Armin's black aura radiated excitement as he looked at his organized followers.
His calm face reflected his status as a Supreme Ruler, several ranks above them, possessing billions of years of experience gained from his mentors, the holy Yang Zhao Li and the holy Yin Alessandra, and from memories of when he was Ji Yao Li.
Jian Yi, on the other hand, was a Supreme Ruler thanks to the training of the hellish Yuta and Beatrice, whose true strength was unknown.
However, both Lucy and Armin appeared somewhat apprehensive. Lucy was a Saint, and Armin was a Novice Ruler, possessing the Remanufacturing ability gained through his contract with Azure, the ruler of the Eternal Abyss. They both possessed the ability to analyze dragon mana and the Crimson Phoenix Heart, granting them the greatest flow capacity and speed among their peers, even possessing a terrifying talent.
Jian Yi and Yi and Tom immediately, without saying a word, were the strongest members of the team and had no time for pointless duels.
Slack... Slack... Slack
The sounds of swords clashed in an area that caused all nearby entities to flee from the overwhelming aura and terrifying killing intent emanating from their bodies.
One of the followers attacked Jian Yi with the Hua Mountain Sect Art, enraging him to the point of unleashing the aura of a Sacred Ruler-rank fighter without any restraint. The features of the Scorpion Organization followers completely dominated, as the strongest among them was an expert Ruler-rank.
They were so weak that their expertise could do nothing but postpone their deaths for a few seconds.
Jian Yi raised his hand, and the bodies of the Scorpion Organization followers began to deform monstrously.
Sometimes they transformed into hideous beasts, and other times into strangely and disturbingly attractive beings. For pleasure.
Jian Yi detonated them, transforming them into a bomb of organs, blood, and skin.
There were slight signs of shock on both Armin and Lucy's faces, but their expressions returned to normal after only a few seconds.
Several seconds passed before Armin activated his Regenerative Ability. A terrifyingly pale and thin array of arms sprang forth, systematically gathering the remnants of the followers without leaving a single drop of blood. These remnants were then converted into energy, which helped Armin level up and regenerate the weapons, destroying their natural state.
As soon as the soldiers' energy was consumed, a black beam shot out, charring the sky as a sign of breakthrough.
"Wow, he's breaking through to the Expert Ruler rank thanks to the soldiers' energy levels, which ranged from Saint to Expert Ruler. It was enough to break through to a higher level."
"Armin, beware. The Heavenly Grant is coming. You must endure. Remember that," Jian Yi spoke calmly as he sent him a purifying potion and a lightning absorption pill, which the thin arms caught.
So Armin could obtain the benefits of the Purification Potion and the Lightning Absorption Pill without directly consuming them.
In the midst of the penetration process, several intensely purple lightning bolts shot out at Armin with tremendous force.
This shocked both Jian Yi and Lucy Tom Armin. The Heavenly Gift's power was incredibly strong, and the purple lightning meant it would be 500 times more powerful and dangerous than a regular Heavenly Gift.
"Armin is really in trouble. If he doesn't manage to overcome this, he'll surely die, or he might be paralyzed, which is worse than death."
"You're right, Jian Yi, but remember, Tom is a coward, but persistent, and he won't give up."
Jian Yi turned his gaze to Lucy, Tom, and Beatrice, whose looks were filled with confidence in his survival. This brought a smile to Jian Yi's face.
"Well, we'll see if he survives. Hopefully not."
Inside a pillar of energy, Armin's eyes resembled those of a dragon. His heart, a phoenix's heart, pumped mana 1000 times stronger than a human's, allowing him to withstand the energy entering his body.
A dragon's awareness, a phoenix's heart, and a human's will to survive.
Armin endured the Heavenly Gift with difficulty as his body gradually shrunk until it resembled an egg, a hybrid of a dragon's and a phoenix's.
Outside the energy pillar, relief spread across everyone's faces that Armin's Heavenly Gift had ended successfully.
Tom spoke, looking towards the pillar, which was beginning to disappear into the distance. "That bastard seems to have broken through to the Expert Ruler rank and surpassed his Heavenly Gift. It appears he has achieved the Hidden Expert Ruler rank—worthy!"
Surprise appeared on everyone's faces. The Hidden rank existed in all ranks and was achieved when a Heavenly Gift occurred simultaneously with the breakthrough. After surviving the Heavenly Gift, one became worthy of the rank, and their abilities were enhanced, making them stronger than Those who were at his level and had the same strength as those one level higher than him.
After the energy pillar disappeared, an egg the size of a car wheel appeared, leaving everyone confused.
Where is Armin? What the hell is going on? Where did an egg this size come from? These questions were swirling in everyone's minds.
Beatrice, who was the best at sensing mana among them—she was born with a heaven-level talent for sensing mana and energy of all kinds—
held an egg for several minutes before giving her usual blank stare. "This egg is in Armin. He had the eyes and nerves of a dragon and the heart of a phoenix."
"After his recent breakthrough to the rank of Expert Ruler—worthy—his body automatically evolved into a hybrid between a phoenix and a dragon. You know, when someone reaches the rank of Expert Ruler, their entire physical structure changes to be able to contain their power."
"So that's it. But when will he wake up and the egg hatch?" Lucy asked, puzzled, as she carefully held the eggs.
Beatrice replied, brushing dust off her clothes, "I don't know. It could hatch in a day, an hour, a year, a hundred years, or even a million years. The energy inside him is so powerful, and it needs time for his new body to absorb it."
"But with the ability to regenerate..." It allowed his body to adapt to absorbing a large amount of energy in a short time, but even then, the duration would remain unknown. He might awaken at any moment, and his power would be terrifying.
"His body would evolve into a hybrid structure between a dragon and a phoenix. No, no, there's something else: he would gain a twin incarnation, a dragon incarnation.""For an imperial incarnation as the Crimson Phoenix..."
Martha's astonishment reappeared, to the point that Beatrice saw them as mere useless fools. She decided to continue speaking, ignoring them.
"However, these two incarnations complement each other. It seems that Azure, the ruler of the Eternal Abyss, had planned this. He granted him the heart of a Crimson Phoenix, considered the purest and strongest of the Phoenix race, and the mind and nervous system of a dragon. Furthermore, the power granted to him by Azure, the ruler of the Abyss, is completely unrelated to the contract."
"This indicates one thing: what's happening, Armin, was planned from the beginning. When one contracts with a ruler, one receives nothing beyond the ruler's primary power. One should only receive the power to control the Abyss, nothing more and nothing less."
Jian Yi placed his hand on his chin, trying to piece together what had happened previously and connect it with Beatrice's strange and suspicious deductions.
Why is he trying The Abyss Ruler Azwer developed Armin and granted him the incarnation of a twin.
The most likely scenario is that Armin's contract with the Abyss Ruler Azwer occurred immediately after Yuta made Armin a member of his Blood Moon Assassins squad.
Although Jian Yi wasn't present at the time, he learned about it from Armin while they were discussing how they had signed contracts with rulers.
After several minutes, Jian Yi spoke calmly, "It seems there's a game being played behind the scenes, and we know nothing about it. We're just pawns in it, not even minor players."
They all looked at Jian Yi Tarta and then at Armin, who was in the form of another Tarta egg, and nodded.
This was a sign of agreement with Jian Yi's conclusion, which seemed quite logical.
"Well, even if Jian Yi is right, this isn't the right time for any of this. Enemies are lurking everywhere, and death lurks around every corner."
"That's why we need to find Giri and "Ruichi, Yuta, Jiba, Gowther, and the new students, Christian, Kazuhiro, Nicholas, Leon, and Inuyasha, will be our support until reinforcements arrive."
"Our current goal isn't heroism or glory, but rather survival. Friend today, enemy tomorrow, destruction. Everyone will only lead to our demise. My words are clear, comrades," Tom said coldly, looking towards the Origin Tree that stood proudly in the sky.
Yet, none of them showed even a trace of annoyance or contempt. None of them were in the mood for heroism or chivalry at this moment. Their lives were more important than anyone else's, and this applied to all the students present. The professors were simply doing their jobs, not out of love or pity for the students.
After all, we weren't in a world of heroes who sacrificed themselves without expecting anything in return. We lived in a world where everyone had to think about how to protect themselves from death by any means possible.
Lucy placed the Armin within her dimensional space while looking at the comrades calmly. "So, let's move and gather comrades to increase our numbers." From our survival percentage
Everyone disappeared from their location after hearing Lucy's words regarding the whereabouts of the other outstanding first-year students.
Currently, in the northern part of Jeju Island's center, Jia was wandering around, sensing any strange energy fluctuations.
After observing the mechanism by which the Scorpion Organization members attacked the students, she discovered that they were aware of all student information, including their strengths, weaknesses, power levels, and locations within the island.
This led her to deduce that there was a tracking device implanted within a symbol containing a teleportation spell.
Therefore, she destroyed it. She was relatively safe from attacks by the organization's followers on the island, even though they didn't possess up-to-date information. She was currently a Holy Ruler, not a Novice Ruler.
Therefore, she wasn't afraid. Being several levels stronger than the Crimson Scorpion, who was a higher Demon Ruler, she believed that even without using a blessing, she would be able to defeat him easily. "Hello, how are you, Gia Guilford? You seem lost," Yuta said quietly, looking at Gia.
Gia was trying to hide her astonishment, as she hadn't felt Yuta at all approaching her. A strange feeling came over her that she couldn't understand.
But she was certain, "Something's wrong. My strength increases every time I'm near him, and the tremors that touch my being every time we fight aren't normal at all," Gia thought to herself as she looked at Yuta.
She decided to postpone the matter for later, as they were in a difficult crisis and needed to resolve it first before thinking about such things.
"What brings you here, Yuta Cassiral? Is there something you want to do?" Gia's gaze was sharp as a sword blade as she looked at Yuta, who had an unexplained smile on his face.
"Nothing much. I was just passing by and ran into you by pure chance. However, it seems you discovered a surveillance device in the academy's emblem."
"It seems you've also discovered that, as the academy's emblem, 'Fursalkin,' isn't on your uniform."
They each continued on their way without another word. Several minutes passed in this manner until Gia broke the silence with a tone filled with hidden admiration beneath layers of coolness.
"Your strength has increased considerably, it seems."
"Yes, I've developed like you. Reaching the rank of Master of the Rulers at such a young age is truly astonishing." Yuta's voice held a hint of friendliness, but his inner tone was cold. "I've become able to utilize 3% of my power after the evolution of both the Spirit Manipulation Eye and the Spirit Enslavement Eye."
"Although it wasn't a huge increase, only 0.5%, it seems that the temporary power boost I received from evolving the two eyes weakened the seal on the Infinite Evolution and Absolute Adaptation abilities, allowing my body to evolve to withstand a portion of my full power."
"It seems I'm lucky. Apparently, 3% isn't much when..." Afterwards, it seems that when I refine and upgrade this body to level two, I will be able to use 20% of my power. However, the process of linking my second half to my first must be completed.
The holiday will be suitable for revealing the truth and uniting my second half with me, completing the linking process, and meeting the Dragon Lord Asferus. This will allow me to obtain what I want: upgrading my dragon genes to level three, leaving only the angel and demon genes.Level 2, until the time comes to develop it to the final, third level.
While Yuta was contemplating future plans, he noticed people watching from outside the island in several locations.
These included the North Pole, the Bai Ting Clan, the Imperial Capital, and the mountains near the Bai Ting Clan.
A cold smile appeared on Yuta's face as he muttered under his breath, "Enemies and comrades watching your every move. So much fun, isn't that right, BO 00 01?"
A quiet voice, tinged with amusement, echoed within Yuta's mind: [Yes, you're right. I want to kill them. They're so annoying, and you're just like them, Yuto.]
"No, the timing isn't right. Moreover, killing the Venerable Pond of the Norman Sky, currently called Isabeth, Lord of the Pond Wing, the Venerable Patch of the Last, Bing Tao Shen, the Venerable Star Hunter Zendaya, and the Venerable Ice Demon Ligghard would do us more harm than good."
BO 00 01 Yuta was inwardly annoyed as he listened to Yuta's words.
A young man with black hair, wide black eyes, and a handsome, round face with dark circles under them, wearing loose white clothes and a scarf covering his mouth, stood out. This was in stark contrast to Yuta, who was only 1.75 meters tall.
[You're annoying, and talking to you will only lead to my death. Goodbye.]
Yuta chuckled inwardly, mocking BO 00 01's words, before turning his gaze to Jia, whose senses were on high alert, ready to detect the slightest suspicious movement.
"It seems the battle won't be long. Both sides have suffered heavy losses, and the academy's reinforcements are about to arrive," Yuta's voice was filled with confidence as he looked at Jia, who seemed surprised by Yuta's overconfidence.
She nodded before taking her sword and severing the head of a hidden monster that had tried to attack her. She spoke nonchalantly, "Even so, our enemy is not The followers are organized, even on Jeju Island. They consider the dungeons enemies everywhere, unleashing their monsters in a flash.
"They won't wait until we defeat the enemies and recover our strength before unleashing their waves of monsters."
"I know that very well. After all, I don't open my mouth unless I'm 100% sure."
Bota then swiveled his sword at the speed of light, slicing a monster in half like a piece of butter. He sheathed his sword, and they both continued on their way without waiting a single minute.
For time is not on anyone's side. If you don't seize it with diligence and perseverance, it will seize you with regret and despair.