MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

The aircraft hummed with increasing power before it shot forward like a cannonball, its black figure tearing through the sky and clouds at full speed as they raced toward the Abandoned Desert Of Ruins.

With a single thought, Anthony activated his illusion magic and cast it over the entire aircraft. To any outside observer, it would appear as nothing more than a drifting cloud, lazily blending in with the others in the sky.

Anthony had masked the aircraft's presence intentionally. He knew without a doubt that the moment his aircraft entered the airspace of the Forsaken Cult headquarters, they would be detected instantly.

Although the aircraft was equipped with invincible technology far beyond modern comprehension, Anthony refused to place his trust solely in machinery. His own abilities, honed through tirelessly training and countless battles, were far more reliable to him.

The world around them blurred as they surged forward at incredible speed. Everyone onboard stood ready. Despite being informed that the mission would begin only after the portals were opened, there was always the possibility, however slim, that the Forsaken Cult was already lying in wait.

As such, every muscle aboard the aircraft was tensed, coiled in anticipation. Mana and spiritual energy swirled within their cores, compressed and restrained, prepared to erupt at a moment's notice if the need arose.

Within minutes, their aircraft appeared under the scorching sun that blazed mercilessly above the world. Eyes turned downward, narrowing as they searched for any sign of the Forsaken Cult's headquarters.

Beneath them lay a vast desert, stretching out for what seemed like an eternity, millions of kilometers of endless, arid wasteland. Towering sand dunes rose like golden mountains, stretching toward the heavens as if trying to touch the skies themselves. The wind howled from another direction, gathering the sand into a violent storm that swept across the horizon like a vengeful spirit.

Amidst this expanse of unforgiving terrain, colossal stone pillars emerged from the sand. They were grand in scale, dwarfing even the tallest of dunes. Each stood hundreds of meters tall, their sheer size enough to humble even the mightiest of Titans, regardless of how pure their bloodline might be.

"None of you should use your mana or any form of ability that requires it for now," Anthony instructed calmly, his voice firm yet composed. "I've already enveloped us in illusion magic to mask our presence, effectively fooling whatever sensory and defense mechanisms they may have in place."

Everyone nodded in understanding. They knew that any leak of energy, anything other than chaos energy, could trip the Cult's alarms and bring ruin to their mission before it even began.

"Are we even sure this is the right place? There's nothing here. Even if they were underground, we should still be able to—"

Dale didn't finish his sentence. He faltered midway, noticing the way everyone was staring at him like he had just sprouted two heads.

Anthony ignored the comment entirely, his All Seeing Eyes already scanning the terrain. Unlike other sensory methods, his eyes did not require the use of mana or spiritual energy, they functioned independently of such forces.

Beside him, Vega was doing the same, her glowing purple eyes flitting from one massive stone pillar to the next as she traced the contours of the unseen.

"There are runes and formations hidden beneath the sand," Anthony eventually stated, his tone distant and focused. "They're covering everything, the entire operation is buried under layers of magical concealment and deception."

"When can I use my mana bombs?" Dale asked, almost too eagerly.

Anthony sighed, long and weary, then replied without looking at him. "I'll plant them for you. You'll trigger them once I open the portal for the military to cross over."

Dale frowned. He had hoped to personally handle the bombs himself, but if Anthony had decided to do it, then he knew better than to argue. Anthony wouldn't have made the offer unless it was absolutely necessary.

With a resigned sigh, Dale tossed all his mana bombs toward Anthony. The latter stood speechless for a moment, stunned as he counted over a hundred of them. Yet, he said nothing. With a flick of his hand, the bombs disappeared into a hidden separate space.

"Stay here," Anthony ordered. "As long as you remain within the aircraft and refrain from using any form of external energy, you won't be discovered."

He then activated his Presence Concealment ability, and in an instant, his entire existence vanished. It was as if he had never been there at all.

He appeared mid-air, outside the aircraft. His body hovered above the desert, utterly undetectable. His hair didn't sway with the wind, no part of him interacted with the world around him. Even the air couldn't sense his presence. At that moment, he was a phantom, a void, nothing more than a whisper in reality.

Then, without warning, his form plummeted from the sky, descending like a shadow toward the desert floor. As he fell, his eyes locked onto the intricate runes and complex formations etched into the towering stone pillars and the very sands themselves, like paint strokes on a massive, invisible canvas.

When he touched the ground, there was no sound, no dust, no impact. His body phased through the layers of defensive runes and formations as though they were nothing more than mist.

Beneath those layers, a hidden city revealed itself, an enormous underground complex stretching for hundreds of kilometers, its spires and ceilings reaching high into the artificial sky that mirrored the world above.

Anthony phased through the roof of one of the buildings, landing softly upon the cold stone floor within. Around him bustled a chilling sight, life, in its most unnatural form. Humans, Elves, Dragons, Fairies, Were-beasts, Vampires, Dwarf, Zombies, Titans, Phoenixes... Every race known on the Blue Planet was present.

None were missing.

And yet, there was no trace of mana.

Chaos energy radiated from each of them. It seeped from their pores, dark and corrupting, transforming their very essence. Their frames shimmered with a black aura that marked their complete conversion. Their bodies were now mere vessels for the Cult's madness.

None of them noticed Anthony. He stood perfectly still, motionless, his Sense Dome activated to its highest permissible limit without using mana.

They laughed, smiled, joked with one another, speaking and behaving as if they hadn't bartered their souls to the literal devil.

With a thought, Anthony placed one of Dale's mana bombs on the wall beside him. He then cloaked it with his illusion magic, ensuring it was completely undetectable.

In the next moment, he vanished again, his form reappearing at another location within the range of his Sense Dome.

The air was thick with chaos energy. Typically, the Forsaken Cult maintained infiltrators, individuals who still used mana, allowing them to blend in with the outside world. But here, at the heart of the Cult's headquarters, there was not a trace of mana in the atmosphere. Only chaos energy existed, swirling and corrupting everything it touched.

It became clear.

Only those who had fully converted to chaos energy were permitted inside this place. There was no room for mana here, not anymore.