"You don't know what you're talking about. A strong person should be calm and elegant," Eliex said calmly.

Elise nodded in agreement.

"Rubbish. A real strong person should fight in the blood and sweat," Constantine said, clearly unimpressed. He loved the kind of close combat where every punch landed hard.

But he had been growing too fast lately. He hadn't faced a real challenge in a long time.

George didn't pay attention to their argument. The forest fire had spread far. Trees were burning, crackling, and the ground below was black with ash, scattered with lots of dropped items.

He landed on the blackened ground and picked up the materials. The items dropped by the Spineblossom were all B-tier or A-tier-still pretty valuable.

"Master, more monsters are coming," Elise quickly warned.

Above the fire, dark figures appeared.

Eliex noticed the monsters and his eyes lit up. He looked at Constantine and said, "Big guy, you still don't believe me? Let's have another match. See who kills more monsters. You up for it?"

"Another match?" Constantine frowned. This guy was too confident. He must be up to something.

But the monsters could fly. They weren't afraid of fire. Plus, Constantine now had the Sacred Dragon Gauntlet. His damage was terrifying, way stronger than Eliex.

"Sure, pick the monsters. If you lose again, don't act like a baby," Constantine agreed without hesitation.

"Deal," Eliex smiled, and moved forward, attacking the monsters flying toward them.

Constantine followed right behind.

Elise and Melina didn't move. They stayed close to George, watching for trouble.

George looked at the monsters coming in. He shook his head and said, "Looks like Constantine is about to lose this time."

He had seen the monsters clearly. They were cloaked in black, with white bone wings-same as the ones Eliex had. But these had a special trait.

The Cryptwing, 50-level, HP 70,000; Spirit Form, Immune to Physical Damage, High Magic Resistance

Physical damage didn't hurt them. Constantine's advantage was gone. He did know some dark magic, but nothing close to Eliex's level as a High Priest.

"Old man, you're cheating!"

A loud roar came from the distance.

Constantine hit one with a punch, but The Cryptwing didn't even flinch. He realized right away that these monsters were trickier than they looked.

Eliex stayed calm. "This was your choice. If you can't kill them, we just drop the bet. I'm not the one who can't take a loss."

His words clearly meant that Constantine was the one who couldn't handle losing.

"Old man, you really are a cheat."

Constantine was angry. He growled, "You think I can't fight them because they're immune to physical damage? Who wins? We'll see."

He gathered dark energy around him. Dark Realm opened, and powerful dark magic roared. A bunch of The Cryptwings were killed.

"Good. I didn't expect that from you," Eliex said, now more serious. His powerful magic flowed, and he opened his own domain, killing the Cryptwings in a frenzy.

Killed The Cryptwing, Experience +5,000, Points +50

Obtained Materials: Bone Wing x4, Soul Crystal x1

Obtained Equipment: Wraith Staff (Silver), Wraith Robe (Silver)

...

The messages kept popping up. George looked relaxed.

"The Cryptwing drops a Soul Crystal?" He noticed the message, and his face lit up with joy.

A Soul Crystal was a good item. It could directly increase soul power.

He could learn Forbidden Spells so easily because of his soul power.

But Soul Crystal drops were rare. It took about a hundred The Cryptwings to get one.

Still, it wasn't bad.

"Master, who do you think will win this time between Eliex and Constantine?" Elise asked, watching the battle in the distance.

George didn't answer. He asked, "Who do you hope will win?"

"Of course Eliex. Constantine is too arrogant. He always mocked me and Melina."

Melina nodded in agreement. She didn't like Constantine's arrogance either.

"Hard to say, but I think Eliex will win, unless something strange happens," George said.

These The Cryptwings were immune to physical damage. For Constantine, magic was a weakness. He was no match for Eliex.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud noise came from the front. A huge energy wave hit, and it sent Eliex flying back.

"Constantine, can you be any more disgusting?" He looked wounded and angry at Constantine.

At this moment, besides the flying The Cryptwings, there were a lot of Infernal Lords.

They were summoned by Constantine.

He was now level 50. His summoned monsters could only be level 40. They were no match for The Cryptwings.

But to beat Eliex, Constantine ordered the Infernal Lords to explode, killing The Cryptwings.

A level 40 Infernal Lord wasn't strong, but when it exploded, the power was terrifying. Even the 50-level The Cryptwings couldn't survive. Even Eliex was almost hurt.

Constantine looked proud and said, "They all volunteered. If you can't beat me, just admit it."

Eliex's face changed. He felt helpless. His magic damage was high, but it still couldn't match the explosion of 40-level Infernal Lords.

"Damn it, Eliex, I'll help you. Melina, protect the master," Elise said, feeling down. She spread her wings and flew into the battle.

"Elise, potions," George said, handing her a few high-level Amplification Potions.

He didn't like Constantine's attitude.

"Thank you, master," Elise happily took them and drank them right away.

"Eliex, even with help, I'm not afraid. If you lose, don't deny it," Constantine said without care. He summoned more Infernal Lords. With a command, they rushed into the group of The Cryptwings and exploded.

Boom after boom. Energy waves filled the air. Strong winds blew around.

Melina stood in front of George, blocking the powerful energy waves.

"This monster's explosion is so strong," George was over a thousand meters away, and his clothes were blowing in the wind. If he was near the explosion, he might not survive.

Melina explained, "Lord, self-destruction is using all your power and releasing it at once. The destruction is way beyond your real strength."

"So scary? Then why don't those monsters or bosses use it when they're about to die?" George asked, confused.

He had killed many bosses. They were smart and just as smart as humans. If they exploded when they were dying, even Constantine might not survive.

"Lord, it's not as simple as you think," Melina said, watching the Infernal Lords explode in the battlefield, her expression full of pity. "When they self-destruct, they vanish completely. They can't enter The Eternal Reckoning. That's why strong bosses never do it. When they die, they can still return to The Eternal Reckoning. Some really strong people can even regain memories and skills from their past lives."

"The Eternal Reckoning? Is that real?" George asked, surprised.

The Human Federation had stories about The Eternal Reckoning, but it was just a legend - no one had ever confirmed it.

Melina nodded. "It exists. But before The Eternal Reckoning, our memories are erased. That's why we don't know anything about it."

George still found it hard to believe.

Melina looked at the battlefield and continued, "These Infernal Lords are all summoned by Constantine. They obey without question. Even if they don't want to, they will still choose to explode."

"Is that so?"

George thought about the monster bosses he had tamed. They obeyed him completely too. If he told them to explode, they would do it without hesitation.

But that was too cruel. Even if he was in danger, he wouldn't do that.

Killed The Cryptwing, Experience +5,000, Points +50

Obtained Materials: Bone Fragment x14, Soul Crystal x2, Shadow Crystal x5, Rotten Robe x2...

The messages kept coming. One by one, The Cryptwings were killed, dropping a lot of materials.

George's experience and points were rising fast.

He looked at his points - 47,205!

Over forty thousand points. Even if he ended the trial and left the secret realm now, he would definitely be the top.

But George wasn't leaving. His goal was to kill the black dragon Asos and capture that Blazing Angel.

At this point, no more The Cryptwings were appearing. The battle was ending.

As the last The Cryptwing fell, the battle was over.

"I killed 1,076 The Cryptwings. What about you?" Constantine checked his kill log, excitedly asked.

Elise and Eliex exchanged a glance, their expressions full of frustration.

Eliex clenched his teeth and said coldly, "1,075."

"Ha ha! I won! Now you know who's the boss, right?" Constantine's face lit up, laughing with pride.

Elise just snorted and ignored him.

George sighed. These two were too honest. Constantine said how many monsters he killed, and they didn't even lie and say two more.

Plus, there was no way to count all the corpses.

But he had to admit, Constantine was really strong. Over a thousand The Cryptwings, half of them were killed by his own hands.

This guy wasn't just a mage - he was a full-blown magic and sword dual-wielder.

"Let's go. Keep moving," George quickly cleaned up the battlefield and moved toward the distant pillar.

The fire had died down. The forest was deep and quiet. No monsters appeared along the way.

Soon, the group was close to the pillar. It was buried deep in the ground, reaching up to the sky.

And there weren't just one - in the distance, there were four more pillars. Five in total. They just hadn't seen them before because they were too far away.

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