"You can't kill a Master of the Ocean of Law," the Supreme Law of Origin said.
"I can't kill them? Why?"
"As long as their Path exists, they are immortal."
The transition from the River of Law to the Ocean of Law was more than just an advancement—it was proof that they had begun to walk a Path of their own.
Containing all the Origin and Essence of the Pioneer, their Path became their foundation.
As long as their Path remained unbroken, they could resurrect, even millions of epochs later.
This was how Malgron managed to survive the Dark Disaster.
With his master, the Absolute of Chaos, guarding the Path he walked, Malgron retained all his power without any loss.
Not bothering whether he had truly killed his enemies, Maximus turned his attention to the nine prototype Ocean-level Seeds of Paths he had acquired.
Wondering how long the system would take to deduce even a single piece of an Ocean-level Path, he placed them into the Knowledge Deduction tab.
[Ocean of Runes Seed: 12 billion years
Ocean of Calculation Seed: 11 billion years
Ocean of Nature Seed: 10 billion years
Ocean of Mandate Seed: 7 billion years
Seeing that each would take tens of billions of years to deduce, Maximus immediately gave up.
Even with the aid of Strands of Causality, it would take hundreds of thousands of years to deduce a single Ocean-level Seed of Path.
This was still due to the advantage of having prototype Seeds of Paths from defeating his enemies.
Maximus could only imagine how impossibly long it would take to deduce an Ocean-level Path manually from scratch.
With less than a million years remaining before the Dimensional Tournament, Maximus decided his time would be better spent elsewhere.
There were far more pressing matters to deduce than these Seeds of Paths.
Cleaning up the battlefield, Maximus returned to the Etherium Outpost as if nothing had happened.
Isolated by the Source of Knowledge, even Overlords would find it difficult to detect the events that had transpired inside.
Meanwhile, at the enemy outpost, the Supreme Leaders of the five sects and nine families wore dark expressions.
"How could this happen?! Nine Masters of the Ocean of Law were instantly wiped out!"
"Did an Absolute intervene?!" Yumar asked, turning to Lise.
Suddenly remembering the young girl seen accompanying Maximus during his visit to the Dimensional Council, the group frowned deeply.
"No, an Absolute isn't allowed to interfere with weaker ones, let alone individuals within the Dimensional Alliance." Lise, a representative of the Eonfrir Family, replied hurriedly.
Pandora belonged to the Time and Space Bureau, which had direct ties to the Eonfrir Family.
Not wanting to bear the blame for such a breach, Lise quickly defended her position.
Calming down, they reminded themselves of the unwritten rules of the Aeon Plane.
Taking a deep breath, they begrudgingly admitted that Maximus was far stronger than anticipated.
Though the masters they sent lacked the foundation of a true warrior, the fact that Maximus could eliminate them instantly proved his terrifying power.
As they deliberated on their next move, a sudden commotion disrupted their thoughts.
Hylos, a wisp of his Origin, and Will drifted into their outpost.
Grabbing the fragile Wisp of Origin, Arnulfo, the Patriarch of the Donmarch Family, quickly transferred a gentle surge of Origin Energy.
After several days of recovery—assisted by all thirteen leaders—Hylos finally regained consciousness.
"Patriarch! I—I'm sorry! I failed!" Hylos cried, bowing his head deeply before Arnulfo.
"It's okay, just tell us what happened!" Arnulfo urged.
Instead of wallowing in their losses, the leaders focused on one thing: discovering how Maximus had managed to defeat the espionage team they had sent.
Hearing Hylos's account, their initial worry eased into a sigh of relief.
"So, it's just an artificial boost of strength!"
Learning that Maximus could only temporarily amplify his power to the Absolute Realm, they felt reassured.
Such an artificial amplification couldn't compare to a real Absolute, whether in endurance or quality.
As for how Maximus had managed to kill their espionage team so swiftly, they concluded it must be a trap set in advance.
Never in their lives would they believe Maximus had not only amplified his strength to the Absolute Realm but momentarily pushed it all the way to the Overlord Realm.
Confirming Maximus's strength had yet to reach an unfathomable level, they regained their previous composure.
"It's time to end this war."
Armed with all the information they needed and a justification to mobilize their full force, they prepared to tear Maximus apart.
Killing nine Masters of the Ocean of Law was an unforgivable crime in the Dimensional Alliance.
Even though their forces had attacked first—the act of killing was still killing no matter the cause.
Masters of the Ocean of Law were vital to the stability of the Dimensional Alliance, acting as pillars to consolidate power and defend against the Devourer Faction.
This was especially critical with the looming threat of the Dark Disaster.
The loss of nine such powerful Masters was a crime that could not be ignored.
Under the guise of enforcing justice, their resolve grew stronger as they looked toward the Etherium Realm with greed in their hearts.
As for Loss? Anger? Grievance?
All paled in comparison to the opportunity to seize the Orion—a chance to advance to the Absolute Realm.
Under the banner of justice, they summoned every Master of the Ocean of Law within their forces who weren't in seclusion.
Amassing a terrifying force of over fifty Masters of the Ocean of Law, they began to set the Dimensional Alliance ablaze.
"Maximus Shadowcrest, you must pay for your crimes!"
"Killing the hope of the Dimensional Alliance and the Aeon Plane is an unforgivable sin!"
"Maximus Shadowcrest! The Traitor of the Dimensional Alliance, show yourself!"
Under the banner of justice, with proclamations of Maximus's alleged sins echoing across the void, the silent expanse began to churn with tension.