Chapter 393: The Mental Pillar

After completing the process, Priam sensed a profound change. Through his connection to the Secret World, he felt the presence of those twelve directly linked to that domain.

[First Celestials Successfully Created!]

[Karmic Title Acquired!]

[The World Mage]

[+ 7,000 GP]

Priam read the green windows and took a deep breath. The second major step toward completing his Main Mission had been taken. Now, his goal was to create more and more soldiers while expanding and strengthening his Secret World.

Only by reaching a certain level of power would he have any chance of shattering the Sovereigns’ hegemony.

"Boss, here’s your present."

Suddenly, Dandara smiled and made a gesture with her hand. The freshly killed body of a woman dressed in black was pulled through the air toward them. Her lower torso was missing—the exact location where the Celestial Core had been. Dandara had killed her and immediately sealed the bloodline in her blood using her Miasma.

Thanks to this quick maneuver, Priam could still extract and absorb that bloodline.

Priam nodded, satisfied with the macabre offering. Without wasting any time, he used the System to extract the bloodline and safely store it inside the Nexus Seed.

Judging by the symbols on this person’s clothes, Priam was already certain they were from the Thunderhead Sect. After all, he and his allies were originally supposed to have entered that sect.

He then turned toward the surrounding allies, who remained catatonic. They could feel the drastic transformations within their beings, but could barely believe that they had become Celestials.

"You don’t need to worry about this right now. Your base power hasn’t changed abruptly; your limits have simply expanded. Let’s stay focused on the battle here. Later, you can calmly assimilate these changes."

Everyone swallowed hard and nodded silently.

Dandara then completely withdrew the Miasma from the surroundings, reabsorbing it into her own body. She had burned through around 90% of her reserves, but it would only take a few days for her to fully recover.

No one outside saw or knew what had happened inside that dome. It had been a clean and perfect ascension to Celestial, leaving no room for any suspicion.

"Return to your positions!" Dandara roared, ordering the troops back. And the battle resumed as if nothing had happened.

---

About 15 days later...

*BUZZZZ!*

The entire planet shook to its foundations. The spatial channel floating above the abyss expanded explosively once again, its rifts widening exponentially. A completely new horde of Specters burst out of the void.

This time, dozens of never-before-seen species emerged: creatures with bizarre forms resembling leopards, tigers, serpents, and colossal monsters the size of small mountains.

"It’s the legendary third eruption!"

Nise’s heart and those of all the core disciples pounded in their chests. As they witnessed the grotesque tide advancing, terror struck them like a hammer.

Those new Specters were incomparably stronger. In a one-on-one duel, even most of the Celestials from the other sects would have extreme difficulty facing them.

Furthermore, considering the current ratio between the surviving Sages and the monstrous number of enemies after nearly two months of continuous slaughter... every Sage was already being forced to fight several at once.

"No wonder Boss wanted us to build the fortresses," the Holy Sages commented, exchanging tense glances. Priam had already anticipated that even worse threats would emerge.

"All of you! Work together with the fortresses! Your mission is no longer to hunt Specters, but to make sure your necks remain attached to your bodies!" Dandara shouted at the ranks of the core disciples.

The more experienced ones understood the message immediately. Historically, during the third eruption, the first wave of enemies never attempted to escape the planet. This new horde served only as a vanguard of foot soldiers sent by the Spectral generals to clear the way.

Since these generals still couldn’t cross the rift, they sent their troops to massacre everything in their path and open the way for their final crossing. In short, the final eruption was divided into two stages, with the most terrifying bosses waiting at the end.

The core disciples watched as the two thousand soldiers of Priam’s faction maintained the blockade on the front line, while the rest retreated to take shelter inside the wooden fortresses built weeks earlier.

There was no way those young prodigies—accustomed to looking down on those from the outer sect—wouldn’t feel humiliated. They were supposed to be the pinnacle of the elite among the warriors of their generation.

However, there on the battlefield, they had been reduced to mere support units whose only priority was fighting to survive.

That was the cruelty of the world. Even if you were talented, determined, and unafraid of death, if you didn’t have the right knowledge and mindset, none of that would matter, and you would die during the first major challenges. Many had already fallen, and the laws of that world were merciless.

However, no one from this faction of disciples from the outer sect had died—not even those 90 Sages who had come from other branches. In fact, no one had even been injured.

This showed just how terrifying it was to know exactly how to fight and trust the companion beside you to amplify your potential. There was a gigantic gap separating the core and outer disciples of this generation.

"Everyone, listen to my orders! Switch to a circular defensive formation. The objective has changed, and it’s no longer to kill as many as possible. You must fight using as little strength as possible, so you can conserve your energy for the final moment!" Priam ordered, his voice echoing across the entire battlefield.

"Boss, this eruption is going to last for many days. Isn’t this a little too conservative?" Dandara asked with a visibly disappointed expression, since adopting this stance would drastically limit the number of points they could accumulate.

At the moment, not a single person from their sect was even in the Top 10.

"We don’t know when the real enemies will come out. We need to preserve ourselves so that, when that happens, everyone will have as much energy as possible," Priam said in a serious, solemn tone.

"One of the secondary reasons is that, when they emerge, it might be our chance to gain the maximum number of points. I’m not absolutely certain and I could be wrong about this, but it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that if we don’t do this, the lives of the core disciples will be at risk. Compared to the points, that is far more valuable."

Dandara’s eyes widened.

"Sorry, Boss, I just..."

In the middle of her sentence, Dandara’s point-addict side disappeared. She realized that greed had gotten the better of her and that she had been acting irresponsibly in her thoughts. At that very moment, her gaze changed: hesitation gave way to the ruthless demeanor of the Final Boss.

Priam smiled slightly. "I know. Don’t worry, this will definitely be a grueling battle. In the end, I guarantee that everything will work out. My only doubt is whether it’ll end well, very well, or incredibly well; I don’t know for sure. Just trust me."

"Yes!"

At that exact moment, the enraged horde collided with the defensive lines.

Shione advanced to the vanguard. Behind her, it seemed as if space-time itself was freezing. Her ice sword unleashed a devastating slash that made the air rumble, striking the tide of Specters head-on.

Energy explosions echoed nonstop.

What shocked everyone was that Shione’s attack had lost some of its usual effectiveness.

Before, any Specter hit by her would die instantly. Although her attacks didn’t cover a gigantic area, the concentrated freezing power was overwhelming. However, now, only half of the enemies hit fell dead; the other half were merely gravely wounded and half-frozen.

"KILL!"

The reduced army attacked next, beginning a terrible and bloody battle.

"These Specters are really strong..." Safira stammered, staring ahead. She was positioned atop a wooden tower, holding her staff and ready to attack at the first command.

The core disciples couldn’t contain their panic. The auras emanating from those creatures inspired suffocating despair.

Throughout history, a third eruption had occurred fewer than ten times. In every single one of them, the mortality rate during the Celestial Event had surpassed 90% across all participating sects.

Furthermore, as they watched the Ranking, they quickly saw several names in the Top 200 shine brightly for a moment before disappearing shortly afterward. That could only mean one thing: powerful geniuses and Celestials were being slaughtered.

Anyone capable of making it into the Top 200 was a top-tier prodigy. If even figures of that caliber were unable to stay alive, what would become of them?

The only thing that brought them some comfort was that, from beginning to end, Priam’s expression remained calm and unshaken. It was as if everything happening was perfectly within his expectations.

Nise watched him closely from afar, impressed by how decisive she had been in following her aunt’s order. Not only that, she could clearly feel that Priam had taken a liking to her and had been silently training her the entire time.

’Could it be... that I can join this army in the future?’ This thought kept appearing in her mind again and again, turning into a burning desire that only grew stronger. This feeling wasn’t limited to her; it spread to almost all the other core disciples.

It didn’t take long for those who had been protected to start providing support and attacking from a distance with renewed vigor.

When Priam quickly ordered the transition to an even more defensive formation, they felt even safer.

The group’s confidence skyrocketed. Priam stood there like a true mental pillar for everyone; as long as he was at the front, they knew everything would be fine.