Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam took a deep breath with a faint smile on his lips and raised his right hand toward the portal once again.

That previous attack hadn’t consumed even 5% of the Destruction Thunder reserves he had accumulated. However, piercing through the spatial barrier of that vortex required an absurd level of concentration, focusing all the power into a single point in order to perfectly pierce through to the other side.

On the other side of the portal, the structure trembled and hummed with extreme instability. The eight remaining Spectral Generals were stunned and roared in fury.

There was nothing they could do except try to cross over as quickly as possible and reach the planet.

”Don’t bother rushing. I’ll deal with all of you pretty quickly...” Priam murmured as destructive sparks began dancing around his fingers once again.

”WAIT!”

A harsh voice roared from behind him.

Priam turned around lazily. The one who had shouted was one of the men: a muscular figure with long blond hair tied back and an arrogant look on his face.

”You can’t do that!” he continued.

Priam snorted disdainfully. ”Oh? And why not?”

The figure clenched his fists, staring at him with a sharp, savage intent. Obviously, he had no legitimate answer to give. The reason behind his outrage, however, was obvious to everyone there...

That guy was the Sage from the inscription sect in the western region—the very one who had remained firmly at the top of the rankings since the beginning of the Celestial Event. He had only fallen to second place a handful of times, quickly reclaiming the lead afterward.

But now... Priam hadn’t just surpassed him; he had opened up a colossal gap between them. And he had done it by killing a single Spectral General!

Deeply displeased, that Sage turned toward the other four around him.

”You! We have to join forces now! He can’t kill our targets like this! He doesn’t deserve first place for acting like this!”

Priam almost burst out laughing, but kept his expression neutral and cold.

”That’s right!” one of the other two men agreed curtly.

However, the other woman and the young Innate Celestial merely sighed lightly at the scene.

”I’m not taking part in this nonsense. Do whatever you want,” the woman said disdainfully. She met Priam’s eyes for a brief moment before shooting away, returning to her sect’s sector.

The young Innate Celestial took a deep breath and shook his head. ”He has the power to do this, so it isn’t dirty or unfair. Anyone in his position would do the same. Anyway... my presence here is no longer relevant.”

He gave Priam a slight nod of respect, then shot through the sky, moving away from the area.

”Idiots. Whatever!” the muscular blond man snorted before turning back to Priam. ”I’m not going to waste time with words. Retreat immediately and stop attacking like a coward. Or I’ll stop you myself!”

Priam gave a mocking smile.

”Just you?”

The man puffed out his chest. ”That’s right!”

”Meh... Come at me together, all three of you. That way, I can finish this quickly and get back to the main matter,” Priam said slowly, looking at them as if they were nothing more than a nuisance.

The three expressions darkened, and a savage killing intent erupted from them. But it was obvious they wouldn’t attack together.

”You bastard brat! Looks like the Ironweald Sect forgot to teach its disciples some manners!”

The blond man roared as he drew a massive, long saber. The instant the weapon appeared, the space around him began to vibrate under the weight of his aura.

Priam smiled, lowering his hand and temporarily dispersing the electrical power.

”Okay, I’ll give you two minutes.”

...

Almost at the same time, several kilometers away, the Ironweald Sect’s army—which was fighting from a defensive position—turned its gaze toward the crater region after sensing an abnormal tremor.

They saw what looked like a bloody meteor cutting across the sky and plummeting toward them.

*BOOM!*

With an explosive boom, the blond-haired man slammed into the ground like a falling star.

Priam appeared right behind him, descending gently. The man got back to his feet, covered in blood, horrified, and was forced to retreat once again.

”Was that really all? I thought you’d last a little longer...” Priam mocked lazily.

During their first clash moments earlier, the enemy had gone all out, attacking with his massive saber.

Priam, meanwhile, had activated Ananke and given it half of his Ether. But he had also conducted a test, sending a single thread of Destruction Thunder through the air and straight into the core of the enemy’s weapon.

The result had been catastrophic. The saber’s energies became chaotic, and then Priam’s fist struck it.

The imposing, terrifying saber simply exploded, sending the idiot flying away.

”DIE!”

The man roared and drew a new weapon, simultaneously activating dozens of inscription runes focused on attack and defense. This was the true specialty of his sect.

Priam smiled and engaged him in close combat.

It was obvious to everyone that the man’s raw power was terrifying. However, he was completely incapable of overpowering Priam, who dodged and counterattacked while barely spending any energy.

”You bastard! Are you mocking me?!”

The man roared in fury. A dazzling golden light emanated from his head, covering his entire body. Virtual wings of light seemed to spread open from his back; space tore apart, and he disappeared into thin air.

He had used a unique inscription that exploited the essence of a Celestial. This was the ultimate specialty of his sect, converting his movement into something similar to teleportation. He traveled through the folds of space without leaving a trace.

Priam merely sneered and, without warning, threw a casual punch backward.

The millisecond his fist moved forward, the blond-haired man’s figure emerged from the void, directly in the path of the attack.

*CRACK!*

It was as if the man had slammed his own face into Priam’s fist. He violently coughed up blood and was sent flying backward in a disastrous trajectory.

”Impossible! The Celestial Wing Spatial Inscription has no flaws! How could you predict where I would appear?!” the man shouted, bewildered and covered in blood.

”I’m sorry to tell you this, but I’m clairvoyant. I know the heavens, I know the earth, and I know the laws of the world. I know everything there is to know. Before you even think about doing something, I already know exactly what’s going to happen. Therefore, everything about you is under my control. I couldn’t control when you were born, but I can control when you die. It depends entirely on my mood,” Priam said with extreme nonchalance.

His voice resounded through the skies, echoing across his entire army. Besides that, the two Sages who had remained behind were nearby, watching from a distance, and they heard those words with stunned expressions.

”Nonsense!” the blond man roared and disappeared into the void once again.

Priam sneered and threw a punch to his left, slightly ahead of where he was standing.

Space tore apart in front of his fist, revealing the man’s figure at the exact moment he emerged.

*CRACK!*

The sound was grotesque. The punch struck the man while he was still traveling through the spatial fold, collapsing the passage around him. If he hadn’t been ridiculously tough, he would have exploded right there.

”Believing me now? Every one of your movements, every one of your actions, is under my control. Against me, you don’t stand the slightest chance,” Priam declared indifferently.

The blond-haired man was torn between terror and madness. The Celestial Wing Inscription was the absolute pride of his sect, and seeing Priam intercept it as if he were playing around was simply inconceivable.

Priam merely stared at him coldly.

Obviously, the whole ”clairvoyance” story was a complete lie. The secret was simple: whenever the idiot was about to emerge from the void, Priam’s Transcendental Anima detected the spatial fluctuation a fraction of a second beforehand.

Combined with his insane elemental speed, Priam could position his fist before the enemy even materialized his body.

Only someone possessing a Transcendental Anima combined with absurd speed could replicate something like this. And that was practically impossible to find.

However, the blond man, the two elite Sages watching from afar, and the entire army had absolutely no idea about this, and were genuinely horrified by Priam’s declaration.

Without wasting any time, Priam attacked once again.

The blond-haired man was repeatedly beaten and knocked through the air like a punching bag.

Until...

”Okay, your time’s up.”

*BANG!*

Priam appeared directly behind him and unleashed a devastating blow, causing the man’s body to explode into a bloody mist.

From a distance, the two Sages watched without changing their initial expressions much. After all, a Celestial didn’t die simply because their body was destroyed; they would regenerate within seconds.

However...

Seconds passed. Five... ten... twenty seconds.

And nothing happened.

The blood mist didn’t gather back together. The Celestial Core didn’t react. That man’s existence had been permanently erased from reality.

As they watched Priam calmly turn his back and return to the portal, the horror on the faces of those two Sages erupted with overwhelming force—as if they had just witnessed the most shocking and terrifying event of their lives.