Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

”Meow! Meow!”

Suddenly, Mirra jumped onto Priam, meowing loudly in protest.

Priam made a small gesture, settling her back into his Inner Space.

”Yeah, yeah, you’re coming with me. I’m not going alone.”

His partner had only just been born, yet she was already deeply attached to him. With each passing day, she understood more clearly just how dangerous and brutal this world was, growing increasingly worried about Priam’s safety and refusing to stay behind.

Priam never hid anything from her. He felt the little one was mature enough to accept reality—after all, she was a Primordial Chaos Beast.

”Nothing unexpected should happen here anymore, like those powerful Corrupted Beasts showing up,” Priam said, turning toward Dandara, Sallya, Daraen, and Inigo, who were gathered together.

At this point, the four factions were practically operating as a single army. Their rivalry had completely disappeared. Every Mage had realized that staying united was the only way to survive.

”Everything on this side should remain stable, with the difficulty increasing gradually like it’s supposed to. However... the front lines just lost one of their Super Geniuses.”

Hearing that, everyone swallowed hard.

After thinking it over for a moment, they understood the weight of what had happened. That Master Mage who had appeared to save Walhart wasn’t some nobody. To have connections with the Elders of Law—and enough nerve to do everything he had done—he had to be the Super Genius leading one of the frontline factions.

To advance through the Outer Branch, a Super Genius only needed to reach the next Rank. Once that happened, they could lead their entire faction into the next sector, even if most of their members were still at the lower Rank.

That meant the Super Genius could’ve been, for example, a newly promoted Level 1 Master Mage.

Priam was certain he’d killed a beginner Master Mage. If the man had been Level 9, then even with all of Priam’s strength and the element of surprise, he probably would’ve survived the explosion, even if he ended up on death’s door.

After finishing his explanation, Priam quickly strode forward and entered the channel.

He activated his Elemental Physique and shot through the air at incredible speed, propelled by the wind.

Within seconds, he spotted hordes of Corrupted Beasts approaching. They were the weaker ones, sent toward the rear lines.

Priam leaped into the sky, accelerating even further.

He ignored the enemies completely. Even when the beasts tried to jump up and reach him, he was flying far too fast, slicing through the air untouched.

...

Priam sped forward for a little over an hour.

Only then did he spot the flashes of a bloody battle raging farther ahead.

There were only three factions there, perfectly divided between three channels. Each one had a little over two thousand Master Mages.

It was a small number of Mages. That was normal, since massive numbers of disciples died every year.

Priam and the young Mages were experiencing firsthand just how cruel life in the sect really was. Even without the recent incidents, the mortality rate seemed designed to wipe out half the newcomers.

Every year, one or more deadly missions and conflicts like this took place.

As a result, very few Mages survived long enough to move up to the higher-ranked factions.

Of course, as time went on, the mortality rate dropped dramatically.

If things stayed this deadly forever, everyone would die before ever reaching the Sage Rank. After surviving countless battles, Mages left their naivety behind and became battle-hardened veterans. That’s when the numbers finally stabilized.

”WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

Suddenly, a furious shout thundered toward Priam.

Without slowing down, he continued forward and landed in the center of a huge circular arena with pale white ground—the recovery zone for that sector.

The three channels all led into an enormous open arena. The recovery zone was located at the far right, backed against a colossal earthen wall. Any Corrupted Beasts that managed to get through instinctively went around the recovery zone, avoiding it out of pure fear.

Priam turned toward the central channel, where the voice had come from.

”I’m Priam, leader of one of the Young Mage factions.”

The man who had spoken was tall and powerfully built. He replied coldly,

”I know who the hell you are! What the hell are you doing here?! Go back immediately!”

Priam simply snorted and shifted his gaze toward the channel on the far left. The situation there was complete chaos, filled with panicked screams and violent explosions. That was the faction led by the idiot he’d killed.

Just as expected, things there were bad.

That was exactly why Priam had come.

Without its leader, that faction was bound to collapse.

Killing Walhart and the idiots who had tried to stop him had been perfectly justified. However, his actions would also cause the collapse of a higher-ranked faction, leading to the deaths of people who might have been completely innocent.

The sect would deeply feel those losses, since they were well-trained Master Mages.

On top of that, the overwhelming Corrupted Beasts from that channel would eventually reach the final defensive line, putting everyone at mortal risk.

If Priam didn’t step in, the entire battle could collapse before the time limit.

”I’m here to help...”

”TO HELL WITH YOUR HELP! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED, IDIOT?! GO BACK RIGHT NOW! I WON’T SAY IT AGAIN!” the man roared.

Priam let out a cold snort.

”Don’t worry about me. Whether I live or die is entirely my responsibility. But... let me make one thing perfectly clear...”

At that moment, Priam’s voice echoed through all three channels ahead, amplified by the power of the wind element like a clap of thunder.

”I’m not accusing anyone directly. But a lot of Corrupted Beasts that never should’ve made it past you reached the last defensive line. That wasn’t an accident, nor was it the fault of a single faction.”

Priam’s icy tone made thousands of Master Mages narrow their eyes.

”I don’t believe everyone here is guilty. However, I guarantee there are people in every faction who helped make this happen by turning a blind eye. I’ll only say this once: don’t mess with me, and don’t try anything funny again.”

His declaration sent an invisible wave of unease through the Mages.

”I’ve already dealt with the chaos in the rear and contained the worst of it. I came here to stabilize this line. Once everything’s over, the sect will investigate. Since I prevented a complete disaster and nothing irreversible happened, you might still get off with a moderate punishment.”

Those words left many of the disciples stunned and confused.

How had everything gone wrong?

None of it made any sense.

But if what Priam said was true, then now was the time to minimize the damage as much as possible.

If they did, they might actually avoid being executed or expelled from the sect as punishment.

The tall man seemed to calm down slightly as the weight of Priam’s warning sank in.

”And how exactly are you planning to help? Don’t talk nonsense. You wouldn’t survive a single hit from those Corrupted Beasts, and you’re useless in our high-level formations.”

Priam simply nodded and walked steadily toward the channel in chaos.

”Just keep fighting the way you have been. I’ll handle my part.”

Without bothering to say another word, he stepped into the chaotic channel and took a deep breath...

Inside the Nexus Seed, all the liquid Ether he had accumulated by absorbing corruption over those past dozens of days began surging wildly through his meridians.