Chapter 338: High Expectations

The battle dragged on for another five hours.

Until, finally, only a small group of a few hundred Sorcerers and nine ancient Sage-level figures remained. They were the strongest ones and had been deliberately left for last.

The ninety Young Sages of the army surrounded the older ones, preventing them from causing any damage. Even though all the elders were at the peak of the Enlightened Rank — boasting an enormous level advantage over the Young Sages — precise tactics and flawless teamwork left the old men completely powerless in battle.

This was a lesson that all the Mages of the sect had engraved deep into their souls: someone being individually strong wasn’t a big deal on their own.

Of course... there were exceptions. Monstrosities like Priam simply ignored this rule.

However, for 99.99% of people, it didn’t matter if they could defeat anyone in a one-on-one duel; in the middle of a large-scale confrontation against several opponents of the same Rank, they would inevitably be overwhelmed.

Lumiere fixed his gaze on that final group. He was already about to give the order to eliminate them when, suddenly, he spotted a figure appearing high above, right over the enemies.

Priam’s fists came crashing down like a meteor, catching the nine Sage-level Sorcerers completely by surprise.

*BOOOOOM!*

A colossal wave of dust swallowed the battlefield.

Minutes later, the dust settled and revealed the scene: the hundreds of Sorcerers lay dead, while the Sage-level ones were sealed, their bodies twisted. Priam had captured them alive.

"Cousin! When did you get back?" Flaris and the others quickly approached. None of them expected him to return so soon.

"Dandara and I arrived a few hours ago. I deliberately hid myself to test whether you could handle this kind of pressure. This time, you were truly incredible. I even asked Dandara to take control of the Flying Warships outside the planet, preventing you from using them, just so you’d feel the weight of real danger."

Upon hearing that, Flaris, Shione, and Lumiere’s eyes widened.

Only then did they realize that they had completely forgotten about that detail. They had been so obsessed with annihilating the enemy that the existence of the ships hadn’t even crossed their minds.

The fleet of Flying Warships had an emergency attack mode that burned the resources left inside them by the main sect. Its firepower was capable of easily sweeping away Enlightened Rank Sages.

Obviously, it wasn’t a resource to be used lightly. However, Priam had unlocked this option for everyone before leaving. Thus, when they entered the planet, the Flying Warships remained in orbit, ready to be used.

"We really are inexperienced. The moment the fight started, we forgot everything... even this possibility," Lumiere laughed bitterly. "A single shot from one of the ships would’ve been enough to exterminate the main targets. We could’ve ended this battle in a fraction of the time."

Flaris turned completely red with anger. As the substitute commander, she had forgotten about her most devastating trump card.

The battle had dragged on far longer than it should have. If other attacks had occurred elsewhere, entire planets could have been destroyed because of her carelessness.

"Relax, cousin. In the end, no one from the army died in this battle. Besides, there were no other attacks." Priam chuckled lightly. He was certain the enemies wouldn’t attack any other planets for the time being, which was why he hadn’t intervened directly either.

Why did he think that? Obviously, because Priam had killed a Celestial.

The Sorcerers must have gone crazy and held meetings to reassess their next attacks. The ordinary Sorcerers could be somewhat insane and act without thinking about the consequences, but the upper echelons certainly weren’t. Continuing to attack would only mean needlessly sacrificing their soldiers.

Even so, the situation was extremely embarrassing for those three in this battle.

Forgetting something so crucial was unacceptable. Spending a tiny fraction of their resources on a precise shot would’ve been perfectly justifiable and saved the army from an immense risk.

Priam continued gently, "Actually, everyone benefited from this, because you fought under even greater pressure. That’s exactly what allowed the entire army to awaken its true strength."

Hearing Priam’s words, Flaris let out a dry snort.

"Cousin, are you trying to comfort me? If that’s what you’re going to do, I’d rather you just scold me already."

He slowly shook his head. "Actually, I don’t have the right to criticize you. Today, I also saw many of my own mistakes."

Everyone in the group looked at one another in surprise. Priam continued:

"In this world, there are no perfect methods or tactics that are absolutely correct. And that includes my own method."

"I was the one who told Dandara to organize the battles this way. I expected to be able to use my own strength to lead everyone out of any problem. I knew how cruel our opponents were, and I wanted to find ways to improve my potential so I could be your shepherd. It was a mistake on my part to try to guide you this way."

"Why?" Shione frowned, not understanding.

Priam let out a long sigh. "Those of you who have been with me the longest have already understood that you can’t let your guard down and that you need to grow stronger on your own. But the faction’s soldiers, and these new recruits who joined us in this war... I ended up becoming their anchor. Someone who would always solve any problem in the end. If this continued, everyone would eventually become nothing more than my accessories in this war. Without Dandara and me around, everyone would fight like dizzy, fragile cockroaches."

"Luckily, I had to leave before they became completely dependent on me. That way, they learned that they could stand on their own."

Priam turned to face the entire army, which had already gathered a short distance away.

"All of you fought bravely in this battle. During the fight, you forgot about your own safety, thinking only about the comrades fighting beside you." His voice echoed loudly and firmly, reaching everyone with fervor.

"That is the power of the will to protect. When you faced death, you cast aside your innate fear and chose to protect others. And by doing so, you gained more than you can imagine. When you return to your branches, you’ll discover that you’ve undergone a complete rebirth."

Everyone was stunned by those words.

At that moment, they only felt that they had become more agile and focused when fighting as a group. But in reality, the future potential of each one of them had expanded drastically. Everyone in the army had risen several levels mentally — in the future, any individual obstacle would be overcome through sheer force of will.

Suddenly, a faint hum reverberated through the air. Everyone looked up at the sky a moment later, witnessing the entire fleet begin to move. Dandara had already taken command from the central Flying Warship.

Priam waved, taking the nine prisoners inside the ship.

With no time to waste on unnecessary distractions, everyone quickly boarded.

Priam went straight to the chamber where the Celestial was being held. Upon arriving, he first turned toward the nine newcomers. Without hesitation, he took the Creation Rune of the strongest among them for himself.

That old man had more than a hundred comets under his control.

Priam focused on them, taking control of them one by one... Until, when he reached the thirteenth, he stopped.

He closed his eyes and focused on the connection.

Deep within the universe, the thirteen comets cutting through the void glowed softly.

Inside them, Creation Essence flowed through their inner roots. Passively and automatically, these celestial bodies absorbed this energy. Now, through his extremely high-level spatial power, they sent their energies directly to Priam.

*Crack!*

A muffled crack echoed from within his body.

Priam took a deep breath and clenched his fists excitedly.

Then...

A chaotic aura and a strange sense of danger began flowing through his meridians again.

He let out a clearly annoyed snort. "I reached Level 2 by stealing these celestial bodies... But now the Creation Essence is being rejected by my body again."

When he received his weapon as a reward, the consciousness within the Inscription had helped him stabilize the rejection at Level 1. But now that he had reached Level 2, the resistance had returned at full force. It would certainly be the same with every advancement.

No matter how directly Priam could steal other people’s celestial bodies, he wouldn’t be able to level up that quickly because of this limitation.

"Fuck... I’ll have to abandon this old man’s other comets... and everyone else’s too. What a waste," he muttered to himself before pushing those thoughts aside.

Some things simply couldn’t be rushed. At least, he had already reached Level 2.

The System could even help him dominate the Creation Essence and use it perfectly. But it couldn’t make his body stop rejecting it.

Unable to absorb more or dominate any new celestial bodies for the time being, Priam ignored the Creation Runes of the other prisoners. He threw the nine of them into the black pool and then retrieved the Celestial, who had finally reached the perfect harvest point.

His expectations regarding those memories were immense.