Omni-Mastery

Not to mention snipe guns, the presence of gunpowder was nonexistent in the Lost Realm. However, weapon energy on the Dominator level was more than enough to do the trick. Still, powering up 'Fusion' seemed like an overkill for a quick snipe job, so I added in some wind elements to make up for the distance.

'This should do it.'

While most of the army spread about in their search, the shamans were still tightly guarded with a crowded circle of high-leveled demons. Fortunately, that wasn't a problem that 'Arial Sword' couldn't fix. It wasn't easy to control the trajectory at this speed, but my inhuman Perception wasn't there for show!

[ You have absorbed… ]

[ You have absorbed… ]

[ You have absorbed… ]

Ignoring the small chunks of EP that were flying towards me, I couldn't help staring at the ignorant guards startled by the sudden head explosion that their guarding targets had just suffered. 'Eye of Knowledge' showed no other shaman on sight, but…

'It… isn't changing?'

The guarding demons' levels hadn't gone down one bit. Only after taking a minute or so to make another complete scan did I find a fraction of demons that had lost a maximum of one level!

'Is it really broken?'

I could already tell something wasn't right when I checked out the demons' levels down at the base. However, a full suppression removal didn't conform to common sense!

Nothing was confirmed as of yet, but whether it was a natural 'Law' or the doing of the ancient powerhouses who belonged to the demon hunters, the severe suppression on demons outside of demon bases was something that lasted over centuries according to the books that I read! No matter how smart the demons were, removing the problem that kept them away wasn't something that could be achieved between a day and a night!

'I need further confirmation.'

Considering the possibility that this could be a closed case relying on some sort of special artifact, I flew away as I located the next small army on my Mental Map. The demons on the ground looked like they were close to discovering me but it was too late for that.

'Does this have something to do with the Corrupted?'

This was already weighing down on my mind, but what the Mental Map showed me directly aroused my suspicion. There was a large group of Corrupted just next to the demon army!

'Is that…'

Corrupting the whole world was the target that most of the demons that I met have spoken of. However, what if it was the other way around? 

'...Their way in?'

What if they were corrupting to invade and not invading to corrupt? What if spreading corruption was the most surefire way of loosening down the suppression? Nothing was confirmed, but considering the spread of Corruption in the Fire Domain, everything made sense!

On the other hand, not everything fell in place with that explanation. The number of Corrupted was plenty, but they were merely a fraction of the domain's residents. Most importantly…

'They are also here.'

Upon arriving above my second destination, my second suspicion was confirmed. The demon army was marching towards a horde of Corrupted, but their army structure was mostly the same.

Why were there shamans if the suppression no longer had an effect on them? Even if they were just there as normal combatants, then did they really have to be heavily guarded like that?

'Let's see…'

[ You have absorbed… ]

[ You have absorbed… ]

[ You have absorbed… ]

Without any further delay, my arrows quickly found their target as the gears of my mind fell into place. My 'Eye of Knowledge' scanned the army once more, allowing me to find a proper answer.

'They have expanded the net!'

The demons' level didn't fall that much either, but the number of demons had definitely increased. Let alone one level, some had even lost up to three! The suppression didn't disappear, it was just that the demons learned enough from their last battle to avoid a collapse similar to that of stacked dominos!

I wasn't sure, but it was likely that they modified their anti-suppression hex. The corners that used to be vital were no longer that important, they were now just links that transmitted the net all over. However, the destruction of links still had a weakening effect, albeit a weak one! The suppression still existed!

'This is… the effect of losing the home ground advantage.'

If this modification was easy to apply, there was no reason for the demons to suffer once before they did. The spread of Corruption was still likely the key that provided more room for maneuver… I could already imagine the difficulty spike in the next domain if they didn't do better than the Dragon Clan's minimalistic prevention.

'All is not lost.'

From another point of view, the scattering of small armies before rejoining seemed like a great way of implying that my sniping plan had no effect. In fact, it was very unlikely for me to discover anything without the help of the 'Eye of Knowledge', making me give up on targeting the shamans even when the armies rejoined.

Unfortunately for them, the demons had basically shot themselves in the foot by keeping the guard group around. Thanks to that, I knew that all I needed to do was wait for their reassembly before resuming my snipe session!

'Wait a sec…'

As much as I hated to wait like a sitting duck, there was no need to waste my energy and elements on using hit and run. I only hovered around to see how the demons were going to make use of the Corruption exuding from the corrupted. However…

It didn't seem like much at the beginning, but the demons were quickly collecting the straying Corrupted into a restricted space, surrounding them from behind in a half circle as they pushed to march forward. It seemed like…

'Did I enter the wrong game?'

The Dragon Clan's Stronghold was soon to fall under the threat of a zombie horde…