"Sir, use the mark!" Strongly advised the lady healer for what must have been a fifth time. "We don't know what other effects it could have and if you fall unconscious, you can easily lose your life."

John once again ignored her medical advice and trusted his body to handle the dark rot on its own. At first, the healer spent one of her healing cooldowns to stabilize his condition, but after noticing the rot barely spreading in the last three minutes, she left him lying there and focused on other people who were brought in.

The black liquid turned out even more insidious than he previously believed, because not only it rotted through any affected tissue, but it also had a neurotoxic side-effect that quickly spread through blood and served as a paralyzing agent and a carrier for the main affliction.

However, the blood pumping through John's veins turned out wholly immune to it, turning the debilitating injury into a tug of war between his regeneration and the potency of the dozes he got inflicted with.

Lying there, he noticed the Shimmerfang carefully walking toward him.

"Don't you worry, little guy, I am gonna be alright," he soothed the scared beast.

It looked afraid, left alone among all these strangers, but it slowly glided around the three people standing in its way and crouched down next to John's legs.

"Woah, what are you doing?" John laughed as he watched it sniff the palm-sized spot of dead tissue on his left thigh. "I told you I will be fine."

After inspecting John's injuries, it turned toward the Revived Monarch, growled, turned back to his leg, and bit into the largest spot right above his right knee.

What the…

Keeping calm despite the unexpected bite, he carefully watched its actions. He trusted them, but was prepared to retaliate should it prove necessary.

It didn't take long for it to lift its head, holding a small black chunk between its teeth, but as John glanced down, the previously wet and rotting area was drying up and revealing healthy tissue underneath.

Huh, did it neutralize the toxin?

Deciding to trust it, John lay back down and carefully observed the battle before him. He had to say, the marines led by Sgt. Harrison had impeccable teamwork.

As the battle progressed, they got better and better, and by now their cooperation seemed like clockwork. Every marine doing exactly what was necessary, and together they were inexorably chipping away at the monster's body.

That is not to say the others were incompetent, but when John did the tally of their heads, out of the fifty-one people, three died and twelve were forced to use their escape mark. The thing was, only two were forced to escape from the sixteen marines and the rest were all people from Jabari's group or those who joined Sgt. Harrison during the trial.

Again! John frowned at the situation before his eyes. The monster swiped its foreleg in a desperate attempt to get rid of the people on its flank, but the marine in the way managed to toss himself to the ground and slightly deflect the massive limb's trajectory to protect his head.

He was violently thrown down, but the limb continued flying sideways, smashing a man with a large hammer above his knees, breaking both of his legs in the process.

As the marine rolled away into safety, the monster lifted its limb into the air, preparing to finish the injured man off. Luckily, the crippled guy managed to activate his sigil in time and save his life, but it was another loss for their team.

That swipe shouldn't have been able to connect. The only reason it did reach was because it was deflected further to the side.

If it was the first occurrence, John would discount it as bad luck, but seeing something similar happen again and again, suggested something else.

Could it be a work of Fate?

To figure it out, he had to close his eyes and focus outward. For the first time, he noticed how odd the mash of Fate looked. There were small silver links between Sgt. Harrison and each of his marines and as the battle progressed, John saw small spikes of Fate shooting from the sergeant and twisting the odds of blows impacting his men.

He is using Fate to push blows heading for his marines onto other people!

However, there was something even more surprising there. Every time a blow was coming, using those links the sergeant triggered a noticeable portion of the marine's Fate to amplify his effect.

He is using those links to briefly take control of their Fate, John realized. And he is most likely also getting rid of the competition, leaving the finishing blow to himself or one of his men.

Despite how nasty Harrison's strategy was, John had to give it to him, it was clever and he could understand the reasoning. After all, he was doing a similar thing, using others to stall for time, just so he can reap the benefits.

Well, I am not deliberately getting people injured, and they all volunteered themselves anyway, he tried to convince himself.

Taking a deep breath to clear his thoughts, he opened his eyes and observed the current situation.

The monster was missing the bottom half of its back leg, had dozens of fractures, a couple of breaks, and missing seven ribs entirely. However, the most important were the golden lines that already spread over three-quarters of its skull and were creeping further before his eyes.

It's almost over.

With the Shimmerfang's help, his wounds were covered in black scabs and his feeling was quickly returning, bringing with it a very annoying tingling that went from his thighs down to his toes.

Now's not the time to reveal that I am healed up.

The monster tried another desperate swipe of its front leg, but the targeted front-liners weaved out of its path and those on the other side retaliated with powerful blows of their own, further damaging its left foreleg.

Mimicking a movement mostly attributed to snarl, it angled its head in the direction of the long-range attackers and released another glob of black liquid.

"Watch out," yelled a diminutive woman to his right, but there was nothing she could do. The spit arced through the air, sped up, but then veered left at the last second, missing Sgt. Harrison and exploding in the shower of goo on the other side.

As John expected, he and his marines remained unscathed, but one guy had to activate his sigil immediately and two others were brought into the medical team.

That woman had one of the strongest abilities against the Monarch, he noted as he watched her disappear in the shower of bright light a moment after the hit.

But it didn't matter, because in a few more seconds all Harrison's scheming would become pointless.

The lines already enveloped its monstrous skull, creating an almost artistic carving of gold on its black surface, and began shining in a brilliant glow. Watching the show, John grinned when Harrison's marines' confusion turned into shock and a panicked all-out attack.

Too late.

The Revived Monarch's skull crumbled into dust.

[Congratulations!

The peak of the Divine Mountain was successfully cleared of corruption before the Celestial Shimmerfang fell.

Note: Extra rewards are given to everyone who participated, even those who were forced to activate their escape marks before the event's completion]

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

A sudden tremor shook the ground and a couple of deafening roars followed in its wake. Their sheer volume was staggering, but they paled in comparison to the towering presence spilling into the plateau and blanketing the entire mountain.

John noticed a foot-long white talon cutting through the space next to the rocky peak in the far side of the plateau and after opening sufficient tear, two clawed hands gripped the sides and pushed them apart. From there stepped a twelve-foot-tall being with feminine reptile features, yellow eyes filled with disdain, and corded muscles peeking out from a simple garment of animal skins.

Everyone stood there, unmoving, in silence.

"What you've done here, was not supposed to happen," she whispered, but her soft tone of voice had an eerie aftereffect that made it feel as if it was pressing in from every direction at once.

"But some promises should not be broken, despite one's reluctance to fulfill them," schooling her features, she pointed with her massive spear to the distance. "Come forth, and claim what is rightfully yours!"

"Is she talking to us?" Asked an uncertain male voice from the group to John's left.

"Sha' up, ya moron!"

Not getting distracted, John saw the brief flicker where her imperious facade crumpled into a slight grin, but it was gone so fast he wasn't sure if it was ever there.

It took several seconds for the stampeding noise to reach their backs, and a couple more for the first beasts to crest the peak. In their front ran the Celestial Shimmerfang who was closely followed by his four pack mates. Behind them advanced the turtle, gigantic snake, and the whole pride of felines.

Damn, it looks like we barely made it in time, John thought as he watched the dozens of wounds on each of the Shimmerfangs' bodies. That was not to say they were the only ones injured. The snake had a long line of scarred tissue running from its middle to its tail, the turtle had a spiderweb of cracks on its shell and one of its back legs was shriveled husk, feebly flopping on the ground, and the large silver lion had a long gash across its majestic head.

"The corruption is cleansed and a new Monarch stands on the Divine peak. As was promised, the Sunlight Plain is once again returned under your governance."

She twirled her spear in her hand and stabbed into the peak. The rocky protrusion crumbled, revealing a yellow pillar underneath.

What!? Is that some kind of shelter?

The Celestial Shimmerfang walked forward until it stood before her and after offering a deep bow, it placed its right paw on the pillar's smooth surface. A powerful beam of light lit on its top, and all beasts that followed it up there pressed themselves into the ground in a gesture of subservience.

I wonder if I could, John focused and used his Feral Intuition on the reptile woman before him.

His attempt crumpled off her like an egg thrown at a metal wall.

Ehh, I guess that was expec…

"Try again."

"Huh?" John flinched when a voice suddenly echoed inside his head.

"I said, try it again!"

Okay?

Using the Feral intuition again, he was hit by an overwhelming presence that lazily unfurled before him.

[Serath, the patroness of hearth, hunt, and justified slaughter {S✫}]

It was vast beyond anything he had ever felt, but also surprisingly serene. Like a lake hidden deep underground.

"Remember it. And one last thing, I advise you to accept the offer."

What offer? He asked back using that odd style of communication.

However, he was ignored as she turned and stepped into the open tear that immediately closed behind her.

Well, that happened.

[Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the trial Honoring Serath's first hunt.

You have thirty minutes before the trial ends and everyone is automatically teleported outside.

Time remaining: 29:58]

The moment her overwhelming presence winked out, everyone began moving to the safety of their group.

Having a clear view over the plain, John easily noticed how uncomfortable the people felt in the presence of so many D-grade creatures.

"Is it over?"

"Wasn't that woman the one from the painting in the Desperate Fool's inn?"

"Now that you mention it, I think…"

The voices mashed together as more and more people began animatedly speaking, and John stopped focusing and pushed himself up instead.

"Oh, you sure heal fast," spoke a familiar voice behind him.

"I guess," John shrugged. "What now though, do we use our marks and call it a day?"

"What, you want to escape before anyone figures out who took the kill?" She softly whispered after leaning in.

John momentarily froze up, but her tinkling laughter made him relax. "Your Perception is crazy."

"Says a guy who gets hit by a dose of toxin ten times higher than anyone else, and walks it off in a couple of minutes," she quipped back with a snort.

"Fair point."

"I think we might have company," she said with a nod toward the Celestial Shimmerfang.

It was following the last member of his pack—the unevolved one—and they were heading in their direction.

"Thank… for… help."

"You can speak?" John asked, staring at the massive beast crouching before him.

"Speak… difficult. You… friend. Elevated… us. Take… Witherfang… he… protect."

"I don't understand, what is Whitherfang?"

The smaller Shimmerfang came before him and pressed its head into his right hand.

[Attention!

An elevated beast has offered you a spiritual bond.

Warning: All beings can form only a single bond throughout their lives so caution is advised.

Do you want to bond with a Shimmerfang?

Yes/No]

Ahh, this was what she meant. But why would she advise me to do something like that, I would have done it either way… Yes!

[Warning!

Only sentient beings classified as a C-grade or higher may form a bond.

Human John Miles is Grade E.

Spirit bond automatically…]

Before John finished reading, it collapsed on itself and a different one popped up.

[Attention!

Requirements for spirit bond overridden by the direct intervention of patroness Serath.

Warning: Because the human John Miles is currently undergoing integration, a price needs to be paid to keep the competition fair.

Price: John Miles will have to forgo all tangible rewards from completion of the trial Honoring Serath's first hunt, and the spirit beast will be diminished into an F-grade.

Do you want to bond with a Shimmerfang?

Yes/No]

Oh, so that was what she actually meant. Is it worth it though?

Looking into the dark crystalline eyes of the beast, he was left with indecision. On one hand, he had rewards for what he expected to be the best performance in the trial. On the other was a spirit bond.

If only it explained what the fuck does having a spirit bond means, John sighed.

"Am I missing something?" Asked Ishikawa.

"Well, I…"

"Human… uncertain… bond… good?" Rumbled the monarch.

"Yes. I got offered something, but I have to give up the rewards from this trial."

"Hmm," Ishikawa hummed as she thought about it. "I have no idea what the bond does, but you should ask yourself if you value more long-term or short-term benefits because I surely believe that another chance like this is unlikely to happen anytime soon."

Damn, she got me there.

Placing his hand on the patiently waiting beast, John made his choice.

Yes!

The effect was immediate and John wasn't the only one who gawked as the beast turned into a swirl of white lights that wound themselves around his right arm, creating an intricate tattoo that began at his palm and continued all the way to his neck.

The whole process took a little over a minute and its completion was finalized by another System pop-up.

[You have forged a spirit bond with an F-grade Shimmerfang.

Due to its unique nature, this type of elevated beast can absorb lingering power from monster's corpses, strengthening itself and significantly speeding up its growth.

Warning: The beast is bound to listen to your commands, but you must always remember that it is a living being with its desires and feelings. Should it deem its existence unbearable, it can destroy its core and permanently end its life, severing the bond in the process]

Focusing on the tattoo brought yet another pop-up.

[Witherfang {F}

Affinity: none

Next evolution: 0/50]

Simple enough.

"Hey, John!" Shouted Sgt. Harrison walked up to him at a brisk pace and was followed by Jabari and a couple of unknown people. "Were you the one who took the finishing blow from us?"

"Yes, I was," John replied with a wide grin and activated his escape mark.

The wide eyes and frantic movements were the last thing he saw before his vision turned bright blue and he vanished from the trial.