After circling the small world, Li Ban finally chose a place to land.
It was a gathering ground for countless mutated creatures.
These mutants seemed to have formed a new order of their own.
A brutal system where the strong preyed on the weak.
But it suited the mindless monsters perfectly.
Among the beasts was one remarkably powerful individual.
It stood a full thirty meters tall. Growing to such a height in an energy-starved world—and clearly retaining enough agility for combat—was no easy feat.
Li Ban had spotted it at a glance while still in the air.
The monster might have originally been humanoid. Sharp bone spikes ran from the top of its head all the way down its back.
Li Ban decided to call it the Dinosaur Man.
He landed directly on the Dinosaur Man's head and sat cross-legged.
Neither the Dinosaur Man nor any of the other monsters noticed his presence.
This place held the densest aura of chaos in the entire small world. It was also the most likely spot for a Wizard Embryo Fragment to appear once the world collapsed.
Of course, this probability was only based on the Priests' accumulated experience; it wasn't a certainty every time.
Li Ban closed his eyes, finding inner tranquility amidst the uproar.
He knew exactly what he had to do. The surrounding noise, the stench, the quaking earth—none of it could disturb his focus.
Three days later, Li Ban woke from his meditation.
He looked up at the sky, where spatial rifts had already begun to form.
The rifts were still extremely high up, nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye.
Once they gradually descended, life would die off in massive numbers, and the released energy would provide one last charge for the wizard embryo.
However, this meager amount of energy couldn't reverse the destruction of a shattering world; it could only prolong the people's despair.
Li Ban did a quick calculation. Less than a month remained.
But the entire world could also suddenly collapse at any given moment during that time.
Just as Li Ban was about to close his eyes and resume his meditation, a unique aura gave him pause.
He turned to look toward a spot on the ground.
The horde of monsters was gathered on a massive mountain peak.
The pristine white snow that once covered it had been trampled into black mud by the monsters.
Rotting plants and mangled corpses mixed into the mud, piling into black mounds of filth.
Inside one of these mounds, Li Ban detected an abnormal aura of life.
The other monsters couldn't sense it because their own presences were too overwhelming, their intellects too low, and their surroundings far too noisy.
Yet in the midst of such chaos, Li Ban immediately noticed that single strand of orderly energy.
Interestingly, when Li Ban looked at the figure huddled in the mud, the other party noticed his presence as well.
'To think there is someone here who can see through World Without Me? Did he receive the grace of a Priest, or is this a native power of this world?'
Realizing that Li Ban had noticed him, a look of absolute resolve flashed through the man's eyes, and he exploded from the mud in a violent assault.
He leaped ten meters into the air, jumping directly onto the head of a nearby giant monster.
Before the behemoth could react, he stomped down hard, launching himself onto an even taller beast.
Using the surrounding monsters as a staircase, he rapidly closed in on Li Ban's position.
His movements quickly drew retaliation from the monsters.
The mindless beasts swung at him without hesitation, but he dodged nimbly, causing their strikes to land squarely on the monsters beneath his feet.
Enraged, the injured monsters completely ignored the man who had just run across their heads. Instead, they spun around and punched the beasts that had struck them, knocking them to the ground.
The man cleverly used his dodges and misdirection to provoke the monsters into fighting each other.
Though he looked utterly wretched, he hadn't suffered any heavy injuries, and he finally made his way right in front of Li Ban.
The towering Dinosaur Man had no idea the man's true target was Li Ban sitting on its head. Looking down at the newcomer, its long, narrow mouth parted in a savage grin.
"Heh. Another fool calling himself a hero."
The Dinosaur Man raised a hand, ordering the pursuing monsters to fall back.
Resting his hands on his knees, he slowly stood up. He subconsciously kept his head perfectly level, only casting a sidelong glance at the man on the ground.
"You're a bit stronger than the others, making it all the way to me. So I'll give you a chance. You may challenge me."
Looking incredibly weak by comparison, the man on the ground wiped the dripping mud from his face and drew his weapons from his waist.
They were a pair of blades.
At the same time, Li Ban noticed a third eye on the man's forehead. It was entirely deep blue, with no distinction between pupil and sclera.
'Is that the eye he used to see me?'
Li Ban found this interesting. If this hero who had come to slay the Dinosaur Man ended up losing, Li Ban wouldn't mind plucking that eye out to study it.
Since this eye could see through the effects of World Without Me, it might be able to see through other things as well.
Li Ban's right eye element hadn't been of use for a very long time.
For a Star Glow Priest, a tier element was no longer of any help.
If he could elementalize this eye, he could use it to replace his original 'right eye'.
Unexpectedly, before the battle began, the man on the ground tilted his head up and spoke directly to Li Ban.
"I don't know who you are, or why you're controlling these monsters to destroy the world, but today, I will put an end to your schemes and return this world to normal."
Li Ban raised an eyebrow. The man seemed to have mistaken him for the true mastermind hiding behind the scenes.
Both the Dinosaur Man and the hero were speaking a language Li Ban didn't know. However, possessing telepathy, he could easily understand their meaning.
Li Ban felt completely indifferent. Too lazy to explain, he just remained seated on the Dinosaur Man's head.
Instead, it was the Dinosaur Man who grew annoyed. "Who are you talking to?!"
The man on the ground paused in surprise before letting out a sneer. "Elgard, to think you call yourself the First Demon King. It turns out you're nothing but someone else's puppet."
The Dinosaur Man narrowed his eyes, murderous intent flaring within them.
He had just sensed his surroundings. There was clearly no one else around; the man opposite him was mocking him!
"Very well. As the first person to mock this Demon King—tell me your name. I will make sure the entire continent remembers your arrogance and stupidity!"
The man didn't even deign to answer. He raised both hands, one in front and one behind, gripping his blades horizontally in a combat stance.
The Dinosaur Man was enraged all over again.
Ever since he killed the previous Demon King and occupied this mountain peak—the one containing the strongest chaotic power—no one had ever dared speak to him like this.
"I've changed my mind, you foolish Gao Jiaren. I will kill you first, and then I will kill every last Gao Jiaren. Right before they die, I'll make sure they know it was because of you that the Gao Jiaren were completely wiped from this world."
The man's jaw tightened, but his gaze didn't waver in the slightest.
He shifted his stance, raising his blades as he said coldly, "I'll kill you all and put an end to everything!"