Slash!

The instructor who had bolted toward the golden light didn't even understand what had happened. One instant, he was sprinting; the next, his body pitched forward uncontrollably. He crashed headfirst into the dirt, skidding to an ugly halt as dust filled his mouth and nose.

A numbness spread through his lower body.

When he twisted around, his breath caught. His legs—both of them—were lying several meters behind him, severed cleanly at the knees. Blood poured in thick, pulsing streams from the butchered stumps.

"AHHHHHHH—!"

His scream tore across the field as he clawed at his mangled knees, desperately trying to compress the wounds. The pressure only sent burning jolts of agony shooting up his spine.

Then a calm voice drifted down from above, in stark contrast to the chaos.

"Anyone else who wants to leave?" Brant asked, descending slowly from the sky.

Silence followed—cold and immediate. Every instructor who had even considered fleeing after witnessing the scene stiffened mid-step. Some even held their breath, terrified that the smallest movement might provoke the man known as Raging Storm.

But a few still had the courage—or stupidity—to argue.

"B-but Professor Brant," one instructor stammered, inching forward. "Don't you think the candidates are a little too weak to even attempt claiming that treasure? F-from the intensity of the second Heaven and Earth Phenomenon… the treasure must have reached peak purple or even yellow grade. And—and it's guarded by at least a low 3-star beast, so…"

His voice trailed off as Brant's eyes slid toward him.

"If that's the case," Brant replied, voice dropping to a cold murmur, "then wouldn't the treasure still be sitting there a month from now? You can always claim it after the trial ends."

The instructor swallowed hard. "B-but what if a beast—"

A faint release of Brant's aura washed over him—barely a ripple, yet enough to freeze the air in his lungs. The man fell silent instantly.

"Then hunt the beast," Brant said. "I'm sure it won't be able to absorb the treasure within a month's time. Now stop wasting my time and return to your post."

The conversation ended there—final and absolute.

Brant exhaled quietly as he watched the others scramble back to their positions. Leo must have reached the treasure location and somehow managed to gather dead beasts as his points. Now that Leo's top position was secured, the only thing he needed was power—something the treasure could provide in abundance. He was already far stronger than most candidates. Absorbing the treasure would only push him further.

"Just don't die, kid… sigh."

Brant rubbed his forehead. He had finally found a worthy seedling for his old, discipleless friend. And with Leo already leaning toward joining the Aurelius Beast Academy, all Brant needed to do was ensure the boy grew strong enough to challenge those entrenched elites who had enjoyed generations of advantage.

As soon as Brant once again ascended to the sky, where another spatial mage hovered enclosed in an intricate patterned magic sphere—responsible for bringing back the corpses the moment a metal plate touched—people below hurried to help the man lying in his own blood pool

"Quick! Take him to the city healer along with the legs. Or else he might become a permanent cripple."

---

Thud!

Shyra landed inside the circular boundary with a dull thud. all four paws landing firmly on the ground.

Without waiting, he commanded Shyra to charge straight inside the canopy. The Rootspire Behemoth seemed to have sensed him and sent several serpent-like roots to block his way. But Shyra easily chewed them off. For a mid-3-star beast, the roots seemed unusually weak. Any roots that passed, met Leo's dagger to be sliced and diced with ease.

Since Niri was unable to call the thick vine from the harnessed vines around Shyra, she concentrated her magic to charge another solar beam for an emergency. But the way she seemed to be struggling when she initiated the process meant she had used a lot of mana in previous attacks, and the leftover was not enough to charge another solar beam to full force. But before she could halt her charge progress—

Leo brought out a pseudo-3-star beast's mana crystal from his large mana crystal reserve that had been forming from the start of the trial, and gave it to Niri. The crystal looked dark blue in colour, which would have turned purple if more mana were inside it, signifying it was a mana crystal belonging to a pseudo 3-star beast.

It was massive—football-sized—far too large for Niri to swallow. So Leo quickly shaped a handle of vines, lashed the crystal beside her, and let her pull from it while still charging. The way the crystal melted down—shrinking rapidly as if it were a block of butter dropped onto a scorching pan—showed just how absurdly mana-hungry her solar beam truly was.

But shifting his focus, he paid attention to things happening inside the brilliant golden pillar, which was slowly diminishing. He could tell, if things got completed inside, it would be a lot of trouble for him to even get out of here.

The Thunderhide Elk sensed it too. The beast roared, unleashing crackling arcs of electricity as it hurled single-cored golems away with brutal kicks. Each strike shattered their stone bodies and separated the cores cleanly. The Elk didn't even flinch at the rebound; its low 3-star power simply crushed the feedback of the peak 2-star constructs.

Up until now, the golems had all swarmed the Elk. But the moment Leo pushed deeper toward the center, several shifted their direction. Their stone feet slammed into the ground with earthshaking force. A chorus of heavy thud-thud-thud-thuds approached him from multiple angles.

Leo clicked his tongue. He had no choice but to step down from Shyra and take action himself, since Niri's solar beam was still charging. But he didn't waste time by sparring with them; he didn't have the time to spare.

With low 3-star strength pumping through his arms, Leo didn't bother activating [Critical Strike]. He smashed straight for their cores. His punches hit with such violent force that the forming feedback barrier cracked instantly, unable to withstand the single blow. Another hit, and the golems collapsed like brittle clay sculptures.

But as he shattered one golem after another, an uneasy sensation crawled up his spine....

Then he realised.

"They are buying time!" He said, raising his head toward the canopy which was less than 50 meters ahead.

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