A few days later, the first dark beast wave arrived at the Skjǫldrún Stronghold.
Looking at their vast numbers, seemingly without end, the talents in the stronghold couldn't help but gulp.
Fortunately, after experiencing thousands of dark beast waves, they were not so nervous.
Mobilizing their power, they attacked the dark beast wave from afar while the others cleaned up the battlefield.
Under such an orderly defense, it seemed as if they were facing a normal dark beast wave.
However, as days, months, and years began to pass, their expressions became solemn.
"The dark beast wave already reached magnitude 4…"
Magnitude 4 was a dark beast wave with trillions of tier 10 dark beasts mixed with a few tier 11 dark beasts.
Looking at the stronghold being attacked from all sides, they couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Could the stronghold take it?"
With enough numbers, ants could take down an elephant, much less a dark beast stronger than them.
"There should be no problem for the time being."
"Furthermore, look at that…"
Feeling gloomy, they turned their attention above, seeing streaks of light crossing the sky.
Piercing a hole in an aggregate of dark beasts, they felt hopeful.
"Those Dark Blasters are really powerful!"
An attack capable of firing every second, comparable to the power of a tier 11 master of the river of law—each Dark Blaster was comparable to thousands of them.
With over 5,000 Dark Blasters attacking without pause, millions of Dark Beasts were killed every second.
Basically, a trillion dark beasts could be cleared in just a few days.
If not for the dark beast being replenished, they might have already ended the dark beast wave.
It was thanks to these powerful weapons that the dark beast wave was only at magnitude 4.
"Tsk, how I wish I could control one of them."
Because of the power of the Dark Blaster, the dark beast's bodies would be directly purified.
With the Shadowcrest family getting 99% of the merit, the operator could get 1%.
This 1% was already hundreds of times their harvest during normal times.
"If you want, you can join the Order of Maxim and major in the path of knowledge. You can have priority use of the Dark Blasters!" Mylo solicited.
After days of deliberation, he was among the first few who changed careers to the path of knowledge and joined the Order of Maxim.
Choosing the path of knowledge, he initially expected to be severely weakened.
Who knew that as soon as he joined, a few months later, he could condense his river of law?
With these Dark Blasters as ultimate merit-harvesting machines, a master of the river of law could be created within a few months to a few years.
Setting his eyes on the other resources in the organization, from ultimate treasures, an unlimited supply of origin energy, tier 12 professional knowledge, and more, Mylo began to solicit members.
This was a lucrative task; each member he solicited was worth a lot of contribution points.
"Are the benefits promised by the Shadowcrest family real?" Interested, they couldn't help but ask for more details.
"That's right! Following the path of knowledge and joining the Order of Maxim, one could enjoy various discounts!"
"From lower taxes and interest-free loans to priority use of the Dark Blasters, you can even buy various resources at a very low price!"
"So, how about it? Are you willing to switch paths?"
Soon, the blatant solicitation of the Order of Maxim began to cause a commotion.
These talents fighting the dark beasts were a powerful force that might overthrow the previous generation.
Recruiting them meant getting a piece of the future.
Seeing the Shadowcrest family and the Order of Maxim monopolizing such a future, the members of the top forces from the Dimensional Alliance and Devourer Faction began to worry.
If Maximus recruited most of these talents, what would they become?
Perhaps, before the overlords, the Shadowcrest family would rule a part of the Aeon Plane!
Unfortunately, far away from their organization, they didn't have anything to recruit these talents.
Helpless, they could only watch, praying it would not come to the worst.
However, just as they worried about the Shadowcrest family monopolizing the future, the dark beast wave grew stronger and stronger.
In another year, the dark beast wave reached a magnitude of 5; after another few years, it reached a magnitude of 6.
With the increasing dark beast wave magnitude, the fear in their hearts increased.
This increase in magnitude not only added to the load on the stronghold barriers but also made cleaning up the dark beasts harder.
Because the space in the void was getting thinner and thinner, the cleaners couldn't gather much of the dark beast bodies that others had killed.
Without collecting and purifying the bodies, they would resurrect a few seconds later.
That's right, a few seconds—not hours or minutes, but seconds!
With the concentration of the dark beasts, the dark energy, and the chaotic miasma reaching an all-time high, the dark beast has a full-blown buff.
Meanwhile, suffering the debuff, those who still hadn't condensed a river of law were already suppressed to the point where they couldn't mobilize the power of their path.
Using only their bare power of origin, their attacks became weaker and weaker, almost ineffective.
Fortunately, there were the Dark Blasters.
Taking out most of the dark beasts, destroying and purifying them in one shot, they could barely hold on.
However, as the dark beast wave grew stronger, it was only a matter of time before the stronghold collapsed.
"Hold on a little longer. The stronghold leader said the reinforcement is already on its way," Mylo encouraged.
As a member of the Order of Maxim, he could quickly get the first-hand news.
Thus, while the others were panicking, he was still thinking about how to solicit these talents.
"Reinforcement? What reinforcement?!"
"It's the absolutes and the masters of the ocean of law!"
"Huh?! Really?! Who would come? How many are they?!" Feeling hopeful, they couldn't help but ask in a hurry.
"All the power in the Aeon Plane would come! From your oldest ancestors to the most mysterious powerhouses!"
"Tsk, I wonder how grand that scene would be…"