Chapter 211: Death Was Close
The four hours of the round passed without any further incidents. While every faction returned to the recovery zone, Priam was the only one who continued farther down the channel.
He collected the pure corruption from the Corrupted Beasts’ cores. When he extracted the essence from the Mage Master-level beast, he noticed something curious: its core contained an immensely greater amount of pure corruption than the creatures that lived on the exile planet.
Most of the beasts on that other planet were powerful enough to kill a Sage, yet the amount of pure corruption inside their cores was much smaller.
’Most likely, the corruption on the exile planet occurred naturally because of the Corrupted Heart. The ones here, on the other hand, seem to be created directly by the Sorcerers...’
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The first sixty days passed quickly, without any other incident like that.
However, Priam’s earlier display of power, combined with the Super Geniuses’ realization of how to properly manage their factions, brought about a major change.
Sallya, Daraen, and Inigo used their breaks to redistribute responsibilities among their Generals more effectively. They also encouraged their most outstanding Mages to fight the Corrupted Beasts on their own, allowing them to build confidence and learn how to exploit the creatures’ lack of intelligence.
All of them were trying to replicate exactly what they had seen Priam do.
Of course, they didn’t magically master it. They failed again and again, but little by little, they started getting the hang of it.
Seeing their efforts, Priam didn’t mind and allowed Dandara to give the Super Geniuses a hand.
She visited each faction, analyzed their Mages, and offered precise advice on the combat styles and strategies that suited each of them best.
Dandara was a true genius when it came to that. As they put her recommendations into practice, it became obvious just how right she had been.
Sallya, Daraen, and Inigo felt deeply grateful to Priam. If they had been in his position, they would never have allowed someone from their own faction to help their rivals like this. After all, the factions were competing against one another, and the Super Geniuses took fierce pride in remaining superior to the others.
Because of that, the death toll in the three factions stopped rising and gradually stabilized. On some days, a faction could even make it through every round without suffering a single casualty.
Even so, the losses never disappeared completely.
No matter how hard their elites worked to hold back the enemy, the horde was simply too large and grew more difficult with every round. Protecting everyone was impossible, and the weaker Mages inevitably fell in battle.
Walhart’s faction had by far the worst record. Since the beginning, more than two hundred Mages had already died. The number of casualties had stabilized, but it showed little sign of improving.
The only faction that still maintained a flawless record of zero casualties was Priam’s. For them, everything remained completely under control. Dandara handled tactical command, while the Generals stepped in only when a genuine threat appeared.
That balance kept the soldiers under constant pressure, forcing them to improve without pause.
At the beginning of the sixty-first day, during the first round...
"Hm, the number of Corrupted Beasts is dropping?"
Shione was the first to notice the change. The number of enemies was decreasing drastically, something completely unusual halfway through the four-hour period.
*BUZZ*
Without warning, the ground shook violently. Colossal figures came charging over the horizon. The moment Priam saw them, even his expression darkened.
"Change formations! Switch to the Razor Wings Formation!"
Dandara’s voice rang out immediately.
The soldiers of Priam’s faction didn’t hesitate for even a second. With the Generals taking the front line, the army reorganized into an enormous formation resembling two wings—their strongest defensive formation.
Ahead of them, everyone could see dozens of gigantic silhouettes.
Every single one of them was a Mage Master-level beast!
And this time...
Fifty-one of them were charging at once!
Terror spread across the faces of the Mages from the other factions. There wasn’t the slightest chance they could survive an assault like that.
"A SECT DISCIPLE!!"
Sallya suddenly shouted, pointing furiously toward one of the distant flanks. She was the only one who had noticed the threat in advance, warned by her scouting insects.
Everyone turned toward the direction she was pointing and sensed a presence wrapped in a distorted aura that concealed its identity.
It was unmistakably a humanoid.
A senior disciple had deliberately retreated all the way there.
"HE BROUGHT THEM ALL HERE!" Daraen roared in panic. It was an obvious attempt to wipe them out.
The horde of Mage Master-level beasts charged forward at full speed. The very next second, the hidden figure slammed both hands against the ground.
*Wooooosh!*
A massive wall of fire erupted, but the Corrupted Beasts tore straight through it without slowing down.
Everyone watched as the figure retreated at incredible speed, staying just ahead of the horde.
He struck the ground again in a hurry, raising new walls of flame one after another. Yet every single one of them was destroyed in the blink of an eye.
As a result, all of those creatures kept their attention fixed on him, allowing him to lead them wherever he wanted while continuing to retreat and raise new barriers.
The Super Geniuses’ expressions grew darker and darker as they realized what was happening.
That person was retreating straight toward Priam’s faction’s channel. He was deliberately luring the entire horde of Corrupted Beasts there to wipe out that faction.
When he was only a few meters away from the entrance to the channel...
Suddenly, the figure let out a roar, and his body seemed to merge directly into the void.
He disappeared in the blink of an eye.
With their target gone, the Corrupted Beasts roared in frustration. Driven by blind fury, they redirected their assault toward the channel standing directly before them.
However, because of the massive number of creatures, the horde split apart and spilled into the nearest neighboring channel.
Daraen’s face turned deathly pale. Sixteen of those terrifying beasts were charging straight toward her faction.
If it had been just one—or even five at most—she would have been confident in defeating them after putting Priam’s teachings into practice. But sixteen...
That was simply impossible.
Meanwhile, thirty-five Corrupted Beasts were charging toward Priam’s faction.
Flaris, Dandara, Shione, and Lumiere looked at Priam with extremely tense expressions.
’The time has come... Not a single one of those sons of bitches is getting away.’
Priam let out a low snort as a dangerous, bloodthirsty gleam appeared in his eyes.
Then he turned toward his three Generals and gave his order in a solemn voice.
"Hold nothing back. I’ll go first. The three of you are to unleash everything you’ve got in a single strike."
Flaris, Shione, and Lumiere nodded without hesitation. At the same moment, all three placed a hand over their chests, directly above their hearts.
A second later, their Elemental Spirits manifested in the air.
"GET READY!"
On the other side, Daraen shouted desperately to her faction.
However, all of her female Mages were trembling as they gripped their weapons, many of them with tears streaming down their faces. They knew death was close. Faced with such an overwhelming horde, there seemed to be no escape.