Chapter 331: United Front

Chapter 331: United Front

In the year 6254 of the Lightstar Calendar, Quentin Visbrook, one of the three throne wizards of the Shadow Throne, was ambushed by more than ten Nests of the Ancient Insect Plague during the war. After destroying over half of the plane and exterminating more than 30 million ancient insects, he perished.

His Floating City was also destroyed under the siege of the Ancient Insect Plague's Giant Calamity Nest.

This was the first appearance of the Giant Calamity Nest.

Research revealed it to be a unique biological war construct exclusive to the Ancient Insect Plague, with combat strength between a major wizard tower and a floating city.

The emergence of the Giant Calamity Nest intensified the war, causing widespread fear among various factions.

In the year 6429 of the Lightstar Calendar, the Ancient Insect Plague invaded the divine nation of the Deity, Thunder Scale Fang. Utilizing their swarm tactics, they annihilated millions of worshippers and destroyed the divine nation, leading to the fall of Thunder Scale Fang.

This marked the first instance in the new era of a deity's fall outside the Realm of Truth.

The news sent shockwaves throughout the multiverse.

Factions gained a new understanding of the terrifying nature of the Ancient Insect Plague.

In the year 6793 of the Lightstar Calendar, the Ancient Insect Plague invaded the divine nation of the Deity, Mist Dominator. To resist the insect swarm, Mist Dominator self-destructed their divine nation, instantly eradicating millions of insects, but also falling into a deep slumber.

In the year 7025 of the Lightstar Calendar, the Thousandbird Tower headquarters was destroyed by the Ancient Insect Plague, with over ninety percent of the wizards perishing in battle. Only a handful managed to escape.

With this, the Thousandbird Tower was removed from the list of wizard factions, becoming a thing of the past.

In the year 7229 of the Lightstar Calendar, the war's flames spread to every corner of the multiverse. Faced with the threat of the Ancient Insect Plague, various races and factions from different planes and civilizations united to discuss strategies to combat the plague.

In the year 7300 of the Lightstar Calendar, a multiverse conference was held in the Realm of Truth, attended by wizards and deities.

Without exception, all participants were powerful beings from various races, fourth rank and above.

Sunan did not attend this conference but chose to seclude himself for cultivation, with Lizai representing the Star Alliance.

As early as the year 7000 of the Lightstar Calendar, Lizai had successfully advanced to become a True Spirit Wizard, earning her the qualification to enter the Realm of Truth.

"In other words, the Council of Truth hopes that the Star Alliance will join the fight against the Ancient Insect Plague?"

In the study, Sunan and Lizai sat facing each other.

Lizai, having returned from the conference, brought news—the Council of Truth wished for the Star Alliance to become one of the main forces against the plague.

It was well-known that only powerful divine nations of deities or major wizard factions could be part of the main force.

The invitation from the Council of Truth was a clear acknowledgment of the Star Alliance's current strength.

However, Sunan was not easily convinced.

If there was still a pure land in the multiverse, it was undoubtedly the territory of the Star Alliance.

As the earliest faction to eradicate the Ancient Insect Plague, the Star Alliance's performance was the most remarkable and eye-catching throughout the multiverse.

While various factions united to address the plague's invasion, the Star Alliance had already expelled the insects and saw no need to join their ranks or exert effort in exterminating them.

Under these circumstances, the Star Alliance would naturally not easily agree to the Council of Truth's invitation.

"As I conveyed to the Council, for the Star Alliance to join their ranks, they must provide us with adequate compensation," Lizai explained. "The Council agreed and promised to offer sufficient resource compensation."

"That's not enough," Sunan shook his head.

"A mere portion of resources is insufficient to compensate for our involvement in the war. Moreover, with resources scarce everywhere, the Council of Truth may not be able to provide a satisfactory amount."

"Then what should we ask for?" Lizai inquired.

Sunan's eyes flashed with determination, and he said solemnly, "Territory, a sufficient number of planes."

"Convey my response to the Council of Truth. The Star Alliance can join them, but after the war, all planes currently occupied by the Ancient Insect Plague in the Shadow Throne must be incorporated into the Star Alliance's territory, and the Council of Truth must support us."

Lizai hesitated, taken aback. "Will the Shadow Throne agree to this condition?"

That would mean taking over more than a third of their territory, and there was no way the Shadow Throne would accept such a harsh condition.

It was like asking them to give up a significant portion of their resources.

"Their agreement is irrelevant," Sunan chuckled. "The Shadow Throne has suffered a severe blow, with nearly half of their top-tier strength decimated. The title of a major wizard faction no longer suits them, and they have no right to refuse this condition."

"Even if they disagree, the Council of Truth will force them to accept."

In the multiverse, might makes right.

With the Shadow Throne's strength significantly weakened and their forces mired in the war against the insects, they could barely extricate themselves in the short term.

Although they had joined the united front, it was already impressive if they could ensure their own survival. They could not be expected to contribute significantly to the upcoming direct confrontations with the Ancient Insect Plague.

In terms of combat value, the Shadow Throne paled in comparison to the uninvolved Star Alliance.

The Council of Truth would undoubtedly understand this, knowing that courting the Star Alliance was far more important than accommodating the Shadow Throne.

Unless the Shadow Throne launched a counterattack and reclaimed that third of their territory, which, given their current situation, seemed highly unlikely.

"Convey our demands to the Council of Truth and see what they say."

Sunan waved his hand decisively.

His understanding of the Gravitational Law had reached a critical juncture, and he had no desire to get too involved in these matters.

If the Council of Truth agreed to his conditions, the Star Alliance's participation in the war would be acceptable. The war's coordination could be left to subordinates.

As for the dealings between the wizards and deities in the united front, he would not concern himself with it.

Once he advanced to the sixth rank and the Star Alliance annexed a third of the Shadow Throne's territory, their ascension to a major wizard faction would be a natural progression.

Just three days later, Lizai returned with the Council of Truth's response.

They agreed to the Star Alliance's terms.

As expected, the Shadow Throne vehemently opposed this decision, but with their strength greatly diminished from the war, their influence had significantly waned, and their opposition held no weight.

Subsequently, the Star Alliance joined the united front.

Various forces from the multiverse joined hands and launched a full-scale counterattack against the Ancient Bugs.

The united front did not aim to eradicate the Ancient Bugs one by one in each plane, as such an approach would be too inefficient.

Wizards and deities worked together to investigate the origin of the Ancient Bugs and eventually discovered a spatial passage in a remote plane.

They suspected that this was a spatial passage connecting another multiverse, and the Ancient Bugs originated from that multiverse.

Only this could explain why the Ancient Bugs had such a massive population yet had shown no signs of their existence before.

The united front named this plane the Ancient Bug Plane.

The Ancient Bug Plane was originally a low-level plane without intelligent civilization, with an area less than half the size of the Starlight Continent.

However, the Ancient Bugs employed unknown methods to expand the plane's area by more than tenfold.

They also used some means to connect hundreds of planes to the Ancient Bug Plane, forming a unique plane cluster that served as the 'walls' and 'moats' of the Ancient Bug Plane.

To enter the Ancient Bug Plane, one had to pass through these interconnected planes, each heavily guarded by countless Ancient Bugs.

This was also the reason why the wizards and deities initially failed to locate the source of the Ancient Bugs promptly.

After confirming the origin of the Ancient Bugs, the united front launched an offensive against the Ancient Bug Plane cluster.

Wizards, deities, and other forces formed an alliance, and three legions simultaneously counterattacked from different directions within the cluster.

In the year 7304 of the Starlight Calendar, the largest-scale war of the new era in the multiverse officially erupted.

The Ancient Bugs were indeed formidable and terrifying, but they could not easily contend with an entire multiverse.

Faced with the fierce onslaught of various forces, the Ancient Bugs had no choice but to retreat and gradually recall their swarms from various planes to defend the Ancient Bug Plane cluster.

By the year 7459, the battlefield gradually shifted to the Ancient Bug Plane cluster, where hundreds of planes within the cluster had become hellish battlegrounds, claiming countless lives.

In the year 7734, under the united front's offensive, the Ancient Bugs suffered continuous defeats, and the outer regions of the Ancient Bug Plane cluster were completely overrun.

The Ancient Bugs had no choice but to recall all their swarms and concentrate their forces to resist the united front's assault.

The swarms in the planes captured from the Shadow Throne retreated, and the Star Alliance promptly dispatched troops to occupy and control these planes.

Intimidated by the might of the Truth Council, or perhaps because they were still recovering from their heavy losses, the Shadow Throne acquiesced to this move without any response.

As a result, the Star Alliance's reputation soared, and they began to overshadow the Shadow Throne, becoming the new prominent large-scale wizard force.

In the year 8037, Sunan's Gravitational Law reached the Dominion Rank, officially promoting him to the Sixth Rank Wizard.

The following year, on the front lines, Sunan single-handedly infiltrated the rear of the Ancient Bug swarms, slaying the Queen Bug, causing the swarm to collapse, and earning him great fame throughout the multiverse.

Even in the most remote corners of the multiverse, intelligent races had heard of Sunan and the Star Alliance.

In the year 8403, the united front captured most of the Ancient Bug Plane cluster, leaving only one Ancient Bug Plane. The battlefield shifted to the cluster's core area.

However, for the first time, the united front's seemingly unstoppable offensive faced a stalemate. The endless swarms pouring out from the spatial passage severely hindered their progress.

Having fought their way to the Ancient Bugs' lair, the united front would not retreat, and more forces had to be committed.

The war intensified, and the Ancient Bug Plane became a hellish meat grinder.

In the year 8848, at the height of the war, the Shadow Throne suddenly broke its promise and invaded the Star Alliance's territory.

"The Shadow Throne intends to take advantage of the Truth Council's focus on the war, leaving them unable to spare any attention, to reclaim the planes previously occupied by the Ancient Bugs."

In the study, Lizai frowned and said, "As long as they reclaim those planes and establish a fait accompli, even when the war ends, the Truth Council will find it difficult to intervene."

Sunan shook his head. "It's not that they won't intervene; they simply won't."

The Truth Council was initially a loose organization with minimal control over the major wizard forces.

With a massive external threat like the Ancient Bugs, unity was possible, but once the threat was eliminated, they would revert to their previous state of divergent interests.

Moreover, the Truth Council had a ready-made reason not to intervene.

Those planes had already been handed over to the Star Alliance, and if the Shadow Throne were to retake them, it would be purely due to the Star Alliance's insufficient strength, not the Truth Council's responsibility.

Therefore, Sunan never considered relying on the Truth Council.

"If the Shadow Throne wants to fight, we'll fight them."

"Let's stop deploying troops to the Ancient Bug Plane and focus our efforts on dealing with the Shadow Throne."

The Star Alliance of today was no longer an ordinary secondary wizard force; they now had the confidence and qualifications to confront large-scale wizard forces.

Moreover, the Shadow Throne's strength had significantly declined due to the war, giving the Star Alliance a higher chance of victory.

Lizai naturally had no objections.

At its core, war is about people and resources.

While the Star Alliance might not have an advantage in terms of people, they undoubtedly surpassed the Shadow Throne in resources.

The endless production of mana stones ensured that the Star Alliance could withstand any war expenditure.

Thus, even before the war against the Ancient Bugs concluded, a new war erupted within the wizard community.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end