Just as Dormammu was growing exhausted from managing hundreds of energy channels, dimensional lords and the demon lords from other dimensions also sensed that something was wrong.
The first to notice the issue were the group of lords who had already been deceived by Aaron. For example, Bart.
He had again transferred nearly the same amount of mana to Aaron. But to his shock, the other party was still unsatisfied and seemed intent on consuming him entirely.
"Oops, I've been tricked again!"
"Damn, why is there anyone besides Aaron who isn't afraid of soul pollution?"
Bart was stunned, hastily unilaterally terminating the contract. This was outrageous! Had Kamar-Taj developed a forbidden technique to absorb their energies harmlessly?
"Could it be that Aaron passed the forbidden technique to others?"
"Mommy f**k!"
"You wait for me!!"
Bart was furious, venting his anger by ruthlessly destroying the slaves in his castle. But even then, he was still perplexed. After learning the ban, those who had fallen prey to it set their sights back on him. They pursued him relentlessly.
This was too much to bear!
Demons who had shared the same fate as Bart could be found across almost all dimensions. While they weren't Dimension Lords, as demon lords with names and titles, they were all listed on the Kamar-Taj registry. Generally speaking, no magician would engage with them, let alone acknowledge their existence.
But now, things had changed. Any demon lord with a name was a target.
Meanwhile, in distant spiritual dimensions, Satanish realized something was terribly wrong.
His situation was far worse than Bart and Trask's!
As a Dimension Lord, and a very powerful one at that, Satanish found himself surrounded by more than a dozen magicians, with the number still growing. And these magicians were unabashed in their pursuit of energy absorption.
This reminded Satanish of Aaron.
Suddenly, his heart sank.
Seemingly, he had been tricked again!
And this time, more than a dozen magicians were absorbing his energy at the same time. The total energy drained from him was even greater than what Lunci had taken!
Satanish's expression changed repeatedly, his gaze fierce as he glared at the energy channel. In the next instant, he severed the connection and began contacting Dormammu.
He wanted revenge!
This group of insatiable magicians needed to be dealt with harshly!
By the time the first batch of dimensional lords realized something was wrong, they too began severing their contracts. Other dimensional lords and demon lords, initially unsuspecting, also realized they were being exploited and eventually had to abandon the deal to cut their losses.
The Dimensional Lords who held dominion over individual dimensions hung on longer, but even they eventually had to give up. It wasn't that they couldn't endure, but rather that too many magicians were connected. One or two connections were manageable, but when there were too many, the energy each one received was insufficient. The return was minuscule compared to what they had to give up.
They weren't foolish. When the exchange became utterly unfair, the best option was to terminate the contract. It was a painful loss, but it had to be done.
Later, they couldn't help but rejoice.
What fallen beings these magicians were! They weren't magicians at all; they were robbers!
One batch of them would leave, only for another batch to appear. There were so many transaction requests that they could simply block them unilaterally.
The landlord's family was out of food, and the waste was unbearable!
In Kamar-Taj, however, the situation was quite different.
"It really does increase magical power! My power has at least multiplied several times compared to before! My authority has reached level 2!"
"Me too! The magic returned by the magic net is so pure and free of impurities, even Emperor Vishanti's magic isn't this harmless. I feel like my soul and body have been sublimated!"
"Hahahaha! My authority has reached level 3! The magic power is incredible!"
"Brother Dennis, how did you grow so quickly?"
"Hey hey, I first stole some energy from the Dark Dimension, then I found Satanish, and later some demon lords. Even though they're weak, sometimes they're 'generous.'"
"I'm so envious! Brother Dennis, do you know other demon lords? I still don't have permission to upgrade."
"Well, you should seize the opportunity and connect with Dormammu more. He's still very useful. Just now, he sent me a huge wave of energy. It's because of him that I was able to raise my authority."
"Brother Dennis, can you teach me how to sign a contract with the demons so they trust us more easily?"
"That's not a problem. First, you need to…"
"Asgard's invisibility magic is quite useful!"
"What are you talking about? I just bought a space to store magic! Now I can access magic weapons whenever I go out."
"Dharma implement? Can the energy inside your items also be absorbed?"
"Huh?! Great idea! I think I might try that!"
This wave of magic power boosted the enthusiasm of the magicians.
Several experienced magicians saw a significant improvement in their strength, with some even reaching authority level 3, which allowed them to access the magic of Sub-God Fathers at will.
The magicians with broad knowledge knew that there were many Dimensional Lord. Even the weakest improvements in their power had multiplied their magic many times.
Meanwhile, novice magicians also reaped enormous benefits from Dormammu's power. Some were fortunate enough to raise their authority to level 2, and for beginners, this was a complete transformation. They began accessing magic from the magic net and experimenting with a system completely different from Kamar-Taj's, such as Fireball and Invisibility Magic.
This explosive increase in strength made the magicians fall in love with the magic net. It was even more addictive than the internet in the outside world.
They were desperate for more opportunities to advance, eager to receive further rewards from the magic net.
Some magicians began discussing how to set up contracts to gain the demons' trust more easily. Others, emboldened by their newfound power, began contemplating forming groups to raid the dimension world and seize control over the power zones.
With their strength, they believed that by uniting, they could easily overpower any demon lord. They even dared to challenge weaker dimensional lords!
Using their authority, borrowing magic power, and exploiting their numerical advantage, they were confident that with the right tactics, they could make it work.
Meanwhile, magicians who had set their sights on Kamar-Taj's magical artifacts realized that the manufacturing of magical items was simple. Some spells, too powerful to sustain, could be imbued into objects to create magic weapons. The strength of the magic would determine the weapon's power.
However, this plan was blocked by Cao Kang and the Lord before it could be carried out. While Kamar-Taj had numerous magical weapons, they weren't as simple to craft as the magicians believed. Only highly skilled magicians could make them, and even then, they could only craft lesser items. More powerful magical tools like Vatum's wand were beyond the reach of ordinary magicians and were extremely difficult to create.
Some methods for crafting magic tools had been lost, as the magicians who created them had been promoted to Dimension Lords.
Seeing that they couldn't play with magic weapons, the magicians turned to alternative energy-absorbing methods. The clever ones went straight to the library to find the information they needed.
Mordo and Wong exchanged glances, both stunned and helpless. The magic net's emergence had completely changed the spell system of Kamar-Taj. In the future, it was unlikely anyone would want to learn magic step by step. After all, all the magic they knew could be found on the magic web. And as long as they contributed enough, they could simply exchange and use magic without learning it!
According to the magic net, this was the unique memory mechanism of the system. Magic was stored in personal spell slots and could be downloaded when needed and released as needed, much like uploading compressed data in the real universe.
But the magic net could compress magic storage, allowing users to release magic at will. This allowed even an ordinary person to become a legendary magician if they were lucky enough to connect with the magic net and obtain a significant energy source.
Once the magic net system was fully integrated into the world, who would still be willing to spend years learning magic? Instead, magicians would focus on gathering energy from Dimensional Lords or other power sources. There was even a chance they could become gods!
Yes, gods! As long as the magic net didn't deceive them, by contributing enough, they could achieve high-level permissions and become new gods, gaining immortality, super strength, and other divine abilities.
This temptation made them view the demons, once feared, as mere "rations" to exploit.
Mordo and Wong, too, were tempted. Who didn't want to be a god? Who didn't want immense power?
But in the process, the threat posed by the Dimension Lords diminished.
Regret began to settle in. Mordo and Wong, preoccupied with supervising other magicians' illegal activities, had missed their chance to exploit the demons. Now, some magicians had surpassed them in strength, and it would be even harder to find dimensional lords to "support" them.
"Wong, you handle the order. I'll go ahead," Modu said as he hurried off.
Wong watched him leave, reaching out as if to say something, but Modu was already gone.
"Forget it, there will be another chance."
"Building the magic net really is the highest state of energy harvesting!"
"The speed is much faster than hunting down Dimension Lords one by one!"
Aaron, having converted all the magic power, showed a surprised expression when he noticed no further transfers were taking place for the time being.
Kamar-Taj had provided him with an enormous amount of magic, and he had responded accordingly. However, compared to what he had gained, the small amount of feedback seemed insignificant.
The magicians had grown stronger, but his gains were even more unimaginable. It was clear to him that this was probably the most Kamar-Taj could offer.
The carnival was over.
In the coming time, it would be difficult to get the demons to willingly hand over their energy zones through contracts.
Therefore, the magicians' next best strategy was to steal energy from the Dark Dimension.
They could also try to secretly absorb energy from other Dimensional Lords, but this required finding the right magic circle. After all, it was only the Ancient One who had researched forbidden techniques to extend life. To apply these techniques to other dimensions, they would need to modify them.
The Dark Dimension was vast, and even Dormammu couldn't fully perceive its extent. Some dimensions were small, while others were enormous.
Ancient One chuckled. "It seems the harvest has been fruitful?"
"Aren't you too?" Aaron responded with a smile.
All the magicians in Kamar-Taj were branches of Ancient One's nodes. Every energy sent by a magician fed back to her.
Without exaggeration, the energy she received this time was no less than what she originally had! In fact, her body struggled to withstand such overwhelming power. The energy was sent straight back to Aaron in exchange for contributions, which would boost his authority.
But from level five onward, promotion became exponentially more difficult.
The higher the level, the harder the promotion, to the point where even the energy of a universe might not be enough.
Ancient One smiled but didn't argue.
"So, what's next? Kamar-Taj has only a handful of magicians. Even if we summon more magicians from the outside world, there won't be many."
"Are you going to spread the magic net to ordinary people?"
"No! Not yet!" Aaron shook his head. While casting a wide net might catch more, ordinary people didn't have the ability to handle such power. The wealthy and influential would be the best targets for now.
In the future, Aaron planned to return to Asgard and spread the magic net system there. Then, the magic net could continue to improve, with many more attractive functions. Eventually, it would spread across the universe, running autonomously and expanding indefinitely.
But the key was to ensure he maintained control over it. If the magic net gained self-awareness, it might rebel against its creator.
Time was needed to perfect the system.
Once it was perfected, Aaron, the weaver and controller, would wield the strength of a single universe, or even multiple universes.
Then, he could focus on improving magic, advancing from magic to concepts, until he achieved the omniscient and omnipotent power that transcended the gods and could control the survival of the almighty universe with a single thought.
After bidding farewell to the Ancient One, Aaron opened the portal and headed to the Golden Hall. He still had to negotiate a deal with the old man.
"Understood, my lord. I'll immediately summon people to Kamar-Taj to verify the truth."
In a hidden corner, Kaecilius communicated with Dormammu's consciousness, his eyes closed. After the conversation, he paused for a moment and then contacted his subordinates in a unique manner.
This mission was going to be difficult. Dormammu had sent him to Kamar-Taj to capture a magician or two and force them to reveal their secrets.
A fierce battle was likely unavoidable.
Kaecilius eagerly anticipated it. He was ready to test his strength.
Soon, two of his subordinates arrived. Others were still picking up followers of other demon lords. Along with the two, there was a demon believer named Robert.
"Lord Kaecilius, I'm a faithful follower of the great Lord of Hell, Mephisto. I'll assist you in investigating Kamar-Taj."
Robert saluted politely. The followers of Mephisto were well-mannered.
"You'd better not hold back. This mission is no joke," Kaecilius said, giving Robert a cool glance.
Then, he opened the portal, leading his team to the outskirts of Kamar-Taj.
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