Chapter 20: The Path of Annihilation
The chaos in the Valley of Thorns was over, replaced by a profound, echoing silence—the silence left by five thousand extinguished souls. John Vance stood amidst the dust, his Ultimate Magus Armor radiating a terrifying power that felt almost oppressive. His objective was now singularity: the Inner Citadel.
John viewed the battlefield not as a sign of victory, but as a maintenance task. Utilizing the effortless power of [True Magus: Universal Arcana], he cast a passive, instantaneous Deconstruction Spell. The shattered obsidian ground along his path instantly fused and repaired itself, erasing the scars of the recent battle. He marched onward, his boots falling silently on the restored earth, his movements possessing the unwavering, inevitable force of a natural disaster.
He was the essence of order in a realm of chaos, and his armor, now pulsing with a steady light, confirmed his terrifying efficiency.
The Last, Futile Resistance
As John approached the outer perimeter of the massive, jagged Citadel, he met the final wave of resistance: the Thrall Legions. These were not soldiers; they were the desperate, mindless cannon fodder of the dimension—thousands upon thousands of weak imps, shadow beasts, and ghouls hurled at him in a final, futile effort to buy time. Their numbers were a testament to Lord Krull's utter despair, not his strategy.
John had no patience for this delay. He was past the point of fighting for EXP; he was hunting for the final target.
He elevated his stride, demonstrating an evolved, efficient use of his power. He utilized his [Dimensional Sovereignty (Tier 2)] to simply warp the space along his direct line of march. He didn't fire a blast or cast a fiery spell; he subtly commanded the geometry of the area. As the legions of thralls charged, they crossed an invisible dimensional fault line.
The effect was instantaneous and sterile. The demons were not sliced or burned; they were instantly caught in the folding space, their physical forms compressed, corrupted, and erased from existence before they could utter a single shriek. John marched through a constantly collapsing, self-cleaning corridor of space, the thousands of thralls dissolving silently as they entered his path.
The sheer volume of essence consumed, though low-quality, triggered a final, important defensive milestone.
[EXP Gained: 50,000,000 EXP!]
[Demonic Energy Resistance Stack Reached Max Saturation!]
[Status Effect Gained: Immunity to Standard Demonic Corruption and Energy Spells (Permanent)]
John was now completely impervious to any form of magic wielded by the vast majority of this dimension's inhabitants. The King remained the only threat capable of breaching his magical defenses.
The Execution of the Commander
John's inexorable advance brought him to the base of the massive, miles-thick iron gates of the Inner Citadel. The path of annihilation ended here, where Lord Krull stood waiting. The Commander was a pathetic sight—his powerful armor was cracked, his aura of power diminished by consuming fear, and his red eyes held only the vacant look of a creature facing its inevitable doom.
Krull, however, was a demon of rank, and he would not simply surrender. He attempted one final, desperate, suicidal attack, channeling his last vestiges of power into a highly corrosive Corruption Blast—a soul-rotting spell designed to bypass magical defenses.
John did not move. He allowed the blast to strike his armor. The corrosive, toxic energy simply dissolved harmlessly upon contact, a shimmering flicker of light confirming his new Immunity status. Krull collapsed, not from pain, but from the realization that his final weapon was utterly useless.
"Impossible," the Commander rasped, his voice raw with defeat.
John wasted no time. This encounter was for information. He needed the Citadel's secrets. He raised his hand, and the Essence Devourer Sigil flared with cold intensity. Krull was a prized target—a living data bank. John executed a surgical Essence Extraction, focused entirely on absorbing the demon's knowledge and memories.
The execution was quick and brutal, and John's mind was instantly flooded with a lifetime of demonic strategy.
[EXP Gained: 500,000,000 EXP!]
* Knowledge Acquisition: John instantly gained the complete, accurate layout of the Citadel, the Demon King's exact location, and—most critically—the details of the Demon King's ultimate plan to cross the dimensional threshold into the Earth dimension, including the necessary rituals and power sources.
The Final Step
John, now fully informed and armed with insurmountable power, stood before the colossal Citadel gates. The massive iron structures were designed to withstand cosmic bombardment, but John didn't bother with an attack.
He simply exerted his [Advanced Kinetic Sovereignty]. With a casual, effortless push, the colossal gates were torn off their ancient hinges and sent tumbling silently into the void beside the Citadel, the immense force barely registering as an exertion.
John Vance, Level 120 and a True Magus, stepped through the destroyed entrance into the Inner Citadel. He had completed his training, secured his intelligence, and attained a power level that made him the undisputed master of this realm. The final confrontation of the Dimensional War had arrived.