Countless gray-skinned Tribulation-Ash Monsters crowded together until they formed a tide stretching beyond the horizon.

From Daniel’s position high above the plane, the army resembled an endless sea of ash. Wherever it passed, nothing living remained. Forests collapsed into powder. Rivers turned gray and still. Cities disappeared beneath waves of corrupted bodies.

Only one corner of the world still contained life.

The last surviving inhabitants had gathered behind layered formations, burning their remaining Origin and treasures to preserve a small island of green. Their defenses endured for less than two seconds after Daniel arrived.

The Tribulation-Ash tide struck.

The formations shattered. The final sanctuary vanished beneath the gray wave before Daniel could intervene.

Those killed by the monsters did not remain dead for long. Tribulation ash invaded their corpses, rewrote their Divine Souls, and raised them as new members of the army. Memories, affection, and reason disappeared. The newly transformed monsters immediately attacked the companions and relatives they had defended moments earlier.

The scene resembled an undead catastrophe, but these creatures were far more dangerous than common undead. They retained nearly all of their original cultivation and combat experience. Daniel had barely entered the plane before the entire world fell.

Even he drew in a cold breath at the speed of the conquest.

More disturbing than the slaughter was the complete destruction of life itself. Wherever the Tribulation-Ash Monsters traveled, the last traces of green vanished. If such an army spread across the entire universe, every plane and starfield would eventually become silent.

And this was considered only a small outbreak.

The strongest creature here was merely T7 Oracle-grade. The imperial legions stationed elsewhere were confronting large-scale Tribulation-Ash disasters containing T9 Oracle-grade monsters. Those stronger creatures were not mindless, either. The greater their Rank, the more intelligence they retained. At sufficiently high levels, a Tribulation-Ash Monster could possess wisdom equal to or even greater than what it had held in life.

Daniel calmly took out his Divine-grade treasures.

The time for observation had ended.

The main force of the Tribulation-Ash Army was still concentrated inside this plane. That made the world a perfect cage. Rather than allow the monsters to scatter across the Heavenly River Starfield, Daniel would seal the entire plane and destroy them here.

"Voidbound Grail."

Golden light gathered above his palm.

The upgraded Voidbound Grail appeared and began to tremble. Laws rotated around its body in countless interlocking circles. A low hum spread through the sky as invisible spatial fluctuations expanded in every direction.

Within moments, the grail’s sealing field covered the entire great world.

The boundaries of the plane solidified. Space became dense and unyielding. Every path leading outward was closed.

Then Daniel raised his other hand.

The black Divine Spear emerged.

Its shaft expanded at a terrifying speed. In only a few seconds, the spear stretched across hundreds of millions of kilometers until it appeared almost as vast as the plane itself. Its shadow fell over continents, seas, and the endless gray army below.

"Clones, manifest."

Nine figures separated from Daniel and took their positions throughout the sky. Above every clone appeared a vast projection of the Banner of Destiny’s Judgment. At the same time, phantoms of the Human Forefather emerged one after another, each carrying Oracle-grade pressure.

The laws flooding the plane began to tremble.

That disturbance immediately attracted the attention of the Oracle-grade combatants hidden within the Tribulation-Ash tide.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Gray figures appeared around Daniel in rapid succession.

There were hundreds of them.

Scarlet eyes locked onto him. Law-based Sacred Arts formed around their bodies, filling the sky with a terrifying aura of destruction.

Daniel did not retreat.

He looked at them coldly and lowered his hand.

The black Divine Spear descended.

Rumble!

A boundless spear force erupted across the world. Entire regions of the Tribulation-Ash Army vanished instantly. Monsters by the millions were ground into dust before they could even raise their heads.

That first strike was only the beginning.

The Divine Spear thrust again.

Then a third time.

Wave after wave of spear force swept across the plane. The advancing Oracle-grade monsters were forced back, and the Sacred Arts they released were crushed within the black storm. Without the protection of their strongest combatants, the ordinary Tribulation-Ash Monsters below disappeared in enormous sections.

The Oracle-grade creatures roared in fury.

They abandoned all thought of defense and charged directly toward Daniel. They had been born from the desire to destroy everything, and that impulse included their own existence. They did not care whether they survived as long as they could drag Daniel into ruin.

Their suicidal assault gave Daniel a slight headache.

The monsters represented almost every Oracle-grade tier. Some were first-stage Oracle-grade. Others had reached T6. Several emitted the pressure of T7 powerhouses. More than a hundred attacked simultaneously.

Daniel sighed.

A shield appeared before him.

The moment it manifested, countless Oracle-grade Sacred Arts crashed against its surface. Light and law exploded across the sky, but the shield did not move. As a T7 Oracle-grade treasure, it could perfectly withstand attacks from experts of the same tier.

At the same time, a collection of new Oracle-grade treasures appeared around Daniel.

"Kill."

At his command, the treasures shot forward.

Some transformed into enormous blades. Others became mountains, stars, chains, or beasts made of law. Several were genuine T7 Oracle-grade treasures. Their combined pressure shook the sealed plane.

The Tribulation-Ash Monsters had no artifacts of their own with which to resist.

The first wave of treasures tore through them.

Hundreds of Oracle-grade monsters were killed almost instantly. Their bodies disintegrated into gray fragments, and the sea of ordinary monsters beneath them collapsed under the remaining force.

Yet no system notifications sounded in Daniel’s ears.

There were no experience rewards, no treasures, and no Origin Crystals. The Tribulation-Ash Monsters appeared to exist outside the system’s ordinary rules. Daniel could destroy them, but their deaths brought him nothing.

He did not care.

This battle was being fought for official merit, Realm-Crosser Points, and Dorek’s political future. Those rewards were far more valuable than ordinary loot.

After eliminating every Oracle-grade monster except the remaining T7 leaders, Daniel raised his hand once more.

A T8 Oracle-grade treasure appeared in his palm.

"Once these last T7 creatures are gone, the mission will be complete."

He released the treasure.

In the next instant, it transformed into an enormous sacred mountain. Its shadow covered the last surviving T7 Tribulation-Ash Monsters. Before they could scatter, the mountain descended and suppressed them completely.

The world shook.

When the dust settled, the main Tribulation-Ash Army was gone.

One man had exterminated an army that had destroyed multiple planes.

Only a gray-white world remained, stripped of life and covered in tribulation ash.

Daniel had achieved this result through the overwhelming foundations he had accumulated. Treasures that would have represented the ultimate resources of entire factions were disposable weapons in his hands.

The army destroyed here accounted for roughly ninety percent of the entire outbreak. Smaller groups of monsters still wandered through medium and minor planes, but those remnants no longer posed a strategic threat. A single local Oracle-grade force could eliminate them.

Daniel decided not to visit those smaller battlefields.

He would leave the remaining merit to the officials of Uma Plane. Doing so gave them enough credit to preserve their dignity while ensuring that Daniel’s own contribution remained overwhelming and impossible to dispute.

With the main objective completed, he recalled his clones, treasures, and the Voidbound Grail. The Emperor-class sacred vessel reappeared beneath him.

Daniel set a course back to Uma Plane.

By the time the local officials received word that his vessel had returned, none of them had the slightest idea that the disaster they feared had already been brought to an end.