NOVGO.NET Chapter 330: Heavenly River Valley
Chapter 330: Heavenly River Valley
"KILL!"
The Sorcerers roared in fury, charging toward the hooded figure, thirsting for blood.
The Sage-level Sorcerers sensed that the previous attack had been executed by consuming Celestial Essence and using a special weapon. This meant it couldn’t be repeated at the same level immediately.
The man snorted beneath his hood and drew a second identical spear, preparing to unleash another devastating attack.
But...
Suddenly, he turned his head upward. His eyes met Priam’s, who had appeared there abruptly, completely outside the range of his senses.
The two stared at each other.
The man felt his blood boil the instant their gazes collided. An overwhelming wave of battle lust emanated from his body, but he suppressed it with astonishing speed.
It was a mysterious sensation, but he genuinely felt the urge to test his strength against that terrifying man.
After a brief second, he pulled back his hood, revealing an aristocratic and handsome face. His eyes had an electrifying glow, and his chiseled features carried an innate air of nobility.
"It seems the Ironweald sect sent reinforcements in time," he said in a calm, velvety tone. "That’s surprising. I’m relieved I won’t have to die today."
Everything happened within a matter of seconds. At that very moment, the Sorcerers’ vanguard reached the metropolis gates. However, Priam’s army descended from the skies directly onto them, initiating a true massacre.
Having lost half their troops to the spear attack, only 90,000 invaders remained, led by a reduced number of Sages.
...
...
...
The confrontation ended without a single Sorcerer managing to invade the city. It was a flawless defense, with no civilian casualties.
As soon as the last enemy fell, Priam saw the hooded man emerge from inside the city and float toward him.
Everyone’s eyes locked onto him.
With extreme naturalness, the man gave a courteous smile and spoke politely:
"Greetings, Lord Priam. I’ve heard your name before. An Inborn Celestial appearing in the southern region is truly unprecedented. You certainly live up to your class; your talent is enviable. I hope you’re able to awaken your true power soon."
Priam narrowed his eyes. He had no idea what that man was talking about, since information about Celestials was practically nonexistent in his branch.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Priam asked indifferently, while activating the System to analyze the individual.
[Name: Surey Virmiss]
[Race: Void Shadows]
[Magic Title: Level 9 Mystic Sage Enlightened]
[Karmic Title: Mage of Chaos]
[Bloodline: 90]
[Anima: 75]
[Wheel of Destiny: 75]
[Loyalty: Extremely Low]
"My name is Surey," the man replied with a faint smile. "I’m from the largest sect in the eastern region of the Divine Plane: the Heavenly River Valley sect."
Beside Priam, Dandara swallowed hard. The Heavenly River Valley was indeed the sovereign power of the east, with at least ten times the military strength of the Ironweald sect.
"This place is on the border between the south and the east, and one of the planets under my sect’s rule is relatively close by. Besides, this planet we’re on and the surrounding ones belong to a neutral agreement zone between our sects, meaning both sides are allowed to explore them. That’s why I’m here," he explained slowly, making everyone around them understand the situation.
"I was simply unlucky enough to be supervising the area when I noticed the Sorcerers’ arrival. I thought I’d have to fight them to the death, so thank you very much for arriving in time."
Priam merely nodded, maintaining a sharp gaze.
’Does this idiot really think he can fool me...’ Priam thought.
It was all far too much of a coincidence.
The spear he had used had been specifically designed to massacre that particular type of enemy. Why was he carrying two of them? He knew exactly which Sorcerer sect would attack and when they would attack.
"Now that everything has been cleared up, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave. I’ve accomplished my objective here, and I need to head to my next destination," Surey added softly.
With a wave of his hand, he brought out his own Flying Warship.
Without lingering, he boarded it and shot toward the horizon at high speed.
Priam simply watched without showing any reaction. Judging by Dandara’s apprehensive attitude, that man’s sect was extremely troublesome.
He couldn’t act without concrete evidence... yet.
’This could be an opportunity in the future...’ Priam reflected, letting out a muffled sigh.
’Even a powerful sect from another region seems to have hidden connections with the Sorcerers. Humanoids really love creating problems. And they still have the audacity to consider the Primordial Chaos Beasts their true enemies? It makes me think those beasts are far purer and easier to deal with than the average humanoid.’
Priam turned around and ordered the troops to reboard.
Upon returning to the main Flying Warship, he immediately headed for the secret room.
Inside, ten Sorcerers awaited him, trapped in magical restraints.
During the chaos of the battle, Shione, Lumiere, and Flaris’s top priority had been to discreetly capture the most influential enemy Sages.
The three carried out the order with such mastery that Surey, inside the city, didn’t even notice that the targets had been kidnapped alive. Even if he had noticed, he would have simply thought it was a pointless and meaningless effort.
...
After reading and extracting the memories of the ten prisoners, Priam’s expression became extremely grim.
He turned to Dandara, his voice heavy. "Sacred Mist Forest Planet..."
Dandara’s eyes widened in shock.
"That’s my home planet!"
Priam nodded. That place was one of the important planets under his fleet’s responsibility.
"They’ve already decided on their next offensive. They’ve begun the simultaneous attack phase, mobilizing slightly stronger Sorcerer sects. This time, four distant planets will be attacked at the same time. Sacred Mist Forest Planet is one of them... no, it’s where the main assault will take place."
Priam’s tone was grave. The memories revealed that, on the other three planets, only secondary contingents of 100,000 invaders would be sent.
However, 300,000 would be sent to Dandara’s home planet, led by a Great General Sorcerer.
He was an Initial Sage, on the same level as Priam. But the prisoners held a reverent fear of him. The reason? He was known as an *Initial Celestial*.
Once again, the term Celestial appeared in Priam’s path.
He didn’t know exactly what that "Initial" title meant, but this was yet another Celestial serving among the Sorcerers’ ranks.
After passing the information on to Dandara, the decision was made instantly.
"Divide our army into three contingents of 50,000 soldiers. They’ll have half the enemy’s numbers, but I trust they’ll win. Among the secondary targets, there’ll only be 10 to 15 Initial Sages per planet. Make sure each of our groups has at least 15 Sages as well."
Dandara agreed without hesitation.
Priam’s original faction would be divided to serve as the disciplined core of each group. Shione, Lumiere, and Flaris would take command of these three armies, assisted by the other trusted generals.
The total power of just 2,000 Mages from Priam’s faction was devastating when unleashed — something that hadn’t yet been necessary to demonstrate. Without the presence of absurdly powerful enemies and with the troops minimally organized, Dandara was 90% certain they would achieve clean victories.
"Make the preparations immediately. After that, the two of us will go alone to your home planet," Priam concluded.
Dandara took a deep breath.
It wasn’t viable to split the fleet any further, so they would have to act as a duo. However, the presence of the two of them was more than enough to turn the tide.
The only uncertainty in that equation was that so-called Celestial. How strong would he be?
But Priam was the only one thinking about that. Dandara was completely certain that nothing could defeat Priam, especially not with her by his side.
---
In a distant solar system, a planet shone brilliantly. It was covered in dense forests and blue oceans, looking like a pearl of nature floating through space.
It was a true sanctuary blessed by the heavens, inhabited by countless beastly races.
In specific areas of the planet, a thick sacred mist naturally formed, covering entire regions for long periods of time. This mist nourished the land to an extreme degree, granting absolute elemental power to all medicinal herbs, minerals, and living creatures.
That planet was an invaluable treasure. For that reason, the Ironweald sect defended it tooth and nail — and for the same reason, the Sorcerers wanted to defile it and seize it at any cost.
This was certainly one of the three planets most coveted by the low-level Sorcerers.
In the heart of the planet’s largest forest, night had just fallen.
All around the forest, columns of fire and smoke began erupting at multiple points among the ancient vegetation.
It had only been a few minutes since the Sorcerers’ attack had begun.
For the native beasts, invasions were nothing new; practically every year, invaders tried to violate their lands, but the sect promptly sent reinforcements.
This time, however, the beasts had already received news of the large-scale war ravaging the Divine Plane.
They knew that if they were attacked now, they would have to fight alone until help arrived.
And that could take hours.
However, these were native Beasts with little power. Even a Mage Disciple could exterminate any one of them without effort. How could they possibly resist an army of Sorcerers?
The answer was cruel and simple: they couldn’t.
But an entire planet couldn’t be completely conquered that quickly. It was likely that the Ironweald sect’s troops would arrive before everything became irreversible. But by then, the native races would already have been completely wiped out.
Why would the Mages care?
The past was filled with instances where the sect had sacrificed hundreds of them without hesitation, using them as mere cannon fodder to delay the Sorcerers’ advance. Today would be no different.
In the center of the territory, beneath the canopy of ancient trees, a colossal six-meter-tall wolf gathered the last warriors of his people. His emerald-green fur was covered in deep scars.
He was the leader of the Growlyn race.
A veteran of countless battles, he had survived through time and blood by relying on cunning to keep his species alive.
He stared at the strongest members of his pack, about to speak, when his expression suddenly changed drastically. He turned his snout toward the horizon.
More than thirty thousand Sorcerers, dressed in blood-red robes, advanced through the forest. They ran between the trees with sadistic smiles, thirsting for slaughter.
The old wolf wanted to give an encouraging speech, but the words became stuck in his throat.
He let out a heavy snort. In his mind, a single memory emerged with painful clarity.
The image of a little humanoid girl with a radiant smile, laughing loudly on his back as they sped together through the forest at high speed.
His daughter.
She had been born with an extremely rare mutation, carrying the bloodline of the Cursed Elves of the Forest. She had been born with a humanoid body, completely different from any other member of the Growlyn race.
Her mother had fallen in one of the many battles against the Sorcerers, leaving the little girl entirely under her father’s care, and he loved her more than his own life.
When they discovered that she possessed a talent for becoming a Mage, the old wolf, despite having his heart torn apart, allowed her to leave for distant lands. He had sacrificed everything so that his daughter would have the chance to follow a grand destiny.
It had been more than twenty-five years since the last time he had seen her...
Back then, she had been preparing to take the entrance test for the sect.
A deep sorrow filled the old wolf’s chest. He wanted to see her one last time. But life had never been kind to him.
The old wolf inhaled the smoke-filled air.
He had spent his entire existence fighting without ever knowing despair, but for the first time, he could smell his own inevitable death.
There was no escape.
’Where the hell are those bastard workers from the sect? They should be here to defend us...’ he muttered inwardly, somewhat furious.
There were always a few hundred sect workers living on the planet. They weren’t very powerful, but they were useful for identifying enemy invasions, calling for help, and assisting in protecting the place. Yet no one could see even a shadow of them.
Still, knowing the end was certain, the old alpha raised his head and released a cavernous howl that echoed through the forests.
One by one, every wolf in the pack joined the howl.
Staring at the red wave of enemies less than three hundred meters away, the old wolf roared and charged forward.
Behind him, fewer than a hundred wolves advanced without the slightest fear of death.
It was a suicidal and ridiculous charge — fewer than a hundred against thirty thousand — but the encirclement was already complete. There was no other choice but to die fighting.
*BUZZ!*
At the millisecond when the two forces were about to collide...
A colossal purple meteor tore through the night sky, accompanied by a thunderous boom that made the very fabric of reality tremble.
**BOOOOOOM!**
The mass of energy obliterated the ground exactly in the space between the beasts and the Sorcerers, unleashing a devastating shockwave and spreading a dense purple miasma exclusively in the direction of the Sorcerers.
Before the dust could even settle, a sharp female voice, filled with supreme authority, resounded directly inside the minds of every Beast on the planet:
"Retreat! Everyone in the forest, gather together and retreat! Leave this place to me!"