Chapter 316: Failure

Priam was stunned when he saw the System’s confirmation message. He instantly remembered Heaven’s Will’s words about his ultimate objective.

He had to create a Secret World, nourished and expanded with the essences of other worlds.

At the time, the only guidance he had received had been cryptic: The System will guide you.

He had imagined that, in the future, he would receive a special quest, or that the System would unlock the knowledge necessary for it. He could never have predicted that the key to triggering the process was simply activating that world essence at this exact moment.

’Yes!’

He confirmed mentally without a second of hesitation.

*BUZZ!*

A terrifying hum reverberated through the depths of the golden expanse of the Celestial Cloud.

Priam looked around, trying to locate the source of that frightening resonance...

"?"

His attention suddenly shifted downward.

The epicenter was his own asteroid!

**BOOOOOOOOM!**

Priam’s mental projection was thrown miles away when a shockwave exploded through the void.

When he finally managed to stabilize his translucent form, he stared at the scene before him, his heart in his throat.

’WHAT?!’

Before him, the golden nebula, the sparkling energies, and space itself were violently twisting.

Everything in that region was being ruthlessly sucked toward an invisible point.

It was as if an insatiable rift had opened in the fabric of existence, devouring everything around it.

’A black hole?!’

*BUZZZZ!*

Space trembled. The gravitational pull emanating from that singular point multiplied exponentially with every fraction of a second.

Priam watched it in a catatonic trance. Nearby asteroids and gigantic comets were ripped from their positions, inevitably being dragged toward the vortex.

The first celestial body was swallowed in the blink of an eye!

But he didn’t see or feel it explode.

Then another... and another... and hundreds more!

The gravitational pull expanded to terrifying levels. Yet Priam’s projection remained floating in the same place, completely immune to the abyss’s devouring force.

Seconds dragged by, turning into minutes, until...

’Planets!’

Priam’s eyes widened. From the deeper regions of the Celestial Cloud, colossal rocky planets appeared on the horizon, being dragged against their will like mere grains of dust.

One by one, entire planets were swallowed by the insatiable vortex.

And the devouring didn’t stop there...

’...’

An endless sea of cosmic dust—the raw material used by Supreme Sages to create new suns—was pulled from the void, flowing like a sparkling river toward the singular point.

Everything was consumed without the slightest mercy.

Ten minutes...

Thirty minutes...

An entire hour passed.

Priam simply watched in complete silence.

Until, suddenly... absolute silence returned.

The small black hole suddenly stopped devouring.

Looking around, Priam found himself at the center of a monumental darkness and void. For a colossal radius, not a single asteroid, planet, or nebula remained.

Everything had been completely swept out of existence, leaving behind nothing but a desolate void. Only by looking toward the extremely distant horizon could he glimpse the glow of the Celestial Cloud.

It hadn’t all been devoured. Priam didn’t know the exact size of the Celestial Cloud, but he guessed that not even a third of it had been consumed.

[Secret World successfully created!]

As soon as Priam read the new notification, he felt something connect directly to the Creation Rune inside his body.

[Connection Established]

"!"

Priam’s perception expanded instantly. He could clearly sense and see that singular point floating in the void before him—it was an imperceptible dimensional rift, functioning as a portal to another world.

[The entrance has been sealed and hidden from the laws of the Ur-World. The entrance is invisible to all living beings, and you can move it to any coordinate within the Ur-World.]

He read the message while still stunned. Then, a cold shiver ran down Priam’s spine.

He realized the imminent danger in the very same instant: he had just swept an entire sector of the Celestial Cloud out of existence.

If some Sage saw that anomaly now, they might be able to see him and identify him later.

Without wasting any time, Priam willed it to move. In that same instant, he felt exactly what he needed to do. He had to burn some of the Creation Rune’s energy to move the Secret World.

He had almost no energy left. Only a tiny remnant remained, since he had spent several hours germinating the seed, and that little bit had recovered.

Under his mental command, the entrance to the Secret World shot through the void at an astonishing speed.

The direction he chose was random. They were at the absolute center of the universe, so anywhere would be just as good.

Priam focused as hard as he could, following the portal’s movement through space.

He guided it away from the empty area, reaching the untouched Celestial Cloud.

Shortly afterward, it crossed an invisible barrier, entering the Divine Plane.

With the entrance safely in place, Priam let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

In the hall of the Celestial Sanctuary, his eyes suddenly opened.

He sucked in a long, ragged breath, sweat covering his face.

The Elder in charge of the hall opened his eyes, staring at the young Mage with a mixture of shock and surprise.

Keeping a mental projection active for more than ten consecutive hours on a first attempt was an astonishing feat. However, seeing Priam’s exhausted state, the old Sage assumed the obvious outcome: it had been a complete failure.

It was to be expected. No one in the history of the world had ever become a Sage on their first try.

Priam stood up as the runic circuits on the floor slowly faded.

"Go back to your quarters and rest," the Elder advised in a calm tone. "You’ll need several days to recover the energy you spent. Don’t be frustrated; every failed attempt is valuable. It’s like laying them down, brick by brick, until you build a magnificent temple."

Priam nodded silently in thanks. Then he turned around and walked firmly down the corridor.

As he crossed the gates and felt the fresh air outside, he stopped for a second, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

The energy of the Creation Rune was completely drained. He really did need to rest and recover. But... the corner of his lips curled into a smile.

He definitely hadn’t failed.

***

Five days passed.

With his energy fully restored, Priam returned to the Celestial Sanctuary.

The same Elder was there, maintaining his meditative posture. Without exchanging any unnecessary words, Priam walked to the center of the circular array and sat down, closing his eyes.

His consciousness shot through the runic network once again, projecting itself to the Celestial Cloud.

Upon seeing the place again, he noticed that the vast desolate area he had cleared had been filled with the golden light and dust of the nebula.

But it remained devoid of any celestial bodies.

Priam activated the Creation Rune, summoning the entrance to the Secret World.

A few minutes later, without causing any disturbance, a sparkling point appeared before him.

[Do you wish to enter the Secret World?] [Yes / No]

Priam smiled and immediately confirmed.

At that very instant, an irresistible attractive force pulled his consciousness inside the portal.

"!"

The sight that revealed itself before him made his soul tremble.

Priam found himself at the center of a vast, multicolored microcosm. Hundreds of thousands of asteroids and rocky planets floated suspended in the void, preserved and untouched. Cloud upon cloud of radiant cosmic dust filled the firmament.

Far away, inside his physical body, Priam’s heart was pounding like a war drum.

Inside the Secret World, he moved with a single thought, instantly appearing beside a massive asteroid.

Before he even began forming a new Creation Seed, an overwhelming wave of excitement and clarity flooded his mind.

It was an absolute certainty: this time, he knew he would succeed.