Chapter 390: Incredible Efficiency

Space twisted, and the colossal rift floating above the abyss opened wide. From the depths of that void, gigantic figures began bursting out at full speed.

They were monstrous humanoids wielding bone clubs. Without even trying to flee the planet, they emerged and launched themselves in every direction. It was as if the sole purpose of their existence was to kill every living being on that planet.

With red eyes burning with murderous fury, a massive horde charged directly at the Ironweald Sect’s army.

"They... they’re comparable to a Level 9 Philosopher Sage!"

Cries of terror echoed through the ranks of the core disciples. The raw power of those giants was firmly at the peak of the second Sage Rank. Just looking at their grotesque mouths and sharp teeth was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.

"Don’t waste time on useless thoughts!" Priam’s voice rang out firmly, snapping everyone out of their shock.

"You’ve already fought countless Specters and know that they’re not living creatures. They’re merely remnants of vengeance-driven wills, devoid of true intelligence. Their raw power may be high, and they can even act in groups. But they possess no refined combat techniques and, obviously, they’ll never reach the level of Creation Essence that all of you possess."

Although their bone clubs and fangs were lethal — and their raw strength far surpassed that of every disciple — Priam’s words acted like a balm. Panic was immediately replaced by a wave of confidence.

Indeed, there was no reason to fear enemies like these. Even if a giant’s raw strength were comparable to that of an Exalted Sage, with teamwork and intelligence, they would be able to prevail.

Watching the endless tide of giant Specters pouring out of the spatial channel, the fear in the disciples’ eyes transformed into pure greed.

Before them weren’t unstoppable monsters, but succulent feasts of flesh! Points — entire rivers of points!

All in all, the contingent of enemies emerging onto the planet had to easily number in the hundreds of millions.

"HAHAHAHA! The meat has finally been served! Don’t blame me for being rude and attacking the buffet first!"

Dandara laughed enthusiastically. She put away her daggers and shot toward the highest point in the sky. The horde emerging from the abyss was advancing toward the army and would reach them within seconds.

*BUZZ!*

Colossal purple spheres burst from her hands, making the very fabric of space hum and tremble.

"Take this!"

Dandara roared as she hurled the orbs.

As they cut through the air, the spheres expanded dramatically, reaching thirty meters in diameter in a mere two seconds. They flew in a straight line toward the enemy tide. But...

Before they even touched the giants, they exploded in midair.

The truly terrifying part wasn’t the shockwave from the explosion.

It was what came next: a devastating rain of purple microfragments shot out in every direction.

Each fragment was absurdly sharp, piercing the Specters’ dense flesh as if it were nothing more than wet paper. A single purple needle pierced through hundreds of giants in succession before losing momentum.

Wherever the orbs exploded, everything within a radius of several kilometers was reduced to ashes. Miserable howls tore through the skies as the giants’ bodies were riddled with holes. The creatures writhed, stiffened, and finally exploded into black mist.

Priam nodded in approval. Those fragments contained the maximum concentration of primordial Miasma derived from the Goddess. Dandara had burned only a tiny fraction of that energy in each sphere, but she had devised a refined technique to extract maximum lethality while consuming the minimum amount of strength.

In the face of the pure, concentrated Miasma that came from the Sovereign Goddess, what were mere Specters? They were sliced apart like grass.

The only pity was that Dandara possessed a limited amount of that energy, which took time to recover. Otherwise, she would truly be invincible on any battlefield.

"HAHAHAHA! FIRST PLACE IS MINE!" Dandara shouted upon receiving the news from Nise, continuing to bombard the enemy with a few more spheres.

After brutally shredding the enemy ranks and drastically reducing the number of Specters, she returned to alternating her elemental attacks, remaining on the front line like relentless heavy artillery.

At the same time, Priam’s faction army finally entered the fray in earnest. Organized into two gigantic circular formations, they advanced upon the giant Specters like enormous spinning saws, shredding everything in their path.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Seeing Dandara massacre so many giants with such ease — combined with the surgical and lethal movements of Priam’s faction — the sect’s core disciples felt their confidence overflow.

Encouraged, they retreated in a calculated manner, covering the rear and leaving the front line to those who were truly capable.

At this point, not even the slightest trace of arrogance remained among them. In their eyes, there was only reverence and gratitude toward those figures who had taught them so much over the past few days.

Priam checked the scoreboard.

First place remained unshaken, boasting the impressive mark of one billion four hundred million points. Dandara came right after him, in second place, with nine hundred and ninety million. In third, a new name appeared: a Sage from the Eastern Region, with four hundred million points.

Below him, nearly ten figures were competing with less than fifty million points separating them. The competition had now become fierce.

"The real monsters have finally decided to act."

Everyone knew that the emergence of the giant Specters marked the beginning of the end. The second eruption would last between fifteen days and a month; this was the window to accumulate as many points as possible.

...

Five hours passed. The battle line remained stable, but the pace of the Ironweald disciples began to slow down.

Unlike the other sects, which focused exclusively on massacring Specters and competing for the ranking, the Ironweald Sect couldn’t afford such a luxury. From the depths of the abyss, an unrelenting torrent of smaller Specters continued to leak out, and their goal wasn’t to fight, but rather to escape the planet.

Because of that, the disciples were forced to retreat and reform their formation, covering the entire perimeter to contain the escape.

It was a bitter disadvantage for the disciples of this sect. Faced with this containment duty, Dandara’s score began to plummet, dropping to fifth place. Even so, she gritted her teeth and pushed herself to the limit to avoid being knocked out of the top 10.

Until...

’Take care of everything. I’ll be back.’ Priam’s voice echoed directly in Dandara’s mind.

Activating his Elemental Physique, Priam cut through the skies like a blur, flying over the tide of enemies toward the epicenter of the abyss.

His speed was so dizzying that the Specters along the way couldn’t even react in time to intercept him.

[Activate Divine Concealment?] [Yes / No]

According to common knowledge, diving into an abyss in the middle of the Celestial Event was suicidal madness. Trapped in a confined space, any intruder would be slaughtered by the collective fury of the enemies.

However, combining his absurd speed with Divine Concealment, Priam didn’t feel the slightest trace of fear. Surely, he was the only one capable of safely entering and leaving the depths of this abyss.

Ignoring the colossal rift above, he shot straight into the depths.

At the very bottom, Priam came across a gigantic spatial opening. Countless runes shimmered around it, forming a giant vortex through which the Specters continuously emerged.

Although they couldn’t sense him, they could still see. So, upon noticing his approach, some of the creatures charged forward furiously.

He merely snorted in disdain.

’Wait...’

At that moment, a memory of something he’d read in the knowledge gained from the System surfaced in his mind—more specifically, the fundamental concepts concerning the nature of energies.

Every energy has its strengths and weaknesses. Although such vulnerabilities are rarely fatal on their own, they represent crucial openings to be exploited.

And the power of the soul—as well as any energetic manifestation derived from it, such as Will—possessed a glaring weakness: the electrical element.

Priam focused on his Nexus Seed, channeling the overwhelming reserve of energy accumulated within his core.

*WOOOOOOSH!*

A bolt of lightning shot from his hand like a fluorescent spear, tearing through the darkness.

"!"

The sheer brutal aura emanating from that attack caused the surrounding Specters to roar in pain and agony. Those struck directly by the lightning spear simply vaporized, reduced to ashes in less than a second.

Priam furrowed his brow, slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected such absurd efficiency. He knew the creatures were vulnerable to the element, but not to the point of melting from the slightest contact.

Certainly, the reason was that this wasn’t ordinary electrical energy.

That lightning carried the pure power of Destruction extracted from the Laws of the World.

During the Celestial Punishment he had faced in the past, Priam had created countless runes of power, sealing the energies of Life and Destruction within them. As time passed, the two naturally separated.

The energy of Destruction had been stored inside the Nexus Seed; meanwhile, the energy of Life remained within the runes, fused into his body, continuously nourishing and strengthening his physique without any effort.

What he had just unleashed was merely a negligible fraction of the electrical power of Destruction.

A sinister, malicious smile appeared on his face.

"I found the pot of gold!"

Priam shouted enthusiastically. His arms pulsed violently, unleashing a storm of destructive lightning that seemed to herald the end of times.

He aimed at the spatial portal at the bottom of the abyss—the rift that led directly to the small world from which the Specters emerged.

*BOOM! BOOOOM!! BOOOOM!!!*

Priam bombarded the portal without mercy. His bolts of Destruction pierced through the dimensional channel, striking the source from which everything emerged.

However...

It didn’t take long for him to notice something that made his eyes widen in shock.