Chapter 177: The Vanguard of Annihilation

In the following days, Naimi Xisi carefully studied the second book Fa Qi gave him—"The True Red".

Compared with "Solomon's Key", this book contains almost nothing of value; it is entirely Solomon's personal diary that reads like rambling.

Naimi Xisi's brows knit tightly, and his deep eyes glittered with a thirst for knowledge. He sat under the dim yellow light, concentrating on flipping through the "True Red" that Fa Qi had given him.

Between the pages, Solomon's diary seemed to whisper, the words like ancient spells, full of mystery and fog.

In this book, Solomon spent most of the space exploring the nature of the gods; his thoughts were contradictory—on one hand he wielded the power of the three Archangels to command demons, on the other he doubted whether the legendary God truly existed. Naimi Xisi brushed the black‑inked characters, as if feeling Solomon's inner struggle.

Most of the content was meaningless, and only the very last page of the book contained something that caught Naimi Xisi's interest.

"Red is the truth of all things, red is His essence, red is true, true is red. I have seen it, great my Lord Jehovah, what a cruel and cold truth it is."

This passage deepened Naimi Xisi's belief that the dark Earth is far from simple; aside from the three suspected quasi‑divine Archangels who can grant Divine Spell, Solomon's detailed words clearly confirm that a God above the angels also seemingly exists.

"Truly extraordinary, every duke within the Throne has a world behind them that is far from ordinary," Naimi Xisi mused.

"Frelen, where I and Xianai come from, is full of Legends. Fa Qi's world also seems to host beings beyond Legends. Rajat need not be mentioned; even a dog by the roadside could possess Psychic Ability in a high‑magic world."

"Thus, Subject 11's Earth is most likely not a simple ordinary technological civilization."

While pondering, Wa Luo Sang knocked on the laboratory's main door; Naimi Xisi snapped his fingers, and the door opened automatically.

"Hmm, looks like I need to find a tower spirit's essence that can serve as a tower spirit."

Most High Archmage's Mage Towers house tower spirits akin to artificial intelligence, capable of automatically controlling every mechanism inside and providing intelligent assistance to the tower master's daily life. The massive tomb jade gem that came with the "Mage Tower Construction Guide" that Naimi Xisi purchased was meant to house the tower spirit.

Unfortunately, tower spirit essences are usually made from the essences of higher elemental beings, and Naimi Xisi, who has not yet learned the Eight Ring Spellcraft Conjuration Spell "High Realm Oath Bind", lacks the ability to capture a higher elemental creature.

To serve as a tower spirit, the essence of an elemental elder is the minimum requirement; normally, only the essence of an elemental noble such as a Giant Spirit can operate it properly.

"Master, Lord Saifaar has something for you," Wa Luo Sang said respectfully.

"Understood."

A flash of silver light vanished, and Naimi Xisi disappeared on the spot, leaving Wa Luo Sang staring enviously at the spot where Naimi Xisi had been sitting.

"The Mage's power is truly amazing. Why didn't I figure out to become a Warrior back then?" Wa Luo Sang shook his head and left the room.

——

"Is there something, Lord Saifaar?" Naimi Xisi entered the second‑floor guest bedroom; Saifaar stood by the window, his luggage neatly placed on the bed.

"Are you about to leave?" Naimi Xisi asked, looking at the luggage.

Saifaar nodded, his expression somewhat serious: "The Golden Legion dispatched a vanguard to negotiate an alliance with the Hu Ake Li Alliance, but it was ambushed near the Dead Rainforest and the entire force was annihilated."

Naimi Xisi was surprised: "Attacked by whom?"

From the Dead Mountains to the Dead Rainforest, aside from Naimi Xisi and Di Luo Nao, there were almost no beings capable of challenging the Golden Legion's vanguard.

"Could it have been the Hu Ake Li Alliance?" Saifaar shook his head, hesitating: "It probably wasn't them; the soldiers' deaths were very strange."

He hesitated again, seeming to search for the right words: "Their brains were gone."

"Brains gone?"

"Yes, every soldier's skull was delicately pried open by some sharp instrument, and the brains inside had vanished."

Saifaar's description made Naimi Xisi think of a creature: "Mind Flayer?"

"No," Saifaar dismissed the guess: "At first I also suspected a Mind Flayer had infiltrated the fleet, causing the slaughter, but after seeing the scene I no longer think so."

"When a Mind Flayer feeds on a victim's brain, it violently pries open the skull, but these soldiers were different; the transverse cut on their brains was extremely neat, unlike a Mind Flayer's style."

"The destruction of the vanguard enraged Boris to the extreme; I don't know how he learned I was here, but he demanded I go to the Dead Rainforest to investigate, and after finding the true culprit, replace the vanguard in negotiations with the Hu Ake Li Alliance."

As he uttered the last sentence, Saifaar looked at Naimi Xisi with a mournful gaze.

Naimi Xisi also felt helpless; the Mage Tower had anti‑detection Runes, yet Boris could bypass them to locate Saifaar—only the Legendary Mage's power is that strong.

He sighed regretfully: "There's nothing we can do; after all, this is the condition everyone promised the Golden Legion, and when they urgently need help, we must provide assistance."

!

Saifaar's eye twitched; seeing Naimi Xisi's indifferent "none of my business, hang it high" attitude left him speechless.

"You don't think only I will go, do you?" Saifaar said with a smile.

"Hm?" Naimi Xisi suddenly felt a bad premonition.

"Boris demands that all Frelen practitioners beside me go, which means not only I, but also you and Xianai must go together." Saifaar chuckled.

He sighed with some regret: "There's nothing we can do; even though my power gem has been enhanced and my strength greatly increased, facing a Legendary Mage still means a likely death."

"Understood," Naimi Xisi waved his hand: "I'll send an extremely ancient red dragon with you; that should be enough, right?"

Saifaar looked puzzled: "An extremely ancient red dragon? If it's real, it could replace you, but excuse my presumption—how do you know it will obey you?"

If Saifaar remembered correctly, the Juan Ce Long before us should still be a young dragon.

Seeing Saifaar's expression, Naimi Xisi suddenly realized he had never seen his size after surpassing an adult dragon; up until now, within the Mage Tower, Naimi Xisi had always maintained a human form.

He smiled and said, "Just because I defeated it."

Saifaar looked incredulous until Naimi Xisi reverted to an 80‑meter giant dragon, terrifying him with a gaping mouth, then summoned a flattering red dragon before him, finally realizing the words were true.

(End of Chapter)