Suddenly, in the center of that beast city, a creature that looked like a massive black bull, over three meters tall, appeared. He stared up at Niara in the sky — then his body shimmered.

A humanoid male form took shape. He spoke with a calm, polite voice:

"Please, there's no need to attack us. We live peacefully and dislike bloodshed. We're not used to visitors, but feel free to take anything you want — peacefully."

Niara snorted coldly, but Darian told her to wait. The two of them descended slowly toward the center of the city.

All the beasts started fleeing, but Darian's sharp gaze scanned them all quickly. Ahead, the man politely waved them over, showing them the way.

"Please, come have a talk."

Niara didn't answer and just walked over. When she arrived, the man sat beneath that eerie tree. There was a table and another chair, which he kindly motioned to.

Several fruits were laid out on the table, each one radiating a terrifyingly pure and sacred energy.

"My deepest apologies. We've been trapped here for countless years. There's not much in this wild world, but the little we have, we've cultivated with all our strength. Please, try some of the fruits," he said gently.

The smell had already reached Niara, almost making her drool. Darian sighed and encouraged her to eat without worry.

Her hands moved, about to grab the fruits greedily... but... she stopped suddenly as she remembered something. Then, she started eating more slowly. Darian nodded internally — Lucy had done a good job with Niara.

"Mister Spiritual Guardian can't eat, but I've got something nice for you," the man said, pulling out a blue jar.

He poured out something into a cup — it looked like glowing green liquid. But it wasn't exactly a liquid... it was the pure essence of natural energy. "Please, try it."

"Well then, thanks." Darian didn't hesitate. He moved and touched it, absorbing the energy. His soul started to pulse — that stuff was basically an elixir for Spiritual Guardians, slightly boosting the density of his ring's power.

Once he finished, Darian turned to the man.

"This where all the beasts gather?"

"More or less," the man replied with a small smile. "There are two groups of beasts living here. The wild ones, who roam free across the land, hunting and killing however they want. And the civilized ones, like us — who gathered here on this island to live in peace and enjoy what we manage to grow."

Darian nodded. So, the wild ones just found stuff and ate it on the spot, while these guys were a bit smarter — collecting and cultivating everything for long-term gains.

The man poured more of the green energy for Darian. He accepted and calmly absorbed it, all while feeling Niara's pleasure as she ate to her heart's content.

More and more fruit was set on the table, and she didn't stop. Darian could feel how hard she was trying not to look like a savage and eat politely.

After a few minutes of him "drinking" and her eating... Niara smacked her lips and slightly frowned.

"What is it?" the man asked quickly, still smiling.

Niara opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to speak. Her expression grew more tense by the second.

"Are your organs burning?" the man's smile twisted into something dark and sinister.

"You… you poisoned her?" Darian growled in fury.

*BANG!*

Suddenly, the table exploded and the man vanished, reappearing far away.

A red line appeared on his forehead. He burst into laughter, completely unbothered.

"Hahahaha, good reflexes... too bad you figured it out too late." The man laughed like a scheming old demon.

Darian waved his hand, and a dagger rose from the ground. He'd blasted the table with a quick strike — but had only "grazed" the man.

"You poisoned the fruit?!" Darian spat coldly.

"Hahaha, wrong. What I gave you, and even the fruits — they're fine. But if a Spiritual Guardian absorbs that, and the Summoner eats those fruits... well, the connection between the two of you fuses the energies. And that turns into something very toxic — and very deadly," the man said slowly.

At the same time, he waved his hand. The sinister tree behind him trembled, and countless red tentacles dropped down — all super thin, like strands of hair, with tiny mouths at the ends that looked like mosquito jaws.

"You arrived at the perfect time. I just needed a little more blood to fully ripen the fruits, and then you walked right into my front door. I guess this is fate bringing us together," the man said, grinning as he controlled the tree.

But then...

"Hm?" His expression changed suddenly. A black mark appeared on his forehead, quickly spreading until dark lines covered his whole face.

"What the hell is this?!"

He suddenly realized he couldn't move his body right anymore.

Darian snorted. Niara was already fully healed.

"Those days where I fell for sweet talk are long gone. I just wanted a bit of info — so I played along."

With just a grazing cut from his dagger, Darian had slipped a bit of his dark power into the guy. Just a little — so small the idiot hadn't even noticed. But thinking he already had the upper hand, he let his guard down... and that's when Darian activated the power, letting it spread fast.

*BOOM!*

The ground suddenly exploded. The man vanished, transforming back into his true form — a massive bull. He activated his full power and coughed up a mouthful of blood tainted with dark energy. He'd managed to force the poison out of his body.

He stared at Darian with a smug, triumphant look. "That little poison of yours is useless against me!" he roared.

"Maybe in your body... but I already got into your soul. And your mind sea," Darian said, totally calm.

The bull's eyes widened in disbelief. "BULLSHIT!"

He roared, ready to attack, but—

Darian smiled and waved. Instantly, the bull felt an indescribable pain in his soul and froze, trembling from head to toe.

"I don't like playing around. I'll end this quickly," Darian muttered.

"Stop, stop!" the bull shouted in panic.

Darian sighed. "What is it? Already trying to bargain?"

The bull looked at Darian like he was staring at a demon. His expression was twisted. Gritting his teeth, he asked:

"What do you want?"

"I want all the herbs and precious items from this place. Just a dozen of each. I'm not greedy... most of the time," Darian said casually.

"Fine," the bull replied, nodding. That demand was acceptable.

"And I want the Celestial Blood Fruit. You've got some stashed away, right?" Darian added with a wicked grin.

The bull's eyes trembled. That fruit had been carefully stored and used over time. It was the beasts' greatest treasure — thanks to it, they could boost their strength and stay close in power to the invaders from the World of Life.

Darian didn't say another word, just stared at him.

Under that gaze, the bull felt his hair stand on end. Gritting his teeth, he reached out. A fruit appeared — it looked like a peach, but was covered in thick red scales.

Darian took it with a smile. "Hehe, now this is something good."

Several beasts approached and handed spatial rings to the bull. He checked the contents and tossed them to Darian.

"Here's everything. Now get out."

Darian calmly stored them away, still staring at the bull without saying a word.

"Y-You... What more do you want? Don't push it!" the bull snapped.

"Me? Don't make it sound like I'm the bad guy. We're just negotiating for your life, right?" Darian replied smoothly.

"Then why haven't you left? I gave you everything. Now beat it!" the bull growled coldly.

Darian murmured calmly, "Looks like I made a mistake... one single Celestial Blood Fruit is just too little..."

"BASTARD! How many do you want?!"

Darian rubbed his hands, pretending to be shy. "I'm not greedy. I just want... all of them."

"Y-You... you... DIE!"

The bull nearly lost it. Handing over all those fruits was basically dooming every beast on the island. The next generation wouldn't be strong enough to fight off the wild beasts, and when new invaders arrived, they'd be too weak to resist.

That's why the bull attacked immediately.

"Hmm? Did I say something wrong?" Darian mocked as he waved.

The bull froze mid-air, turning pale.

He felt something in his soul crack — a terrifying wound had started to form and was spreading…

"Stop, stop!" he screamed in despair.

The beasts' future? The next generation? Who cared… He was already as strong as he could be. When trouble came, he'd be dead anyway — and he wasn't about to die now for nothing.

"Why should I?" Darian asked calmly.

"I'll give you everything! Just remove whatever you placed inside me! Swear it, damn it!" the bull shouted, panicking.

"Sounds like a fair deal. Hand over all your fruits. If I think you're trying to trick me, I'll kill you."

After Darian's words, the bull took a deep breath and gave him a spatial ring with nearly five hundred of those fruits.

Niara watched with an increasingly bloodthirsty gaze. To get that many fruits, consume them, and still have that much stored... every beast on this island must've been hunting Summoners together.

Darian had already confirmed it when they landed in that city — the beasts' karma was way thicker and darker than usual. So yeah. They didn't deserve pity. Still, the fact Darian was negotiating pissed her off... she just wanted to kill them all. But… she had promised to always trust him. He'd explain it later.

After taking everything, he told Niara to move.

They'd made a solid profit with all those resources. The city's beasts didn't dare attack them. At the city's edge, Darian waved — and the bull felt something release and vanish from his soul.

When they reached the swamp again, Niara looked at Darian, and he nodded. Her white scales appeared, and she took flight.

She didn't think much as she flew. Everything seemed calm. But once she left the fog, she sensed something was off. The swamp began to tremble, ripples spread across the water.

Soon, from all directions over the sea, countless massive black sea beasts emerged, leaping toward her like a tsunami.

Niara snorted and roared, attacking without hesitation.

*BOOOM!*

Some giant bodies crashed into the swamp, but there were too many — they kept charging at the Dragoness, jaws wide open.

"Attack and fly away from the swamp. That way we'll lure all the beasts out," Darian muttered.

She nodded and moved... then her eyes lit up as she realized the plan. A wild smile crossed her face. Darian really was cruel… and that just made her fall for him even more.

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