Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam caught the bone sword in midair without hesitation. A bestial, savage, and terrifying energy emanated from the cracked blade—it was a visceral power that definitely didn’t exist in his world.

[Dominate?] [Yes / No]

Priam activated the system and completely sealed the weapon’s energy.

”!”

Mo Lan’s eyes widened in absolute shock. She felt the ancestral energy contained within the bones instantly freeze, turning into dead weight.

Then Priam stored it in his spatial ring, a calm and perfectly innocent smile on his face.

”Great. Come with us. We’ve already wasted too much time here,” he said with extreme naturalness, gesturing toward the colossal structure in the sky. ”Just obey me and don’t do anything without my permission, or you’ll die alone.”

Arvid was stunned by the bizarre turn of events. However, when his eyes met Priam’s, he merely snorted and nodded.

He had no idea what was going through Priam’s head, but the man had already saved his people twice and demonstrated superior intelligence. Besides, without that Ancestral Sword, Mo Lan couldn’t easily do anything against them.

Mo Lan remained frozen for a second, swallowing her surprise.

When Priam turned and marched toward the danger zone, she finally snapped out of her trance and ran after the two.

Seeing the unlikely trio running together toward the black monstrosity in the sky, the Impure Beasts and the Calamity Beasts nearly had a collective meltdown. Seeing the two greatest prodigies of enemy races marching side by side was something that defied all logic.

Suddenly, the void around them trembled, and Priam noticed a colossal chain hanging from the hull of the Vessel, dragging heavily across the ground.

It looked like a gigantic anchor.

’Why the hell would a flying ship need an anchor?’ Priam wondered, but decided not to dwell on it. If the chain was there, it could serve as a ladder.

Possibly, it had been placed there on purpose, to make it easier for someone to actually climb up to the vessel.

As they approached, the Death Yin mist became absurdly dense, making Arvid and Mo Lan tremble involuntarily.

”Relax. I have a habit of doing stupid and dangerous things all the time. Once you get used to it, it doesn’t even seem that deadly anymore,” Priam reassured them with disconcerting casualness.

Arvid swallowed hard, deciding to trust that lunatic until the very end. Mo Lan simply nodded obediently. The noble-blooded young woman had put all her pride aside, following every step Priam took with heightened attention.

Just a few meters from the collision zone, Priam slowed down to examine the temporal turbulence.

He expanded his senses to their limit. The power of time there was terrifying; if the temporal current suddenly changed and became more powerful, he would need to retreat that very same second.

However, after a brief analysis, he realized that the flow of that energy was constant and predictable, flowing like a river current across the top of the ship. The entire area of the ship and everything beneath it was relatively safe.

[Activate Power Rune?] [Yes / No]

Priam confirmed mentally.

”!”

A whitish barrier instantly expanded from Priam’s body, stretching several meters and enveloping Arvid and Mo Lan in a protective bubble. Inside the field, the crushing pressure of the Death Yin simply evaporated.

Priam let out a sigh of relief.

The rune infused with pure Yang energy would neutralize the Death Yin. If the temporal distortion changed and hit them, the barrier would buy him precious time to react and flee in desperation.

”Let’s climb up.”

The colossal chain came dragging past them.

”JUMP!” Priam shouted, leaping in sync with the other two.

They landed on the solid iron links. Many sections of the chain were covered in thick, gruesome rust.

”Be careful not to touch that rust,” Priam warned, sensing a strange energy emanating from the ancient metal.

Like three ants climbing a rope, the trio raced upward. It took them less than five minutes to traverse the length of the chain and reach the upper railing.

The Vessel had already been in the sky for around twenty minutes; only forty minutes remained before it pierced through the void and disappeared forever.

As they reached the top, the three of them carefully peeked over the rotten wooden railing.

When Mo Lan saw the bizarre scene on the deck, her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to let out a sharp scream of terror.

Luckily, Priam reacted with godlike reflexes and pressed his palm over the girl’s mouth before a single sound could escape.

’Damn it, girl! You’re going to give us away before we even get started!’ he cursed inwardly, keeping the young woman pinned in place.

After a few seconds, he let her go.

”That... that’s my ancestor!” Mo Lan whispered in a trembling voice, pointing at a colossal serpent made of black bones that lay twisted across the deck, covered in the remains of mummified flesh.

”Don’t lose your damn head now! We need to check whether this thing is a trap first,” Arvid warned, looking half-frightened and half-wary.

Priam already knew the story from Arvid: during the final battle for the world’s survival, the old ancestors of the three Great Races had made the stupid mistake of keeping the greatest treasures and inheritances for themselves, arrogantly believing they would defeat the invaders.

Those of the three Great Races who survived were the weaker and younger ones who couldn’t fight, and they had remained safe inside the realm. So, when everything collapsed, a huge portion of their techniques and inheritances was lost.

When the powerful ones realized the end was near, they bitterly regretted it and used their remaining strength to lock everything aboard that flying ship, hoping future generations would be able to recover it all.

”Holy shit... my ancestor is here too!” Arvid exclaimed in an awed whisper, pointing toward the opposite side.

Near the bow, the corpse of an enormous Impure Beast lay sprawled across the deck.

It wasn’t a coincidence: the most powerful ancestors of the Black Shadow Serpent and Arcane Astrapids races had arranged their bodies right near the entrance to the deck, making it easier for any descendant who managed to board the vessel to access their inheritances.

”Don’t worry. I’ll help you get your inheritances,” Priam said.

He surveyed the area around them. This vessel was gigantic. The bow was packed with gigantic skeletons still standing in rigid battle formations.

An oppressive aura of danger emanated from those remains, creating the eerie impression that they could move at any second and attack them. However, Priam realized they were merely remnants of stagnant energy within the bones. As long as they didn’t carelessly desecrate the bodies, nothing would move.

The trio advanced cautiously.

The rotten deck planks creaked with every step, letting out dry cracks that made Arvid and Mo Lan’s hearts jump in their chests.

Priam approached the corpse of the gigantic Black Shadow. Its eye sockets were empty, and its flesh was dried out, but its imposing presence was still overwhelming.

When she stopped in front of the monster, Mo Lan trembled. The blood in her veins began to boil in resonance with the corpse. Overcome with sacred reverence, the girl dropped to her knees before the bones.

”Ancestor... forgive our weakness and for taking so long to arrive,” she murmured, lowering her forehead to the rotten wood.

As soon as she stood up, a violent reaction began.

”!”

Mo Lan spat out a mouthful of thick blood, which splattered directly onto the serpent’s skull.

At the same instant, the girl’s vitality began to be sucked away uncontrollably; her skin turned pale, and her body began withering at a terrifying speed.

Horrified to see the girl turning into a living raisin, Priam grabbed her by the waist and forcefully pulled her backward.

Suddenly, the empty sockets of the skull lit up with a ruby-red glow, and a hoarse, cavernous voice echoed directly from the bone jaws:

”Let her go...”

”What the FUCK?!”

Startled by the sight of a talking skeleton, Priam clenched his fists, ready to attack.

”Let her go!” the entity ordered in a cold, authoritative voice. ”I don’t have much time. I need to transfer the bloodline inheritance now...”

Priam blinked, finally understanding, and released the girl.

He remembered the time he had encountered the lingering wills of Shione and Lumiere’s ancestors in the past. This wasn’t a living monster, but merely a dying consciousness sustained by the remnants of energy.

Since they had no source of energy to maintain themselves for long, the transfer of knowledge had to be immediate and forceful.

Mo Lan entered a deep trance, floating mere millimeters above the ground before her ancestor. The illusion of her transformation began to flicker and pulse with a sinister, blood-red light.