Chapter 345: Overwhelming Dominance

Priam felt a sudden and unsettling pang of helplessness.

That Veteran Acquired Celestial let out a sinister laugh and hurled the golden lotus directly at the barrier’s ceiling.

"ONLY IN YOUR DREAMS!"

Priam was about to move to intercept it, but the other Sorcerers around him closed off every escape route, using all their strength to restrain him.

Just as Priam was about to reveal a trump card he would rather have kept hidden...

*Blinding Break!*

A cry echoed like thunder tearing through the skies.

Piercing through the barrier, three daggers shot forward in sync like gleaming bolts of lightning. Pulsing with overwhelming light, the blades fused together in midair and struck the golden lotus head-on.

**KBOOOOM!**

The collision triggered a colossal explosion. Both Priam and the Sorcerers surrounding him were hurled away by the brutal shockwave.

The barrier trembled violently, and webs of cracks spread in every direction. However, the structure held firm and began regenerating automatically.

When the chaos in space finally stabilized, Priam looked in one direction with bated breath.

Dandara was rushing toward that Veteran Celestial. A bizarre aura, blending light and shadows, emanated from her body. Simply feeling that pressure was like having a mountain crushing your chest — that power had definitely transcended the ordinary.

With a quick gesture, the three daggers returned to her, floating around her body.

She grabbed two daggers, then made a sharp motion, distorting the space in front of her.

*CLANG!*

The Celestial raised his black saber just in time to block. The impact knocked Dandara backward, while the enemy staggered back three heavy steps.

However, while still in midair, Dandara stepped on the very fabric of space, and the energy around her changed drastically.

A dense miasma completely enveloped her. She unleashed 100% of her power without the slightest hesitation. Then, she shot forward again with everything she had.

*BOOOM!*

On the second impact, the Veteran Acquired Celestial was sent flying like an uncontrolled meteor, crashing into the barrier wall.

The surrounding Sorcerers were completely stunned, petrified by the scene before them.

Priam took a deep breath, staring at the woman who landed firmly on the ground.

She turned around, and her red eyes met his.

Priam slowly nodded. After the battle on her home planet, Dandara had told him that the "Goddess’s Legacy" had begun synchronizing with her soul on a much deeper level, unlocking new knowledge and powers.

Now... if she could go back in time to the moment when she had faced the Celestial on her home planet, she would never have been suppressed. She could even have fought him on equal terms if she had already been a Sage as well.

"Boss, I’ll take care of him!"

Her voice rang out with absolute confidence. Without waiting for a response, she shot toward the enemy at the edge of the barrier.

A faint smile appeared on Priam’s face.

In his mind, the memory of that tearful, devastated half-beast girl flashed by, back when traitors had stolen her banners during the sect’s first trial. Then he recalled the image of her poisoned, beyond saving, longing for death in the other world.

That old helplessness was finally behind her.

Dandara had finally awakened her true potential, becoming the most trustworthy and powerful ally he could have ever asked for.

Priam knew that if she were to have a System like she had in the past, she would certainly surpass him if he didn’t give his all every single second.

---

Outside the barrier...

Taking advantage of the enemies’ shock over what had happened, Daraen drew the string of her longbow and began firing frantically.

The Mages under her command followed her rhythm.

In the air, the arrows exploded once again, spreading a poisonous mist.

"Damn it, there’s more poison!"

The Sorcerers fell into absolute panic and began running without any order.

Fear had already consumed them; nothing about this battle seemed to follow conventional logic!

In reality... this new smoke was nothing more than ordinary poison. The stronger Sorcerers would have been perfectly capable of neutralizing it with their pills.

However, traumatized by the massacre of the first toxic attack, none of them dared even touch it again. They became cornered and helpless.

Realizing that she could intimidate an entire army through sheer bluffing, Daraen spared no energy and continued firing volley after volley.

As the enemies retreated in desperation...

*RUMBLE!*

The ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked in every direction.

Countless colossal roots emerged from the earth, covering the skies and falling over the mass of Sorcerers like living cages. The Holy Mages of Priam’s faction, joining forces with Mages from other sects, orchestrated the massive containment spell.

"NOW!"

Shione and Lumiere roared in unison.

At the same instant, all the Arcanist Mages and Catalyst Mages cast their long-range spells.

An overwhelming rain of elemental attacks covered the battlefield, slaughtering the trapped Sorcerers.

---

Back inside the barrier.

Dandara and the Veteran Acquired Celestial collided in a brutal close-quarters battle.

Wrapped in miasma, she attacked like a Goddess of War, while her opponent displayed a mixture of fury and fear as he realized he wouldn’t defeat her easily.

Far away, Priam positioned himself at the opposite end of the barrier, standing alone between the remaining 138 Sorcerers to prevent anyone from daring to interfere with Dandara’s duel.

He stared at them coldly. None of those enemies seemed to be in a hurry, as they still held onto the arrogance of believing that, with their numbers, they could easily deal with the two of them inside.

One of them was clearly the interim leader. He stepped forward, facing Priam.

"Why don’t you just take your own life? I’m too lazy to do it personally." The eyes of that red-robed Celestial gleamed with pure ice. He looked at Priam the way an emperor would look at a beggar by the roadside.

"My name is Gyan. Although I’m still considered an Initial Acquired Celestial, I’ve already touched the threshold of the next level. That bastard Thiller was just lucky enough to get there a little before me. As for you... You should take advantage of my generosity and kill yourself right now. If you wait until I change my mind, death will seem like an unattainable luxury."

Around them, the other Sorcerers closed in with cold expressions. They were alert — they wouldn’t allow Priam to catch them off guard again.

Priam simply nodded slowly. In the blink of an eye, Ananke manifested, wrapping his fists in two black gauntlets.

"Go to hell."

Without wasting time on useless rhetoric, he launched a devastating punch straight toward Gyan’s head.

"I see you really don’t know how to appreciate kindness..." Gyan snarled, enraged by the audacity of that insect. His sword slid along a perfect trajectory to intercept and sever Priam’s fist.

Around them, the enemies raised their weapons, ready to tear the young man apart the moment he was repelled by the clash.

But... Gyan had barely finished speaking when a grotesque force struck him.

While the Sorcerer had delivered a careless, arrogant strike, Priam had channeled 100% of his Ether directly through Ananke. The disparity in power at the point of impact was monumental — Priam’s fist carried the weight of several mountains combined.

**CRACK!**

A thunderous sound tore through space. Gyan’s divine blade shattered like cheap glass, and the fist sank directly into his chest.

The Celestial shot away like an uncontrolled meteor, violently crashing and exploding against the inner wall of the barrier.

"WHAT?!"

High above, Shakwi felt the impact and almost lost his breath. Gyan’s sword was an Emperor-grade weapon, custom-made for a Celestial! How the hell had it been pulverized so humiliatingly?!

Gyan had made the fatal mistake of underestimating his opponent, believing his weapon alone would be enough to crush Priam. The result wasn’t merely defeat, but absolute humiliation. He lay against the barrier, every bone in his body crushed by the impact.

Even so, in the distorted mind of that Sorcerer, defeat was only a temporary setback. Celestials were arrogant by nature — after all, they were practically immortal and possessed divine regenerative abilities.

Unfortunately for him, Priam didn’t play by the usual rules.

Before the other Sorcerers could recover from their stupor, Priam took a single step and vanished like a ghost into the void.

He instantly reappeared above Gyan’s bloodied body. Without hesitation, his hand shot forward like a deadly claw, directly toward the enemy’s forehead.

The observers’ eyes widened. They all saw it — Priam forcibly ripped Gyan’s Celestial Mark from his forehead!

Then he simply closed his fist, making it disappear.

"Disappear."

With a dry, indifferent strike, Priam hit Gyan. The Celestial’s body exploded into a shapeless, bloody mist.

The silence that followed inside the barrier was suffocating.

Priam slowly turned toward the rest of the contingent.

"If anyone else wants to act arrogant in front of me... feel free; I’ll wait. After all, you’re only enjoying the last few seconds of your insignificant lives."

An indescribable chill ran down the spines of the 37 remaining Celestials. Even the Sage-level Sorcerers froze, paralyzed by the horror of witnessing a Celestial being magically executed.

"Nobody? Good." Priam let out a contemptuous snort and moved.

Awakening from their trance in sheer desperation, the elite horde tried to scatter and flee in every direction.

*BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!*

Unfortunately for them, Priam could easily catch them with his speed. Running was far worse than fighting.

Priam’s fists unleashed a devastating barrage of blows. Every impact made the barrier and the planet itself tremble in resonance. Overwhelming waves of energy tore through the air, hurling and shattering the surrounding Sorcerers like rag dolls.

Outside the dome, sensing their commander’s overwhelming dominance and invincible aura, the blood of the entire allied army boiled with pure veneration.

They roared in unison, charging into the enemy forces with renewed and unstoppable fury.