"Vorak, the presence of that creature you sense—does it feel complete, or is it flawed?" Daniel suddenly opened his eyes and asked.
"My Lord, now that you mention it, I feel there's a certain imperfection in its presence and aura," Vorak replied.
"there maybe be a way to win this trial," Daniel sighed with relief.
Now everything made sense. The corrupted beast that served as the trial boss wasn't at A-rank but rather a pseudo-A-rank.
In other words, it was only one step away from becoming a being on par with awakened beings at A-rank.
And that's precisely why it needed to gather the essence of so many corrupted beasts and other creatures. The beast was trying to ascend to A-rank.
Even with its current power, it could easily outmatch most A-rank awakened beings. But it was still technically below A-rank.
And that meant killing it was at least possible. This trial was not entirely unwinnable.
'But killing it still won't be easy. With my current abilities alone, it's absolutely impossible,' Daniel thought as he closed his eyes and began strategizing.
'I'll need the help of the twins. Without them, it's not possible. Olivia, too—though she has far too many weaknesses.'
'I'll have to find a way to convince the twins to give me a drop of their blood essence. But that's going to be extremely difficult. Liam has had a problem with me from the start, and Emma has been cold since what happened this morning.'
Daniel hesitated. Without their essence, he wouldn't be able to defeat that monster.
But if he could acquire the blood essence of two humans blessed by divinity, he could sanctify his body. Moreover, his intuition told him that such a sanctification could accelerate his evolution into a divine dragon.
'Whether by force or persuasion, I must get that essence. Wait... I might even make them give it to me willingly,' a charming yet wicked smile appeared on his face.
He opened his eyes and stood up.
"Vorak, can you locate Emma?"
Vorak didn't respond immediately and instead began scanning the surroundings and areas several kilometers away.
"My Lord, she's about thirty kilometers away. She's not alone; there's a boy, roughly your age, with her."
"Good."
"Are you going after them?" Olivia, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke. She glanced at Daniel and noticed his demeanor had shifted significantly.
"No. But I'll send Vorak to bring them here," Daniel replied and instructed Vorak to leave and fetch the twins.
Vorak bowed respectfully before departing.
Boom! Boom!
As Vorak moved further away, a terrifying explosion echoed from the mountain ahead of them.
"What was that?" Olivia asked, trembling. She didn't know why, but her body instinctively started shaking.
It seemed her very cells could sense the presence and aura of something incredibly dangerous.
Daniel frowned. He, too, could feel it. That aura was growing stronger by the second.
And that wasn't all. The snow on the mountain before them began melting slowly until it was completely gone.
Suddenly, a massive flow of molten lava poured down from the summit, engulfing the entire mountain. The snowy mountain transformed into a molten one.
Even stranger was that the lava seemed confined to the mountain, not spilling beyond its boundaries.
But its heat was so intense that even from several kilometers away, Daniel and Olivia could feel its scorching warmth.
"This isn't good," Daniel muttered. He was now certain what that creature was. The problem was that it was getting closer to A-rank with every passing moment.
And if it succeeded in ascending before the twins arrived, their deaths would be inevitable.
"What do we do now?" Olivia asked. She wasn't foolish—she could clearly sense the increasing strength of the monster's aura.
It was obvious that the creature was becoming more powerful.
"We have no choice but to wait for them to return."
---
[Does the Host require assistance?]
'Huh?' While Daniel was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to stop the beast from growing stronger, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
'Can you even help?' he asked mockingly.
[Of course. Not me, but you yourself can.]
'Oh? Explain.'
[You are currently a demi-divine beast-human hybrid. Even if your strength is far below that corrupted beast, your existence and presence are of immense value and fear to all corrupted beasts.]
[I suggest you unleash your aura. Although humans won't feel it, corrupted beasts certainly will.]
[That creature is in the middle of a breakthrough to A-rank. If the other corrupted beasts sense your presence and flee, preventing it from using their essence and life force, it will undoubtedly fail.]
'Not a bad idea... No, it's actually an excellent idea,' Daniel nodded to himself.
He hadn't realized this was possible. After all, he was only a half-divine beast and didn't think his presence and aura would affect other beasts, especially corrupted ones, until he fully transformed into a divine beast.
"But this could be dangerous," he muttered, frowning as he thought it through.
If the corrupted beasts sensed his aura, would they all come rushing toward him to find him?
After all, their instinct was to respect and bow to a stronger entity. Naturally, they would come here to pay their respects.
But corrupted beasts, even if they were beasts, still had awareness and intelligence. If they came and discovered he wasn't a true divine beast, things could take a very bad turn.
'At the moment, there's no other choice. If I don't do this, that monster will undoubtedly reach A-rank, and once that happens, killing it will become impossible.'
'I must stop it from reaching A-rank at all costs. Besides, if it fails during its breakthrough and fails to control it, that would be even better.'
If that monster failed its breakthrough, its soul and essence would undoubtedly be damaged, and its power would decrease—a highly favorable outcome for him.
Although he considered the chances of this happening to be very slim, after all, the creature had the ability to control its breakthrough and avoid injuring itself.
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