Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

In the Abyss of Origin, Richard maintained a mana shield as he carefully searched for an entrance back into the insect hive. A year had passed; the insects should have calmed down by now.

Entering through a tunnel, Richard returned to the humid warmth of the insect hive. This time, however, he did not seek a hiding place to continue harassing the Black Crystal Insects from behind the lines.

Instead, he planned to leave the hive and return to the wizard-controlled areas.

The rescue operation organized by the puppet wizard had resulted in heavy losses for the black wizards, significantly reducing their numbers within the Black Mushroom Insect Kingdom. Coupled with previous hunts by the Black Crystal Insects and losses over the past year, the remaining black wizards in the Black Mushroom Insect Kingdom numbered less than a third of those before the operation.

Of course, Richard didn't know the exact numbers; he simply sensed that the number of black wizards left in the Black Mushroom Insect Kingdom was low. Continuing to harass them would increase his risk significantly.

Thus, he decided to withdraw from this insect kingdom, an action permitted by black wizard operating protocols.

Any black wizard behind enemy lines must prioritize preserving their life. When faced with overwhelming forces, a black wizard may return to the wizard headquarters prematurely.

The current situation clearly qualified as overwhelming.

As a first-circle wizard, Richard found remaining in the hive increasingly dangerous.

Walking through the hive, Richard noticed a strange atmosphere.

The insect patrols had decreased significantly.

This wasn't compared to the patrols during the Mother God Temple operation but to when Richard first infiltrated the hive.

Where had these reduced patrols gone?

Richard recalled Lawrence's words, feeling a tightness in his chest.

"It seems the insect counterattack is imminent."

Following the tunnel, Richard soon reached a small settlement.

According to the microwave imaging crystal ball, this settlement was a near-mandatory passage upward. Within the crystal ball's scan range, he found no alternative route.

"Ulysses, prepare to move," Richard communicated mentally with Ulysses.

"Caw, got it."

Ulysses shrank to the size of a small bird and flew into the settlement. Richard used Shadow Traverse and Shadow Infiltration to silently slip inside.

The settlement housed few insects, only five warrior insects. However, Richard noticed one clad in silver armor, indicating it was a second-tier insect, not weak among its kind.

But this one was different.

Richard sensed no second-tier vitality from it, only decay, withering, and lifelessness.

"An old insect," Richard thought.

The young insects were likely preparing for battle.

Suddenly, the silver-armored old insect seemed to sense something, disappearing in an instant.

Richard's hair stood on end, and he quickly raised his staff to block.

Clang!

The old insect appeared before Richard, its blade arms striking the staff hard.

Had Richard been a moment slower, his head would have rolled.

"Ulysses!"

Richard shouted, his staff igniting with black flames.

Since he'd been discovered, he'd face it head-on!

The old insect withdrew, its wings flapping, vanishing again.

This time, Richard tracked it, his staff intercepting the blade arms.

Clang.

"You're too old, insect," Richard said coldly. "You're almost too old to fly."

Age granted the insect sharp senses but weakened its body.

A young silver-armored insect would have been too swift for Richard.

The old insect screeched, preparing to strike again, but found the ground beneath it softening, turning to mud.

Seizing the opportunity, Richard launched three black fireballs, blocking the old insect's escape.

Simultaneously, he lunged, his staff descending with a whoosh.

Boom!

The fireball exploded.

Black flames engulfed them, and when they dissipated, the old insect lay with broken arms and a crushed head.

With the infusion of Orichalcum, Richard's staff had become a mighty weapon, reducing the warrior insect's blade arms to soft clay.

"Caw, how does it feel? Any sense of breakthrough?" Ulysses asked from Richard's shoulder.

Richard shook his head. "No. This insect wasn't enough."

Advancing in physical evolution was notoriously difficult.

After reaching a constitution of 99.9, conventional methods to boost it proved ineffective. To advance further, Richard needed either life-and-death trials or rare treasures, like abundant life essence.

"Caw, no worries. Advancing in life is never easy. I faced countless battles to reach demigod strength. Even if your constitution doesn't break through, you can still pursue mental evolution."

Richard exhaled, quickly leaving the settlement.

...

After the brief encounter, Richard faced no further obstacles and soon reached the surface hive.

Compared to the lax underground hive, the surface hive resembled a fortress, heavily armed.

The small Mother God cannons Richard had seen before were now widely deployed, with green liquid shells piled everywhere.

Additionally, Richard noticed strange new insects, unseen in previous battles—likely recent creations.

Given the insects' ability to produce Spider Knights, their biological engineering skills were likely impressive.

The surface hive's tight security left Richard with few options, ultimately choosing a seemingly foolish but effective method—charging straight through.

He found a tunnel near the hive's perimeter, with Ulysses clearing the way, bursting from the underground hive to the surface.

Now, Richard faced both good and bad news.

The good news: he had indeed breached the hive's perimeter without pursuit.

The bad news: he emerged within range of a small Mother God cannon, immediately bombarded by arcing acid spheres.

"What an exhilarating welcome!"

Richard dodged the incoming spheres, his mana shield up as he flew at breakneck speed. Acid spheres exploded behind him, sizzling against his shield.

The war fortress wasn't far from the hive. After a frantic ten-minute flight, Richard spotted one.

Five kilometers from the fortress, Richard abruptly halted.

The ground appeared ordinary but contained hidden magical traps, easily detected by an alchemist like Richard.

Meanwhile, the fortress wizards spotted him.

"Is that a black wizard from the hive?" A white wizard with glasses, runes shimmering on the lenses, observed.

Enhanced by his optical magic, Richard seemed close enough to count his eyelashes.

"A wizard escaped from there?" Another white wizard peered over. "Looks like something went wrong inside the hive."

The bespectacled wizard glanced at his colleague:

"Knowing it's a wizard, why are you gawking? Send someone to receive him! He's heading into our trap zone. If he dies, you'll face a court-martial."

The other wizard waved, rising to intercept Richard.

But before he moved, the bespectacled wizard exclaimed:

"Holy crap, he's charging straight in!"

...

Richard switched to energy sight, and the ground transformed before him.

A vast network of energy threads appeared, intersecting and linking, with brighter nodes marking runes.

These threads extended to the fortress.

"Impressive trap zone," Richard murmured, then smiled confidently.

"But useless against me."

Richard deftly navigated the energy threads, weaving through the magical traps at speed.

"What the hell? How's he charging into the trap zone?" the wizard asked his companion.

"He... is charging in, but..." the bespectacled wizard replied dryly, "he's avoiding every trap. All of them."

"Every single one!"

The wizard's voice rose. These traps were meticulously set, with no issue in their concealment.

"Notify command," the bespectacled wizard said, removing his glasses to rub his eyes.

"A master escaped the hive. Something must be seriously wrong down there."

Ten minutes later, Richard stood in the war fortress hall, greeted by white wizards.

A commanding wizard, exuding powerful energy, hurried to Richard, asking tensely:

"Master, what happened below?"

The white wizard commander, an experienced two-time planar war veteran, approached Richard with respect, given his mastery in bypassing the trap zone.

"Not at all, not at all," Richard replied, exchanging wizard salutes with the commander.

"I'm hardly a master."

The white wizard commander shook his head:

"No need for modesty, Master. To bypass our trap zone so easily, you must be a master of either the Evocation or Alchemy school."

"Uh..." Richard was at a loss, but didn't linger, shifting to the main topic.

"Didn't you know? A year ago, Hive 12 had an incident, with thousands of wizards killed by insects."

The hall fell silent.

The white wizard commander, serious, retrieved a recording crystal ball from his magic pocket.

"Master, please elaborate."

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