Annihilation

"No!"

"Save me..."

"Hahahaha, there's no saving you. Just wait for death..."

When the towering tsunami came crashing down from the sky, the Temple of Light's knights were all plunged into despair.

Over the three years of battle against the Frost Snow Temple, what had kept them going were the two Saint-level Experts on their side.

Yet they had never imagined that once the three-year period ended, what awaited them would not be the dawn of victory, but a summons from the Underworld.

Their two Saint-level Experts had virtually no ability to resist the Frost Snow Empire's Saint-level Expert. They had been utterly suppressed by the opponent's sheer presence.

Sure enough, just as that lord had said, if the Frost Snow Empire had not possessed a certain degree of confidence, how would they have dared to restart the war?

The first three years after the war began had merely been three extra years of life for them.

The spiraling tsunami that descended from the sky was no less hard than tempered steel.

Carrying immense force, it smashed huge craters into the ground.

Even Level Nine warriors who unleashed all of their battle aura were instantly flattened like sheets of paper before the tsunami.

The hundred-meter-tall tsunami roared forward across the land, crushing mountains when it met them and destroying forests in its path, like a natural disaster.

Only after the black vortex in the sky completely dissipated did the tsunami's power gradually begin to weaken.

Freed from the restraints and amplification of magic, the vast flow of water began to run from high ground to low ground, eventually forming dam after dam, lake after lake, and pond after pond within the Scope of Influence...

As for the Temple of Light's remaining knights?

Other than a few knights who had survived because they had been fighting deep within the Tsunami Legion, at least thirty thousand had been wiped out by Locke's Water Forbidden Spell.

"I surrender! I surrender..."

After seeing the attack their side had suffered, the knights quickly threw down their weapons, crouched on the ground, and surrendered.

They had lost this war that had lasted three years.

Leaving aside the lord high in the sky, with only a few hundred of them left, if they did not surrender, those soldiers of the Tsunami Legion could kill every last one of them in under three minutes without that lord needing to act.

"Lord Locke is invincible!"

"Lord Locke is invincible!"

"Lord Locke is invincible!"

After all the remaining Temple of Light knights surrendered, the Tsunami Legion soldiers erupted into earth-shaking cheers.

They had crushed the Temple of Light's knight corps. They had won this war!

Hovering in the air, Locke maintained a state of unity between man and nature, releasing his Mental Strength to heighten his perception of the elements between heaven and earth.

Soon, amidst the ruined battlefield, Locke sensed a faint trace of life.

"Whoosh..."

Locke's figure carved an arc through the air before finally stopping above a marsh dotted with puddles.

There, a man covered in blood lay facedown on the ground, nearly every bone in his body shattered.

Yet despite such grave injuries, the man was not dead.

This man was also the only person to survive Locke's forbidden spell.

At the same time, he was the Knight Commander among the Temple of Light's two Saints.

Under Locke's attack, the Saint-level mage's defensive magic had been crushed outright, and his entire body had exploded into dust.

As for this Saint-level warrior, relying on his powerful battle aura and physical constitution, he had fled quickly before the attack arrived and avoided the strongest wave of Raging Sea, allowing him to survive the spell.

After casually casting Water Therapy on the man to keep him alive, Locke flew over, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and carried him toward the camp.

Back at the camp, Locke tossed the Temple of Light's Saint-level warrior aside, then returned to his chair and continued cultivating.

However, Locke had not cultivated for long before sensing five familiar presences approaching.

"Lord Locke!"

The Tsunami Legion's five captains entered the tent, stood before Locke, and bowed in greeting to him as he sat at the head of the tent.

"Oh, it's you."

Locke opened his eyes and glanced at his five subordinates.

"Go on. What do you need from me?"

Although Locke was the commander of the Tsunami Legion, he had never made any changes to the legion's administration since taking the position.

To Locke, increasing his own strength was what mattered most.

Things like power and authority were merely accessories to strength.

And the Tsunami Legion's five captains had never disappointed him.

Under their management, the Tsunami Legion had achieved tremendous results.

It could be said that Locke had exchanged very little with these five men.

To say something embarrassing, Locke did not even know the names of the five of them.

Although the Temple of Light's knight order had now been completely wiped out, nearly one-third of this battlefield was still under the Temple of Light's control.

Under such circumstances, the five men had not sent the soldiers to take over the territory. Instead, they had come to him, which left Locke somewhat puzzled.

So Locke asked them directly.

"This..."

The five battalion commanders looked at one another. Finally, the oldest-looking middle-aged man among them stepped forward.

"Lord Locke, this area is now under our control. The five of us came here to ask what instructions you have regarding the development of this territory."

"The development of the territory?"

Hearing the middle-aged man's question, Locke frowned.

"Shouldn't you be asking His Majesty Ceres such a question directly?"

"Now that this place has been reclaimed by the Frost Snow Empire, His Majesty Ceres will send new nobles here to govern it."

"As for the territory's future development, that should naturally be decided by its lord. Why are you asking me?"

"What?"

The five battalion commanders' eyes widened in shock at Locke's words.

What was this supposed to mean?

Why had they joined the Tsunami Legion and campaigned against the Temple of Light?

Was it not for what they would gain after victory?

But from what Lord Locke was saying now, was he planning to give up this territory?

The newly arrived nobles would certainly have private forces of their own. When that time came, soldiers like them, who were not part of the core ranks, would definitely be assigned to remote desert villages.

Then what had they spent the past three years fighting desperately for?

"Lord Locke..."

For a moment, anger rose in all five of them.

Yet the gap in strength kept them from acting presumptuously before Locke.

"What is it?"

Though the five men had suppressed their anger, Locke could still see their grief and indignation in their expressions.

Had he just said something that angered them?

Thinking this, Locke asked them directly, "You seem very angry?"