Kyle closed his eyes and pushed Energy into his mind. Moments later, the Third Refinement started, which would take 300 years to complete.
Kyle felt a searing pain in his mind. It felt like someone was pushing a burning needle right into his skull. As expected, the Third Refinement felt much worse than the Second Refinement.
Usually, Humanity followed strict rules regarding the Refinements.
It was expected that New Sages would continue their duties while undergoing the Second Refinement. The pain of the Second Refinement was pretty intense for many of them, but enduring it shouldn't be an issue. Continuing to do one's job would even help, since it would give the New Sage a distraction from the pain.
However, for the other Refinements, it wasn't expected. Usually, the rules stated that someone had to assess their capabilities while under the subject of the pain of other Refinements before making a decision. There was a high chance that a Sage wouldn't be able to operate at peak efficiency, which would increase the chances of death during a battle.
Yet, Commander Levinian immediately told Kyle to start his Third Refinement and assume his position. This technically broke the rules of Humanity, but there was no real risk. After all, Kyle had a True Sin Aura. If he could operate normally while under the subject of Sin Flames, he could also operate normally during the Third Refinement.
The pain of the Third Refinement was bad, but as expected, it couldn't compare to Sin Flames. Nevertheless, Kyle could notice it clearly. In a way, it was like his Sin Flames had been spiced up a little bit.
As soon as Kyle entered his Third Refinement, he left Fort U-878 again. At the same time, he also inspected his Emblem and saw the details of his order.
This time, he was not a Decimator but a Magnet. Major Sovignor had given Kyle three potential positions, and the commanders could choose which one Kyle would assume. All three possible positions required a True Sin Aura.
While a Decimator killed an army of weak Demons, a Magnet manipulated an entire battlefield. Since Demons couldn't resist the enticement of a True Sin Aura, a Magnet could attract them from far away.
Kyle flew a bit towards the east, and the Shields in his vicinity received an alert from their emblems, telling them that a Fighting Magnet had arrived. Shields were not supposed to question orders, but some of them still felt this to be a bit risky.
If Kyle were just a Magnet, they would be happy. However, he was a Fighting Magnet, making things more complicated.
A Magnet was valuable. Not many people were willing to be the subject of Sin Flames, despite their loyalty to Humanity. A normal Magnet simply spread their aura, and the surrounding soldiers were supposed to protect them.
Yet, a Fighting Magnet also entered battle. The soldiers were supposed to let some Demons pass so that the Fighting Magnet could help without leaving their position. This was not easy to accomplish due to the chaotic nature of the battlefield. If two teams decided to let a Demon pass at the same time, the Fighting Magnet might die. Alternatively, the formation could collapse as the teams charged to the Fighting Magnet's aid.
---
Kyle stopped in the middle of the battlefield, and six teams of Minor Sage Shields and three teams of New Sage Shields appeared in front of him.
"Area Commander Huran requests command over the Aura Expander," one of the Minor Sages transmitted to Kyle.
"Request refused. Advisory position granted," Kyle transmitted.
Every part of the battlefield had an Area Commander. They had the power to organize the positions of several teams. Just now, the local Area Commander had asked for access to Kyle's Aura Expander, an integral tool for a Magnet.
An Aura Expander, as the name implied, could spread one's aura, attracting more Demons. Depending on the setting, Kyle's aura could spread across the size of his Energy Sense or across literally millions, if not billions, of kilometers.
The reason why Kyle had refused was that the Area Commander could literally kill Kyle by setting the Aura Expander to a high level. Kyle could kill a bunch of New Sage Demons, and since he was now a Minor Sage, he could probably also kill two Early Sage Demons at the same time. Yet, if the setting was too high, hundreds of Sage Demons might charge at him.
"Accepted," Area Commander Huran transmitted. "Relevant inquiry: What is the permissible range of your Area Expander?"
"10% to 30%," Kyle transmitted.
"Clarifying inquiry: The minimum setting is 10%?" Huran asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Correct," Kyle answered.
Huran remained silent for a bit as his teams engaged in battle with some of the approaching Demons.
"Critical advice: Activate the minimum and try to survive," Huran transmitted.
While Huran didn't say it, in his mind, he had already accepted his death. The normal range of an Aura Expander was usually between 1% and 5%. Huran had only met one Magnet, who had been allowed to set his Aura Expander to 10%, but that Magnet had never even pushed his Aura Expander to that level.
"Affirmative," Kyle transmitted. "Three seconds to activation."
As the seconds counted down, 15 additional teams of Sages appeared around Kyle. Even a second Area Commander had arrived from a different area.
Then, Kyle's Emblem started to shine, and the dark red aura around him grew several times.
At the same time, Commander Meristo in Fort S-878 turned his head to look towards the east. Even he could feel Kyle's aura clearly. While this was happening, he also received a request for support from Fort U-878.
Commander Meristo immediately sent out new orders while sending several messages.
Over a hundred teams of Sages left their positions as they traveled towards the east. As the teams traveled to the east, they saw one Sage Demon after another joining them. The Sage Demons were not even attacking them. They only had eyes for Kyle.
The Shields felt like they were in a car that was speeding towards a wall. The crash couldn't be stopped anymore and was inevitable.
At the same time, 300 teams from Fort T-878 traveled towards Kyle's position.
In total, over 2,000 Sages charged towards Kyle's position. This was a major military movement, and Kyle was the reason.
10%...
Almost every Shield felt like the Magnet had gone insane. Which insane person would set their Aura Expander to 10%?! This guy was suicidal!
How far did Kyle's aura reach?
Well...
Even the Commander of Fort A-878 noticed.
A million kilometers. That's how far Kyle's aura spread.
The frontlines stretched across the entire width of Ayuvar, which was ten trillion kilometers, but they were only a million kilometers wide. In terms of dimensions, this was like a one-millimeter-wide string that was ten kilometers long, and at this moment, Kyle's aura encompassed a cubic millimeter of this string.
Literally billions of Sages were battling on the frontlines. Yet, if only ten million of them could do what Kyle was doing right now, the entire string would be covered. The entire frontline could be controlled by focusing the Demons' movements towards several points. The unexpected would become expected, and they wouldn't even need to use 1% of their Sages to cover everything.
However, attracting so many Demons was one thing. Surviving the onslaught of so many Demons was something else.
Kyle looked around, and soon enough, he saw it.
The tide.
Thousands of Sages were rushing to him.
However, there were also thousands of Sage Demons...
For just a moment, everything seemed quiet.
All the different individuals came closer to each other.
Kyle readied his hammer.
A moment of silence.
And then...
Impact!
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