Chapter 532 Three-Way Standoff
The Planar Hall.
No more than seventeen of the three dozen dragonborn scout successfully returned.
At this moment, creaking came from the spatial passage sustained by the thunderlight stones. A large human's face pressed against the semi-transparent plane membrane. It was as if a terrifying human from the other end of the passage was trying to squeeze his way into this lower plane.
As the person continued to struggle, the plane membrane started to protrude further and further. It also became thinner as it stretched out.
Vague cracks appeared in the spatial passage, and a terrifying flash of blue thunder blasted from within.
Finally, the plane membrane could no longer resist the pressure of the fearsome figure, shattering into tens of thousands of spatial shards. A tall human figure shrouded in the bright blue radiance of electricity charged out of the broken spatial passage with firm steps.
An incomparably ferocious spatial whirlwind surged out of the passage along with him.
Every substance within the planar hall that wasn't protected by supernatural powers eroded, accompanied by plenty of creaking and groaning. It was almost as if an invisible storm of energy had just erupted in the middle of the room. Even the metal floor, walls, and archway were reduced to nothingness in the ravaging storm.
Apart from Second Grade Zacha, who calmly stood against the billowing of the spatial whirlwind, all seventeen dragonborn scouts were blown about by the wind. They crashed into the metal walls and bruised their bodies and faces.
"Oh great Sir Arms, Dragonborn Zacha is at your behest!" Zacha ignored what had happened to the subordinates behind him. Instead, he bowed before the tall human figure that had just teleported over and paid his respects.
"Hmph! What are you lot doing? Why are things taking so long?" The one that had teleported into this plane was a tall man wearing a fine blue set of armor. His head full of long blue hair crackled with lightning arcs. Anger brewed between his handsome brows the moment he appeared, "Our armies have already completed their preparation. Why is the planar door here only able to sustain the lowest level of interplanar teleportation? Where's that damned goblin?"
"Sir, that goblin has betrayed us. He cut off the energy source of the planar door the moment we teleported over. If I hadn't brought with me a batch of thunderlight stones… " Zacha fearfully explained when he sensed the rage in his superior.
"I knew these rats that surrendered on their own couldn't be trusted!" The tall man roared at the top of his lungs, "Well then, what are you guys waiting for? Get out of here, all of you! Slaughter every last goblin in this place! Zacha, you are responsible for finding a new stable energy source for the planar door."
"Understood!" Zacha had no choice but to bow and receive his orders.
The First Grade dragonborn scouts shivered in the distance. They didn't dare to come close to this human male shrouded in blue lightning.
It seemed the planar laws in this plane couldn't yet wholly suppress the tall man's immense and pulsing powers of electricity, as he had just arrived. Even Zacha was like an obedient sheep before this man, despite his Second Grade powers.
Apart from his fearsome Third Grade prowess, this newcomer had a unique identity.
He might possess the form of a human, but he was not, in fact, one. Instead, he was a pure-blooded Third Grade Thunder Dragon; dragonborn like Zacha were no more than servants of their Thunder Dragon Clan in the end.
In their world, only pure-blooded descendants of the dragon were qualified to become landlords. Moreover, the pure-blooded dragons would often promote mixed-blood descendants of their bloodline to become their servant race. That was to better ease their rule over their lands. Their mixed-blood descendants would help them manage their sprawling territories.
They came from the Plane of Rance. It was a small plane world ruled by various dragon lords. Even though it was a small plane much like the Goblin Plane, Rance's overall power was enough to crush the Goblin Plane.
As one of the many Dragon Lords of Rance, Thunder Dragon Arms was still a young man. He was no more than four hundred and thirteen years old currently and was considered an active and healthy juvenile dragon. As such, his territories were extremely limited. They only covered an area of approximately three thousand square kilometers. This journey to the Goblin Plane was also his first interplanar invasion ever since he became a dragon lord.
The thirst and greed for wealth had caused Arms to forgot any traces of fear he might have had. He only thought of leading his dragonborn servant army to rob this lower plane and add another layer of gold coins to his hoard back in his palace.
As a thunder dragon that had morphed into a human form, Thunder Dragon Arms absolutely hated everything about the environment in this plane.
The low-magic Goblin Plane made it virtually impossible for him to breath. The stench of the goblins that lingered in the air further infuriated Arms.
"Hurry up… all of you, hurry up," Arms yelled angrily, "Hurry up and make the goblins in this place hand over all of their wealth and gemstones. Otherwise, we will slaughter all life on this plane. Remember, convey my will to the goblin ruler of this place!"
Second Grade Dragonborn Zacha led the remaining seventeen dragonborn scouts out of the planar hall amidst Arm's roars. He advanced towards the underground chamber where the space furnace was located by tracing the strange mental flux in the air.
Compared to the cautious attitudes of the adepts, the dragonborn didn't seem to have any intention of staying here for too long. They seemed to be in a rush to rob all the wealth from this plane and leave.
The adept faction had already come to an initial peace agreement with Giant Brain Gazlowe. The leaders of both parties had met. Greem also sent Sofia and Endor over to Alice's side to protect her.
Alice didn't dare stray too far away from the space furnace, to keep her leverage over Gazlowe effectively. If she wandered too far away from the space furnace and lost her ability to detonate the space furnace at any time, there was no doubt that Gazlowe would immediately use all the power at his command to exterminate her.
As long as it managed to kill Alice, the other adepts would be hard-pressed to break through the layers of magical machines and the defenses of the Third Grade brain itself to attack the central space furnace.
Every second Alice stayed within the planar hall meant that Gazlowe had to stay by her. The giant brain didn't dare to leave for a single second.
When both of them sensed the intense spatial flux from the planar halls and the massive attack from the dragonborn, they immediately realized that the enemy's reinforcements had arrived.
Giant Brain Gazlowe instantly drew out colossal amounts of magic energy from the space furnace and directed it into the underground tunnel without a second word. With the furious magic energy as a cover, the outsider's would not be able to extend their spiritual senses into the room.
Moreover, the magic energy was completely extracted from the space beyond the plane. It hadn't been adjusted or treated. Consequently, it was not suited for direct absorption by planar creatures; Gazlowe didn't need to worry about his actions indirectly benefitting the enemy!
One hour later, Dragonborn Zacha arrived at the underground hall with his scouts in tow.
The three parties involved in the conflict stood off in a triangle formation inside the hall.
As the host and owner of this place, Gazlowe the giant brain floated above the space furnace. The entire hall was filled with goblin magical machines. Over sixty percent of the space in the room had been taken up by the goblins.
The six adepts of Greem's factions kept to a corner of the hall, protecting Alice at the center and always alert for a possible assault from the giant brain.
The late-arriving dragonborn party, on the other hand, had arrived at the hall after decisively crushing all goblin defenses.
In all honesty, the adepts had been extraordinarily ruthless and heartless in their fights with the dragonborn. No survivors had been left to tell the tale in every one of their encounters. As such, the dragonborn had only just discovered the existence of the adepts upon arriving at the underground hall.
The leading Second Grade Dragonborn Zacha couldn't help but feel anxious when he saw the adepts from the World of Adepts.
The strength of the Goblin Plane was apparent for all to see. They were no match for them, the invaders. However, it was hard to predict how things would turn out if they were made to deal with the infamous evil adepts at the same time as they were exterminating the local forces.
The three factions gathered in the same place. Their furious and wicked gazes swept from one camp to the other. For a moment, no one knew how to deal with the situation at hand.
Zacha had initially planned to use pure martial strength to force the old goblin into supplying power to the planar door. However, he was shocked to find competitors upon arriving here. The old goblin had also vanished, replaced by this giant brain monster.
Moreover, Zacha could sense from the radiating aura that the old goblin was no longer a weakling he could bully at will. Instead, the goblin had turned into an odd Third Grade lifeform.
The dragonborn might have Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms as their trump card, but even Zacha couldn't be sure his lord would necessarily win against this mysterious Third Grade monster. Greem and Gazlowe's factions were also cautious of each other. At the same time, they couldn't find a point of agreement or cooperation.
Consequently, all three parties simply stared at each other. No one dared to start the conflict for fear of being the first to be targeted. The atmosphere within the room quickly turned tense and heavy.
At this awkward moment, a strange fourth party appeared in the hall. It was the magical machine army directly subordinate to the Royal Family. This army of a thousand magical machines immediately charged toward the adepts under the lead of the rescued Princess Vanessa.
Their reckless actions caused the other two parties to stir as well.
Greem was thoroughly infuriated. He had no choice but to send his subordinates forward to hold the enemy back.
He had no choice. As the Second Grade fire adept of the party, he had to remain still before the other two factions struck. A three-way melee would probably break out immediately if he personally entered the battlefield.
The Royal Family's army was nothing in the eyes of these three factions!