Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam was extremely confident. After all, among the vast mountain of treasures accumulated and plundered from the 4th Branch, there was an absurd amount of high-level energy herbs and natural materials.

To anyone else, they would be ingredients for complex pills. Still, to him, those resources could be converted directly into pure Qi for absorption, refined into Ether, and finally transmuted into Divine Ether.

Advancing in level was merely a matter of time and assimilation.

On top of that, with the transformative power of the Sacred Energy fruit, Dandara and the three generals would multiply their Ether reserves and density several times over. They were already powerful, and now they would become practically impossible targets to defeat.

As for the soldiers of his faction, encouraged by their leadership and equipped with advanced techniques, they were progressing by leaps and bounds. If everything went according to plan, the upcoming battle could be an absolute triumph.

But... as with almost everything in his life, Priam knew nothing was ever that easy.

...

The days passed at a tense and steady pace.

In the meantime, constantly accumulating and compressing energy, Priam was already very close to becoming a Level 9 Mage Master. A few more days and he would reach the peak of that Rank.

It was exactly at that moment that Dandara came to him, wearing a serious expression.

"Boss, there are quite a few people watching us from a distance, and they’re being pretty sneaky about it. What should we do?" she asked.

Priam let out a cold and indifferent snort.

By ordering the messages to be transmitted through the contact channels of the enemy branches, it was inevitable that everyone would learn about this island and where they were.

By now, the opposing forces had surely noticed Mikhella and Dioma’s deaths, realizing that something had gone terribly wrong.

"We don’t need to bother with them," Priam replied in a calm but icy tone. "But if they dare provoke us, just kill them."

"Kill them just because they provoke us?" Dandara asked, slightly stunned by the merciless directive.

"Yes," Priam affirmed, his gaze firm and cutting. "Send a clear message that no one is allowed to approach the island or bother us. If they insist or cross the line, they’ll be openly provoking us. Doing this right now isn’t the same as in normal times. If they’re doing this now, they definitely have hostile intentions and were most likely sent as scouts by our enemies."

He paused briefly, the aura around him becoming even heavier.

"Right now, every one of our soldiers is giving everything they have to absorb as much knowledge and as many resources as possible. Even though an interruption won’t kill them, it will slow down everyone’s rate of evolution. And we don’t have a single second to waste."

"Every minute here is worth gold. So if they provoke us now, it’s the same as stabbing us in the back. Whether they harbor direct hostility toward us or not, if they cross the line, kill them all without hesitation."

Priam was racing against time to raise the strength of his faction to its absolute limit. He didn’t expect his subordinates to win the battle for him, but he wanted to make sure they had enough power to survive the massacre that was approaching.

The mere thought of watching those who had placed their trust in him die one by one before his eyes was something he refused to accept.

Deep down, even Priam felt a faint pang of anxiety. No matter how overwhelming his individual power was, he was still just one man.

If the enemy branches marched with an army of hundreds of thousands of Mages, together with the Corrupted Beasts, how could he possibly protect everyone and wipe out the invaders by himself in time?

It was mathematically impossible. That was why his allies needed to rise like an unbreakable wall and endure that great tribulation.

That urgency gave him a deep sense of crisis. If he were alone, he could simply tear open space and escape from any threat. But what about the people beside him?

To reach the Central Realm of this world, everyone had to march together toward a specific point in the region. There were no shortcuts or cowardly ways out: they would have to carve a path through a storm.

In short, he needed every fighter under his command to be capable of fighting and exterminating threats with complete composure.

"Alright! Then I’ll go out myself and stand guard, along with my children," Dandara said, an excited smile appearing on her lips, clearly eager to show Priam her new power.

"I’ll be everyone’s hidden guard. However, the ground around here is completely burned and exposed, with nowhere decent to hide... I guess I’ll set up another tent outside and keep watch from there, hehe..."

Dandara laughed, letting out a chuckle filled with an almost indescribable hint of mischief.

Priam sighed softly. The multiple sides of her personality continued to show themselves; at that moment, she was acting like a shameless little troublemaker. But deep down, he actually kind of liked that side of her.

"Do whatever you want. Just don’t forget not to bother our soldiers," Priam warned.

"Hehe..." Dandara nodded, letting out another mischievous little giggle.

As soon as she stepped outside, she sharpened her vision and immediately spotted several scouts hidden in the vegetation along the shores of the lake.

Right then, she became absolutely certain that Priam was right: judging by their sneaky behavior and furtive posture, those guys were definitely not good people. And since they weren’t good people, dealing with them would be exponentially more enjoyable.

At first, the spies merely watched from a distance without doing anything. However, as time passed, more and more figures began gathering around the area. Within a few hours, hundreds of Mages from various branches occupied the shores of the lake.

It didn’t take long for the provocation to begin.

"Priam, you damn traitor! Get out of here!"

A deafening shout shook the atmosphere over the lake. However, the Mage who had yelled the insult remained firmly planted on the shore, maintaining a ’safe distance’ from the island.

Encouraged by the audacity of that first individual, several others emerged from their positions and, under his leadership, dozens of voices began shouting in unison, creating an unbearable commotion.

Inside her stakeout tent, Dandara, who had been bored out of her mind until then, opened her eyes instantly. Through a small opening in the fabric, she stared at the noisy scouts outside.

"Hehe... Finally!"

With a macabre smile on her lips, she calmly walked to the edge of the island, fixing her icy gaze on the distant figures.

The Mages continued screaming at the top of their lungs:

"You violently killed innocent people! You’re a cruel and merciless monster! The very scum of our sect! A murderous demon!"

"You deranged lunatic, do you really think your sadistic methods will be enough to make us tremble before you?!"

"Your time will come! Even when we return to our worlds, we’ll take irrefutable evidence of your atrocities with us! Just you wait!"

Following the hysterical tone of the group’s leader, hundreds of voices joined together in curses and insults, portraying Priam as a demonic villain whose sins could never be absolved.

Inside the tents scattered across the island, the soldiers of Priam’s faction couldn’t even hear the spectacle outside, completely isolated by the soundproofing and protective inscriptions.

From his position, Priam could hear every word, but he merely wore a mocking and indifferent smile. The insults didn’t affect his mind.

However, at the edge of the island, Dandara’s expression became completely cold.

She had been excited about the opportunity to test her new power. But hearing those insects slandering Priam’s name awakened a visceral fury deep within her soul.

To make matters worse, she noticed the cowardice behind their actions: those idiots had gathered solely to cause trouble and slow down the group’s evolution. They remained standing at a considerable distance, cursing without the slightest courage to step into the water or advance even a single meter. Every one of their body postures indicated that they were ready to scatter at the slightest sign of real danger.

That cowardly farce enraged Dandara to the point that a terrifying killing intent emanated from her pores.

She was no longer the weak girl she had once been; every trace of weakness had been swept away from her being, replaced by unwavering determination. It was as if the true essence she had possessed in the past had awakened within her once again.

Standing at the edge of the island and staring at the distant crowd, her icy voice cut through the air:

"If you want to fight, come at me already. Don’t stand there barking insults like a bunch of cowardly idiots."

The crowd on the shore almost recoiled in fear when they saw Dandara step forward. However, when they noticed that Priam hadn’t appeared and realized that the figure before them was merely a half-beast woman, their initial fear evaporated, replaced by arrogance.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! Even a bitch from the sect dares to bark at us?!"

"Anyone who stays by that demon’s side is definitely worthless! Just wait: your day of judgment is coming!"

"If you were smart, you’d kill yourselves right now to avoid a horrible death later! All of you, trash from the 11th Branch, are going to—!"

At that exact millisecond, every voice abruptly fell silent.

An instinctive, primitive, and terrifying unease froze the blood in everyone’s veins.

The suffocating sensation that descended upon the crowd was as if Death itself were watching them with its scythe.

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