That brief silver glow was enough and the essence surged back under my command.
Thousands of new constructs formed instantly.
Swords.
Spears.
Chains.
Entire storms of weapons materialized across the sky as the battlefield transformed into a floating arsenal of violet light. I extended my hand. The constructs surged forward.
Aurora met them head on.
Lightning exploded across the sky as she summoned a storm large enough to swallow the entire cloud layer. Bolts crashed into the incoming weapons while arcs of electricity carved through clusters of essence blades.
Lyrate expanded her creations further.
The vines she had formed spread outward across the sky, weaving themselves into massive structures that launched spears of condensed life energy toward me.
Silver’s tornado descended simultaneously.
Wind blades ripped through the air with devastating force as the storm tried to tear apart the essence constructs surrounding me.
Ragnar broke through the storm again with another gravity-powered leap, his club smashing through layers of weapons before crashing directly into the shield protecting my body.
The impact tilted me backward through the air slightly.
Just a few centimeters.
From the island below Steve laughed loudly.
"Oh that’s close!"
I steadied myself and smiled faintly.
"Not bad."
Then I snapped my finger. The surrounding essence responded instantly.
The constructs multiplied.
Thousands became tens of thousands as the sky filled with violet weapons spinning like a celestial storm. Every attack from my summons collided with expanding layers of defense while the remaining constructs countered from every direction.
Knight emerged from the shadows again only to find several blades already waiting for him.
Aurora’s lightning storm split as dozens of essence chains wrapped themselves around the currents of electricity.
Silver’s tornado shattered against rotating walls of constructs. Ragnar’s next swing met an entire fortress of condensed essence that formed instantly around me.
The sky became a battlefield of overwhelming power. For several minutes the clash continued as laws collided with raw essence manipulation across the clouds.
Eventually Ragnar slowed.
He hovered in the air while lowering his club slightly, staring at the endless field of weapons still floating around me.
"Alright."
He looked around the sky in disbelief.
"That’s ridiculous."
The others began pulling back as well.
Knight stepped out of the shadows while Lyrate allowed the massive life constructs to dissolve into drifting particles of essence. Aurora dismissed the lightning storm while Silver’s wings folded as he returned to his human form.
Ash’s sealing runes faded quietly into the clouds.
Far below, Steve clapped once.
"Well... I think that answers the question."
North smiled faintly as she watched the battlefield settle.
"You didn’t move."
I exhaled slowly and looked around at the floating constructs still drifting across the sky. At first glance they appeared to be nothing more than ordinary essence weapons, blades and spears formed from condensed energy but that assumption would have been wrong.
If they were simple constructs of essence, they would not have lasted even a fraction of the time they had against the combined attacks of the six of them.
I raised my hand slightly.
With a small motion of my fingers a dagger formed in my palm.
It appeared simple at first. A short blade, slender and sharp, glowing faintly with a green hue. But as I studied it more closely I could feel something deeper woven within its structure.
Something I hadn’t consciously added.
Runes.
And something even more important.
Soul energy.
Thin violet runic patterns flowed across the surface of the dagger while faint currents of soul power pulsed quietly within its core. The two energies were interwoven perfectly, strengthening the construct far beyond what simple essence shaping should allow.
And the strangest part was that I hadn’t deliberately created any of it.
This was happening automatically.
Every construct I had summoned carried a small fragment of my soul energy, bound together with runic structure and condensed essence. The three elements merged naturally, creating weapons far stronger than ordinary energy constructs.
For a moment I watched the dagger silently.
"So this is what it means."
The default state of a Saint.
The realization settled slowly in my mind. Saints did not simply control essence more efficiently than Transcendents. Their power existed on a completely different foundation.
They could merge essence with soul energy.
The result was an entirely different quality of power.
Now I understood even more clearly why Amun had insisted on strengthening my soul to such an extreme degree.
Without a powerful enough soul, this kind of fusion would be impossible.
I closed my fingers slightly and the dagger dissolved back into particles of light.
"I was trying to see whether your strength is enough to go against a newly evolved Saint," I said calmly.
Aurora’s lightning flickered faintly as she watched me.
"Is it?"
I shook my head slowly.
"Individually, no."
I gestured toward the fading constructs around us.
"You’re all extremely strong. Stronger than all Transcendents in the galaxy."
My gaze moved from one of them to the next.
"But Saints operate differently. They combine two forms of energy, essence and soul energy, into a single structure."
I pointed toward the constructs I had created.
"Just like these. The moment those two energies merge, the resulting power becomes far more refined. The essence itself becomes higher quality than what ordinary Transcendents can produce."
Ragnar frowned slightly as he studied the dissolving weapons.
"So that’s why those things were so hard to break."
"Yes."
Aurora crossed her arms.
"So we stand no chance?"
I shook my head again.
"One of you alone wouldn’t be able to fight a Saint."
Then I looked at all six of them together.
"But all of you working together?"
A faint smile appeared on my face.
"You could definitely take one down."
"All together?" Lyrate frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with that answer. "I don’t like the sound of that. When are you ranking up? I need to reach Saint as fast as possible before some Saint arrives and swats me like a bug."
A small chuckle escaped me.
"Soon. Very soon."
Their attention shifted toward me as I continued.
"My merit points are increasing quickly, and my physical stats are also progressing well. The real problem right now is soul energy."
Aurora tilted her head slightly.
"You mean the requirement Amun mentioned?"
I nodded.
"To reach the threshold I need to expand my soul to three hundred and thirty-three feet. That means I’ll need to absorb a lot of pure soul energy."
Ragnar scratched the side of his head.
"Where exactly do you find something like that?"
"I wish I knew," I replied with a small shrug.
"I’ve already asked Primus to investigate it. He’s been expanding our intelligence network across nearby systems, so if there’s a place where soul energy gathers naturally, he might find something."
"And if he doesn’t?" Lyrate asked.
"Then we’ll have to ask the Nagas."
Aurora’s expression shifted slightly.
"You mean Xeron?"
"Yeah," I said casually. "The old man."
Ragnar snorted quietly at that description while Knight’s eyes flickered briefly with amusement.
After a moment I waved my hand dismissively, shifting the conversation away from the topic.
"Anyway."
My gaze moved across the six of them.
"How are the preparations for the Grade Three rift?"
Aurora answered immediately.
"Everything is ready. We were waiting for you to finish your work on the island."
"That’s perfect," I said. "If we close this Grade Three rift, the merit reward should be significant. It’ll be our first one at that level."
Silver crossed his arms thoughtfully.
"And the agreement with the Nagas?"
I nodded.
"Xeron promised quite a bit. Payment, weapons, armor, even some combat vessels."
Ragnar’s eyes lit up slightly.
"That will help Primus expand the army."
"Exactly."
The Order of Absolute was still young. Most of our strength came from personal power, but long-term influence required infrastructure and manpower. The resources from the Nagas would help accelerate that process.
"But honestly," I added with a faint grin, "the rewards aren’t the main reason I’m interested."
Knight’s eyes sharpened slightly.
"The fight?"
"Yes."
Knight nodded slowly.
"I’ve heard Grade Three rifts are different. The Eternal forces themselves begin appearing there, not just phantoms and abominations."
"That’s what Xeron told me as well." I replied.
Then I looked toward the distant horizon where the clouds were beginning to shift.
"Well," I said calmly. "We’ll find out soon enough."