Chapter 176: Ancient Beast
Priam snorted, already expecting that last-minute twist.
Even though he’d already shown enough individual strength to defeat a Super Genius, he was still just one person.
His entire army was made up of rejects. In a straight-up battle of attrition, they theoretically wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure.
Shione, Lumiere, and Flaris were certainly formidable. The three of them had already shown the potential to stand on equal footing with the Super Geniuses in the future. But potential belonged to the future; right now, they were still far from that level.
At that moment, Priam’s faction was sitting in second place, carrying dozens of flags. They were like an unguarded treasure chest, with only one real obstacle standing in the way: Priam himself.
Why would the other factions waste time fighting each other when they could crush the weakest link and take everything?
To make things worse—or better—every other faction had the exact same thought at the exact same time.
Absolute chaos had always been the best environment for the smartest people to take advantage of. It was a rule every Mage knew. Even Priam understood that logic, because things weren’t any different back on Earth.
Everyone would march to steal Dandara’s flags, but in the heat of battle, they might find an opportunity to bring down the neighboring factions and walk away with twice the rewards.
In other words, that massive free-for-all had the potential to let the factions in third, fourth, or even fifth place jump straight to the top.
Everything happened far too quickly.
The leaders moved their armies in perfect sync, converging toward a single target.
Priam felt the Super Geniuses closing in, taking positions around him from three different directions. In response, he merely smiled faintly.
There was no anger between them. This was a competition, and the three of them were simply acting in the most logical way possible. Since no one would die here, Priam held no grudges... but he wasn’t going to go easy on them either.
"Everyone, raise the defenses to the maximum," Priam said calmly, taking steady steps away from his faction.
Behind him, the soldiers tightened their ranks, gripping their weapons firmly.
The triangular formation closed perfectly, protecting Dandara at the center. Shione, Lumiere, and Flaris each took command of one side of the triangle.
Current match time: seven minutes and thirty seconds.
"ATTACK!!"
The three factions charged at full force from every direction. At the same time, Sallya, Daraen, and Inigo leaped toward Priam to hold him back. They chose to work together, even without saying a single word.
With the time they had left, they believed their factions would crush those opponents. As for who would end up with the flags, that would depend on the skill of their soldiers.
Inigo was the only one who didn’t trust his own faction. But he trusted himself with almost irrational confidence.
He believed he could defeat Priam before time ran out and, by doing so, help his soldiers walk away with the greatest possible profit.
A short distance away, Walhart struggled to his feet after swallowing an emergency pill.
Without hesitation, he looked toward his faction, which hadn’t joined the attack, and gave them a subtle signal.
Then his eyes locked onto a specific spot within Priam’s faction...
A few seconds later, a cruel smile spread across his face.
*RUMBLE!*
*BOOOM!*
Violent waves of elemental energy erupted in two different locations.
With so little time left, there was no room for probing attacks or holding back. Everyone went all out from the very first second.
They expected to secure victory—or at least a huge advantage—almost immediately, but...
To everyone’s astonishment, Priam’s faction didn’t give up a single inch.
They were split into squads of six members.
Each squad consisted of five Mages specialized in different combat styles, achieving a perfect balance between offense, defense, and speed. The sixth member was the commander: the strongest person in the squad, responsible for directing the flow of battle.
As for the three Generals, their role was to act independently, reinforcing the flanks under the most pressure while analyzing the overall battlefield and coordinating with each squad commander.
There were just over twelve hundred Mages.
They were fighting against eight thousand, counting all three enemy factions.
Even so, their opponents couldn’t push through easily.
The small-squad strategy wasn’t revolutionary, but it wasn’t common either.
In large-scale Mage battles, the standard formation was simple: Front Line, Rear Attack Line, and Support. In armies numbering in the hundreds or thousands, that was the easiest way to maintain control.
Were there more complex strategies? Of course. But those required years of training together. For young Mages, the basics were usually the only practical option.
Yet this faction wasn’t just using an unusual strategy—it was working astonishingly well.
All of this after only one month of training?
The Elders watching from afar were left speechless.
Only a leader with real battlefield experience, an almost Divine eye capable of knowing exactly what every Mage needed, and a flawless training method could accomplish something like this.
They looked at Priam with entirely different eyes because they simply couldn’t believe Dandara was the foundation behind all of it. After all, a half-beast couldn’t possibly be exceptional at anything.
Within every squad of six Mages, at least three individuals stood out to an unbelievable degree.
Their attacks, defenses, and reactions were all at an incredibly high level.
How could Mages that talented have been rejected?
It made absolutely no sense.
Naturally, those were the six hundred who had previously taken the potion created by Priam.
Although they hadn’t had much time yet and still didn’t fully understand their bodies’ newfound potential, the difference compared to before was overwhelming.
If they went back in time and took the entrance exam again now...
The largest factions would be fighting tooth and nail to recruit them.
*KBOOOOM!*
A short distance away from the massive battle, an overwhelming wave of power exploded, sending the desert sand soaring into the sky like a gigantic curtain of dust.
At the center of the destruction...
Priam emerged completely unharmed.
The other three Super Geniuses stood less than five meters away from him, their eyes wide open in shock as they saw him completely unscathed after taking their combined attack twice in a row.
Priam closed his eyes for a split second.
[Power Rune: Yin and Yang Enchantment]
[Activate?] [Yes / No]
When he opened his eyes again, they shone like stars. One radiated pure white light; the other, absolute darkness.
*BUZZ!*
The space around him trembled violently.
Massive waves of energy shot into the sky, and a terrifying pressure burst outward in every direction. At that moment, Priam looked like an ancient beast awakening from a deep slumber. His mere ferocity made the earth tremble.
He had created that Power Rune by combining his newly acquired knowledge of Yin and Yang. But the price had been steep: he had to burn through his finest Yin- and Yang-attributed treasures and medicinal herbs to make it.
His beast energies had already been exhausted, and now his most precious resources had also turned to ashes. After this battle, he would be completely stripped of any powerful energies needed to create new Power Runes.
But it would be worth it.
Priam snorted and clenched his fists.
*WHOOSH!*
He vanished into thin air like a gust of wind, causing the three Super Geniuses’ pupils to shrink in sheer panic.
When he reappeared, he was already high above them, descending from the heavens with a punch aimed at the ground.
The pressure behind that strike was so immense that it seemed to blot out the sunlight itself. The three Super Geniuses were horrified.
Using the power of the Yin and Yang Enchantment, Priam poured a massive boost into the explosive force of the wind element. That was the purpose of the Power Rune he had created.
As a result, Sky-Rending Wind changed completely.
Instead of a concentrated, slicing attack, it transformed into a devastating area-wide storm that swallowed everything around it in a single blast.
**BOOM!!**
The three Super Geniuses were hit head-on.
Without any chance to defend themselves, they were blasted away like weeds ripped from the ground by a hurricane, flying dozens of meters before barely managing to steady themselves after landing.
The impact was so overwhelming that it shook the massive battle between the factions, forcing every army to stop fighting and retreat in alarm.
Everyone was stunned.
No one could comprehend the scale of that attack.
Watching the three greatest Super Geniuses in the competition get blown away so humiliatingly was simply unbelievable.