Startled, the bird screeched and flapped violently, releasing several sharp green wind blades.

Bang!

Black and green collided in midair. The wind blades shattered, but the impact forced Barbara to halt, his momentum broken.

His heart sank.

This is bad!

He couldn't truly fly yet. Eagle Soars in the Sky only allowed temporary aerial movement. Being forced to stop meant gravity reclaimed him.

Spreading his wings, he began to glide downward. His mind raced. Judging from the bird's massive wingspan, it wouldn't be able to chase him effectively through the dense forest below.

Just as he thought he had found an escape—

His expression turned deathly pale.

Green figures erupted from the treetops.

One after another.

Wind blades screamed through the air from every direction as countless large green birds took flight.

How… how did it turn into this?!

That was the only thought left in Barbara's mind as he slammed the emergency exit button on the back of his hand.

Darkness swallowed the world.

The forest vanished. The shrill cries ceased. Coolness enveloped his body as light flooded in.

"Get up," Aaron said flatly.

Barbara sat up, still dazed, realizing he was back inside the Spirit Tower. The metal pod slid open, and the room's screens shifted at once.

On the displays, it was clear.

He was the first one out.

His face burned as he crawled out of the pod, humiliation washing over him.

Alfred said nothing, merely pointing to the chair beside him.

Barbara sat down, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm. The aftereffects of the spirit ascension platform lingered, but every detail of what had happened remained vivid in his mind.

His eyes suddenly widened.

On one of the screens, a massive flock of green birds filled the sky, circling and screeching as if searching for something.

That's… where I was.

There were at least a hundred of them, blotting out the sun as more joined from afar.

Barbara swallowed hard.

If that had been reality, ten of them wouldn't have survived.

Aaron spared him only a brief glance before returning his attention to the screens. Alfred offered no criticism.

True combat lessons were best learned through experience.

Barbara lowered his head, reflecting on his mistakes. The embarrassment remained, but beneath it, a fierce excitement burned.

Next time…

Next time, I'll last longer.

The Spirit Ascension Platform had shown him cruelty, danger, and reality—but it had also ignited his hunger to grow stronger.

Raziel Phoenix moved through the forest like a shadow, his steps light and his breathing carefully controlled. He slipped from one tree's shade to the next, never exposing himself for more than a heartbeat. Compared to Barbara, his caution bordered on paranoia.

That caution came from childhood stories.

Ever since he was young, he had heard countless tales about the Spirit Ascension Platform's forests. Tales of ambushes, of overconfident Soul Masters who vanished without a trace, of danger hiding behind every leaf and vine. Raziel Phoenix knew better than to treat this place like a playground.

One careless mistake here, and you'd be out in seconds.

Yet danger was exactly what made this place valuable.

If he could kill soul beasts here, his spirit soul in the real world would grow stronger. Even small gains mattered.

Raziel Phoenix's spirit soul was special. It was a metal-type spirit soul, artificially created by the Spirit Tower. When it fused with his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, it had undergone a mutation.

Of course, it couldn't compare to Gold's dramatic transformation after bonding with Ray, but it was still rare.

As long as his spiritual power was sufficient, Raziel Phoenix could absorb two spirit souls and merge them into one.

At the time, this had been the only hundred-year spirit soul of its kind. His family had paid a price equivalent to a thousand-year spirit soul just to obtain it. Thanks to that, both his Light and Shadow Dragon Daggers benefited simultaneously.

Naturally, he had kept this advantage hidden.

In truth, his twin martial souls were not true twin martial souls. The Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger originated from the same source and differed only slightly. Their powers stacked, but they did not amplify each other. Worse still, whenever Raziel Phoenix hit a cultivation bottleneck, he would need soul rings for both daggers.

True twin martial soul users only needed to advance one at a time.

This flaw was known only to him and his family.

His current spirit soul was extremely compatible, but Raziel Phoenix knew he would never find another like it. Without stronger spiritual power, his growth would eventually stall. That was why the Spirit Ascension Platform represented hope.

If he could upgrade his metal spirit soul to the thousand-year level, it would grant an extra soul ring. If it reached ten thousand years, it would grant yet another.

Fewer spirit souls meant less spiritual power consumption. Stronger spirit souls meant stronger soul skills.

For Raziel Phoenix, this was the most efficient path forward.

That was why, among the five, he had been the most eager to enter.

He continued advancing, senses stretched taut, eyes constantly scanning. Yet despite traveling for quite some time, he encountered nothing.

Too quiet.

His excitement mingled with tension.

Then—

"Huh?"

A sudden sense of danger prickled his spine.

Without thinking, Raziel Phoenix dove forward.

Dozens of streaks of light whizzed past where his head had been an instant earlier. He twisted mid-roll and sprang to his feet.

That attack—

His pupils shrank.

Scarlet eyes blinked open across the tree trunks ahead of him. Dozens of them.

Scarlet Demon Trees.

Plant-type soul beasts that appeared only in groups.

Bad. Very bad.

Unlike Barbara, Raziel Phoenix knew his soul beasts well. He had no intention of testing his luck here.

He rolled sideways and bolted.

Sure enough, beams of light tore through the space he had just occupied. Had he been even a fraction slower, he would have been riddled with holes.

Too close!

His breathing quickened.

"Zizi!"

A sharp screech sounded as a yellow blur shot straight at him.

Raziel Phoenix halted abruptly, slashing out a Light Dragon Blade while shifting his body sideways.

The whip-like yellow blur twisted elegantly, evading the blade with ease. The ground erupted as a massive creature burst forth.

A Longtail Mouse, over two meters tall.

A hundred-year soul beast.

Instead of fear, excitement surged through Raziel Phoenix's veins.

The Longtail Mouse was a solitary predator. Dangerous, yes, but manageable. Its tail was fast and lethal, its teeth strong enough to chew through uncommon metals, but it wasn't a relentless hunter.

Perfect.

Raziel Phoenix kicked off a tree and launched into the air, releasing another Light Dragon Blade. At the same time, his left hand flicked subtly.

The Longtail Mouse countered with a thrust of its tail, light flashing at the tip.

The Light Dragon Blade split apart.

But—

The mouse suddenly shrieked.

A thin line of blood appeared across its body.

The Shadow Dragon Dagger had already struck.

Raziel Phoenix didn't hesitate. Using the tree trunk as a springboard, he spun midair, his Light Dragon Dagger erupting into a spiraling storm.

Light Dragon Storm!

The Longtail Mouse was engulfed instantly, its body torn apart before it could even struggle.

Both Raziel Phoenix and the corpse hit the ground together.

A glowing orb rose from the mouse's remains and fused into Raziel Phoenix's body. He grinned, flicking his dagger—but didn't linger.

The scent of blood was a beacon.

He sprinted off without choosing a direction.

The kill had been clean because of preparation. The Light Dragon Blade had been bait, concealing the Shadow Dragon Dagger's real strike. Without that ambush, the fight would have dragged on.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Heavy vibrations suddenly rolled through the earth.

Raziel Phoenix froze.

That sound…

Why does it feel so terrifying?

*

High atop a massive tree, Volt panted heavily as his enlarged body gradually shrank back to normal.

He had just escaped a brutal encounter.

Earlier, he had run into a pack of ten-year-old Wind Wolves. Individually weak, but terrifying in numbers and speed. There had been over twenty of them.

Without the Bone Dragon King's transformation and his formidable defense, he wouldn't have survived intact.

Even so, the gains were disappointing. Ten-year soul beasts barely strengthened his spirit soul. Like Raziel Phoenix, his bone-type spirit soul had fused directly into his martial soul.

He checked himself.

Soul power: forty percent remaining.

Physical strength: nearly depleted.

He needed to rest.

As he leaned against the tree, a strange chill crept up his spine.

Why does it feel darker?

He lifted his head—and his heart nearly stopped.

A human face was descending toward him.

A beautiful woman's face.

Then her mouth opened, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs.

And only then did Volt realize—

That face was embedded in the abdomen of a gigantic spider.

A Man-Faced Demon Spider.

The instant Volt recognized the soul beast descending upon him, his blood ran cold. This was a hunting-type Man-Faced Demon Spider, a terrifying existence even among top-tier soul beasts. Even at the hundred-year level, it could contend with thousand-year soul beasts head-on.

There was no hesitation.

Volt threw himself backward, abandoning all thoughts of resistance. Even at peak condition, he would have had no chance. Now, with his soul power depleted and his body exhausted, fleeing was his only option.

Pu!

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