"A divine beast?" Saquin repeated, the words tasting like metal in his mouth.

"As in..."

[ A Senarbeast of the Divine level in terms of Talent. ] The World Will clarified. [ Its capabilities, even as a Grade One, are on a completely different stratum than a normal Pinnacle-Class beast of its level. Well, I do not have to explain this, you have witnessed the terrors of the Divine first hand. ]

"Hmm, that explains a lot." Saquin shifted on his feet, his body instantly at full alert as he steeled his focus on the four-meter-tall lioness.

"But that also opens up its own set of questions."

Saquin barely finished his piece before Viva, the Divine Beast, went on the aggro again.

Rawwrrr!

The ground cracked beneath Viva's paws as it propelled itself forward. Its movements were no longer the clumsy, savage lunges of the earlier stages. Now, they were sharp, deliberate, and terrifyingly fast. The air shrieked as the beast carved a path directly toward Saquin.

Bang!

Saquin barely dodged the massive purple-tinged claw that swiped at his chest. He felt the vacuum of the attack drag at his clothes.

He frowned. Just a minute ago, he could run circles around the beast, relying purely on his speed to avoid conflict. Now, he could barely shake it off. The absorption ability hadn't just healed it; it had optimized it, increasing its overall speed and density.

It doesn't just convert physical damage to power, it converts pain into evolution, Saquin realized grimly.

He had no time for further introspection. Viva was relentless, pressing its advantage.

Saquin utilized the combat prowess gained from the {Combat Mastery} Skill, which flowed instantly into the instincts provided by {Assassination King}, and was further amplified by the active {Martial Body Movement} Skill.

The fusion of these three powers made him an engine of fluid, impossible motion. He was still Saquin, the Assassin who could weave through danger, but now he had to work exponentially harder.

He flickered left, ducked a lunging bite, and drove his {Clawed Grasp} Core into the beast's shoulder blade.

Shinnk!

He left another gash, drawing a thin line of purple-black blood. He was rewarded with a flash of cold energy searing into the beast, thanks to the {Cold Fist} Skill still coating the Core-claws.

Contrary to what anyone would expect when facing an opponent that grows stronger from damage, Saquin did not retreat. Instead, he increased the tempo.

He became a human whirlwind of strikes, blinking in and out, leaving stinging gashes across Viva's flanks and shoulders. He was trying to overload the beast's capacity.

Heal this! Absorb this! How much can you take, you oversized cat?!

He knew the beast could not continue to absorb damage and grow stronger indefinitely. It was just a Grade One beast after all, equivalent to a Senar Initiate just like him. The beast had to have a limit to its absorption capacity and transformation rate.

He drove a knee into its jaw, followed by two quick slashes across its eye ridge.

[ You are wasting your time, Young Master, ] the World Will cut in, her tone pragmatic.

"Oh please, I know what I'm doing!" Saquin grunted, ducking under a sweeping tail that pulverized the stone behind him.

[ You know the theory, but you lack the pure power. Overloading its Grade One limit would require consistent, high-impact damage far beyond your current capacity. ]

Saquin blinked away, creating a ten-meter distance between them. He sighed slightly, already feeling the mental strain of fighting another Divine.

[ It would require a minimum of the Master level to brute-force a breakdown of its damage absorption rate. Even beings of the Adept level cannot achieve what you are trying to do so easily. You are an Initiate. You are trying to boil the ocean with a tea kettle. ]

Saquin stared at the beast, which was already licking the blood from its new wounds, its purple aura growing noticeably thicker. The logic of the World Will was undeniable, infuriating as it was.

Brute force won't work, at least not like this.

Ranged attacks won't work (they just hit, but don't stop the healing).

Bleeding won't work (it heals too fast).

Assassination is the most ideal... But.

Saquin sheathed the {Clawed Grasp} back into his palms.

He had to reevaluate just how he would engage the beast.

But first.

As Viva took its time to readjust its massive body to the new, terrifying power coursing through it due to Saquin's relentless, calculated attacks, Saquin also took the time to understand things.

He knew this window wouldn't last forever, so he had to take this time to gain the necessary knowledge.

How did the beast even get here? he asked the World Will. This isn't some stray monster. This thing is a Divine Grade asset.

[ Its story begins much farther away than this backwater quadrant, ] the World Will responded, her voice carrying the weight of ancient history.

[ In the Captain's earliest days, before he ascended to the pinnacle of his trade, he once had the opportunity to make it to Earth. ]

Saquin raised a brow. Earth. The mythical origin point of humanity, now a sealed off place.

[ There, he visited the Immortal Battlefield. ]

Saquin instantly understood the significance. The Immortal Battlefield was the primary place that took the brunt of the Immortal War that ended the first era and marked the beginning of a new era, the cataclysm known as the Second Fall. It was a graveyard of heroes and devils.

[ It was in this battlefield that he found not just Shalis, but also Viva. ]

[ At the time, he found Viva as a mere cub, frozen in time through an eternal hibernation. This is a survival mechanism common among high-Grade beasts: a way to preserve their lives if they encounter life-threatening injuries or overwhelming threats. Considering Viva was a cub, it was most likely an extreme measure enacted by its mother to ensure its survival during the war. ]

Saquin glanced at the beast, respecting the raw power of its lineage. A mother's final desperate act.

[ Since the Captain, at that time, did not yet possess the means to wake it from its deep hibernation, and being too selfish and self-oriented to think of selling such a prize, he hid it. He brought it with him as a forgotten treasure. ]

[ Hundreds of years later, after he finally ascended to his new power and had the resources, he successfully brought the beast out of its hibernation. ]

Saquin rolled his eyes. Always hoarding trophies, if one did not know better, they would take him as a pirate rather than a slave trader.

---

Funny how Saquin did not know that the captain only became a slave trader because he got news about Saquin and then did a change of career to gain more access to better prospects of potential buyers.

---

[ Too bad, he could not subdue the beast due to its violent, untamed nature. The clause, 'a Divine would only ever submit to another,' is not merely a folk legend, Young Master. It is an internal limitation. The Captain thought he could bypass it through the huge difference in their respective stages of strength, but it was futile. Viva never bent the knee. ]

[ It was during this time that he got wind of your existence. Realizing that he could not keep the beast or sell it, he simply left the problem, Viva, here, on his secluded loot planet, Rindraw. He went to acquire you, and since then, his mind has been completely preoccupied by your worth and how to keep the secret of your existence from spreading. ]

Saquin nodded slowly. The entire story painted a picture of the Captain, a brilliant, greedy hoarder who collected things far too valuable for him to handle, only to forget them when a shinier, more terrifying object (Saquin) came along.

The beast before him was not a hostile threat that wandered into his training room.

It was an unpaid bill. A forgotten asset that now belonged to the new owner of the Captain's estate.

So, in a sense, I own this beast...

Saquin suddenly had a smirk on his face.

[ Yes, it would be ideal if you subdue it. ]

"Yes it would be, except..."

[ Except what? ]

"Look at those eyes and tell me if a beast such as that can ever be subdued?" Saquin said as he stared right back at the malice filled eyes of Viva.

"Those eyes are those of pure malice and violence..."

[ And? ]

"They would look better dead." Saquin for the first time, displayed killing intent.

Pure. Raw. Undiluted.

His killing intent was so intense that they almost took a tangible form.

But Viva was not to be outdone, as a beast born in a war that shook the whole solar system, it was not to be trifled with.

It returned the aura, stand for strand.

[ I see, you do not take the fact that it almost killed you lightly. ]

"Who would?"

Saquin said as a transparent dagger appeared in his right hand.

[ Crystalisse. ]

And a black one in his left.

[ Black-Ink ]

"Besides, it would really look good on my resume..."

Boom!

He and Viva shot at each other at the same time.

"To have killed five Divines..."

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