Chapter 330: Chapter 296: Holding the Line

After the flames of battle subsided a little, Jeming quickly immersed his consciousness into his body to check his own condition.

The [Great Light Appearance] array had expended more than half of its energy reserves, and the Talisman Witchcraft had also consumed quite a bit, but fortunately, the internal factory could quickly replenish it.

The Black Giant Core was being nurtured within the nest, awaiting reconstruction.

At the same time, the nurseries of the nest were operating at full speed to compensate for the consumption of Patrollers…

Overall, the foundation remained, only the usual cannon fodder had suffered considerable losses.

He exhaled softly before turning his attention to the surrounding comrades—or rather, the remaining colleagues.

At that sight, even with Jeming’s usually calm demeanor, he couldn’t help but be secretly shocked.

In the void, the once mighty Legion of ten thousand Wizards now appeared much sparser.

The once shining lights of various witchcraft had dimmed considerably, replaced by an oppressive atmosphere.

The cannon fodder units such as the Rock Golem, Crystal Cluster Creatures, and Ghost Legion manipulated by the Wizards had suffered heavy losses, their remnants floating in the void, forming desolate graveyards, which was expected.

However, the losses among the Wizards themselves were truly shocking.

Jeming roughly sensed that at least a tenth of the spiritual fluctuations around had disappeared!

This meant that at least a thousand Official Wizards had perished in that recent brutal battle to break through the barrier!

This figure weighed heavily on Jeming’s heart.

He had read the war files of the Star Ring Federation and knew well the harshness of Wizards’ initial participation in plane wars—a survival rate below half a percent, an experience built on the bones of countless geniuses.

However, that usually applies to the statistics over the entire long expedition cycle.

And after participating in a plane war for the first time, because they had gained enough resources and combat experience, Wizards’ survival rate began to rise significantly.

For an expedition of the scale like the one to the Giant Spirit Realm, a complete one that may last for decades, the total death rate was controlled at about ten percent.

But now, just during the landing battle, just for tearing open the enemy’s outermost defense line, a legion of ten thousand had paid a casualty rate of ten percent!

Moreover, the ten thousand legion Jeming was part of was merely an auxiliary force in an expeditionary army of a million, with the real main force fiercely engaging on the other side under the leadership of a Seventh Level Wizard.

“A civilization that can be on guard by High Tier Wizards… truly lives up to its name.” Jeming thought with a chill in his heart.

The difficulty of this expedition was far beyond the ordinary.

No wonder such a massive force was mobilized, and orders of “complete destruction” were issued.

“However, ’complete destruction’ also means that High Tier Wizards will no longer be overly concerned about loot, increasing both frequency and intensity of their actions.” Jeming analyzed calmly, “As long as the channel through the plane barrier can be stabilized in the early stage, the subsequent battles might even become… relatively ’easier’ with the direct intervention of high-tier forces.”

In the Chaotic Void, High Tier Wizards had fewer forces to spare as they needed to maintain the domain of Law Solidification.

Once they could invade the plane’s interior, High Tier Wizards could free up their hands, reducing the combat pressure on the Expeditionary Army significantly.

He looked towards the distance, at the massive rift forcefully torn open by “Star Splitter” Balsa.

At this moment, Balsa’s figure had disappeared from the original position; he had evidently pushed through the rift and entered the Giant Spirit Realm’s interior.

However, judging from the energy fluctuations coming from within, his situation did not seem optimistic.

Jeming strained his eyesight through the chaotic energy currents and the space ripples that hadn’t completely calmed down, managing to vaguely see Balsa’s figure.

After breaking into the Giant Spirit Realm, instead of wreaking havoc as imagined, he took a defensive stance.

Inside the Giant Spirit Realm, devoid of the interference of the Chaotic Void, the enemy’s numerical advantage was manifested even more completely.

Looking around, there was a truly overwhelming steel torrent!

Various shapes of warships, metal giant beasts that seemed alive, and some indescribable massive mechanical bodies surged towards Balsa like a boiling metallic ocean.

Energy beams, solid projectiles, strange force fields…

Various attacks poured down on the position of the Sixth Level Wizard like a torrential rain.

More unsettling was that among the dense crowd of enemies, there were several auras every bit as strong as Balsa’s—those were the Sixth Level Beings of the Giant Spirit Realm.

Moreover, in the distant sky, an even more terrifying and vast pressure, seemingly resonating with the entire world, was approaching at an astonishing speed!

That was the Seventh Level creature!

The top combat forces of the Giant Spirit Realm had been alarmed by the commotion caused by the Wizards!

And Balsa’s situation was extremely awkward.

To prevent the breach in the plane barrier from healing swiftly, he had to use his own body as a core to forcibly “lodge” himself in that opening stretching thousands of miles long.

From a normal visual perspective, although Balsa’s physique was robust, compared to the rift spanning hundreds of kilometers, it was truly insignificant.

However, in Jeming’s perception, although Balsa’s humanoid form was small, the sense of presence he radiated was like a towering giant pillar, as if there was an invisible giant behind him, forcibly holding the ever-shrinking healing barrier channel.

The issue was, this posture made him seem like he was shackled by invisible chains, unable to move flexibly, and could only passively endure the mad attacks coming from all directions.

With a casual swipe, he could erase a swath of enemies with ease, clearing a vast area.

But the next moment, more enemies would fearlessly fill the gap.

Some even resorted to suicidal attacks, just to ensure their strikes reached him.

Ants can bite an elephant to death, especially when these “ants” included entities that could harm the “elephant.”

“What a bothersome bunch!”

Balsa’s protective force field rippled violently as he let out an angry roar, the shockwave shattering the nearby low-level units, yet it was still hard to hide his passive and stifled state.

He was holding on with difficulty, but his steps never retreated even half a step, doing his utmost to block all attacks outside the rift, buying time for the rear.

At this moment, another Sixth Level Wizard finally finished setting up the domain of Law Solidification in his area, appearing before the rift in the plane barrier as if instant teleportation.

The plane barrier was not a mere membrane but an interface layer between the plane’s Elemental Atmosphere and the Chaotic Void, possibly stretching tens of thousands of kilometers deep, more like a special “elemental atmosphere.”

Therefore, tearing the plane barrier was essentially opening a temporary passage through this thick “atmosphere.”

And this passage would continuously be attempted to be healed by the plane itself.

This explained why Balsa was in such an awkward position.

Just in this short period, the massive rift originally spanning a thousand miles had begun to blur at the edges and was shrinking visibly to the naked eye.

If not for Balsa’s formidable power forcibly supporting it, the passage might have closed long ago.

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