Chapter 999

"..."

A full minute passed in suffocating silence, with no one able to move a single inch from their positions.

Not the Behemoth Clan, nor Ortiz, nor Thalos, nor Noir—not even the Dawn forces, and certainly not Han and Dan.

The moment the minute concluded, Devan’s shriveled corpse crashed into the dirt as the elemental containment finally dispersed.

He was gone.

Every drop of life and essence had been snuffed out and absorbed by the warrior mage.

Grey remained frozen, staring blankly at the ground.

Then, without looking up, he held out his hand to the side.

Almost immediately, an ashen portal yawned open beneath Thalos and Noir.

The duo glanced at the swirling gateway in confusion before they were yanked down by an invisible force.

In the next heartbeat, another portal materialized directly in front of the Primordial-ranked mount Devan had brought with him.

Months of serving the Supreme Magus had taught Thalos and Noir one vital lesson: he never acted without a motive.

The moment they leaped from the exit portal, they knew their objective.

Thalos’ blade flashed in a silver arc as he one-tapped the Primordial-ranked beast. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He decapitated it with such smooth, swift precision that neither the onlookers nor the beast itself could react in time.

Simultaneously, the gargoyle pressed his toes into the earth and lunged forward with uncanny agility, bolting into the very heart of the Behemoth Clan.

Ortiz’s head rolled into the dust before he could even blink.

The entire sequence took only two seconds.

The back of Noir’s throat began to glow with an orange cadence; soon, a gigantic fireball screamed outward, consuming half the remaining army and reducing them to cinders.

Thalos blurred and blitzed through the ranks, his greatsword reaping souls, heads, and lives like a grim offering to the earth.

Blood pooled beneath the feet of the Behemoth warriors as panic flared through their numbers like wildfire.

— PLEASE! PL-PL-PLEASE let us GO!

— PLEASE STOP!

— WE WON’T ATTACK YOU! PLEASE SPARE US!

Despite their screams, Noir and Thalos continued to blur through their midst faster than the eye could follow.

Steel and flames claimed lives before the men could even draw breath.

They didn’t know who was next, nor could they tell where the next strike was coming from as they fell with loud, wet thuds.

Grey listened to their haunting pleas silently, his gaze still fixed on the ground.

— PLEASE! WE WILL DO ANYTHING!

— YES! WE WILL WORK FOR YOU! PLEASE SPARE US!

— THE BEHEMOTH CLAN IS GONE! ALLOW US TO WORK FO— AHHH!

— LET US WORK FOR THE DAWN FACTION, PLEASE!

The cries were loud and painful, so desperate that the Dawn forces on the walls could feel the raw terror in the voices.

Two of their vice-leaders were dead; their leader had just been consumed.

The last vice-leader who could have hoped to lead a retreat had been decapitated seconds ago.

It was evident: the Behemoth Clan was finished.

Over three hundred thousand men could be seen weeping and pleading for mercy.

There was no point in fighting back; they knew they couldn’t escape the grasp of Thalos and Noir.

They had seen the carnage.

Even if they somehow evaded the duo, the Dawn forces—and especially Grey—would never grant them quarter.

There was absolutely no escape.

"You will join the Dawn faction?"

"...."

Thalos and Noir paused simultaneously as Grey’s voice carried across the entire battlefield with a sense of gentle finality.

— YES, PLEASE!

— WE SWEAR TO BE LOYAL TO YOU!

— PLEASE SPARE US ALL! WE BEG YOU!

"Fine then. You are all pardoned. You will be inducted into the Dawn faction and shall fight for my cause, and my cause alone."

As he spoke, his back remained turned to them. Now, he slowly pivoted.

His eyes began to glow a piercing yellow, his teeth gnashing together as he fought an internal battle.

"... If you are found to betray me, I will make sure to wipe you and all you hold dear off the face of this world."

The moment he finished speaking, he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

His transformation to the next stage had begun moments ago, but he had been suppressing the surge. Now, the dam had burst.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The Supreme Magus bellowed into the sky with such intensity that the whole earth trembled in response.

It was beginning—the Supreme Magus was about to ascend to a new pinnacle of power.

***

Three days passed within the blink of an eye following the monumental clash between the Behemoth Clan and the Dawn forces.

Word of the outcome had already swept across the lands the very same day the battle concluded.

The Behemoth Clan was no more.

All of their leaders had been eliminated, and the remaining three hundred thousand soldiers of the clan were now inducted into the Dawn faction.

This sudden influx boosted the faction’s prowess to an entirely different level.

Initially, before the war began, the Dawn faction could only boast a strength of about a hundred thousand men.

By the time the dust settled on the battlefield, they were left with just a few thousand survivors.

However, with Grey’s decisive command, their numbers were now staggering.

Within just a few weeks of assuming leadership, he had strengthened their combat power faster than what Orion had managed to achieve in decades.

Following his transformation, the Supreme Magus transitioned into the Supreme Yun Warrior after ascending to the rank of a Stage Nine warrior.

He had not just reached the threshold; he was now a High Stage Nine warrior—one of the few individuals at that pinnacle within all of Vayun.

Han and Dan had already vanished the moment the Dawn forces rushed onto the field to guard their leader.

Why they had decided to assist the Supreme Yun Warrior in taking down Devan that day remained a mystery, as they left as swiftly as they had arrived before any questions could be asked.

The world of Vayun was still shaking, trembling as reports of Grey’s overwhelming power continued to circulate.

Any who dismissed the news as mere rumors were immediately silenced by the testimonies of the smarter Behemoth Clan members—those who had taken the opportunity to flee the moment Grey and Devan first clashed.

They narrated stories of Grey’s terrifying power and bizarre, reality-bending abilities to anyone who would listen.

Now, his name was being feared for multiple reasons.

First, there was the sheer feat of dismantling one of the major clans in the world—a clan that boasted a massive, seasoned army.

Second, he still held the exclusive ability to craft the pills that had become essential for warriors across the continent.

His alchemical creations had already spread through Vayun, with fighters utilizing them in every major engagement.

By absorbing Devan’s Ki, he had solidified his position as one of the most powerful warriors in existence.

The Supreme Magus was no longer an up-and-coming threat; he was a sovereign power.

The Dawn faction knew it.

The rival factions knew it.

And the entire world knew it... now.