Chapter 287: Legacy of the Goddess

Those Mages swallowed hard, cold sweat running down their necks. Still, they quickly tried to calm themselves. The distance between the shore and the island was considerable, and everyone there was an expert in evasive techniques. There was no way they could be...

*BOOOM!*

Without the slightest warning, no preceding sound or energy fluctuation, the Mage who had been shouting the worst insults simply exploded. A thick, bloody mist filled the air, making everyone nearby jump in sheer terror.

*BANG!*

Before the blood mist could even settle, another sharp blast rang out. Another loudmouth was instantly reduced to a bloody pulp.

"They’re Spatial attacks!"

"Cowardly attack! If you’ve got the guts...!"

*BANG!*

A thin Spatial blade silently sliced through the air, piercing the unfortunate man’s body. The resulting force made his remains explode into a thousand pieces, conveniently preventing anyone from ever hearing the rest of his dramatic sentence.

The Mages were horrified. This was an absolutely bizarre and terrifying method of assassination. There was no fluctuation, no sound, not even any detectable killing intent. These Mages only realized they were under attack when they had already become puddles of blood.

"Bastards!"

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Chaos broke out. Screams of pure terror echoed as invisible Spatial blades emerged from nowhere, one after another, reaping lives with deadly precision. Twelve people had been mutilated in less than ten seconds, and the shore was now painted red, filled with the unmistakable stench of blood.

For a moment, the survivors were completely stunned.

Staring at the island in terror, they finally noticed where the calamity was coming from: tiny traces of distortion were subtly flowing near that half-beast woman. They were almost impossible to perceive, but after twelve brutal deaths, with their senses pushed to the limit, the survivors managed to trace the source.

Even so, knowing where it came from didn’t help at all. Spatial power was already legendary for its destructive force; combined with instantaneous speed, by the time the target’s mind registered the danger, the blade had already done its job.

Twelve shots, twelve flawless executions. And, strangely enough, the targets had been exactly the twelve most obnoxious individuals in the crowd.

A freezing chill ran down the remaining Mages’ spines. Seeing Spatial power being used for long-range assassinations with such mastery was every Mage’s worst nightmare.

In a panic, the crowd began scattering and hiding behind rocks, trees, and barriers. No one dared open their mouths or stand out anymore.

It was exactly during that deathly silence that Dandara stretched her arms, bent her waist, and let out an incredibly exaggerated and noisy yawn:

"AAAAAAAHMMMM..."

Mocking them down to the last strand of hair, she pulled out a wooden sign. Using her own Ether, she wrote a few words in crooked, shaky handwriting, then drove the signpost firmly into the ground.

Then she raised her index finger to her lips, making an exaggerated "shhh!" gesture toward the petrified crowd on the shore, and staggered back into the tent out of sheer laziness, as if the whole thing had been a massive waste of time.

The crowd, in absolute shock, used their senses to read what had been engraved in Ether on the sign:

*I’m sleepy, and my Boss is taking a nap too. Making noise is strictly forbidden. Offenders will be summarily turned into fertilizer.*

Any Mage within miles could read it through their senses, even without actually seeing the sign.

The arrogance and mockery contained in that sign felt like a slap in the face to those Mages from powerful branches, who had spent their entire lives being called geniuses. Their anger began to overpower their fear.

"Fuck you and your B—!"

*BANG!*

The guy barely had time to finish the word. A Spatial blade tore through the rock where he was hiding and pierced straight through his chest, turning him into minced meat before the echo of his voice had even faded.

The silence that followed was even more terrifying.

The unfortunate man had been perfectly concealed, an absurd distance away, and yet he’d been deleted the millisecond he opened his mouth!

Inside the tent, Dandara’s voice echoed out for anyone who wanted to hear it, dripping with irony and sounding terribly lazy:

"Please, keep making noise... If you guys actually stay quiet, I won’t have any excuse to kill the rest of you."

Priam took a deep breath.

Observing everything from afar, Priam could clearly understand the mechanics of the attack. Near Dandara’s tent, there was a subtle distortion in the fabric of space.

Hidden there was a Level 12 Heavenly Beast he’d encountered before among the Impure Beasts: the Heavenly Dark Scorpion, a creature famous for its assassination abilities and manipulation of Spatial power.

However, this species was usually small and focused on hunting weaker prey. It only became a deadly threat when it gathered in swarms—in that case, even Level 13 Beasts could be in danger.

A single isolated scorpion? In theory, it should have been easily avoided by Level 9 Mage Masters.

With their sharp senses, those Mages should have detected the Spatial fluctuation long before the blade was fired. Dying to an attack like that? Only if they were actively looking for death.

But what stood before him was an abomination.

The extreme lethality of the attack deeply impressed Priam. Dandara had barely had time to assimilate the power she’d received from the Goddess, yet she was already demonstrating the ability to amplify the strength of her beasts to terrifying levels.

Inside the tent, Dandara was struggling to contain her excitement.

She would never become that weak girl from the past again, the one who needed to be protected every second. Besides, the power of her beasts was merely a complement to her true strength.

And to think she hadn’t even understood 5% of the divine inheritance she’d received! Everything she was doing right now was merely the most rudimentary application of the knowledge she’d absorbed.

"You despicable half-beast bitch, attacking people from behind! You’re the very scum of the sect!"

Another roar filled with curses echoed from the shore. This time, the Mage had been smarter: he positioned himself behind a massive rock more than thirty meters thick, located an enormous distance from the lake.

He was absolutely certain that no Spatial blade could pierce such a massive stone barrier from such a long distance. Using his Ether to amplify his voice, he shouted at the top of his lungs so his provocation would reach the center of the island.

"What an idiot," Dandara silently mocked, sending a mental command.

"You shameful sons of bitches! When we return to our world...!"

Before the bastard could spit out his next insult, a colossal bolt of lightning descended from the heavens like the spear of an enraged god.

*BOOOOM!*

The lightning struck the giant rock head-on, releasing a devastating shockwave that made the earth tremble.

When the smoke and electrical sparks finally dissipated, the place where the stone structure had stood had been reduced to a smoking crater. The rock had been turned into impalpable dust, and as for the Mage... not even a trace of his body remained.

For a fraction of a second, the survivors on the shore managed to glimpse the majestic figure responsible: a terrifying flying chimera combining the features of a tiger, a falcon, and a bull. Its body was covered in electrical arcs, and it possessed two pairs of enormous wings.

The next millisecond, the beast beat its massive wings and shot into the sky, disappearing among the clouds in the blink of an eye.

"I think I went a little overboard... this child of mine is kind of extravagant," Dandara murmured to herself with a slight smile, feeling refreshed from within.

That was a Level 12 Impure Beast known as the Storm Chimera.

Originally, its individual strength wasn’t particularly impressive, but its control over the lightning element was flawless. Now, under Dandara’s command and strengthened by the Goddess’s inheritance, its destructive power had been elevated to an unbelievable level.

"Are these clowns really going to force me to kill everyone?" Dandara snorted, straightening her posture.

Apparently, Priam had terrified the enemy sect’s branches. The strongest ones didn’t dare show themselves personally, preferring to send cannon fodder to cause trouble and gather information.

"Sir Priam! I need to talk to you!"

While the Mages on the shore remained frozen in shock from the destruction, a female figure burst out of the vegetation and ran toward the lake shore. Her voice trembled with a mixture of desperation and extreme urgency.

Dandara frowned and hesitated for a moment. Upon seeing the refined robes the woman wore, she immediately recognized the symbols of the sect’s 1st Branch.

The woman stopped at the water’s edge, panting heavily, and shouted with all her strength:

"People from your 11th Branch are being killed right now! You need to listen to me!"