Before this major counteroffensive, one-fifth of the Linksa Empire's territory had already fallen into the hands of the Wizards, with losses second only to the Morik Empire.
The long-term rampage of the Black Wizards within the empire had led the Fire Lizard civilians to harbor deep distrust towards the imperial bureaucrats, and the actions of the fallen bandits only exacerbated this sentiment.
After losing their nearly divine leader, the Fire Lizard King, the Wizards subtly fanned the flames, causing the tensions between the Fire Lizard civilians and the bureaucrats and military to erupt instantly.
This left those Fire Lizards within the Linksa Empire who had hoped to organize a resistance completely hopeless.
However, the Wizards soon realized that this situation was not beneficial for them.
...
Boom!
A black fireball exploded, instantly turning a Fire Lizard warrior to ashes.
The black-robed Wizard strolled leisurely through the Fire Lizard camp, his staff, half gold and half black, looking particularly strange in his hand.
This was a camp of fallen Fire Lizard bandits, with hundreds of degenerate Fire Lizard warriors occupying the area, living carefree lives by plundering nearby towns.
Inside the camp's tents, many female Fire Lizards were covered in scars and dirt, while behind the camp, there were piles of female Fire Lizards, some already dead, others barely clinging to life.
For these Fire Lizard warriors, ordinary female Fire Lizards were nothing more than expendable resources.
The black-robed Wizard's mental power surveyed the surroundings, and he frowned slightly as the frequency of fireball releases increased.
"There's a Wizard! There's a Wizard!"
The terrified cries echoed through the camp, pulling those Fire Lizards still engaged in violence back to reality.
The fallen Fire Lizard warriors hurriedly grabbed their weapons, their armor askew.
Notably, while these Fire Lizard warriors bullied ordinary Fire Lizards, they showed no fear when facing a Wizard.
Seven or eight Fire Lizard warriors charged at Richard from all directions, their eyes wide and voices hoarse, their Black Gold Scimitars flashing like lightning.
"Die for me!"
But the next moment, a Magic Barrier blocked all their curved blades.
"You think you can kill me? You lot aren't enough."
The black-robed Wizard spoke lazily, and after blocking the Fire Lizards' attacks, he waved his staff, causing several black fireballs to materialize in the air, crashing down on the Fire Lizards like meteors.
Boom, boom, boom...
The roar of the spells drowned out the screams of the Fire Lizards.
The Wizard swept through the camp, using magic to clear out all the Fire Lizard warriors. Some Fire Lizard warriors, sensing the danger, immediately fled into the dense forest outside the camp.
The black-robed Wizard did not pursue them, merely revealing a hint of a mocking smile.
Before long, a scream pierced the air, and several armored hunting dogs, covered in golden-patterned plating and bloodied, emerged from the forest.
The hunting dogs approached the Wizard, lying down and wagging their tails, occasionally letting out a few submissive barks.
The Wizard patted their heads and casually pulled out a few mushrooms from his pocket to feed them.
Then, the Wizard took out a crystal ball and muttered:
"The bandits in Flag Town have been cleared, with a total of one hundred and nine eliminated. Cleared by Richard."
After reporting the task, Richard returned to the camp, beginning to inspect each tent.
These bandits had once been regular troops of the Linksa Empire, and their camp still held some value for looting.
Entering the large tent at the center of the camp, Richard saw several female Fire Lizards lying on the bed, appearing uninjured, seemingly newly captured.
He glanced at them and then continued to wander around the tent as if he hadn't seen them at all.
These ordinary Fire Lizards were not within the scope of his cleanup, and Richard was too lazy to waste his magic on them.
Upon seeing the Wizard, the female Fire Lizards immediately shrank back into the corners of the tent, with the bolder ones tremblingly picking up curved blades from the ground, but pointing the blades at their own necks.
Though the bandits were villains, the Wizards were not exactly benevolent either.
The female Fire Lizards could understand the bandits' cruelty, but many rumors about the Wizards were even more terrifying than the devils of hell.
Those Fire Lizards captured by the Wizards seemed to become entirely different people; those who once gritted their teeth in hatred towards the Wizards turned into their loyal dogs after being taken.
Such methods were chilling.
The tent was in a terrible state, with many plundered items piled up by the Fire Lizards. Among these were a large number of gold coins and exquisitely crafted Fire Elemental Gems, all of which were hard currency in Fire Lizard society.
But to Richard, they were worth nothing.
After rummaging through these items for a while, Richard finally found something of decent value—a Wizard's Magic Pocket. He used his mental power to check the contents of the pocket—the owner of the pocket was already dead, and now it was a masterless item that any Wizard could open.
There were not many items in the pocket; aside from dozens of Magic Essences, there were some Fire Lizard specimens and a few notebooks.
"Not too bad."
Richard muttered, then began searching through other tents, never allowing his gaze to linger on the Fire Lizards for more than a second.
"Why doesn't this Wizard kill us?" a female Fire Lizard asked softly.
The Fire Lizard being questioned shook her head, "I don't know, but I don't feel any malice from him. The way he looks at us is like... looking at stones."
"Stones? That's the best! I still want to go back and see my parents..."
The voice of one female Fire Lizard grew smaller and smaller until she finally began to cry. She suddenly remembered that her parents had already been killed by these Fire Lizard warriors.
The surrounding Fire Lizards quickly covered her mouth, fearing that her cries would attract the Wizard again.
After a long time, a female Fire Lizard peeked her head out from the tent.
The entire camp was silent; the Wizard who had annihilated the band of bandits seemed to have long since departed.
...
In the night sky, Richard flew at a leisurely pace. Above, massive war airships swam through the sky like giant whales.
At this moment, ten years had passed since the major counteroffensive, and the Wizards had occupied more than half of the Linksa Empire's territory, with only Luxor Province and a few surrounding provinces still under Fire Lizard control.
The Wizards' offensive had been incredibly swift in the early stages of the war, reaching the current territorial extent in less than two years, during which the Wizards faced almost no strong resistance.
The large number of fallen bandits had caused the combat effectiveness of the Fire Lizard army to plummet, and the lack of strategic commanders had led to the remaining Fire Lizard forces being picked off one by one by the Wizards.
But soon the Wizards discovered that those fallen bandits were even more disgusting than the regular troops.
The assembly of the portal was complete, but igniting the portal required a massive amount of energy, and the power furnaces of the two Floating Cities alone were insufficient. Thus, the Wizards began to extensively mine energy ores within the Linksa Empire to assist in igniting the portal.
The Wizards could not mine themselves, and the minds of the synthesized beasts did not support them in mining, so the task naturally fell to the Fire Lizards under Wizard control.
To maintain a large number of mining slaves, the Wizards needed to provide basic food and shelter.
And all of this required a continuous supply of resources.
The Wizards would not farm, nor would they act as mules to transport supplies for these slaves, while the presence of the bandits severely affected the supply of resources to the mining areas.
To resolve this issue and to stabilize their control zones, the command center halted their offensive and redirected a large number of Wizards to eliminate the bandits.
This was also the reason why the Fire Lizard resistance zones in Luxor Province could still exist.
Soon, Richard flew to the nearest Wizard city to the camp, where streams of light continuously streaked across the sky.
Whoosh! A Wizard flew past Richard at high speed, the resulting shockwave causing Richard to activate his Magic Barrier.
"These meteor party members, why doesn't the command center issue a ban to control them?" Richard frowned and complained.
The term "meteor party" referred to those Wizards who flew at extremely high speeds, appearing like meteors from the ground, hence the name.
These individuals were the racing enthusiasts of the Wizard world, and in the highly flexible task of bandit elimination, they began to race for entertainment alongside their missions.
Richard had heard that these Wizards even held flying competitions in the Wizard world, with considerable scale, sometimes involving hundreds of thousands of participants, yet the prize was merely the honorary title of flying master.
Descending from the sky, Richard skillfully made his way to the commercial street. On either side of the street, Wizards of varying strengths stood harmoniously together, selling their spoils.
Finding a bargain was one of Richard's little hobbies; discovering an item priced below its value always brought him joy.
Wizards have such long lifespans that everyone has some hobbies.
The commercial street was not long, and Richard quickly scanned it, but unfortunately, he did not find anything to his liking.
Reaching the end of the street, Richard, having found nothing, prepared to leave the commercial street and find a place to look over the unfortunate Wizard's notes.
Suddenly, a voice called out to him.
"Master Richard."
Richard turned to see a white-robed Wizard looking at him.
"Iyad? Long time no see."
Richard greeted the Wizard with surprise; he hadn't seen Iyad since they parted ways with the support convoy.
"It has indeed been a while," Iyad sighed, "It's been about ten years since we last saw each other after the support convoy."
After saying this, Iyad changed the subject, "There's a nice restaurant in the city. How about you honor me with your presence, Master?"
"A restaurant?" Richard laughed heartily, "Then you better be prepared to spend, my constitution is not low."
Iyad's expression faltered; oh no, he had forgotten that Richard had evolved his constitution.
If he had known, he would have suggested a tavern instead.
But since he had already said it, he couldn't take it back, so he could only smile wryly at Richard and say:
"Master, please take it easy; all my Magic Essence has gone into this body."
After walking along the commercial street for about three or four kilometers, the two arrived in front of a restaurant without a sign.
The patrons of the restaurant were all Wizards, and the ingredients for the dishes were powerful magical beasts; even as dishes, Richard could still feel their former might.
Finding a table, an owl magic pet brought the menu to the two.
Iyad glanced at the menu and ordered the two most substantial meat dishes.
After the owl left, Richard communicated with Iyad through mental messages, "What do you need from me?"
"Nothing major, I just heard rumors that the command center is planning to take action against Luxor Province soon. So I wanted to collaborate with you, Master, to gain some benefits."
(End of Chapter)