Corrosion, Erosion, and Star Beasts

Above the tranquil sea affected by the Star God Power Field, three streaks of light silently cut across the sky, flying noiselessly toward the depths of the Star Sea.

Of the three streaks, the leading two were green and purple, while a golden streak followed closely behind. Though all three had extremely faint auras, their flying speed was far from slow.

Needless to say, these three streaks were Caesar and the two High-level Dimension Apostles.

Behind the Dimension Apostles, Caesar followed closely while carefully studying them, the curiosity in his eyes growing ever stronger. No matter how he looked at it, these two fellows were veteran Tier 3 lifeforms.

Whether in their control over authorities, the strength of those authorities, or even their combat ability, they possessed things ordinary high-level lifeforms could never have.

But...

He had personally watched Isaac create these two fellows!

Just two or three days ago, these two fellows had only been Tier 1 knights...

Were the methods of Outer Gods really this miraculous?

A trace of worry arose in Caesar's heart. As a god's favored one—and an exceptionally special one at that—Caesar had a considerable understanding of divine might. Creating high-level lifeforms of this caliber was not difficult for gods.

But that was for gods!

Isaac was merely a Third-Order Wizard!

Of course, Caesar also knew that gods would occasionally bestow the ability to create high-level dependents. To gods, this was not easy, but neither was it difficult.

However!

What this method created were only dependents—dependents whose bodies, minds, and strength were entirely controlled by their gods!

And where could a mad wizard like Isaac possibly obtain such an ability?

Thinking of the dozen or so trading rituals before their departure, Caesar's worry deepened. Revenge was certainly important, but he absolutely did not want anything to happen to Isaac because of it...

Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with his method.

Just as he was worrying about Isaac, a mysterious and majestic voice flowed through Caesar's heart. The instant it appeared, the strange power within that voice immediately calmed Caesar's restless heart, which had been stirred by his concern for Isaac.

Really?

Naturally. I have to say, even in the history of mad wizards, your brother Isaac would be the maddest one! Even I needed some time before I could understand part of the spell he used to create High-level Dimension Apostles.

At those words, Caesar's heart, which had just settled, rose again. The spell was that incredible—could there really be no catch?

Don't worry. If there were a catch, he would have died long ago. I still do not understand the precise principles behind this spell, but I have roughly figured out where it came from. He is very mad. His method of creation came from multiple Outer Gods, then was ultimately unified by an Outer God who had ascended from a wizard, creating such a powerful creation spell. Heh~ Interesting~ This single spell involves at least seven or eight Outer Gods. Your brother... is terrifying!

Caesar's pupils trembled slightly. He had not expected such a high evaluation of Isaac from this being, much less that this spell could involve so many Outer Gods.

That was far too crazy!

How many mad wizards might spend their entire lives without ever trading with so many Outer Gods? Yet a single spell of Isaac's had so many Outer Gods involved...

Truly...

Madness!

Yes, madness!

Beyond ability, the most crucial thing about this was that streak of madness. The fundamental reason Isaac could do this was because he used the Dimension World, with its boundless potential, as a "dumping ground." Otherwise, if the powers of so many Outer Gods entered Isaac's body, he would have long been rejected by the real world and then devoured clean by those Outer Gods!

Anchor Points were a major obstacle that hindered mad wizards from trading with Outer Gods after fully developing their traits.

Be careful. There's a star beast ahead. The fun is about to begin.

Prompted by the divine voice in his heart, Caesar withdrew his thoughts and refocused on his surroundings, preparing for a star beast that could attack at any moment. Although he and Isaac needed to avoid acting as much as possible, lest Remy Gallard notice them early and flee.

That did not mean they had to become deadweight. If they could not fight, could they not at least dodge?

As he flew, Caesar suddenly furrowed his brow!

The next moment...

"Boom!"

Three purple tentacles suddenly burst from the sea, lashing toward Caesar and the other two. In that split second, Caesar pushed his senses to their limit. To him, time seemed to freeze in that instant. He first carefully scanned the tentacle winding toward him.

The purple tentacle was covered in vicious maw-like suckers, with sticky fluid trickling from them. The skin between the suckers was covered in mysterious silver star patterns, making it exceptionally strange.

After examining the tentacle attacking him, Caesar looked toward several more tentacles lurking beneath the sea. After roughly planning his evasive route, he transformed into a golden streak of light and dodged in an instant.

As for the two Dimension Apostles, Corrosion and Erosion, he did not pay them much attention. Since Isaac had placed such high hopes in them, their combat power surely would not be ordinary. They did not need him to wor...ry...

"Smack! Smack!"

Just as Caesar thought that, two sounds rang out. He looked over and saw that Corrosion and Erosion had not dodged the incoming tentacles. They were struck in an instant, then tightly wrapped up!

Looking at the Dimension Apostles, who had been captured almost immediately, Caesar's face twitched. They had... been caught just like that?

Of course not.

"Sizzle, sizzle!"

Just as the purple tentacle wrapped around Corrosion and prepared to drag him beneath the sea, the sound of flesh corroding rang out. Along with it came the wail of the mysterious star beast beneath the waves!

"Aah!!!!"

A piercing shriek erupted from beneath the sea, and the surface instantly became even more violent!

The star beast tried to retract its tentacles, but it was already too late. The tentacle wrapped around Corrosion had been completely corroded away. Not only that, a dense purple tint remained at the severed point and rapidly spread toward the root of the tentacle!

Wherever the purple spread, flesh turned into hazy purple magic power!

"Smack!"

Though Corrosion's authority was powerful, the star beast's combat experience was also exceptional. It severed both tentacles almost instantly, preventing those two strange authorities from spreading to its main body.

Yes, the star beast had severed two tentacles in that instant!

Because on the other side, although the tentacle had also wrapped around Erosion, just like Corrosion, this had been intentional. Once wrapped up, Erosion activated his authority. The purple tentacle instantly turned into an eerie green, centered around Erosion's position!

Seeing this, Caesar, not far away, revealed a surprised expression. The way these two fought...

Was so devious!

But...

Devious, yet correct!

By the classification of extraordinary paths, Dimension Apostles should belong to the category of magical creatures. Though they possessed magic power—almost limitless magic power, in fact—there was a problem...

Dimension Magic Power had an extremely singular nature. The spells it could cast were very few, nowhere near enough to support them in becoming wizards. At the very least, it would not be easy.

Thus, they could not use the power of authorities like wizards did.

So, if they wanted to bring out the power of these two authorities, close combat was necessary. Yet this style of fighting was extremely dangerous. Just now, although the two had executed a beautiful counterattack...

They had actually walked along the edge of life and death. If their authorities had failed to harm the star beast, their current situation would not have been pleasant.

Still, Caesar could understand their fighting style. If he also had an immortal body that could revive endlessly, he would fight this way too!

That was also one reason why he had only dodged himself earlier instead of bringing Corrosion and Erosion with him.

"Whoosh!"

"Splash, splash!"

Although the star beast had severed its tentacles, Corrosion and Erosion had no intention of letting it go. The two transformed into streaks of light and plunged into the sea one after another, charging toward the star beast's body beneath the water!

"Screech!!!!"

The star beast let out a cry from below the water that was three parts terror and seven parts shock. Then, a dense silver streak of light surged up from beneath the sea. In almost an instant, it evaporated the seawater within a thousand miles!

A massive hollow instantly appeared in the sea!

The surrounding seawater rushed toward it with a mad roar!

But Caesar did not even glance at the tsunami. Such a natural disaster might require some attention from Tier 1 or Tier 2 wizards, but it was not especially significant to him.

At that moment, Caesar's full attention was on the octopus-like star beast floating in midair, its entire body wrapped in silver flames.

More specifically, those silver flames!

Star Power!

A special kind of magic power. It was one of the key reasons star beasts had such enormous, powerful bodies, and also their greatest reliance for crossing the starry skies!

Star Power was a force evolved under the radiation of the Star God's divine power. It bore some resemblance to the Star God's divine power, and its quality was therefore extremely high. For instance, at this moment, the octopus star beast was merely releasing Star Power, yet its silver flames instantly evaporated the surrounding seawater!

It was terrifying!

Of course, if that were all, Caesar would not have paid it such attention. As a god's favored one, an exceptionally special one at that, and an expert on the path of the Faith Knight, Caesar's own divine power was not much lower in rank than this Star Power.

What Caesar cared about was Star Power's ability to greatly strengthen the body!

Though he was a brute, his family had produced two High Wizards, one of whom had lived with him for a long time. Under that influence, he had naturally picked up some of a wizard's way of thinking.

Thus, the instant he saw this Star Power, Caesar began wondering whether it could be used in building an army.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Listening to the howling sounds made by the octopus star beast's waving tentacles, Caesar rubbed his chin and felt that this idea had great potential. Although Star Power would bring some negative changes while strengthening the body...

That was not something he needed to consider. It was Sheryl's problem. What he needed to think about was how to form such an army. That was the truly troublesome matter.

Sheryl only needed to solve Star Power's side effects. Caesar, on the other hand, had far more to consider~~

While Caesar sank into thought, the octopus star beast on the battlefield had erupted with Star Power of extremely high quality and rank, yet it had not gained the upper hand. On the contrary, after only a few seconds of fighting, its defeat was already apparent!

The reason was simple. Its Star Power was of high quality, but Isaac's Dimension Magic Power was no worse, especially after so many rituals. Its quality had become even higher.

Not to mention, it was now enhanced by authorities!

Dimension Magic Power already had a powerful erosive effect. With the support of the authorities of Erosion and Corrosion, that erosive power became even stronger.

In only a few seconds, the octopus star beast's body became battered and broken, its ruined flesh covered in specks of green light.

Corrosion broke through its defenses, creating opportunities for Erosion to seize control. Then Erosion created room for Corrosion to deal damage. Their perfect cooperation was enough to wear the octopus star beast down until it died!

"Screech, screech~~!!!"

With disaster upon it, although the star beast's intelligence was rather limited, it still knew to flee before death. But...

The battle had been brief, yet thanks to Corrosion and Erosion's perfect coordination, at least a third of its body had been dyed green. Control over a third of its body had fallen into Erosion's hands. It wanted to run, but its body could barely move!

Its death was near...

Caesar, watching from the side, nodded lightly. So this was the weakness of star beasts. Although their bodies were powerful and their Star Power dense and violent, their intelligence was too low. Furthermore, since they were born under the influence of the residual divine power of dead Star Gods, it was difficult for them to master authorities.

At least, Tier 3 star beasts could not possibly possess authorities. Star beasts generally needed to reach Tier 4 before accumulating enough intelligence, and only at Tier 5 could they awaken authorities. Before that, they could only rely on brute force.

They were even more brutish than close-combat brutes like knights.

The battle ended quickly. Corrosion and Erosion stored most of the octopus star beast's body in the Dimension World, keeping it properly in a magic-free region. Star beasts were rare creatures with considerable research value.

Even though this star beast's corpse was already incomplete, it still held significant research value for Isaac and Soren, especially for Soren.

Though their starting point had been higher than Soren's, the two knew perfectly well that in their master's eyes, they definitely could not compare to Soren. Leaving aside the miracle of him climbing step by step from one of the lowest forms of magical creature, a goblin, his intelligence and perseverance, as well as his extraordinary path—the same Legendary Wizard path as their master's—

All ensured Soren's position in their master's heart. In any case, he ranked above the two of them.

If they pleased Soren, perhaps the two of them could retain these authorities and possess this power forever!

After they successfully killed the octopus star beast, that thought grew even stronger!

This had been a Tier 3 magical creature!

And one of the stronger kind at that!

If it had been them before, even the aftershocks of the battle would probably have shaken them to death.

Desire was like a boulder rolling down a mountain. Once it began to fall, it could never stop~