“Success!” Tia’s delicate face flushed with excitement.
With Jormungandr’s arrival, its ability to manipulate dreams made it incredibly easy to manifest those trapped in the dream world into reality.
This was the very reason she had joined The Nightmare Cult. To revive her sister and family, Tia was willing to sacrifice everything, even if it meant becoming a notorious cultist.
“Mira, just wait a little longer. Soon, I’ll be able to bring you all back!” she whispered, clenching her fists, her eyes filled with hope as she gazed at Luca.
Meanwhile, within Luca’s mind, his spiritual world was in turmoil.
In the pitch-black expanse of his mind, a massive, pure white giant python barged its way in, without any regard for boundaries.
Its colossal body seemed endless, surrounded by a faint purple glow, casting a dreamy hue over the entire spiritual realm.
With a flash of white light, the giant python disappeared.
In its place, a young girl appeared, hovering in mid-air. She looked no older than eleven or twelve, dressed in a black gothic gown with long silver hair flowing down her back.
This was Jormungandr in her human form.
Her pale violet eyes scanned Luca’s mental landscape, and suddenly she made a sound of surprise.
“Why is this boy’s spiritual world so vast?” Jormungandr muttered in astonishment as she gazed at the seemingly infinite expanse of Luca’s mind.
If she remembered correctly, this boy was only a Bronze Grade practitioner. Yet, the scale of his spiritual realm far exceeded that of most high-level mages.
However, Jormungandr didn’t dwell on it for long. For her, this was only a good thing.
The greater the boy’s potential, the faster she would be able to recover her full power once she took over his body.
With this thought in mind, Jormungandr quickened her pace.
But the deeper she ventured into Luca’s spiritual world, the more astonished she became.
It was simply too vast, as though there was no end. This was far beyond the level of even a high-tier practitioner!
“How could this possibly be the spiritual world of a mere boy?!” Jormungandr paused in mid-air, her brows furrowing in frustration.
At this point, the size of the spiritual realm was approaching that of a Superclass practitioner, yet she still hadn’t found Luca’s soul core.
This left Jormungandr feeling deeply uneasy, even starting to suspect that she had been tricked.
If she were in her prime, even if Luca did possess Superclass power, she could crush him with ease. But now, her strength was less than one percent of its full potential. If she encountered any real danger, it could deal her a devastating blow.
After a moment of hesitation, Jormungandr decided to press forward.
Outside, there were not only powerful human fighters but also the Hydra nearby.
Though both she and the Hydra were King-level monsters, and they had just worked together, if given the chance, the creature would devour her without a second thought—just as she wouldn’t hesitate to eat it.
That meant she had to restore her strength as quickly as possible to ensure her survival.
This boy’s physique might be strange, but if she could take over his body, Jormungandr estimated it wouldn’t take long for her to return to Transcendent rank. Once there, she would fear no one, and the humans of the Eternal World would be hers to devour at will.
With her mind made up, Jormungandr surged deeper into Luca’s spiritual world.
Before long, she reached her destination.
Amidst a golden ocean, Luca sat at the center.
His eyes were closed, and four golden pillars of light shot skyward around him.
But something was different—Luca was no longer in the form of a boy.
He had taken on the appearance of a young man in his twenties.
Handsome, with sharp eyebrows like mountain peaks, his expression was cold and stern, exuding a powerful killing intent.
This was how he looked in his previous life.
Jormungandr’s face was filled with disbelief as she gazed at the golden ocean and pillars of light surrounding Luca. She exclaimed, “Transcendent essence! How do you have something like this?!”
The Transcendent essence was the core energy that high-level practitioners condensed in their spiritual worlds upon breaking through to the Transcendent rank. It was a hallmark of such power.
Jormungandr would have never imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, that she would see such a thing in a boy’s body.
But what shocked her even more than the Transcendent essence were the four golden pillars representing Luca’s innate attributes!
Gold signified a perfect score, level ten, in innate talent—and this boy had four!
In other words, all four of his special attributes were maxed out at birth!
Jormungandr’s mind reeled in disbelief.
She had encountered countless prodigies and divine beasts in her time, but never had she heard of anyone possessing four innate attributes maxed at level ten. She had certainly never seen it!
What was this boy? A person or a monster?
As she came to her senses, a chill ran down her spine, and she decided to retreat from Luca’s spiritual world.
This boy was far too strange. Something was definitely wrong with him, and it was too dangerous to stay here any longer.
Just as Jormungandr turned to leave, Luca’s once-closed eyes suddenly snapped open.
A fierce, icy light flashed from them.
He spoke calmly, “Did I say you could leave?”
With those words, the entire spiritual world seemed to freeze in an instant! Even time itself appeared to stop.
The space around them was completely locked down!
Jormungandr was horrified to find that she couldn’t move a muscle.
It was the same feeling Luca had when she had used her psychic power to control him earlier.
“Release me now, and I’ll pretend none of this ever happened!” Jormungandr’s breath came in quick gasps as she stared at Luca, now standing. She could scarcely believe it—she, the mighty Jormungandr, had been outplayed by a boy!
In the golden ocean, Luca slowly walked toward Jormungandr, a glowing golden sword forming in his hand.
Looking at Jormungandr’s pale face, he gave a slight, almost mocking smile and said, “Since you’ve come in, you can’t leave without leaving something behind, right?”
…
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, after Sophia and the others had severed two of the Hydra’s heads, the remaining heads spewed terrifying black flames, forcing everyone to retreat.
At the same time, fleshy sprouts began to grow from its wounds, and new heads were regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, the group noticed that the Hydra’s regeneration was slower, and its strength was clearly weakened compared to before.
“That kid’s method is working!” Bayou exclaimed in delight. With the Hydra’s strength reduced, the pressure on them was lightened. Now, they had a chance of holding out until Count Ryan arrived to provide reinforcements.
“Keep attacking!” Kurk, ignoring his own fatigue, charged forward once more.
The advantage they had worked so hard to create couldn’t be wasted by allowing the Hydra to heal easily.
The group unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks on the Hydra.
Franklin and Lucia, in particular, threw spells one after another, as if they cost nothing.
With Luca having been captured, they had no patience to waste time with this nine-headed beast.
Though the Hydra could regenerate its wounds, it still needed time. Under this intense bombardment, it struggled to even raise its heads.
This only fueled the Hydra’s fury.
“Boom!!”
The massive creature lifted its body into the air, and streams of blood-colored mist began converging from all directions, its aura skyrocketing as its regeneration rate increased several times over!
Roar! Roar! Roar!!!
The Hydra let out a deafening roar, and a blazing blood-red flame erupted around its body. Like meteors, a rain of fiery droplets began falling from the sky, plummeting toward the group below.
Anyone struck by even a single spark of these flames was instantly reduced to ash, their life force absorbed by the Hydra, making it even stronger.
The advantage that Lucia and the others had just gained vanished in an instant.
Not only had the Hydra not been weakened, but it had grown even stronger!
Despair began to grip the group.
This creature could absorb the surrounding life force to enhance its strength.
How were they supposed to fight that?
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a brilliant sword light sliced through the sky, striking one of the Hydra’s heads.
The sharp blade cut through the Hydra’s neck like a knife through butter, without the slightest resistance.
The Hydra let out a pained wail as vast amounts of blood rained from the sky, staining the entire area red.
Roar! Roar! Roar!!!
The remaining heads of the Hydra turned and roared in fury at the approaching figures.
Who could it be…?
Everyone froze, their eyes turning in unison.
From the distant sky, a massive golden griffon, easily over twenty meters long and sporting four majestic wings, soared towards them.
Atop its back stood a group of people.
Leading them was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, dressed in the long robes of a count. He was strikingly handsome, with an air of refined elegance.
But at this moment, his face was cold as frost, his sword gleaming dangerously in his hand. The sheer sharpness of its aura sliced through the air, distorting the space around it.
It was none other than Ryan Howard, the Count of the Emerald State!
Behind him stood a few others. At the front were two particularly prominent figures—an elderly man with white hair and glasses, whose face radiated kindness, and a burly man in his thirties, bald and muscular.
Both men wore golden badges etched with a maple tree emblem on their chests, their auras powerful and nearly on par with Ryan’s, clearly indicating they were Diamond-level warriors.
The rest of the group consisted of younger individuals, all of whom also bore the same golden maple tree insignia. However, unlike the two Diamond-level warriors, their badges had three small branches extending from the main design.
Among the young warriors, one girl stood out in particular.
She wore a long, snow-white dress, her head adorned with a wreath-like jade headpiece shaped like green flowers. She appeared to be around twenty, with delicate, youthful features and a trace of baby fat on her face. Her ample chest only added to her imposing presence.
At that moment, the girl was studying the raging Hydra with curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
“Teacher, is this really the King of Rage, the Hydra? It doesn’t seem as terrifying as the legends say,” she asked, turning to the elderly man with glasses.
The elderly man smiled kindly and replied, “This is merely a mirror image of the Hydra. If its true body were to descend, not even the Clinton Empire’s forces could stand against it. Only that lord in the imperial capital could hope to hold it at bay.”
The girl was astonished. “Is a King-level monster really that powerful?”
The old man nodded gravely. “Extremely powerful. There are only seven King-level monsters in the entire Abyssal Demon Realm, and each one has reached the Superclass. Even Superclass warriors have to join forces to deal with them.”
The bald man clenched his fists, making a cracking sound, and grinned menacingly. “I don’t care if it’s a King-level monster or not. If it dares to cause trouble in our Clinton Empire, I’ll chop off all its heads, even if it has nine of them!”
“Dean Kruse, Director Fred, I’ll be relying on you both,” Count Ryan said, his gaze fixed on the Hydra, a chilling killing intent flickering in his eyes.