Amanda stared at the gigantic SS-Rank wolf that had emerged from the crack, her face grim.
'Why is he blanking out all of a sudden?' she frowned, noticing Victor staring listlessly into the sky. She didn't have time to snap him out of it—without hesitation, she activated the stealth mode of her treasure and steered the flying artifact in the opposite direction of the monster.
While Amanda was focused on escaping, Victor's consciousness drifted into a different space.
"Where the hell am I?" Victor muttered, frowning as he looked around. The entire place was pitch-black, endless darkness. One moment he had been with Miss Amanda, and now he was here.
Pop.
A soft popping sound echoed, and suddenly, a small object appeared before him.
"What the… isn't this the same fruit I ate before regressing here?" Victor's eyes widened in shock. Floating in front of him was a golden fruit, glowing brilliantly and illuminating the entire void. It was the exact fruit he had eaten once before—the reward he had received from the system after completing a mission.
Instinctively, his hand reached forward to touch it. The moment his fingers brushed the fruit—
Woosh.
It shot away into the distance, blazing with even brighter golden light that instantly engulfed the entire space.
Tremble.
The void itself began to shake violently.
"What the hell is happening?" Victor cursed, his eyes widening in disbelief at what unfolded next. The golden fruit completely dissolved, leaving only a seed behind. From that seed, a tiny sprout emerged—and in mere moments, it grew into a colossal tree with radiant golden leaves.
The tree expanded endlessly, dwarfing everything around it.
'Heavens…' Victor's jaw dropped as he looked up at its sheer size, a tree so vast it could easily overshadow a planet. He swallowed hard, feeling like nothing more than an ant standing before a dragon.
'So, it's called the Akashic Tree, huh?' Victor thought with a frown.
"Oh, shit!" Victor cursed as massive roots suddenly shot out from the tree, rushing straight toward him at incredible speed. Before he could even think of dodging, they pierced directly into his body. His horrified expression froze—
"Huh… I'm not dead?" Victor muttered in shock, realizing he didn't feel even the slightest pain.
Outside, Amanda was steering the flying equipment slowly, careful to avoid being detected by the monsters that were wantonly attacking rankers and non-rankers alike below. Her expression remained cold and unchanged, even as people were being slaughtered.
'They can only blame themselves for being weak,' Amanda thought indifferently. She had witnessed countless such scenes and had long since grown immune to them. Of course, if the situation allowed, she would help—but right now, even she could die if she made a mistake. She glanced behind her, and though the beast was no longer in sight, instead of feeling relieved, an uneasy chill settled in her chest.
"What's going on with him?" Amanda muttered with a frown. She could sense that Victor had fallen into some kind of temporary coma. Just as she was trying to figure it out, her eyes widened when the SS-rank beast suddenly teleported in front of her ship.
Roar!
Bang!
The monster's claws slashed directly at the vessel, instantly tearing away its stealth mode.
"Damn!" Amanda cursed as she grabbed Victor and leapt off the ship, just as it plummeted toward the ground.
Thud!
The winged beast landed heavily only a short distance away from them, glaring at the pair with murderous intent.
Although panic churned inside her, Amanda didn't let it show. Her expression was cold as she glared back at the monster and pulled a small marble from her storage ring.
'Do I really have to use these already?' Amanda thought, her brows furrowed.
Just as she was about to activate the marble, both she and the beast suddenly sensed a wave of danger. Their heads snapped in the same direction—toward Victor.
"What… what is this feeling coming from him?" Amanda's eyes narrowed as she stared at Victor, whose body was suddenly enveloped in a faint crimson glow. For the first time, she felt a sense of danger… from him. Something that should have been impossible as he was not even a Ranker yet.
Roar!
The winged wolf grew even more panicked as it sensed that the danger was directed straight at it. Every instinct screamed at it to flee.
"!!!" Amanda's eyes widened in disbelief as a crimson beam of light shot out from Victor and struck the fleeing monster. In an instant, the beast vanished from sight.
"What the hell… where did it go?" Amanda muttered as she hastily cast a detection spell, scanning the surroundings—only to find no trace of it anywhere.
Inside Victor's mind space, Victor, who had just seen the notification, was dumbfounded.
"SS-rank monster? Shit… did a monster of that caliber come out of the Dungeon Break?" Victor cried out as cold sweat dripped from his forehead and a chill ran down his spine. He had only ever heard, before his regression, that even top Rankers were once wiped out by a single SS-rank monster. He had never seen one himself—just facing an S-rank monster by chance had nearly killed him.
Roar!
Victor's eyes shrank when he saw the winged wolf appear in his mind space, radiating overwhelming killing intent. The moment it spotted him, it lunged forward like a mindless beast.
'Damn it, move, body!' Victor gritted his teeth as he found himself frozen stiff under the suffocating pressure.
Woosh!
Roar!
Before the beast could reach him, roots and vines from the Akashic Tree shot forward, piercing into its body. The monster shrieked in agony as it struggled, but within minutes, its entire form was absorbed into the Akashic Tree.
< Ding Dong >
< Connection established: 100% >