Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

When the blinding light, soot, and cloud of dust finally began to dissipate, what remained of the island was a picture of hell on earth.

The lush vegetation had completely disappeared. In its place, there was nothing but a scorching desert, covered in smoking craters and pools of molten rock bubbling in a bright red glow.

The air instantly became dense, saturated with a suffocating Yin of death. The nauseating smell of blood and burnt flesh rose in thick columns of smoke, spreading across the entire Yin Lake.

Gray ashes fell from the sky like a macabre rain, covering the remains of those who had chosen to mock the warning they had received.

Of the thousands of disciples from the 4th Branch who had occupied the fortress moments ago, not a single intact body remained. Practically all of them had been reduced to ashes or vaporized in the millisecond the Whirlwind Flare swallowed the ground.

The destruction had been so monstrous that even the water surrounding the island had been pushed back hundreds of meters, boiling violently and producing deafening cracks against the shores.

Far away, gathered along the shores of the lake, the disciples of the 11th Branch, along with the few members of the 4th Branch who had fled, stared at the scene in complete shock.

No one could take a single step. No one even dared to breathe too loudly.

Their faces were pale, their pupils trembling with visceral shock. They knew Priam was a monster, but witnessing the instantaneous annihilation of thousands of elite Mages with a single attack... was something that crossed the line between unbelievable and terrifying.

High above, amid the warm breeze filled with soot, the golden halo around Priam slowly began to retract. He descended from the sky at a leisurely pace, landing on the scorching ground without suffering so much as a scratch.

His eyes swept across the vastness of that burning graveyard with icy serenity.

The blood debt had finally been paid.

Feeling his body, Priam was satisfied.

’Excellent. With the Heavenly Battle Armor activated, my body doesn’t suffer nearly as much damage when unleashing the Whirlwind Flare. The only downside is the complete exhaustion of my energy. But if things get rough, I can still rely on the Power Runes and burn my life force to keep fighting.’

He soon looked around, shifting his attention to a raised mound that had miraculously survived the devastation.

There, hidden among the rocks, was an entrance sealed by a second inscription matrix. Since it covered a considerably smaller area, its defensive power was several times greater than the island’s main barrier.

Knowing it was there beforehand, Priam hadn’t worried about destroying it.

He approached the entrance, then took out the master rune contained in Mikhella’s spatial ring. As he brought the object closer, the defensive inscription briefly lit up and dissolved, opening the way.

Upon entering the cave, Priam found a true storage vault filled with spatial rings, along with mountains of treasures accumulated by the disciples of the 4th Branch.

Minutes later, the disciples of the 11th Branch who had been waiting on the shore finally managed to reach the island and meet up with Priam.

They all belonged to his faction, since only they knew the secret code transmitted in the message. Any other member of the 11th Branch would never risk approaching an enemy gathering point without understanding the true meaning behind the summons.

---

With each new day, more and more survivors from Priam’s faction arrived at the location.

As they approached the lake, the leadership emblem Priam carried emitted fluctuations that could be sensed by the emblems of all his subordinates. Knowing their leader was personally on the island, they advanced without any fear of falling into a trap.

As they gathered, Priam’s orders were direct and straightforward.

Everyone was to prepare for the final confrontation. Wandering around the area in search of treasures was strictly forbidden, as the risk of death at their current stage was astronomical.

Priam revealed the shocking truth about the Sorcerers, the Corrupted Beasts, and the filthy alliance the 8th Branch had made with the enemies.

An overwhelming hatred burned in everyone’s chest when they learned about the systematic slaughter carried out against the disciples of the 11th Branch. There was no room for doubt: among the piles of loot stored in the cave were hundreds of emblems taken from the bodies of their fallen companions.

Thanks to the filthy rewards Mikhella had promised to anyone who brought back proof of their hunts, the irrefutable evidence of that massacre now rested in Priam’s hands.

Fifteen days passed.

Shione, Lumiere, Flaris, and Dandara finally arrived at the island, accompanied by around 80% of Priam’s entire faction. The rest... had unfortunately already perished.

Some certainly fell due to poor judgment in the dangerous areas of that realm; however, a large portion had been coldly murdered by the hands of traitors from their own sect.

Priam welcomed Dandara and his generals with a deep sigh of relief.

Shione, Flaris, and Lumiere arrived, each leading a troop made up of more than a hundred disciples. The trio had not only survived the devastating dangers of the place, but had also used their impeccable leadership skills to track down, protect, and gather the scattered members while exploring the region.

During a private meeting, Priam listened carefully to the reports of the trials the group had gone through during those months, feeling immensely proud inside.

Those three, who had crossed the mortal plane alongside him, had been evolving by leaps and bounds far from his sight. Thanks to the overwhelming power of their race’s Ancestral Art, each of them carried a unique and terrifying power.

At present, the three had mastered the techniques of their Ancestral Art to the absolute limit. Their spiritual partners possessed enough individual power to massacre a Mage Master with ease — and, being incorporeal entities, they were almost impossible targets to destroy.

Combined with their advanced mastery over soul techniques and their natural strength, each of Priam’s three generals had become an unpredictable and terrifying force on the battlefield.

As for Dandara... Priam was genuinely surprised to see her arrive escorted by six colossal Beasts.

In that short period of time, she had managed to expertly subjugate two Heavenly Beasts, two Calamity Beasts, and two Impure Beasts.

She explained that the advanced Beast Tamer technique she had inherited allowed her to create an internal space within her own body. Unlike the Vanculari’s internal space, Dandara’s space was capable of housing and nurturing real physical creatures.

That wasn’t mere coincidence. After all, it had been the Goddess herself who had helped the Vanculari conceive their Ancestral Art, basing the technique on her own power.

Dandara also revealed that she hadn’t limited herself to controlling creatures: she had also gained Magical Techniques from the Goddess’s inheritance, granting her overwhelming individual combat power.

She was no longer a vulnerable figure who needed to be protected by others; now, she could fight on the front lines in perfect harmony with her beasts.

Priam nodded in satisfaction and, with a calm movement, handed her an unexpected gift.

When Dandara’s eyes landed on that egg, they shone like stars.

It was the egg of the most powerful Heavenly Beast race in existence in that world.

More than that: since it was still in the incubation stage, raising the creature from birth meant its potential would be truly limitless! Under the guidance of the Goddess’s inheritance, Dandara could mold that newborn into an ultimate weapon.

With all the reports delivered and the situation clarified, Priam assumed his commanding stance and ordered the army to prepare.

With a wave of his hand, he delivered four direct-knowledge runes into the minds of Shione, Lumiere, Flaris, and Dandara.

”Study this immediately and transmit the knowledge to all our soldiers. This rune contains the exact method for breaking through the bottleneck and reaching the Mage Master level in the heat of battle, exactly as I did in the past. That’s an order: everyone must memorize every detail.”

He paused before continuing with a firm gaze:

”Besides that, we’ll use every last resource and artifact those bastards from the 4th Branch accumulated in this cave. We don’t have a second to waste. A true life-or-death battle awaits us.”

The four absorbed the information and took a deep breath, feeling the suffocating weight and tension.

Noticing the nervousness written across their faces, Priam let out a faint smile to reassure them.

”You four don’t need to be afraid. You will be the most powerful shield and sword in this battle.”

Then, he gestured again, taking four radiant fruits from his spatial ring.

”Eat these fruits and absorb all their energy directly into your Jade Cores. This will drastically raise your level of power.”

The moment Priam revealed the four fruits bathed in Sacred Energy, the expressions of all four transformed into pure shock.