this was the most underwhelming eighth-level fire spell: Starlight Firestorm. Among spells below ninth level, it had the widest area of effect, but its power was the weakest, sometimes even less lethal than certain seventh-level spells.
Each fireball packed only the force of a third- or fourth-level spell. It was only useful against these overwhelming hordes of undead, where sheer numbers made coverage more important than raw power.
Yet with the same amount of mana, other spells could inflict far greater casualties. So in large-scale battles, few mages ever bothered to cast this one.
Given the current situation, if we want to block the undead pursuit and buy time, this spell paired with the sea of fire is the best fit.
Dida La glanced at the vortex of fire. The already violent flames began to surge even more, and a Fire Elemental Lord—over thirty meters tall—squeezed its way out.
As soon as the Fire Elemental Lord appeared, Dida La immediately pulled out a Magic Beacon to find the direction for retreat.
This vortex wasn’t just a spellcasting trick—it was a direct link to the Fire Elemental Plane. The plane itself was a river of elemental fire, where pure elemental flames flowed, and even some had solidified into liquid fire—a truly terrifying force.
Many fire elementals lived in the river of fire, and as they poured through this temporary Plane Path, they immediately began battling the surrounding undead.
Of all elemental creatures, those of light hate the undead most. Next are the fire elementals, who loathe the undead’s cold aura. In this scenario, a fight is inevitable.
Dida La saw that the undead horde was being blocked by the steadily pouring fire elementals and immediately began the retreat.
The spell that opens a temporary Plane Path is actually a trap, set by a Fire Elemental Lord from that plane. Whenever someone opens such a path, hordes of fire elementals will surge forth, and as the path expands, the Fire Lord itself will descend into this world.
Conquering other planes is the ultimate dream of all powerful beings.
Though these fire elementals can’t wipe out the undead, they can at least hold them off for half an hour. With those two Death Shamans and the Ghost Behemoth present, destroying this temporary Plane Path is only a matter of time...
After confirming everything was clear, Dida La disguised himself as a fire elemental and quietly slipped away.
Meanwhile, the others sprinted ahead. Sure enough, the undead soon vanished from sight, and the flat grassland began to shift and undulate.
It was as if mountains suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Ahead, the grassland was gone, replaced by an endless expanse of mountain ranges.
After rushing into the mountains, it didn’t take long to find a suitable hiding spot.
They found a massive valley, flanked by peaks that pierced the clouds. The valley’s entrance connected with the earth’s ravines, and it stretched deep into the mountains. As long as they held the mouth of the valley, there was no fear of undead appearing from other directions.
Upon entering the valley and checking the wind, Rafael from Skyhold Fortress was visibly delighted.
"Perfect! The wind here blows inward, deeper into the valley. Our presence will only be felt in the valley’s depths, not outside. Setting up the alchemical array will be much easier now."
But staying here meant they had to temporarily conceal everyone’s presence and magical fluctuations. Otherwise, before the alchemical array was finished, their mana would stand out like a beacon, and the tireless undead would sense it from miles away.
At a time like this, even Diras didn’t dare pull any tricks—one mistake and nobody would get out unscathed.
Diras, clearly annoyed, strode to the valley entrance, shot Lin Yun a fierce glare, then summoned the Shadow Cloak from the Shadow Tower. A veil of shadow spread like mist, swiftly masking the valley’s mouth.
With their presence concealed and the wind blowing against them, no one could possibly spot them unless they got very close.
Diras and the Shadow Tower mages took turns channeling mana to maintain the Shadow Cloak’s effect.
Meanwhile, the Dunespire Tower mages, guided by those from Skyhold Fortress, kept casting spells to reshape the local terrain.
The terrain here wasn’t ideal for a large alchemical array—there were countless adjustments needed. For this, the Dunespire Tower mages were the perfect choice; they could do it with barely any mana cost.
Streams of sand flowed across the ground, smoothing everything in their path. In less than two minutes, the valley entrance—hundreds of meters wide—was perfectly leveled, every jagged stone worn away.
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This kind of place was ideal for setting up a large alchemical array, and the array’s effect wouldn’t be compromised.
The wealthy Odin Kingdom and the Henry Family contributed piles of materials. When resources ran short, they simply substituted magic artifacts.
The Andalusia Kingdom mages handled the material refinement—a mana-draining task. But the real headache was inscribing alchemical runes and patterns. A single mistake meant re-melting the material; with rare resources, one error could waste everything.
Every mage from Skyhold Fortress wielded a crystal pen, scribbling alchemical formulas, runes, and patterns at breakneck speed.