That was why Ray had ordered an immediate retreat the instant Barbara identified them. Their only hope was to run until they escaped… or until they were eliminated.

There was, at least, one small mercy.

The furious roars of the Blazing Demon Lions terrified all other soul beasts. None dared to block their path. Any soul beast that appeared ahead fled instantly upon hearing the lions' hunting cries.

Unfortunately, familiarity with the terrain gave the lions a deadly advantage.

Coordination became meaningless.

To Ray's surprise, the first to fall behind was Volt.

As the lions closed in, he grimaced, slapped the button on the back of his hand, and vanished in a flash of light. The spirit energy he had yet to fully absorb immediately drifted toward the remaining four.

Next was Lily.

Though she could enhance her speed with wind, she still couldn't match Agility System Soul Masters or Ray's explosive leaps born of innate divine strength. Calm and precise, she activated her exit. As she disappeared, nearly all of her unabsorbed spirit energy surged straight toward Ray with astonishing concentration.

The remaining three were too busy fleeing to question how she managed such control.

Before leaving, Lily unleashed a massive blizzard behind them. Ice and snow slammed into the pursuing pride, slowing them just enough to buy precious seconds.

"Captain! I've got an idea!" Barbara shouted.

"What is it?" Ray demanded while sprinting at full speed.

His running style was entirely different from the others. He wasn't fast in a traditional sense. Instead, he launched himself forward like a human cannonball, each step blasting a crater into the ground. He didn't dodge branches—he smashed through them. Trees cracked and snapped as he bulldozed a path forward.

Absurdly, this method made him even faster than Barbara and Raziel Phoenix.

"There have to be flying soul beasts above us," Barbara said quickly. "If I can lure them down, maybe they'll clash with the lions."

"No!" Ray rejected the idea instantly. "It's too dangerous."

Provoking aerial soul beasts was easy. Surviving them was not. One mistake, and Barbara would be gone.

Barbara grinned. "This is the spirit ascension platform. I won't really die. Worst case, I'll be shaken for a few days. We've already earned more than enough this time." His eyes sharpened. "And honestly, I haven't done much. Let me do this."

Without waiting for permission, he kicked off a tree trunk and shot upward, wings beating as he ascended.

He hadn't forgotten his first failure in the spirit ascension platform. That humiliation had stripped away his arrogance and shown him how far he still had to go.

As he neared the canopy, a breathtaking sight unfolded.

The sky was crowded with flying soul beasts.

Flocks of various species battled chaotically in the air. Every so often, a defeated creature fell screaming into the forest below.

"What… what is this?" Barbara muttered.

Then he saw it.

A massive nest.

Inside lay several pitch-black eggs, each the size of a large ball.

"These must be flying soul beast eggs," he whispered, swallowing. "Sorry about this… but I really need to borrow one."

He grabbed an egg and shot into the open sky, activating his second soul skill, Eagle Soars the Sky.

"Whose egg is this?" Barbara shouted at the top of his lungs. "Come claim it!"

Every nearby flying soul beast snapped its gaze toward him.

A colossal black creature screeched in fury.

"Hehe. Catch!"

Barbara hurled the egg toward the crimson tide of lions below and slapped his exit button without hesitation.

Mission complete.

He vanished in a flash of light as dozens of massive flying soul beasts dove screaming into the forest.

The spirit energy dispersing from Barbara's body was absorbed by the descending aerial predators as they crashed headlong toward the Blazing Demon Lions.

I stole your egg, but you're getting spirit energy out of this. Fair trade… if you survive.

Those were Barbara's final thoughts.

Behind Ray and Raziel Phoenix, the thunderous pursuit suddenly fractured into chaos. Roars collided with shrill cries. The pressure eased.

They exchanged a glance.

He did it.

"Nice one!" Raziel Phoenix laughed breathlessly as he surged forward.

Barbara had willingly given up further gains to save them.

"Though honestly," Raziel Phoenix added with a grin, "I doubt he could absorb much more anyway. Heh!"

Ray smiled faintly. Spirit energy continued to pour into him, and though he felt swollen with power, he still hadn't reached his limit. His teammates with two rings, however, were certainly close.

Then—

A dark golden flash sliced through the forest ahead.

Raziel Phoenix had no time to react.

His body was cleaved apart mid-stride, scattering fragments across the ground before vanishing in a burst of light.

Ray's scalp went numb.

Without hesitation, he fired Silverfalls Vine at a tree and violently yanked himself aside.

Another dark-gold streak slashed past his original position. An ear-piercing hiss followed, and three razor-thin traces lingered in the air where death had just passed.

Half of Raziel Phoenix's remaining spirit energy surged toward Ray, while the other half scattered elsewhere. As Ray watched that drifting light, a colossal shadow stepped forward from the forest.

It was a bear.

An enormous one.

Its fur gleamed with a dark-golden sheen, its body towering over three meters tall. Thick, pillar-like arms hung at its sides, shoulders broad and imposing like ramparts of a fortress. From each paw extended four massive claws, each more than a meter long, curved and sharp enough to rend mountains.

Raziel Phoenix…!

Ray screamed inwardly. He knew exactly what kind of backlash Raziel Phoenix would suffer. Death in the spirit ascension platform was not true death, but being torn apart so brutally would leave deep scars on the mind. They had all experienced elimination before, but this was Raziel Phoenix's first time dying in such a horrific way.

Ray recognized the soul beast instantly.

No Soul Master wouldn't.

Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.

A legendary name etched into fear itself.

It was said that among all soul beasts, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear stood at the absolute pinnacle. Once fully mature, it feared no predator, not even true dragons. Should titans clash, even the outcome of such a battle would be impossible to predict.

These bears preferred solitude. Their offense was overwhelming, their defense absolute. They were existences that ruled by sheer dominance.

If the Blazing Demon Lions were apex predators of the elementary spirit ascension platform, then before a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, those lions were nothing more than trembling prey.

The bear before Ray was only three meters tall, meaning it was likely at the hundred-year level. Yet even so, it was monstrously terrifying. If a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider could hunt thousand-year soul beasts, then a hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear could make even ten-thousand-year soul beasts flee in panic.

That was the difference.

Never, in his wildest imagination, had Ray expected to encounter such a legendary beast in the rebellion spirit ascension platform. Such an existence should belong to far higher-tier realms.

Fight it?

Impossible.

Ray hurled his hammer toward the bear and immediately turned to flee.

Clang!

A sharp metallic crash rang out as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear casually shredded the hammer with a single swipe. In the same instant, it absorbed all of the spirit energy Raziel Phoenix had left behind.

Such terrifying claws!

A strange thought flickered through Ray's mind.

Is my Golden Dragon Claw stronger… or is its Duskgold Dreadclaw?

The moment the bear appeared, the forest seemed to fall silent. No birds chirped. No wind stirred. Even the air felt heavy, suffocating under its pressure.

Behind him, the Blazing Demon Lions finished dealing with the chaos from above and roared furiously, charging once more.

Escape was impossible.

Ray gritted his teeth and ran straight toward the lion pride instead.

If I'm going to die, I'll take as much spirit energy as I can with me.

He didn't press the exit button. Even a fraction more spirit energy could make a difference. He wanted to hold out for as long as possible.

The head lion stood over four meters tall, its fiery mane blazing like living flame. Orange fire coated its body as it roared, proclaiming its dominance over the forest.

The moment it saw Ray, its eyes lit up. The dense spirit energy radiating from him was irresistible. With a furious command, it ordered the lionesses to surround Ray while it leapt forward itself.

Why share such a feast?

But then—

Ray suddenly jumped.

A strand of Silverfalls Vine shot out, and with a sharp pull, he abruptly changed direction.

A dark-golden blur flashed past.

The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear had arrived.

Its speed was horrifying, utterly mismatched with its massive frame. It moved without sound, like a silent catastrophe.

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