Confidence

In Olthagia's view, if conventional Magicians generally followed the path of elemental studies to understand energy, then the Wizards of this world pursued biology and curse studies.

Among them, one out of two looked grotesque—even less human than Olthagia's humanoid form...

It was easy to imagine just how abnormal those Wizards appeared.

Multiple eyes and extra limbs were standard fare, while two or three heads barely counted as unconventional.

Standing beside these human monstrosities, Olthagia's crimson-gold eyes and sharp claws were hardly noticeable, instantly rendered insignificant.

I actually look more human than humans—what a novel discovery!

He had mused this more than once.

Though no one else seemed to agree.

Gazing at Hawthorne, who remained hidden within the folds of space with no intention of revealing himself, Olthagia asked, "How many of those youngsters do you think will become full-fledged Wizards?"

Though puzzled by the question, Hawthorne answered, "This batch has around 1,200 people. Based on past rates, perhaps fewer than thirty will succeed."

Olthagia chuckled. "If I recall correctly, Wizarding aptitude appears in roughly one out of 17,000 people. And among that one-in-ten-thousand, only about one in forty ever becomes a full Wizard. The odds are practically one or two in a million."

Even the orthodox Magician profession, infamous for its low advancement rate, had far better odds than Wizards.

Had the Wizarding World not been vast—a single sprawling continent teeming with humans—this pitiful success rate would have made it impossible for Wizards to form a civilization.

To his remark, Hawthorne replied calmly, "That hardly matters. A single full Wizard is worth more to me than a million mortals. They are the foundation of Wizard civilization—common folk are just useless soil, no matter how numerous."

"True. A single exceptional individual is often more valuable than a mass of mediocrity," Olthagia agreed, nodding without argument before adding his own perspective. "But I think those mortals could serve better purposes than inefficient reproduction. Developing other technologies, for instance."

Hawthorne dismissed the idea outright. "Unnecessary. Too troublesome, too unstable."

With that, he slipped through the spatial rift to another location, clearly unwilling to delve deeper into the topic.

Sensing his departure, Olthagia sighed and shook his head. "What a shame..."

He wasn't lamenting for the common folk—only for the missed spectacle.

Had Hawthorne taken his advice, Olthagia was confident he could have steered this world's mortal nations toward a technological civilization.

The clash between an emerging tech-based society and the ancient Wizarding order—just imagining it made him giddy with anticipation.

By then, would the Wizards, already in decline, maintain their dominion as effortlessly as before?

Whatever the outcome, conflict between the two was inevitable.

Although he didn't want to cause any major disturbances in this world, his chaotic nature still made him yearn to see it engulfed in flames...

Leaping down from the tree branch, he casually plucked a flower from the ground and held it in his hand.

Olthagia could clearly sense that every Doom Blossom was radiating unbridled malice toward this world.

After over a decade of evolution, his plague had incorporated numerous new effects, the most crucial being [World Corrosion].

If he so desired, the power of [Plague Calamity - Doom Blossom] could manifest as a plague, constructing an area suitable for Olthagia's activities at any location.

When the Doom Blossoms fully bloomed, Olthagia could partially ignore the world's suppression within that area, no longer constantly suffering resistance from the foreign world.

This was particularly significant for Olthagia, who already possessed some resistance to world suppression!

It meant he could enter other worlds with nearly his full strength, free from the constraints of a weakened state.

For a Demon to truly invade another world, possessing such similar abilities was essential.

Otherwise, upon causing sufficient destruction, they would inevitably be violently expelled by the world's consciousness!

This was precisely why transforming hostile territory into favorable ground became a necessary skill every Demon needed to master.

Though Olthagia's inherited memories contained many related Spells and rituals, they were either too conspicuous or overly cumbersome, each with its own flaws. Thus, he only used them as reference material.

He treated them as experience, building upon them.

Developing new applications for his innate ability, [Plague Calamity - Doom Blossom].

Thereby creating invasion methods truly suited to him.

In this process, his other innate abilities also played crucial roles.

Often, when he hit a bottleneck and couldn't find a solution...

For instance, while gnawing on a chicken leg and beating up Passerby A to relax, inspiration would inexplicably strike, allowing him to overcome the obstacle.

This fully demonstrated that success comes from ninety-nine percent effort and one percent inspiration—but cheating could skip most of the process and deliver the result directly!

So Olthagia chose to cheat.

Humans must have self-awareness, and so must Demons. He knew his own limits well—why make things harder for himself when he could sail smoothly?

Given his current perspective, he couldn't fathom the true nature of the Evolution System. But at least up to now, he hadn't detected any harm from it. It functioned more as a simple auxiliary tool, lacking even basic artificial intelligence.

As for wariness or resistance, he never entertained such thoughts.

If the Evolution System were truly a poisoned bait given by someone else, he couldn't comprehend what they stood to gain. It would be like a deity poisoning the Nine-Cycle Golden Elixir—which granted immortality upon consumption—just to kill an ordinary rabbit. What would be the point?

Too much free time?

Why go through such drastic measures when a single finger could solve the problem?

Was he even worth that price?

He didn't even believe himself to be more valuable than the Evolution System.

Moreover, if some supreme being was truly scheming against him, Olthagia didn't think his current abilities could make any waves in the face of such an existence.

Any resistance from him would likely be seen as nothing more than a clown's pathetic performance by such a being. Did he really have any choice when already in their grasp?

So rather than wasting time on conspiracy theories, Olthagia found it more practical to take things one step at a time.

At the very least, the knowledge and perspective he'd gained through power wouldn't deceive him.

Even if he were reduced to nothing one day, with his current knowledge and experience, he could immediately switch to a spellcasting or combat profession.

This was his most fundamental confidence.