Duke was not the first wizard to return from the Seventh Outpost. Before him, four Rank One wizards had already found the Fifth Outpost and returned to the Wizard Plane.
Only some of the wizards had been inside the Seventh Outpost at the time. Many others, like Duke and his group, had been out carrying out missions.
Those wizards on missions had instead escaped disaster and had not faced the attack of an Apostle-level Awakened.
In truth, the Seventh Outpost had not suffered severe casualties. The greatest loss was Brandon's death. To buy time for the other wizards to teleport away, he had given up his own chance to escape.
As for Hela and the others, they were probably lying low somewhere else. They certainly had the ability to find the Fifth Outpost.
The fact that they had not returned yet meant they were most likely investigating something else.
Duke did not believe Hela and the others had died either. As long as they wanted to flee, the natives of the Devourer Plane would find it difficult to keep them.
Rank Two wizards were not as powerful as Apostles, but they certainly possessed more methods than Apostle-level Awakened. Their survival was not much of a concern.
Duke had also learned about the current situation from Soren. The four major wizard organizations, including Black Sail, had gathered a vast amount of intelligence throughout the Devourer Plane.
All sides now believed this plane was worth conquering. Aside from the mineral deposits, energy crystals, and other resources inherent to a medium plane, the Awakened here were also highly valuable.
The Devourer Plane itself could be viewed as an enormous incubator. Its mechanisms could be used to cultivate powerful slave legions.
Combined with the diverse abilities of the Awakened, there was much to develop,