Hundreds of years later…
Instead of subsiding, the dark beast wave continued to become more severe.
Even as the absolutes killed thousands of the apex dark beasts, their numbers still grew tens of thousands.
"This is turning into a small-scale dark disaster," Malgron said solemnly.
"We shouldn't be that unlucky," Maximus refuted.
Even a small-scale dark disaster was too devastating.
With his current strength, he might become mere cannon fodder on such a scale.
"With the way things are going, who knows…"
Even as a battle maniac, Malgron still feared the dark disaster.
A dark disaster was different from a dark beast wave.
A dark beast wave was merely the collection of a large number of dark beasts attacking.
However, a dark disaster was the culmination of countless dark beasts, chaotic miasma, and dark energy.
One had to know that just a little influence from dark energy was enough to drive those talents in the past crazy.
If not for the unlimited supply of strands of causality Maximus provided, those talents would have long been buried in the void.
Once there was enough concentration of dark energy, much less a master of the ocean of law—even an absolute would be polluted.
By then, they would not only have to worry about the dark beasts but also their allies, who might attack them from behind at any moment.
The influence of the dark energy was also silent.
Even if they always inspected their core of origin, just a slight gap in attention could instantly change the situation.
As for the chaotic miasma, as long as there was enough concentration, even an absolute would quickly turn into a fragile mortal.
Malgron remembered that when the dark disaster trillions of epochs ago reached its peak, even the absolutes of law were disabled.
Using only their bare bodies and raw power, those high and mighty absolutes were no different from others.
It was only through the hard work and sacrifice of the overlords that they cleared enough dark beasts to lessen the influence of the dark disaster.
Listening to Malgron's story, Maximus couldn't help but feel a little guilt.
Because of his recklessness, they might have to experience this small-scale dark disaster.
As for using his plane-level ability, the True Path, to reverse the disaster, Maximus was already traumatized.
Who knew if his ability cleared away the small-scale dark disaster only to turn it into the real deal?
Without enough power and control over the True Path, Maximus vowed never to use it again.
"I think we can still end this dark beast wave without turning it into a dark disaster," Maximus said optimistically.
With his help and the unlimited supply of energy, this disaster shouldn't turn worse.
At the edge of the Dark Void Domain.
Taking out hundreds of tier-12 dark beasts in less than a thousand years, the overlords began to feel exhausted.
Even Lazo, who had been bulldozing his way out with a colossal body, had shrunk.
Looking at the seemingly endless flow of dark beasts, they couldn't help but sigh.
"Shall we increase the intensity of the scattering array?" Elvian suggested.
The scattering array worked by scattering a dark beast into a weaker group of mobs.
Depending on the intensity, it could scatter a tier-12 dark beast into a group of tier-10 or tier-11 dark beasts.
If possible, of course, they would want to lower the intensity of the scattering array, turning all the dark beasts into mere tier-10 mobs.
At that point, no matter how many there were, a group of absolutes could wipe out as many as came with a wave of their hands.
However, the scattering array didn't work that easily.
To scatter a dark beast at low intensity, not only would they need to consume more energy, but they also needed the dark beast to be in a near-dead state.
Beating the dark beast nearly to death before it could be recycled by the scattering array was too much work.
Throughout their testing phase, they were adjusting the intensity of the scattering array.
They increased it little by little as the talents in the base grew stronger.
With the reinforcement of the absolutes, they even turned the intensity near its limit, producing more and more apex dark beasts.
This was also why, despite the absolutes killing thousands, their numbers continued to increase until the apex dark beasts reached tens of thousands.
Initially, they thought this should be enough.
However, looking at Lazo, who had exhausted his will to fight, only five of them remained.
At the current intensity, they would have to work ten times harder to keep up.
"Try to test the waters. With the absolutes, handling 2-3 primal dark beasts should be no problem," Frir agreed.
"Then try it," the others nodded as well.
If the absolutes could hold off a number of primal dark beasts, they wouldn't need to work so hard to beat the tier-12 dark beasts before putting them into the scattering array.
Not only would they save effort, but the energy consumption would also be lower.
"I only hope they can hold on…"
In the Skjǫldrún Stronghold.
While Maximus and his family were making the final adjustments to the Orbital Plane Blaster, they suddenly felt a heavy pressure descend into the dark void domain.
Feeling the descent of a great power, much less Maximus and his family, even the absolutes and the scattered masters of the ocean of law solemnly turned their attention from afar.
"A Primal Dark Beast! It finally descended!" Malgron, who had experienced such power, quickly recognized the energy signature.
"A Primal Dark Beast, huh? Just in time to test our weapon." Maximus smiled, touching the Orbital Plane Blaster.
After such a long time, he could finally kill a primal dark beast and end this round of dimensional competition.
Although he doubted he would be allowed to leave with the mess he had caused, it was still better than waiting for an unknown time.
Thinking it was the True Path that caused it, a little guilt damped his joy.