Chapter 295: Traitors and Allies

While Priam single-handedly devastated the left flank and faced tens of thousands of Corrupted Beasts, the rest of his faction—just over two thousand Mages—was mercilessly swallowed by an ocean of Beasts, numbering dozens of times their own.

However, instead of collapsing under the pressure of the profane tide, the troops planted their feet firmly on the ground and activated a flawless battle formation.

Seen from above, the scene was terrifying. The battle formation took the shape of a perfect rotating vortex—a true meat grinder, endlessly shredding the enemy horde.

At the absolute center of that deadly mechanism, Dandara precisely commanded the battlefield. With her eyes blazing with pure adrenaline, her voice thundered continuously, directing every rotation, advance, and cover with surgical precision.

She also released her six Beasts, making them act as her arms in the middle of the battlefield, helping wherever they were needed.

At the outer edges of the formation, the six pillars of power dictated the rhythm of the slaughter. Shione froze entire hordes into grotesque ice sculptures that shattered the next instant; meanwhile, Lumiere and Flaris set the air ablaze with Yin and Yang flames.

At the other points, Daraen, Sallya, and Inigo fought to their limits, unleashing devastating attacks to prove their worth. Their strength couldn’t compare to the other three, but they weren’t Super Geniuses for nothing.

Whenever the black tide threatened to break the line, the Holy Mages moved, and enormous wooden walls and arcane barriers rose from the ground, absorbing the impact of the avalanche.

The frontline soldiers attacked with everything they had, suffering multiple injuries every second. The instant exhaustion or injuries caught up with them, the rotation gently pulled them back toward the protected core, where they were quickly healed.

In this army, the Holy Mages acted as its heart. They were everyone’s defense and breath. All of them were Level 9 Mage Masters, and the knowledge of the Class that Priam had given them back in his world had undoubtedly made all the difference. They were currently the absolute highlight of the faction.

"DON’T GIVE UP A SINGLE INCH! ROTATE AND ADVANCE!"

Dandara roared without stopping. Under her command, the army not only contained the advance, but marched over the corpses of their enemies.

Even so, the scale of this battle came at an extremely high cost.

From a distance, the watching Mages and Beasts observed the confrontation with their hearts in their throats.

The potential of that faction was astonishing, and those Corrupted Beasts were dying incredibly fast before them.

But the numerical disparity was monstrous. The black horde seemed endless, and the troops’ energy consumption was extremely high every second.

The only question lingering among the Mages watching was: how much longer could that meat grinder hold out before their energy was completely depleted?

But the leaders were thinking about something else. An immense, completely irrational fear burned in their chests. Watching that faction fight gave them an instinctive feeling that they could actually survive.

That was why it was better to secure victory now.

"Everyone! Formation!"

The interim leaders of the 8th and 4th Branches roared in unison. The command echoed out, causing more than thirty thousand Mages from seven allied branches to draw their weapons simultaneously.

Over those months, every branch had suffered incalculable losses.

The weaker and more cautious Mages from the other branches, realizing that this final conflict would turn into a meat grinder, simply stayed as far away as possible. Their only goal was to guarantee their survival and preserve the treasures they had already obtained.

But those thirty thousand... those were driven by rotten greed and festering resentment.

Minutes later, Dandara narrowed her eyes and abruptly turned her head toward the horizon.

Coming directly from behind her faction—the cleanest and most pacified area of the battlefield—the massive army of the sect’s Mages was marching forward.

They weren’t advancing to flank the Corrupted Beasts. There wasn’t the slightest intention of relieving the pressure on the frontline.

Those bastards had deliberately waited for Priam’s faction to wear itself down against the horde, only to strike from behind with a cowardly and decisive blow.

In front of Garand and the Sorcerers, none of those dogs had dared take a single step forward. But when they saw the opportunity to butcher their fellow sect Mages, they were practically drooling with impatience.

"HOW DARE THEY?!"

Inigo roared, his eyes bloodshot. You didn’t have to be very smart to understand those Mages’ intentions. All you had to do was look at how they were barely killing any of the nearby Corrupted Beasts.

The fury in the two thousand soldiers’ chests exploded. Seeing fellow members of the same sect marching toward them to stab them in the back was the height of abomination.

"Don’t hesitate! Feel completely free to kill them!" Dandara’s voice cut through the chaos like a clear thunderclap. "They’re no different from these Corrupted Beasts. Any hesitation on your part will cost the life of the brother fighting beside you!"

Her eyes gleamed with deadly contempt as she continued:

"There are no innocents in this world; there are only idiots blinded by greed. If you choose to show mercy, they’ll repay you with pain and death. Kill them all! These people are the trash of the sect. When faced with real enemies, they piss themselves in fear. But against their own people, their hands don’t tremble!"

Every word sank into the troops’ souls. Cruelty instantly ignited across the soldiers’ faces. The hatred burning in their chests toward those traitors far surpassed their disgust toward the Corrupted Beasts.

The thirty-thousand-strong army of Mages approached at calculated intervals.

They killed only a few creatures to clear a path, closing the encirclement in a despicable manner.

The plan was obvious: once they reached the ideal distance, they would have countless ways to disrupt the formation. The most direct would simply be to attack. The less direct approach would be to intelligently redirect the Corrupted Beasts, making their advance more difficult and increasing their exhaustion.

As the cowardly encirclement closed in, Priam continued his frenzied massacre on the main flank. Dozens of Corrupted Beasts exploded beneath his fists every second.

But the enemies were almost infinite for a single person to handle.

Priam possessed large-scale destructive techniques capable of obliterating thousands incredibly quickly. His original plan was precisely to wait for the traitorous Mages to make their move before finally going all out.

However... the instant he began channeling Ether with that intention, Priam felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

A visceral and primitive warning screamed within his soul.

Something terribly wrong was lurking nearby. A hidden, suffocating danger demanded that he conserve every drop of his energy and keep his strength at its absolute peak.

He thought quickly and took a deep breath.

Trusting completely in his instincts and in his faction’s ability to withstand the traitors’ assault, Priam maintained his steady pace of slaughter, waiting for a little while.

*BOOOM!*

Minutes later, at the exact moment the traitorous Mage army lined up behind Priam’s faction, a storm of bestial energy and toxic mist erupted at the edges of the battlefield, making the ground shake violently.

Dandara stopped in her tracks, startled.

Coming from two opposite directions, massive columns of Impure Beasts and Calamity Beasts—nearly twenty thousand native creatures in total—burst over the horizon in a deafening charge.

The ferocity and violence of their attacks were overwhelming. The traitorous Mages widened their eyes in panic; the strength of those two armies was not something they could ignore!

"They’re not focusing on killing the Corrupted Beasts! They want to get here as quickly as possible!" Flaris roared at Dandara, realizing their trajectory.

Dandara swallowed hard, her mind burning with confusion.

Until, suddenly, two figures shot toward the sky. They were small, humanoid figures. They were using metamorphosis, which made them stand out among the Beasts of this world.

"I’ve come to help Lord Priam!"

"I’ve come to support Brother Priam!"

Mo Lan and Arvid’s shouts echoed across the battlefield, their eyes fixed on Dandara.

When her eyes met those of the two native leaders, Dandara let out a long sigh, a faint smirk appearing on her lips.

She finally understood: without anyone knowing, Priam had already conquered the natives of this world and brought them over to his side.

The revelation hit the traitorous Mage army like a warhammer.

Their expressions turned deathly grim. If they had known Priam had the loyalty of the natives, they never would have marched out in the open! Now, their attempted ambush had turned into a deadly trap where they would be crushed from two sides.

The morale of Priam’s faction exploded. With the support of the Impure Beasts and Calamity Beasts, crushing the Mages’ betrayal and wiping out the Corrupted Beasts would only be a matter of time.

Victory seemed to be already written on the horizon.

Until...

*BUZZZ!*

The sky and earth trembled with an unnatural vibration.

"?"

The next instant, everything changed.

A suffocating pressure descended upon the area, instantly paralyzing every living being on the battlefield. Mages, Sorcerers, natives, and Corrupted Beasts froze in place, seized by instinctive horror.

It was as if the planet’s gravity had multiplied a hundredfold, crushing their souls against the ground.

Slowly, every gaze turned in the same direction...

Toward the Mountain of the World Core.

Right in the center between the two colossal peaks, reality split open. A distorted dimensional rift slowly appeared.

’What?! Impossible! There are still at least two hours before the opening!’

The same shocked thought crossed the minds of everyone present.

But from within the rift, the serene passage to the ancestral domain did not emerge.

A crimson light pulsed from its depths, devouring the corruption and bathing the world in its glow.

That light condensed and vibrated ominously for a few brief moments.

**RUMBLE!!!**

With an apocalyptic boom, a colossal beam of crimson energy erupted from the rift and tore through the atmosphere.

The beam drained the color from the world. It carried an absolute will of destruction, an attack designed to obliterate gods, demons, and any existence that dared cross its path.

And the beam had a single target.

*PIERCE!*

"PRIAM!"

A sharp, terrifying sound echoed throughout the entire area.

Under the horrified gazes of thousands of people, the crimson beam of light pierced straight through Priam’s chest, vaporizing his golden armor and sending blood spraying in every direction.