The Final Step!
In truth, this was not strictly the final step. The Sith Academy pyramid had been bombed and damaged during the war, and a small portion of its summit had been destroyed in the bombardment.
The stairs had long since broken apart, and the tip of the pyramid had vanished long ago, leaving behind nothing but ruins.
Yet this was still the highest point of the Sith Academy pyramid.
Darth Malthael's ritual was complete!
It had been an immensely perilous ritual. Had his power been even slightly weaker, or had there been the slightest flaw in his use of Death Force, not even Kresh's Gauntlet could have protected him from the outcome!
He had been preparing for this all along and would never have rashly come to Planet Korriban before the time was right.
Later, he absorbed Karness Muur's power and knowledge. During that period, his body had been filled with powerful, violent, and disorderly Dark Side Force. He then returned to the dark cave on Planet Dagobah and used the Dark Reaper to absorb most of his Dark Side Force.
This left him with power no greater than that of a Jedi apprentice for some time afterward, but at that moment, he understood that the time had come.
The Dark Side Force would sooner or later fill his body again, and after being absorbed by the Dark Reaper, his Dark Side Force would become even purer and more powerful this time.
That would be the best time for him to perform this ritual.
When Darth Malthael set out, his power had still been exceedingly weak. But after taking a trip around Corellia, then heading to a neutral planet and finding a ship to fly to Korriban, his power had already reached its peak!
And so, he now