Chapter 1099: Playing for Keeps
To force these bastards to unite on the Blazeforge Battlefield, the human side would have to be so overwhelmingly powerful that the orcs would have no choice but to band together.
Otherwise, even if all those orcs broke through to Sky Rank, there would still be chances to pick them off one by one...
Last time I ran into that Bloodbone Orc Sky Rank, Leon knew that these orcs’ talents and bloodlines, once merged with the Beast God’s Blood, were greatly enhanced, giving them all sorts of special abilities.
Even alone, facing a single Sky Rank orc, I might not be able to keep them on the Blazeforge Battlefield forever. I need allies—no question about it.
So what’s left to use? Just the Beast God’s Blood...
Anyway, they’re the ones gathering all the mana crystals needed for the Beast God’s Blood. All I have to do is put in the work to refine it into Golden Temptation Potion, and I get a fifth of their mana crystals for free.
Most importantly, the true value of Beast God’s Blood isn’t just those rule fragments that help people transcend. There’s more to it—stuff that’ll take time to figure out...
So when Leon said he didn’t care, he sounded completely sincere—like he really didn’t need the Beast God’s Blood at all...
Rafael’s eyes were red with emotion. Off to the side, Morgan and Arno wore looks of deep respect, as if they were gazing at a venerable old archmage...
Only Anderson, floating nearby with his three faces, all simultaneously curled their lips. Looking around and seeing everyone else wearing expressions of admiration, all three faces showed a slightly odd smile.
That Merlin guy is definitely playing these fools. I don’t believe for a second he’d selflessly help them just because of some danger that hasn’t even been confirmed.
Take Hubert, for example—he’s an orc, and now he’s a Ninth-Rank Sword Saint. If Hubert fused a drop of Beast God’s Blood, he might break through to Sky Rank right away. If this humanoid monster broke through, that tearful, newly ascended Sky Rank might get smashed with a single swing...
After a short discussion, everyone decided to head out hunting again. Even though Rafael had broken through to Sky Rank, most of the mana crystals for that drop of Beast God’s Blood were fronted by Leon and Morgan. Now, any mana crystals from hunting had to be repaid to Leon and Morgan.
And the mana crystals for Leon came with a fifth as interest—not because Leon demanded it, but because Rafael insisted. He wouldn’t be happy otherwise...
Morgan and Arno, having witnessed Rafael’s breakthrough firsthand, were now practically frantic—like their pants were on fire—rushing off alone to hunt.
The three of them now had the communication crystal ball Morgan provided. As long as they were in the same plane, they could stay in touch and call for help if things got dangerous.
Leon also told Morgan and Rafael to keep an eye out for Joey and Heron, and have them contact him if they showed up.
Of the ten human factions, there were at least a dozen people with one foot in Sky Rank. Gather a few trustworthy ones and help them break through, and they’d finally be able to stand up to the orcs.
The Henry Family and the Skyhold City folks all left to hunt, while Leon studied the exchange list to see if anything special caught his eye.
Too bad, most of the stuff on that list was useless—materials you could gather right here on the Blazeforge Battlefield, or find in the Northend World.
There were plenty of True Spirit Artifacts, but none were particularly useful. Whether it was Leon, Hubert, Reina, or the legion mages, everyone already had suitable artifacts—no need for any more.
If they swapped for different True Spirit Artifacts, their combat power might actually drop...
Besides, Leon kept feeling that these mana crystals from pseudo Sky Rank magical beasts weren’t just for opening the temple doors or trading for stuff.
These mana crystals held immense spatial power. Beasts couldn’t use it, but maybe with some research, there’d be a way to harness that spatial force.
Thing is, the owners of spatial mana crystals are at least Sky Rank magical beasts. Only transcendent beasts have spatial mana crystals, and those are incredibly rare. Killing one is next to impossible with our current strength...
The hunt continued. Leon led his people roaming the grasslands of the Blazeforge Battlefield, wiping out every pseudo Sky Rank magical beast they came across—the pace was downright terrifying.
Most of the time was spent searching for those pseudo Sky Rank beasts. If they found a lone one, the fight never lasted more than five minutes.
Even if they ran into a group of pseudo Sky Rank beasts, half an hour was more than enough to finish the job...
The number of mana crystals in Leon’s hand kept climbing, and slowly, he realized there were way more pseudo Sky Rank beasts than when they first entered the Blazeforge Battlefield.
The frequency shot up—each pseudo Sky Rank beast’s territory shrank by several times, and sometimes, within just a dozen kilometers, there’d be two pseudo Sky Rank beasts of different species...
So many pseudo Sky Rank beasts showing up—Leon couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously off...
These pseudo Sky Rank beasts should’ve been low-level monsters, but somehow, they’d gained Sky Rank combat power...
Even if it was just pseudo Sky Rank strength, Leon and his crew had killed at least a hundred of them by now. But instead of dwindling, the number of pseudo Sky Rank beasts in the Blazeforge Battlefield only seemed to grow.
It made no sense. Count the ones hunted by other human factions, plus the ones killed by the Blazeforge orcs...
In the past few days, at least a thousand pseudo Sky Rank beasts had been slain on the Blazeforge Battlefield...
A thousand pseudo Sky Rank beasts—never mind the Blazeforge Plane, even if that happened in the Northend World, it’d be enough to sink a whole continent...
There had to be some secret nobody had discovered yet. Maybe the Blazeforge orcs knew about it—especially the golden orcs, who understood the battlefield inside out. They definitely knew things the rest didn’t.
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After hunting a pseudo Sky Rank beast, Leon kept searching the area. Sure enough, in less than a day, another different pseudo Sky Rank beast appeared nearby.
But Leon couldn’t figure out how this pseudo Sky Rank beast had appeared—it was like it just popped into existence.
At first, Leon wondered if there was something special about this place—maybe an alchemical array, or a hidden entrance to another minor plane.
But after searching, he found nothing. Even after triple-checking, Leon was sure the secret wasn’t here.
Sure enough, the same thing happened elsewhere. Whenever the pseudo Sky Rank beast in an area was killed, it took less than a day for another to suddenly show up.
No discoveries at all, no clues to be found...
With no leads, Leon started trying to study the pseudo Sky Rank mana crystals, hoping to find something. But aside from the deep spatial power inside, there was nothing special about them. A day or two wasn’t nearly enough to figure anything out.
Time passed, and Leon stopped hunting magical beasts himself. Every day, he was either using alchemy to study mana crystals or flipping through the Book of Ten Thousand Curses, checking the spells inside.
Even so, the number of mana crystals kept growing. Add in the two-fifths handed over by the Henry Family and Skyhold City, plus the dozens Rafael repaid—Leon’s stash soon broke two hundred.
But those mana crystals weren’t much use to Leon. He wasn’t planning to use Beast God’s Blood, and trading for stuff was pointless—only rare, precious materials, even some that were now extinct, were worth spending a few mana crystals on.
A month went by. The long-silent crystal ball finally lit up again—a line of words formed from magic appeared inside.
"Archmage Leon, where are you? I finally gathered a hundred mana crystals!"
Seeing that message, Leon couldn’t help but laugh. He’d run into Morgan once during this time—the guy acted like he was on Berserk Mana Potion, eyes wild as a starving wolf every time he spotted a pseudo Sky Rank beast, hunting those mana crystals like a mad dog.
In a month, with the Henry Family working in shifts, and after lending Rafael over twenty mana crystals, they finally scraped together a hundred.
Of course, that hundred was after handing Leon his two-fifths cut. In total, Morgan’s crew had hunted nearly a hundred and thirty pseudo Sky Rank beasts this month. That pace almost matched Leon’s own team—Morgan’s obsession was obvious.
Meanwhile, Leon hadn’t lifted a finger and still pocketed nearly fifty mana crystals. Morgan was so desperate, he practically shoved the crystals into Leon’s hands—there was no refusing him...
When Leon met Morgan again, his eyelid twitched. The Henry Family mages looked like undead—pale faces, sunken eyes. Morgan and Arno were no exception.
They all reeked of potions, and Leon instantly knew they’d been chugging True Spirit Potions and Berserk Mana Potions for a month straight—probably never slept once.
In other words, Morgan, Arno, and the Henry Family mages hadn’t closed their eyes once in a month—fighting non-stop, day and night...
"Morgan, are you trying to kill yourself?"
Morgan’s face was ghostly pale, eyes blazing with manic energy—he looked like he’d just downed another Berserk Mana Potion.
"Archmage Leon, I’ve gathered a hundred mana crystals. Here’s the Beast God’s Blood I just traded for—please, it’s all yours..."
Morgan handed over a stone vial with a drop of Beast God’s Blood floating inside—he didn’t hesitate for a second before passing it to Leon.