Chapter 337: Ultimate Trial

On a planet dominated by deserts, with a single liquid ocean at its center, a bloody battle had already been dragging on for several hours.

At the heart of this ocean stood a medium-sized continent where life truly flourished. It was also where the planet’s rarest treasures grew — making it the absolute center that had to be protected.

Across the waters, in the middle of the desert, just under 150,000 disciples of the sect fought in an organized defensive formation against a corrupted army.

Although these Sorcerers were ruthless, they lacked coordination when it came to large-scale combat. They could even overpower Mages in individual duels, but in a war of this magnitude, isolated individual strength wasn’t the deciding factor.

This disparity had never been noticed by the Sorcerers before. The sect’s disciples were normally not natural group fighters, and battles between them had always tended to remain balanced. But the soldiers fighting now had been rigorously structured and trained.

It wasn’t perfect yet. But the leadership of Priam and Dandara had shaped that tactical miracle, forever transforming the mindset of everyone there.

Thus, with both sides fielding similar numbers, all the disciples had to do was suppress their panic and follow orders to overwhelm the invaders.

However, Priam and Dandara’s absence weighed on everyone like a rock on their chests. The vice-leader was magically precise in her orders. As for Priam, they knew he could annihilate dozens of Sages by himself in a matter of seconds.

Any unexpected situation could be dealt with through brute force and intelligence.

But now, their survival depended entirely on their own hands.

"Kill!"

At the Sorcerers’ vanguard, a tall woman with a malicious expression shouted furiously, swinging a blood-red cleaver toward Shione.

"Leave this bitch to me!" Flaris roared, intercepting the attack. Yin flames erupted from her body as she unleashed a brutal counterattack.

Flaris’s physique was terrifying, but her opponent also displayed impressive brute strength, specializing in close-quarters combat. The two engaged in a fierce duel.

As the main wave of Sorcerers advanced with their weapons raised, calm settled over Shione. Whenever her nervousness reached its peak, her mind entered a state of absolute serenity.

Her partner’s spiritual power swept across the enemy ranks. In an instant, she assessed the difference: the Sorcerers had three more Sages than the sect’s forces.

They needed to neutralize that advantage. Flaris, Lumiere, and Shione constantly exchanged messages, discussing what they should do about it.

"Maintain formation! Defend and attack as one!" Lumiere shouted to the young Sages from his branch.

This was something Dandara had already taught them before. When both sides’ forces were very similar, it was better to form squads containing both stronger and weaker members. Some would be responsible for attacking while others handled defense. This would increase their collective combat capability.

Without hesitation, Shione advanced while wielding an ice blade, carving a path through the invaders.

Lumiere noticed her sister’s movement and immediately maneuvered the troops to cover the prearranged strategy.

Three Sages from the sect surged forward, acting as bait to lure four enemy Sages.

Arrogant and holding the numerical advantage, the four Sorcerers took the bait without a second thought, expecting to quickly eliminate three isolated targets.

*BOOM!*

One of the Sorcerers’ sabers shattered upon colliding with a sect Sage’s weapon, sending the invader flying backward.

However, the blow had consumed nearly all of the 4th Branch young Sage’s Ether. Seeing him pale and momentarily defenseless after such a powerful strike, the other three Sorcerers surrounded him with macabre smiles.

He wouldn’t be able to escape, remaining frozen in place for a brief moment. It was the perfect opportunity.

But...

"Frozen Sky Blade!"

A roar echoed behind the Sorcerers, accompanied by a devastating wave of cold.

Shione held nothing back. Her two partners poured all their spiritual power directly into her, allowing her to fuse all her freezing energy into a single attack.

Three ice arrows cut through the air, distorting the fabric of space.

The three turned around, and their eyes widened. Her power was simply too frightening. A Mage Master definitely shouldn’t possess this kind of ability!

The arrows possessed a density greater than steel. With no other choice, the three Sorcerers burned Creation Essence in a desperate attempt to block the impact.

However, in the exact millisecond they raised their defenses to block the arrows... the blades of the other sect’s Sages simultaneously slit the three Sorcerers’ throats.

The trap had been completed. Blinded by their greed for an easy kill, the Sorcerers had fallen victim to their own arrogance.

Shione didn’t have the power to directly kill a Sage-level Sorcerer. However, that devastating ice attack would leave the trio severely wounded. In a battle of that scale, suffering damage of that magnitude was practically a death sentence — the sect Sages wasted no time finishing them off.

But defending had caused the same outcome. They were already dead the moment they decided to attack that weakened target.

Shione had acted with impeccable precision. Flaris was thrilled by the success of the ambush. Neutralizing the enemy Sages’ numerical advantage was essential; otherwise, the infantry troops would be crushed.

After nearly a day, they had finally done it!

*BOOM! BOOM!*

Blood and shards of armor sprayed through the air. The Sages’ triumph injected a wave of adrenaline into the sect’s armies, who roared as they realized the tide had turned.

Despite the decisive victory, Shione, Flaris, and Lumiere’s pale faces betrayed their exhaustion. Being only Mage Masters, they had to push their bodies and Ether reserves to their absolute limits to contend with the enemies.

"Massacre every last one of these bastards!" Lumiere shouted in a thunderous voice, hiding every trace of exhaustion.

The troops’ morale skyrocketed; the disciples doubled down on their advance, crushing the enemy’s front line.

The vast desert became a hell of elemental lights, gleaming blades, and deafening explosions.

Although the sect disciples now possessed a huge advantage, the danger remained constant when facing these fierce Sorcerers. Many people were being wounded nonstop.

The squad of Holy Mages operated with surgical precision in the rear, healing the wounded while pushing themselves to the brink of exhaustion. After more than 24 hours of uninterrupted conflict, the initial chaos gave way to a perfectly well-oiled war machine: the disciples settled into a constant and relentless rhythm of slaughter.

While the Sorcerers fought selfishly and without coordination — like grains of sand scattered by the wind — the sect’s army fought as a single organism. Their cooperation became more refined with every passing minute, each Mage perfectly covering the gaps of the ally beside them.

Even so, the risk remained lethal. On a battlefield saturated with spells and stray blades, any mistake meant death.

However, fear had been completely swept from the minds of those men and women. The only thought driving them was protecting the backs of their allies.

On the left flank, a young disciple from the 11th Branch drove her saber into a Sorcerer’s chest.

However, in one final act of sheer ferocity, the enemy grabbed the blade with his bare hands before falling, locking her weapon in place. At the same instant, another Sorcerer appeared behind her, thrusting his blade toward the woman’s skull in a fatal strike.

There was no time to dodge.

The woman gritted her teeth. If she fell there, who would cover her sisters’ backs? She decided to accept the impact: as soon as the blade pierced her flesh, she would use the last seconds of her life to take the enemy down with her.

*BANG!*

Before the enemy’s steel could touch her, the Sorcerer’s head was severed and sent flying through the air.

The young woman blinked in shock. Through the veil of blood, she caught sight of a figure giving her a quick thumbs-up.

"Boss!"

Priam had infiltrated the chaos of the battlefield invisibly. He didn’t directly interfere with the course of the war, acting only as a watchful shadow. Only when a disciple faced inevitable death — without having committed some serious tactical mistake — would he intervene from the shadows.

That had been his twentieth silent rescue.

Giving the girl a discreet signal to keep it a secret, Priam took down two nearby invaders with imperceptible movements and dissolved back into the smoke of battle.

He wouldn’t reveal his presence openly. Keeping the army under the illusion that they were on their own was the only way to forge an unshakable courage within them. This battle was the ultimate trial: only by staring into the abyss of death without wavering would they discover the true meaning of being strong like an expert.