Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

”You...”

The young man named Arvid blinked, finally snapping out of his shock. He looked Priam up and down and, within seconds, his eyes widened as he sensed the bloodline flowing through him. It was a little strange and subtly different from what he knew, but still recognizable.

”You’re... an Elven Fox from the Outer Realm?”

Priam gave a small nod.

He had Divine Concealment active to suppress all his ordinary energies, and had used a Power Rune to perfectly replicate the bloodline of the corpse he had found in the forest.

Earlier, the Central Elder had mentioned that the Outer Realm was inhabited by countless surviving races. Priam had simply taken a shot in the dark, hoping that the species of that dead body actually existed outside that place.

”I, MO LAN, SWEAR I’LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!”

The girl’s furious roar made the ground tremble as soon as she recovered from the impact.

Having finally used her brain, she retrieved her cracked sword with her good hand. In a fit of rage, she spun on her heels, splitting into dozens of afterimages that surrounded the area, shooting in from all directions simultaneously.

In less than a blink, a storm of dark slashes rained down on Priam.

Casually holding the broken shield in one hand, Priam took a smooth step to the left, slid half a centimeter to the right, and dodged everything as if he were dancing a waltz, refusing to take any frontal impact.

Noticing the girl’s blazing eyes, Priam let out a mental sigh.

She was clearly immature and mentally childish. She was certainly a Beast that had been nurtured to the maximum far too quickly, having lived for very few years. He couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of empathy.

Besides, Priam couldn’t sense any genuine malice in that girl—only the desperation of someone who had been born in the middle of the mud of war and shaped by the cruelty of the adults around her.

”Hey, hey, everyone! Let’s put the weapons down here!” Priam shouted, with a poorly faked panicked tone. ”The heavens are extremely benevolent and hate seeing so much rudeness! How about we take a break, sit in a circle, and have some good wine? I’m absolutely certain everything can be solved with a civilized conversation!”

The girl became so furious at the mockery that her white hair stood on end like that of an angry cat.

”DIE!”

Priam began to ’trip’ and ’leave openings’ all over the place, acting out an awkward dance as if he were about to be sliced apart at any second.

However, the girl had learned her lesson through pain: terrified of cracking the rest of the sword or crushing her other hand against the mysterious shield, she diverted her attacks every time the shield appeared in the trajectory.

The result was a ridiculous scene: Priam looked like he was on the verge of death, miraculously relying on a piece of old iron to survive, while the girl slashed uselessly through the air.

Right at the climax of that theatrical ”crisis,” a silver spear wrapped in thunder tore through the air with a deafening roar. The projectile whizzed just a few centimeters past Priam’s cheek, heading straight for Mo Lan’s chest.

Arvid had finally managed to recover and, upon seeing the ”poor civilian” in mortal danger, launched a covering attack without hesitation.

*BOOM!*

The spear’s electrical impact sent the girl flying backward, interrupting her storm of attacks.

”Thank you very much for the help! I, Arvid, will never forget this favor!” the young man shouted, appearing beside Priam with his chest heaving. ”But this battlefield is far too dangerous for you! Run now!”

Watching Priam’s ”desperate” movements and lack of technique, Arvid had deduced that he was simply a weak guy who had gotten lucky enough to have a bizarrely resilient shield. After all, he was merely an Elven Fox—a Level 11 Impure Beast race that had never been known for its brute strength.

Even without time to heal his serious wounds, Arvid didn’t hesitate to place himself in front of Priam. In his mind, that stranger had risked his life to save him, and a warrior of honor would never let his savior be killed.

Priam blinked, surprised. This Arvid guy was genuinely nice.

In the end, the two central figures of that bloody war weren’t evil monsters. They were simply victims of circumstances and the weight of their own bloodlines.

”Hey, man, relax,” Priam said, giving Arvid a friendly pat on the shoulder before stepping forward.

”Girl... your name is Mo Lan, right? Look, I just got here, and I’m a peaceful guy. It’d be pretty embarrassing for you if I beat you up right here in front of your army.”

”Shut up and run! You’re going to get sliced apart!”

Arvid shouted, nearly having a nervous breakdown upon seeing Priam advance with ridiculous openings everywhere. There was no chance Mo Lan would show mercy this time.

”Come on, man of little faith! This shield of mine is the pinnacle of ancient technology! She can’t even touch me—HOLY SHIT!”

Priam let out a dramatic shriek of surprise when Mo Lan emerged from a spatial fold directly behind him, at a completely bizarre angle. The moment Priam reacted, the girl’s sharp claws were already grazing the fabric on his back.

”WATCH OUT!” Arvid roared.

Burning through the rest of his energy, Arvid thrust his spear with everything he had in a desperate attack, trying to force the girl to defend herself before she could slit Priam’s throat.

However, Arvid’s reaction ended up being a little too slow... which ultimately set the stage for one of the strangest and most absurd scenes on that entire battlefield.

Instead of being sliced apart, the broken shield in Priam’s hands spun like a runaway top. Clinging to the metal, Priam was ”dragged” out of the attack’s trajectory by a gust of wind.

Mo Lan’s eyes widened in pure shock.

That attack from behind was one of her most refined lethal techniques—perfect in timing, angle, and speed. And yet, she had missed her target?

That was when the miracle happened: the delayed spear Arvid had just thrown ended up becoming the most precise attack of his life.

By missing the lunge at Priam, Mo Lan projected her own shoulder directly into the path of the thunderous thrust.

*PIERCE!*

Arvid’s spear sank in with full force, shattering the girl’s dark aura and embedding itself deep into her flesh.

It almost looked like Mo Lan had deliberately opened her flank to be pierced. Both duelists froze in bewilderment.

Before the girl could process the pain, a macabre voice dripping with mockery whispered right next to her ear:

”Since your parents never taught you any manners, I’ll do you the favor of educating you.”

*POW!*

Priam appeared behind her like a ghost and delivered a horizontal slap with the side of the shield directly across Mo Lan’s cheek.

Blood sprayed from her mouth as she was sent flying like a sack of potatoes, rolling across the battered ground.

When the dust settled, the scene was staggering: a bloody hole in her shoulder and half of the girl’s delicate face completely purple and smashed from the impact of the metal. The Calamity Beasts watched everything in catatonic silence.

Arvid froze in place. Even after so many clashes, this was the first time he had inflicted such a devastating wound on his rival. The fact that he had managed to do it through such a chaotic sequence of events left him speechless.

Mo Lan, however, was a thousand times more stunned. The impact of the shield against her face had nearly knocked her unconscious in midair. That piece of old iron was as hard as diamond, and the strength of the bastard wielding it was bizarre.

Priam snorted, brushing some invisible dust off his clothes. He had been extremely generous—if he had been fighting to kill, he would have blown the girl’s head into a thousand pieces.

”Brat, I asked for manners and dialogue, but you insist on treating me like I’m some circus clown!” Priam scolded, adopting an extremely irritating tone of disappointed fatherly disapproval.

”YOU DAMN BASTARD! I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!”

As expected, Mo Lan flew into a frenzy of rage. As a young prodigy of the immortal race, could she really tolerate being humiliated with an iron slap to the face?

Her roar made the heavens and earth tremble. The dark aura around her exploded, causing her to reach an uncontrollable level of power.

”Whoa, whoa, brat, calm down!” Priam immediately took ten quick steps backward, raising his hands in feigned panic. ”Don’t get so emotional! I just want to help...”

”DODGE, YOU CRAZY BASTARD!” Arvid roared, cursing inwardly. He still wanted to talk?! Was there something seriously wrong with his head?!

Even though Arvid thought Priam was a hopeless suicidal maniac, he didn’t waste the opportunity. A pair of wings made of gigantic arcs of electricity unfolded from his back with a deafening buzz. He gripped the spear in his hand and shot toward Mo Lan with full force.

The next second, spear and sword collided again in a storm of thunder and shadows, tearing apart the very fabric of the space around them.