The Wizard: From Zero-Ring Wizard to Almighty Lord.

The aftershocks of the energy clash receded like the tide, leaving behind a thin layer of grayish-purple mist between heaven and earth.

The fog was sticky and sluggish, like expired paint splashed on reality, slowly wriggling, as if it shouldn't exist in the first place.

In the fog, one figure after another finally appeared.

Those are followers of an evil god.

However, the moment you truly see them for who they are, all your preconceived notions about "natives" become utterly meaningless.

The Messiah and those under her command can still be called "human" in appearance; the only difference lies in their path of civilization and power system.

But these beings before us can no longer be described as "human".

Their armor had long since shattered, and what was exposed was not flesh and blood, but something... no longer belonging to the realm of matter in this plane.

The skin, like melted wax, cycles repeatedly between collapse and reconstruction, with geometric patterns that shouldn't exist flowing across its surface.

Those lines, though perfectly straight, strangely "shift" at the turning points, as if they have turned into a fourth or fifth dimension.

Just looking at it makes my eyes ache, as if my brain has been forcibly stuffed into a non-existent spatial gap.

The figure at the head of the group possessed an aura that indicated he had reached the third level of the knightly system, the legendary knight, equivalent to a level three archmage.

Of course, his current fighting strength is still unknown.

He took a step forward, and the ground did not shake the moment his foot landed, but something more unsettling happened: dust rose up, fell down, and rose up again.

Behind him, dozens of figures moved.

Their shadows were cast on the ground, but they were always a beat behind, like afterimages being dragged by some invisible force.
Some shadows even detached themselves from the main body and crawled and moved on their own on the ground, as if searching for prey that did not exist.

The air began to feel strange, with low, intermittent murmurs emanating from them.

That is not sound, but pollution that acts directly on consciousness itself.

Countless overlapping whispers echoed in my mind at the same time, as if telling the same story in hundreds of languages, yet not a single one could be fully understood by the human brain.

The words were torn into fragments: hunger... eternity... fusion...

But in the next instant, these "words" transform into colors, smells, and textures.

It's hard to tell whether you heard them, smelled them, or were gently stroked on the back of your neck by some unseen presence.

The nearby vegetation twisted rapidly, its stems bending into spirals that defied the laws of geometry, while the ends swelled into vesicles, like eyes that were not yet fully open, staring intently at the approaching figure without blinking.

Lynn's clone hovered in mid-air, and a "metallic sweetness" suddenly filled his nostrils.

That wasn't a real taste, but a color.

At the same time, he "saw" a low hum.

It was as if countless tiny needles were repeatedly etching indescribable symbols onto his retina, each flash causing his mind to instinctively reject and resist.

Not far away, Quentin groaned and suddenly raised his hand to press his temple.

Fine beads of blood seeped from between the fingers; it wasn't from an external injury, but rather the brain's instinctive rejection of the "extra" information.

As a second-level wizard, he had almost no chance of resisting such a high-level attack.

Meanwhile, in mid-air, the two true level-three beings had already stabilized their position.

One of them was dressed in a black robe, with a gaunt face and a cold, restrained aura. He was a level three archmage specializing in negative energy systems.

Lynn remembered his name, Nolan, a rising star in the Hall of Life. He was young, but had already entered the third level, and had great potential for the future.

On the other side was a gold alchemist dressed in a noble robe.

She wore several badges on her chest, and her long, wine-red hair cascaded over her shoulders, exuding an air of elegance.

He was once a member of the Feathered Serpent Society, and his totem beast was a snake. After advancing to the Gold Alchemist level, his totem also transformed, becoming the Golden Totem - Crimson Abyss Serpent.

At this moment, three magical shields suddenly unfolded around Nolan's body, layering upon each other to firmly protect him.

Behind the noblewoman, a golden totem appeared, and the phantom of the Crimson Abyss Serpent coiled out, transforming into a long, crimson serpent that shone with golden light, encircling her body with a chilling aura.

The two level-three beings unleashed their full power in a direct confrontation with the infected knight.

On the surface, the two sides seemed evenly matched in their auras.

However, Lynn, who had been observing coldly from the sidelines, had a slight glint in his eyes at that moment.

Although he was only an avatar, and his strength was also at the level of a third-level Grand Wizard, his true body was, after all, a fourth-level Morning Star Wizard, whose vision was far beyond that of the people present.

That's why he immediately noticed the anomaly: the infected legendary knight was fighting two opponents at once.

Moreover, it can still maintain a balance.

If they were to fight one-on-one, neither Nolan nor the Golden Alchemist would likely be his match.

"After being infected, his strength actually increased to this extent?"

Lynn glanced at Messiah beside him, his tone indifferent.

However, he then noticed that Messiah's little face was already tense.

Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the infected knight, her small mouth slightly open and closed, as if there were words on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't say them.

No wonder, ever since those natives appeared, Messiah has remained silent, not uttering a single unnecessary word.

Only when Lynn asked her did she take a deep breath, barely suppressing her surging emotions, her eyes still gleaming with undisguised horror:
"Your Excellency, the esteemed wizard... that infected knight..."

She paused, her voice slightly tense.

"If I'm not mistaken... he should be a paladin of the third rank before the God's Palace."

Paladins, also known as demigod knights, are beings above legendary knights, existing at a level between legendary knights and true gods.

They receive direct infusion of divine power, transcending the limits of the mortal realm, yet they have not yet truly entered the realm of fourth-level deities.

Upon hearing this, Lynn's eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately understood.

No wonder, even though they are both at the third level, the other party was able to fight two opponents and suppress his two subordinates to such an extent.

It turns out he wasn't just an ordinary legendary knight.

Moreover, the power of the paladin originates from the gods themselves.

When the gods were corrupted by the ancient gods, the existence of these temple sequences was naturally not spared.

As for the paladin's followers, although they were also corrupted, they still retained some semblance of human features.

It was far inferior to that of the paladin, who was in a state that had almost completely lost his human form.

"Ancient God Energy..."

Lynn shook his head gently, his tone tinged with emotion.

"Truly terrifying."

He then turned his gaze back to the battlefield ahead, focusing on his two level-three subordinates, and calmly reminded the two fools:

"What are you two still hesitating about?"

"The enemy's attack has already begun... Are you just going to stand there and take the beating?"

"Um?!"

The Archmage Nolan and the Serpent Throne of the Crimson Abyss were completely focused on dealing with that figure that made them instinctively uncomfortable.

Both of them were taken aback when they heard Lynn's words.

Although they had been reminded, they still couldn't figure out how the other side was launching their attack. But since Lord Lynn had given them a heads-up, he certainly wouldn't lie to them.

The next instant, without further hesitation, their auras surged, and their true attacks unfolded simultaneously. The Archmage Nolan opened his arms, palms facing upwards.

The next moment, the skin on his palm cracked silently, revealing fine cracks, and deep within each crack, an eye suddenly opened.

Those eyes didn't blink, but the moment they opened, they all looked at the polluter in front of them.

At the same time, a circular array mark suddenly formed in mid-air beneath Nolan's feet.

The array patterns, layer upon layer, slowly rotated, creating a strange resonance with the eyes in his hands, as if they belonged to the same whole.

The next moment, negative elemental energy factors from the direction of the wizard camp were forcibly drawn in and continuously injected into the formation.

The power rapidly accumulated, compressed, and condensed, and the massive three-tiered fluctuations took shape in an instant.

"Level Three Sorcery! Sleepless Light Array."

The moment the words left his mouth, the formation suddenly expanded.

A dim, surging light swept out like a tide, engulfing the corrupted knights one by one, two by two...

Soon, dozens, even hundreds, of figures were enveloped within.

Within the formation, the scene changed abruptly.

The roars of demons, the murmurs of female ghosts, severed heads, and torn bodies surged and emerged in the burst of light, like a nightmare purgatory that would never sleep.

Almost simultaneously, the Red Serpent Throne also launched its true offensive.

A long and sharp crimson serpent appeared from the void, its body covered with intricate patterns, layer upon layer, like divine markings left after being repeatedly scorched by flames.

The Crimson Abyss Serpent coiled up, intertwining with the light of the Sleepless Light Array, transforming into a continuous killing force that frantically savagely attacked the corrupted beings within the array.

However, beneath the feet of those corrupted knights, the withered weeds suddenly grew wildly, instantly twisting into spiral-shaped bone spurs.

But before it could be thrust out, it silently disintegrated in the next instant, turning into ashes and scattering away.

Above the sky, a narrow slit was torn open in the clouds.

Behind the gap, there was not blue sky, but some kind of bottomless "void".

The void reflects not the outside world, but the faces of "themselves".

Some of those "selves" grew tentacles, some whispered the same babbling words they had just uttered, and some... had long since lost their human form.

The offensive of the Sleepless Light Array intertwined with this chaotic and distorted phenomenon, causing causality, space, and perception to become completely disordered.

The serpent's attack, the ghost's bite, and the female ghost's thrust, upon touching the corrupted, seemed to hit a "non-existent wall."

The attack first bent strangely, then was forcibly folded, and finally vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed in this world.

Those polluters remained completely still throughout the entire process.

Only pale, empty heads, at the same instant, all turned and twisted to an illogical angle.

His gaze swept across the battlefield and landed directly on Lynn, who had spoken earlier.

This scene was so eerie that it sent chills down one's spine.

With so many eyes converging from impossible angles, Messiah behind Lynn instantly lost all color in her face.

She felt her mental strength being gripped by an invisible hand, slowly sinking downwards, while her rationality was also rapidly peeling away, like sand slipping through her fingers.

However, Lynn remained with her hands behind her back, seemingly unaffected.

“Interesting… As fellow advanced civilizations, you are nothing more than appendages of the ancient god civilization, yet you have managed to toy with our level three arch-wielder to this extent.”

"It seems that the infection of the ancient gods does indeed carry the power of fragments of rules... In a battle at the third level, you were able to use some of the power of the rules. No wonder they couldn't do anything to you."

Fear stems from the unknown.

But after Lynn, a fourth-level Morning Star wizard, watched the battle for a moment, he understood everything.

He peeled back the layers of mist one by one, and the reason why those infected figures were so bizarre was completely dissected.

The rules they control are not complete, but distorted fragments; two completely incompatible laws that should not coexist have been forcibly stitched together.

This is also the root cause of their bizarre movements, time-lapses, and independent shadows.

When the ancient gods attained enlightenment, they were already insane. The rules they comprehended were inherently insane and irrational.

Those infected naturally inherited this crazy "irrationality".

Of course, no matter how thorough the analysis, it's just empty talk if there's no solution.

The power of rules, after all, belongs to the realm of a fourth-level Morning Star. Wizards of level three and below don't even have the qualifications to touch it.

Even if the fragments of rules held by those infected are distorted and broken, they are still far superior to a level three archmage who has no rules whatsoever.

When Lynn slowly spoke, everyone present, whether they were the corrupted, Lynn's subordinates, or the Messiah, all looked at him.

Those who were infected, in particular, seemed to be smiling at the same time.

Hundreds of pale, empty faces simultaneously parted their lips.

That smile was devoid of warmth or malice; it contained only an absurd, mechanical sense of "satisfaction."

A chill ran down my spine and the whole room instantly went up.

But Lynn remained unmoved, his eyes calm as still water, and he showed no intention of taking action himself.

The interdimensional expedition couldn't possibly allow him, a level four wizard, to fight his way through from beginning to end.

These subordinates, and those in camps further away, must learn to solve problems on their own.

“Only the power of rules can counter the power of rules… Therefore, the simplest way is for the Morning Star Wizard, who controls the power of rules, to take action and completely eliminate you.”

"But, apart from suppressing them by force... the ancient god civilization is madness and distortion, while our wizard civilization is reason and research."

"Since your fragmented rules are twisted and forcibly stitched together, making you impossible to fight through normal means... then why not reset these twisted and broken rules and restore them to their 'normal' state?"

He didn't continue speaking after he finished speaking.

The great wizard Nolan's eyes suddenly lit up. He was a smart man and instantly understood what Lynn meant.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Palace Master!"

Although the Crimson Serpent Throne was still somewhat bewildered, seeing Nolan's reaction, he immediately followed suit.

Nolan sneered, waved his hand, and gave the order directly:
"Otherworldly Purification Device! Expand outwards! Insert magic stones and activate at full power!"

As soon as the order was given, a deep hum resounded from the depths of the camp.

In the basin not far away, purification towers that had been buried long ago began to operate, and the silver-white runes on the surface of the towers lit up one by one, like countless fine blood vessels awakening.

Without the wizard's activation, the otherworldly purification device remains in its default state, only able to maintain the changes within the basin.

But as the wizards took control, magic stones containing all sorts of elemental energy factors were inserted into it...

The array formed by the otherworldly purification devices was activated instantly, sweeping across the entire basin in a mere instant, as if light and shadow had flashed by...

The next moment, it completely covered the wasteland, and then spread at the speed of light to even more distant areas...

As the interdimensional purification device was activated, some changes occurred in the world. The gray-purple mist began to recede, as if being pulled back by an invisible suction force.

For the first time, the movements of those corrupted knights showed a noticeable slowdown.

Their tentacles moved more slowly, their babbling became less frequent, and the twisted geometric patterns seemed to be forcibly straightened, making a series of soft "clicking" sounds, as if a high-dimensional gear had gotten stuck and was forced back to three dimensions.

The air on the battlefield was finally no longer so sticky. (End of Chapter)