Chapter 19: First Alliance Meeting
Secret techniques are useless, and they've lost the support of the Civilization Devourer.
In just three days, the Black Furnace Man's power weakened to that of an ordinary Dominator.
Richard, who was in charge of the attack, cautiously wrapped the Black Furnace Man with the Miracle Fire as if drawing cards.
According to past experiences, as long as the power of the Civilization Devourer on the Black Furnace Man is completely eliminated, he is likely to obtain a soul.
But what if not?
No one knows if purifying the soul of a Titan was just a coincidence.
Fortunately, the "what if" did not happen.
Under the burning of the Miracle Fire, the black mucus forming the Black Furnace Man's body gradually disappeared, revealing a severely weakened pure soul within.
"Hmm!?"
The God King of Ten Thousand Changes, standing by, was stunned when he saw this scene.
As a Breaking Limit Sovereign, he could naturally see that Richard was purifying the power of the Civilization Devourer.
However, he didn't expect that among the Black Furnace Men he was fighting, there was a soul of a Dominator at its core.
The God King of Ten Thousand Changes' astonishment did not affect Richard's actions.
He cautiously used his spiritual power to make contact with this soul, wanting to see if the Dominator still had any consciousness left.
But whether it was due to injuries sustained in battle or because the Dominator underwent special "care" by the Civilization Devourer,
this Breaking Limit Furnace Man's soul was extremely weak, even weaker than the Titan whose personality had been completely eroded in Richard's hand.
When Richard used his spiritual power to make contact, he was met with nothing but silence.
Oh no, it didn't work out.
But just as Richard's mood sank, he suddenly sensed a slight tremor from his Miracle Furnace.
His heart stirred, and he quickly pulled the Miracle Furnace out of the dimension.
The moment he saw the Miracle Furnace, the once unresponsive soul of the Furnace Man suddenly shivered, and a spiritual message entered Richard's perception.
"...Ignite me."
Ignite?
Richard looked at the soul of the Furnace Man, frowning slightly.
The Miracle Fire is not something to be trifled with. Without control, it could burn even a Dominator's soul to ashes.
But seeing the unresponsive soul, he decided to try as the Furnace Man requested.
With a gentle tap on the Furnace, a blossom of Miracle Fire fell upon the soul of the Furnace Man.
In the next moment, the soul of the Furnace Man was ignited by the Miracle Fire.
Within the Miracle Fire, the soul of the Furnace Man slowly opened its eyes and bowed slightly to Richard.
"Hoka greets the High Priest."
Richard nodded slightly, a trace of surprise flashing across his face.
Does the Miracle Fire also have the effect of helping to restructure a personality?
As if seeing Richard's confusion, Hoka calmly said, "High Priest, my personality has already been annihilated by that monster's relentless torment, what you see now is a preemptive message I left.
I don't know the current situation, but I hope you can help restructure my personality so I can fight again, rather than throw me into the Furnace.
Of course, if the situation in the war is no longer critical or the war has already ended, please disregard my previous statement."
After speaking, Hoka's eyes grew vacant once more.
Richard withdrew the Miracle Fire with a slight sigh.
In the end, he didn't get anything useful.
However, restructuring a personality might not be a bad thing for him; at least the restructured personality would be loyal to him.
Moreover, since this Furnace Man had already broken limits, the soul structure was no longer a prison for him.
This meant Richard could completely adjust the soul structure to that of a wizard during the restructuring, allowing it to become a member of the Truth Council.
Of course, the Alchemy Crown and Shaping Energy Crown would likely not agree.
At least not until Richard's strength reached Breaking Limit; such a suggestion would never be accepted.
The power behind the council ultimately depends on the size of one's fists; without enough strength, Richard couldn't drive a proposal that would tip the council's power completely in his favor.
He collected the soul into the Miracle Dimension, then glanced at the God King of Ten Thousand Changes, who was healing nearby.
"God King of Ten Thousand Changes, seeing is believing. Your Lun Rune and Gungnir are truly remarkable."
The God King of Ten Thousand Changes opened his single eye and chuckled, "If it were anyone else saying this, I might feel a little proud, but having fought alongside you, your words sound a bit off.
Your extensive knowledge of Furnace Man Runes is so profound that even the Eternal would be amazed. My small tricks are not worth mentioning, not at all."
Throughout these battles, the strength Richard displayed left this foundational God King of the Gods Civilization in awe.
Richard's application of Furnace Man Runes was truly mind-boggling.
If Richard were an age-old Dominator, it might be understandable.
The sediment of time can explain many things.
But Richard's age compared to him was not even that of an infant.
Possessing such terrifying knowledge at this age, the God King of Ten Thousand Changes couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Surely, the regressed Furnace Men didn't just hand over the crystallization of their civilization to Richard?
"Not at all, my level with Furnace Man Runes is but superficial; not nearly as intricate as the God King describes it."
After some commercial flattery, the two quickly moved on to the main topic.
The God King of Ten Thousand Changes sighed slightly, "This Civilization Devourer is truly bizarre. Not only can it pollute my soul and consume my memories, but it can also imprison the souls of Dominators and use them as the driving force for its puppets.
If it weren't for you, Richard, having that flame, I fear I too would have been devoured today and become one of its puppets."
Richard made no comment on this, merely saying seriously, "This characteristic is only a corner of the Civilization Devourer's abilities. It was heavily wounded by the Predecessor Civilization Alliance and sealed for a million years.
The remaining strength is not even one-tenth of its original power. Even though it has now devoured many worlds, its strength is still far from its peak.
We must prepare ourselves mentally."
A trace of horror flashed in the God King of Ten Thousand Changes' eyes.
"This isn't even its peak strength?"
Just the strength the Civilization Devourer has shown now is more than enough to crush an ordinary civilization, and it can also achieve victory after victory against two civilizations.
And this is just a part of the Civilization Devourer's strength.
If it ever recovers, what chance would they stand? They might as well move on to other world communities.
As long as the Dominator is there, and the seed of civilization exists, there's no fear of running out of firewood.
"God King, you need not panic," Richard reassured, "The Wizard Alliance has already begun to take shape, and there are six Breaking Limit Sovereigns in the alliance.
As long as we can stabilize the situation and prevent the Civilization Devourer from wantonly devouring worlds, then for it to dream of returning to its peak is just that—a dream."
The God King of Ten Thousand Changes was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"The great era has arrived."
...
As the Gods Civilization joined the alliance, the Wizard Dimension became entwined with another platinum-colored dimension.
Three dimensions wrapped around each other, interconnected, making the three individually weak-looking dimensions now as resilient as a rope.
Wizard Dimension, City of Eternal Truth.
The assembly of crowns from the Wizard Civilization, along with the Swarm Dominator, stood quietly in front of the Council Hall, waiting for their guests.
Soon, a divine staircase appeared from the void.
The avatars of the Eternal God King, God King of Ten Thousand Changes, and Sun God King crossed dimensions and arrived in the Wizard Dimension.
Gazing upon the overcast Wizard Dimension, the Eternal God King curiously inspected it and then jokingly remarked to the Shaping Energy Crown, "Shaping Energy, why is your dimension so gloomy? I remember you being the sun of the Wizard World."
The Shaping Energy Crown shrugged helplessly.
"There's nothing we can do; the alchemical fumes from Alchemy are too thick, overshadowing my light."
The Alchemy Crown glanced at the Shaping Energy Crown and calmly said, "As if all the magic armor and magic potion we produce from our school was treated as waste dumped into the Star Realm.
I wonder which school consumes the most alchemical products."
The Shaping Energy Crown looked innocent and turned to Richard, shouting, "Hey, Miracle, Alchemy is talking about you. Your half-blood wizards use too many alchemical products."
Richard laughed helplessly and said perfunctorily, "Ah, right, right, right. I'll restrain the half-blood wizards when I go back."
Amidst the laughter and conversation, a large vortex-like teleportation gate appeared in the void once more.
Unmistakably, this was the teleportation gate of the two Abyss Dominators.
The avatars of Samuel and Beelzebub stepped out one after another. These two Dominators were not unfamiliar to the wizards, and the Alchemy Crown greeted them kindly.
However, after they emerged, the teleportation gate did not close.
Following Beelzebub, an avatar of Talal Peak also emerged.
Facing this somewhat unfamiliar Abyss Demon, the Alchemy Crown directed his gaze toward Samuel.
"Samuel, has there been a new Dominator in the abyss?"
"Hmm?"
Samuel was taken aback by the Alchemy Crown's question.
Talal Peak came along with Richard, and as soon as he entered the abyss, he became an Abyss Dominator.
How could it be asked of him?
The Alchemy Crown noticed something off about Samuel's attitude and was about to ask further. But before he could speak, Richard's voice came from behind him.
"This is the Abyss Dominator Talal Peak, a Dominator of the Titan Civilization whom I rescued from the Civilization Devourer. Of course, he is now a member of the Abyss Civilization."
Saying this, Richard walked up to Talal Peak's side.
Talal Peak bowed slightly toward Richard and then stood beside him like an attendant.
Seeing this, be it the Alchemy Crown or the Shaping Energy Crown, a change came over their expressions.
That change was shock, caution, and also a kind of fear.
The appearance of Talal Peak signified one thing: that Dominators from the Previous Civilization could still reappear in the world, and most of these Dominators would likely look up to Richard, the man destined by fate.
This means that if there is no suppression in terms of strength, Richard alone would hold a crucial position in the future Wizard Alliance.
The change in the two crowns' expressions did not escape the eyes of the other Breaking Limit Sovereigns present.
The God Kings of Ten Thousand Changes and Eternal exchanged secret glances multiple times, and a trace of contemplation flashed in Beelzebub's amber eyes, while Samuel expressed no interest in it.
He just wanted to end this meeting quickly and then go and fight the Civilization Devourer's minions.
"Since everyone is here, let's begin," Samuel said impatiently.
The other Dominators had no objection, and under the guidance of the two crowns, Shaping Energy and Alchemy,
the numerous Dominators entered the council hall of the City of Eternal Truth.
Thus began the first Wizard Alliance meeting.