Volume One: The Lord’s Infernal World Chapter 99: The Power of Magic

The Phantom Hero possessed a potion that could drive corpse-devouring insects into a frenzy. Once injected with this potion, the insects would grow several times their original size and then rampage, crushing everything in their path. Apart from incorporeal beings like phantoms, everything else would be swallowed into their ravenous maw.

Initially, the Phantom Hero had many corpse-devouring insects under his command, but after several battles—each time he used the swelling potion—the number dwindled until only one remained. Its enlarged body could never shrink back, requiring ever more sustenance to keep alive. If the potion were used again, the insect would likely double in size and could consume everything here. But then the Phantom Hero would have to consider whether he had enough corpses left to nurture new undead troops. That was a concern for another time. If he failed to survive this ordeal, he wouldn’t need to think about anything else.

Upon issuing the command, a cohort of phantoms swiftly produced potion bottles half as tall as a man and stabbed them into the corpse-devouring insect’s body. The insect, previously hunched over and feasting on the flesh brought to it, began to writhe uncontrollably when pierced by the bottle. Its skin rapidly split and peeled from the center, finally devoured by the mouths covering its body. After consuming its own skin, the insect lunged toward the treant monsters.

The treants, familiar with such tactics, simultaneously plunged their roots into the ground, weaving new tendrils beneath to ensnare the insect. Yet the insect was covered with mouths; no matter how the roots twisted around it, a mouth always managed to bite down. Such methods could not restrain it. The Phantom Hero’s plan was nearing fruition.

At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed from behind. “Bloodshadow Wolves, attack those phantoms!” The Phantom Hero was startled and turned to look behind him, only to find Chen Gu leading his troops in a charge from the rear. At the forefront were the Bloodshadow Wolves—only about five hundred in number, but their charge carried the force of a thousand. Chen Gu had borrowed wolves from Pan and merged them with his own to create Bloodshadow Wolves, summoning more to reach this strength. Their sole objective: eliminate all phantoms near the corpse-devouring insect. This had been Chen Gu’s plan from the very beginning.

Once the phantoms were defeated, Pan could summon the Fire Spirit Crows to launch magical attacks against the insect. After giving the order, Chen Gu ran from the first carriage to the third, where a magic tower was under construction. Although the tower was incomplete, the magic pool had already been finished thanks to Chen Gu’s completion of the town quest. Standing atop the carriage, Chen Gu could draw upon its power.

His focus was singular—the corpse-devouring insect. Watching it on the battlefield, Chen Gu couldn’t help but comment, “No wonder Kebas refused to describe this creature in detail. Just looking at it is unsettling.” Despite his words, Chen Gu was readying his magic.

Along the way, he had considered how to deal with such a massive foe. Fire seemed the most logical tactic; the insect’s magical resistance was not high, given the Phantom’s protection. Yet Pan, remarkable for lending wolves to create Bloodshadow Wolves, would never allow all his crows to be transformed into Fire Spirit Crows. Moreover, Chen Gu didn’t know any elemental magic, so he couldn’t simply hurl a fireball to kill the insect.

Thus, he opted for an unusual strategy: Illusion Magic. This spell was simple—it could target a specific creature and create an illusionary duplicate with a measure of vitality and combat prowess. If the caster was skilled enough, the illusion’s life force might even surpass the original.

Chen Gu’s illusions would not duplicate his Bloodshadow Wolves or Fire Spirit Crows, but the corpse-devouring insect itself. Since the spell didn’t restrict him to his own troops, such a huge insect made for a perfect target. He poured all his magical energy into the spell. As his power surged, more than thirty illusionary insects, identical in size to the original, suddenly appeared on the battlefield. Their skin was grayish, obviously fake, but that didn’t diminish their fighting ability.

The moment they appeared, they pounced upon the real insect, biting and tearing at it relentlessly. The Phantom Hero, expecting to witness his insect devouring treants, was completely blindsided. It reminded him of the first time he used the swelling potion on his insect troops—back then, they had torn into each other just so. Only now, the scale was far greater.

The real insect had survived countless battles, emerging as the victor among its kind. Instinctively, it began to fight back against the illusionary insects. But soon it sensed something was wrong—the pieces it consumed were all fake. Furious, the insect’s enlarged body consumed enormous energy, and without steady food, its hunger became uncontrollable. Meanwhile, the illusions continued to rip away its flesh, bite by bite. Even the champion of countless insect wars could not withstand the assault of thirty equally large opponents.

The Phantom Hero tried desperately to save it. “Quick, prepare the life potion…” But it was too late. After casting the illusion spell, Chen Gu stepped aside, leaving the battle to Kebas and Pan.

Pan, visibly disgruntled, commanded the Bloodshadow Wolves to attack. He remained convinced their method was underhanded and not honorable. But Chen Gu cared little for such notions; any means was acceptable if it killed the enemy.

Kebas controlled the burrowing worms underground to deal with the remaining skeleton soldiers, and he managed the scarecrows to prevent the phantoms from attacking the Vineglow. After all, this wasn’t a game—sometimes, when heroes lost in direct combat, they would sneak around for a decisive strike.

As the corpse-devouring insect fought, a subtle commotion began among the treants as well.