On the battlefield where cannon fire and energy beams intertwined, the area around Jeming’s command post plunged into an eerie "silence."

This silence didn’t mean there was no sound at all.

On the contrary, the area was filled with the muffled thumps of energy shields being struck, the low roars of the Black Giant, and the clicking sounds of the Reaper Race’s shell plates rubbing together.

All these sounds mixed together to form the background noise of death.

In Jeming’s perception, this area seemed to be precisely cut out.

No matter how intense the surrounding battlefields got, here it was always fifteen against one.

"Damn it!" Jeming gritted his teeth and activated the Talisman Witchcraft behind him once more.

The "Great Light Appearance" composed of tens of thousands of talismans unfolded behind him, the circular array spinning rapidly, and the core’s three metal discs shone brightly.

The next second, tens of thousands of energy bullets poured out like torrential rain, each capable of leveling a small mountain.

However, the Reaper Race across from him were prepared.

Among the fifteen figures, three simultaneously raised their front limbs.

No, those weren’t limbs but some kind of precise metallic devices.

The devices’ surfaces flickered with runes, opening up a semi-transparent force field.

The moment the energy bullets hit the force field, it was like water dropping into a sponge, the energy quickly dispersed, absorbed, and neutralized.

Anti-energy absorption disruptors.

And they were specifically tailored for the type of attack released by the Talisman Witchcraft.

"They know what I have," the thought hit him like a splash of icy water.

Sure enough, almost as soon as Jeming’s first round of attacks ceased, four of the fifteen Reaper Race moved.

The patterns on their shells lit up, and four invisible waves instantly enveloped the area.

Space lock.

Previously, when they approached Jeming, they had already unleashed a wave of spatial interference. Now, clearly, they intended to expand the previous terrain advantage.

It was a literal "solidified space," Jeming could even feel the "viscosity" of the surrounding space, as if he were stuck in gel.

He only managed to throw out a space distortion right before the lock was complete.

An invisible distortion erupted in the air, the violent spatial power tearing everything around it apart.

Had it been an ordinary Fifth Level creature, this strike would have ripped it to shreds.

But the Reaper Race that took the hit head-on, only had their surface black armor bend slightly, emitting a piercing metallic scraping sound.

And then... nothing.

Anti-space stabilizing armor.

Specialized gear designed against spatial magic.

"They have a counter for even this?" The chill in Jeming’s heart deepened.

The situation was even worse for the Black Giant.

Initially positioned at the frontline, the Black Giant attempted to support but was strategically divided and surrounded by the remaining Reaper Race.

They used a time deceleration field generator to disrupt the Black Giant’s time acceleration and an energy extraction field to weaken the absorption capacity of the black metal layer.

The Sixth Level Black Giant leader, Melt Mountain, roared as it tried to break through, but was entangled by two Reaper Race members.

These two had noticeably different equipment.

One wielded a high-frequency oscillation blade, leaving deep scars on the Black Giant’s tough exterior with each strike; the other continually released bizarre energy ripples, interfering with Melt Mountain’s time manipulation talent.

"Two can hold off the Sixth Level..." Jeming forced himself to calm down.

Handing over a portion of the Talisman Witchcraft control to the Five Elements Rainbow Transformation Mirror, Jeming’s hands formed rapid gestures, constructing and releasing small witchcraft models in an instant: fireballs, ice spikes, lightning chains, acid spray... all basic witchcraft, but combined with extreme cunning. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Yet even under this bombardment, the Reaper Race’s response was still precise. They didn’t even withstand it head-on, instead dodging the attack trajectories with minimal movement while maintaining the completeness of their encirclement.

It felt like... playing chess with oneself, only the opponent knew all his potential moves.

"In the previous cycle, what did I do to make them target me so specifically?" Jeming thought rapidly as he fought, "Was it using Fire Extinction Divine Light to clear the field? Or was the Black Giant self-destruct strategy too eye-catching? Or... did I reveal the uniqueness of my Inner Grotto Heaven?"

He needed a breakthrough.

At that moment, Jeming made a decision.

He formed a grip with his left hand, opening the passage to his Inner Grotto Heaven in his palm.

A dark golden magic staff was drawn out.

Fire Extinction Divine Light Magic Staff, charging progress: sixty-three percent.

Although the charging wasn’t complete, almost the instant the staff appeared, the actions of the fifteen Reaper Race paused in unison.

The three on the outermost circle simultaneously lifted new devices.

This time, when the devices activated, there was no obvious light effect, but Jeming keenly sensed the high-energy particles in the surrounding space suddenly become "sluggish."

Like water turning into glue.

"Particle stagnation field..." Jeming’s pupils narrowed.

A defense specifically targeting high-energy beam attacks.

Although it could last only an instant, theoretically, if he released the Fire Extinction Divine Light now, the attack meant to reach light speed could indeed be delayed.

"They even know about this." Jeming actually felt a sense of certainty.

The intelligence confirmed it: in the previous cycle, he must have wielded this staff and achieved significant results.

Otherwise, the opposition wouldn’t have prepared such highly targeted equipment.

But at the same time, it also meant their knowledge of him was still at the "previous cycle" level.

"Let’s see what’s different about me in this cycle then."

Jeming didn’t activate the staff, but instead tucked it back behind him with a reverse grip.

This move caused a momentary gap of confusion in the Reaper Race’s formation.

And Jeming seized this gap.

He no longer retreated but instead stepped forward.

The moment he stepped forward, the Body Forging Technique operated at full power, concentrating all energy into his legs.

The ground shattered.

Jeming’s entire being turned into a residual shadow, moving so fast that he left a sonic boom cloud in the air.

He did not attack any member of the Reaper Race but directly charged towards the weakest part of the encirclement.

The Reaper Race in that direction reacted extremely quickly, immediately raising its forelimb’s Energy Blade.

But its actions were... too slow in Jeming’s eyes.

With the blessing of the Divinity Transformation Realm’s Primordial Spirit, Jeming’s thinking speed was several times that of a wizard of the same level.

He could see the sequence in which the runes lit up as the Energy Blade activated, could see the trajectory of the opponent’s muscle exertion, could see the subtle weak points between the shell seams.

A punch.

It was purely a punch thrown by a body refined over thousands of times by the Body Forging Technique, at speeds exceeding dozens of times the speed of sound.

Bam!

A muffled collision sound rang out, the shell of the Reaper Race in front of him caved in completely, and green bodily fluid splattered out from its mouthparts and shell seams.

Its body flew backward, smashing through three pieces of ruins before stopping.

The encirclement was broken.

Other members of the Reaper Race immediately adjusted, but Jeming was faster.

He weaved through the formation like a specter, every strike was precise, hitting the shell connection points, energy device interfaces, and weak joint points.

The Body Forging Technique granted him not only defense but perfect control power over every inch of muscle in his body.

The battle immediately began to tilt.

But just as Jeming’s attention was completely focused forward, a sudden change occurred.

A figure emerged from the shadow of a ruin from the side-rear—it seemed to have always been there, perfectly blending with the background.

It was only at this moment that it seized the moment of Jeming’s exhausted old strength and yet unborn new strength to launch a mortal attack.

This was an exceptional member of the Reaper Race.

Smaller in stature, with a shell color almost pure black, the most eye-catching feature was one of its forelimbs.

It was a spike covered in thick black metal, the metal surface did not reflect light at all, as if it could swallow all light.

The moment the spike was thrust, the three-layer Energy Shield around Jeming was penetrated like paper.

No obstruction, no delay.

The spike carried some kind of "magic-breaking" attribute meant to specifically dismantle energy defenses.

A glimmer of expectation flashed through all the compound eyes of the Reaper Race.

And then—

Clang!

Metal collided with flesh, but the sound it made was like two metal pieces striking each other.

The black spike stopped at Jeming’s chest, piercing through the outer robe, but could move no further.

In the shocked gaze of the Reaper Race, cracks began to appear on the spike’s surface and then... with a "crack," it broke into two pieces.

Jeming slowly turned his head, looking at the assailant with an expressionless face.

The Reaper Race seemed to want to retreat, but it was too late.

With just a casual wave of his hand, the Reaper Race was like being struck head-on by an invisible giant hammer, its entire body instantly exploded into a mist of blood, mixed with metal fragments and shell debris that scattered around.

"Magic-breaking weapon?" Jeming lowered his head to look at his chest, a hole was torn in the outer robe, revealing skin underneath that shone with a metallic luster, not even leaving a white mark, "It’s passable against pure energy defense magic. Against my body that’s been refined over a thousand times... it’s far from enough."

Yet when he said this, there wasn’t the slightest ease in his heart.

This meant that in the next cycle, the opponent would certainly prepare methods more targeted at physical defenses.

The fight continued, but the scales had completely tipped.

Though the Reaper Race had the advantage of intelligence, the wizards’ hard power was still superior.

As Jeming opened a breakthrough, the surrounding wizards also gradually resolved their respective opponents and began to provide support.

The Black Giant led by Melt Mountain finally broke through the restraints, its black silhouette surging like a tide.

Several minutes later, the last Reaper Race fell under the siege of four wizards.

Jeming stood on the spot, breathing slightly.

He looked around, the battlefield was basically under control.

The cannon fodder units suffered heavy losses, the ground was covered with the remains of Biochemical Giant Beasts and Alchemy Armor, but fortunately, the casualties of the wizard bodies were minimal.

In the distance, Frost was commanding the cleanup of the remaining resistance.

This Seventh Level Wizard faced more targeting than Jeming, but he still crushed all the opponent’s high-end forces with just his own strength.

"Captain Jeming." A voice came from beside him.

It was the adjutant, his arm had a deep, bone-visible wound, being repaired with Healing Magic: "The statistics are completed. Our squad lost forty-two percent of cannon fodder units, seven wizards lightly injured, no deaths."

"Understood." Jeming nodded, but his gaze turned to the distance.

On the horizon, the main forces of the Reaper Race were retreating.

They withdrew in an orderly fashion, not a hint of panicked defeat.

This landing battle was won.

But this is only the beginning.