“Damn it, Klaus, when you said there were different kinds of monsters here, why didn’t you mention dragon snakes too?”
Danny groaned as he was blasted away by a fire-breathing snake.
Klaus just smirked. His brute friend always complained about the smallest things, yet he had already proven he was a force Klaus could count on.
The battle inside the domain of the Stone Carapace Tortoise had just started, yet the chaos was in full bloom. Danny alone was handling a Tier 9 Fire-Breathing Copper Snake.
This type of snake monster was the fastest kind one could face in battle. They had poisonous flames that melted skin on contact.
Logically, Danny shouldn’t be fighting such a snake, considering he wasn’t known for his speed.
It should have been Mark, Lily, or Mason handling such a monster.
But Klaus made him fight one since the main objective of the battle was to push them to their limits.
Per Danny’s experience with the Luminary Diagram, he was tasked with solving a puzzle that dealt with speed and strength.
Strangely, that was all he could say, for the real puzzle was wiped from their minds the moment they finished comprehending or solving it.
This made Klaus understand the route to take in their training.
Danny, Daniel, Miguel, and Vida are brute fighters, which means their strength lies in powerful attacks. But when it came to speed, they weren’t that notable.
So he devised the best plan to assign opponents for his generals in the first phase of the battle.
Danny was facing the Fire-Breathing Copper Snake, a Tier 9 monster. Daniel was also handling the same monster as Miguel, who was taking on a Tier 9 Shadow Rabbit.
Vida, a Sovereign, was facing a Tier 10 Hunting Rat.
Klaus was shocked when he saw all these monsters in this region. It was as if the outliers of the badlands had gathered there. But it was also the best place for their training.
Looking at the thousands of monsters still coming, with more trying to break free from Uncle Mark’s defense, he could only smile.
Suddenly, a shockwave washed over the battlefield, causing both the warriors and the monsters to lose their balance.
“It’s here,” Klaus smiled as he flew in a certain direction. Nari and Queenie followed him, with Pickle Berry suspended on Nari’s shoulder.
Queen Lunara was also with them. The rest of the Ascendants were left back at the camp to have their turn with the Luminary Diagram.
A few kilometers from the battlefield, a 45-meter-long tortoise was making its way toward the battlefield.
One would expect such a monster to be slow, but that wasn’t the case here.
This monster was actually fast, and given its size, Klaus knew that if it reached the battlefield, every last warrior would be rendered useless against it.
It’s something that normal weapons cannot kill, for it’s one of the monsters out there with the strongest defense.
So he knew allowing it to get to the battlefield wasn’t something that should be entertained.
But he wasn’t really counting on that, for he had other plans.
The moment he came within a few meters of the monster tortoise, he stopped. Nari, Queen Lunara, and Queenie halted a couple of kilometers away so their presence wouldn’t scare the monster off.
The instant Klaus appeared before it, the monster activated its defense, bringing back old memories of his life as Fruity.
“Relax there, big guy. I didn’t come here to fight, for we both know it wouldn’t end well for you. So why don’t you listen to my offer first?” Klaus said.
In response, a shard made of earth shot from the ground, threatening to stab through him.
“Really, this won’t end well for you. Unlike last time, I came prepared this time,” Klaus laughed as he evaded yet another shard.
Five minutes later, Klaus continued dodging the shards without attempting to attack.
“You do know you’re not just a defense-type creature. You’re only limited because you’re a monster. But if you become a beast—which I can help you achieve—you’d become a version of yourself you’d be proud of.”
A couple of decades ago, if a human were found talking to a tortoise, they’d have been sent to a mental facility. But that had all changed, considering cats no longer meowed and could now speak human languages.
“I’m done trusting anyone. I can’t even trust my fellow monsters,” the tortoise replied. Klaus had anticipated this, knowing the trust it referred to was likely tied to the Tier 11 beast he and the ladies had killed.
From what he sensed from its words, Tier 11 wasn’t the best kind of snake one would want to be under.
“I don’t know what you choose to believe, but I can turn you into a beast in under two months. The question is, do you want to trust me?” Klaus smiled.
“Of course, we came this time to clear this region, so you’d be saving your skin by taking my offer instead of falling to my weapon.”
The tortoise might have been a monster, but it had seen how Klaus effortlessly evaded its attacks and knew the outcome of this battle wouldn’t be in its favor.
The best thing it can do now is to take Klaus’s offer and save its skin. Who knows, perhaps what awaits it is something far better.
“Also, your shell wouldn’t save you, for I have a way to kill you, and trust me, it wouldn’t only be easy, it would also be painful.” Klaus smiled, and the Tortoise immediately knew it was no monster.
The brat before it is the true monster…an evil monster.
“Nice decision. I’ll send you to a place for now. Don’t worry, it’s not a bad place. Relax there until I come to visit you.”
Klaus took out the Cube and sent the tortoise away, creating a separate space for it so it wouldn’t disturb Pickle Berry’s mother.
After dealing with the tortoise, he returned to ensure the last of the monsters had been handled.
Once every last one was defeated, they went back to camp, where the first 200 warriors with the most kills were allowed to enter the dome again, starting their second round with the Luminary Tablet.
Klaus, however, met with the Overlords and Grand Elders to begin planning their next mission.
Two days later, they left the badlands and headed to the No Man’s Land Forbidden Zone, located somewhere in the Southern Union.