Chapter 420: Second Technique

Priam breathed heavily, his mind immersed in indescribable chaos. He desperately struggled to absorb and understand what he had just witnessed in that dream.

How?

If that man really was him... that meant he hadn’t died on Earth as James and then reincarnated directly into the Ur-World. He had actually lived other lives before, and in one of them, he had even become an Immortal.

Why, then, could he only remember his life as James and, afterward, his journey within the Ur-World?

But... stopping to calmly analyze everything, it was all starting to make sense.

His Anima and Fate Wheel were at the Transcendental level, the same level as Dandara, who had been a Sovereign Goddess.

How the hell could he possess something of that caliber if he had originally been an ordinary human from Earth?

Now, after that dream, he had absolute confirmation of this fact: he really had once been an incredibly powerful figure, and his Anima and Fate Wheel had reached that level through his own strength in the past.

’Shit... I was... I was a monster?’

The thought came with a terrifying feeling.

Priam was certain. ’That man’ was a homicidal maniac consumed by a thirst for revenge, willing to do absolutely anything to achieve his goals. He had certainly done whatever he wanted, killed, destroyed, and walked down a bloody path until he was finally stopped.

’At least someone managed to stop me... but how much evil... how much evil had I already done before that?’

Priam felt his soul tremble. That sinister feeling coming from the memories still resonated in his chest. He was certain that it really had been him.

He forced himself to think logically, searching for anything that might be different...

’Wait...’

He remembered the voice of that terrifying young man who had been fighting in the vision. More specifically, he remembered the name of the attack he had used.

Blinding Break.

Priam’s eyes widened. The pieces began falling perfectly into place.

When he obtained the first Goddess’s Mark, and when he found the Goddess’s inheritance in the other world, on both occasions he heard her recorded voice.

Clearly, she knew Priam, knew he would come after her with his flaw, and also seemed to harbor a certain animosity toward him.

’That young figure... was he the Master Dandara mentioned earlier? Is he the creator of the technique she uses?’

Priam reflected on it, doing his best to remember every detail of that dream.

Daggers... that young man fought with daggers, and they emitted the elements of water, wind, and earth.

Yes, there was no doubt left.

That was Dandara’s master. She had reincarnated into this world and, possibly, received his techniques from the system, learning to use them to rise in power.

Priam hadn’t seen even a trace of Miasma in the vision. However, Dandara’s Miasma was incomparably stronger and more devastating than any of her other abilities.

Could Miasma have originally been a power exclusive to her?

It seemed logical, and something deep within his consciousness told him that this deduction was correct.

’That young man was certainly quite striking... but that Dragoness fighting alongside him seemed to have an extremely intimate and close connection with him. I don’t think I have any reason to suspect that he had a relationship with the Dandara from the past.’

Priam reflected on that and nodded, feeling a slight wave of relief and calm settle over his chest.

He stopped trembling.

’Okay... so, if I get the other three Goddess’s Marks, will I recover more memories? I hope so.’

What he had seen just now was only a fragment. There were still many pieces missing before he could understand the whole picture.

Priam shook his head, deciding to put this bizarre experience aside for the time being. The past was the past, and he barely had any concrete answers beyond the obvious. There was no point dwelling on it right now.

Now calmer, he sat down on the bed. Only then did he realize that he was resting in an extremely luxurious room.

Those Fey Risen must have been terrified when they saw him pass out, so they brought him to a room in the race’s residence.

After taking a deep breath to regain his focus, Priam concentrated his thoughts on the system.

[Second World Mage Technique: Null Turn]

[Upon activation and after selecting the direction, the system’s energy domain will be pushed to its absolute limit. You will be able to take control of any energy-based attack directed at you and immediately counterattack using the enemy’s own power.]

[NOTE: At your current level, you can only counterattack once every 30 hours. After use, the system’s domain will also become inoperable until the cooldown ends.]

Priam’s eyes shone like stars.

Just like Rumbling Heavens, the second technique was simply terrifying. Rumbling Heavens used his stored power runes to attack. Null Turn, on the other hand, took control of the system’s own domain and returned the attack.

’Too bad I can only use it once, and I also lose an important power afterward. But if I use it at the right moment, I can catch anyone off guard and win the fight.’

In the middle of that thought, the bedroom door opened.

Priam saw those four Fey Risen enter, all of them wearing relieved expressions.

"The Lord has finally awakened..."

Priam gave a slight nod. "Sorry about that. How long was I asleep?"

"About a day. I came to see you now because the seven-day resting period given to the new inner disciples has ended. You have to leave." The man in the center spoke hurriedly.

"Great, I woke up just in time." Priam stood up with a forced smile.

He pretended to be perfectly fine. However, internally, after seeing all of that, his mind was heavy. He couldn’t say he was the same person after what he had witnessed.

Knowing that he had been a terrible monster in another life was like a poisoned blade in his chest. Thinking about it, perhaps that was why no one remembered their past lives. Knowing too much was sometimes more harmful than beneficial.

But life had to go on; he needed to keep moving forward.

Priam quickly thanked everyone for taking him to the Goddess’s Mark and assured them that everything was fine. Then, Priam used the planet’s teleportation inscription to return.

He quickly arrived at the inner disciples’ planet and, afterward, at his faction’s base.

Everyone was gathered there, confused and wondering where Priam had disappeared to. When they saw him arrive, they all sighed in relief.

"Boss," Dandara said with an excited smile on her face.

Priam nodded slightly, and at that exact moment, Dandara’s expression changed. She instantly sensed that something very serious and wrong had happened to him.

Priam didn’t waste any time and waved to everyone: it was time to leave.

The entire faction used the central teleportation inscription, appearing in a huge plaza.

Several Inner Elders were gathered there. They were the only ones present besides the newly arrived disciples.

It was a small welcoming ceremony. As soon as they arrived, the Elders began a simple and straightforward speech.

It was a detailed explanation of the rules and the disputes over points and resources between the factions.

Basically, there were several ways to earn points. Some were absurdly dangerous but offered huge rewards. The easier and simpler ones, however... all involved some kind of internal competition against other factions.

Every month, confrontations took place at specific locations, and any faction that wanted to fight could participate. It wasn’t mandatory, but simply participating and finishing last already earned a decent amount of points.

Priam listened to everything in silence.

Compete for points? This was ridiculous and a complete waste of time.

Anything he and the people in his faction wanted, all he had to do was go there and take it at zero cost. He was the sect’s main disciple, and everything was at his disposal.

So, no one there would need to compete for anything. His faction would enjoy 100% of what the inner sect had to offer, simply training and growing stronger indefinitely. It would be a luxurious training regimen that not even the sect’s richest disciples would have access to.

Of course, simply training and never fighting wasn’t actually beneficial. But fortunately...

The Elder explained that every year, the sect obtained between three and nine Sacred Missions from the Sovereigns. These missions were all absurdly dangerous, and the faction leaders would always receive a notification whenever a new one appeared.

After receiving the notification, they would choose which group would be sent, according to their chances of success. If no one volunteered or they couldn’t reach a consensus, the Central Elders would decide for them.

Priam, as the main disciple, could obviously make that decision directly according to his own wishes. If he wanted a mission and decided to send only his own people, then that was what would be done.

Thus, this would be the true challenge for his faction.

They would train, study, and grow as much as possible while they were at home. Then, they would set out on missions where they would put their lives on the line. They wouldn’t waste time on useless little games and internal disputes within the sect.

After finishing the explanations, the Elder announced:

"Everyone who has family outside the inner sect can begin the registration process. The sect has already selected a region and will allow everyone to enter immediately."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of many disciples lit up.