Although Alyur had heard of the possibility of having her power forcefully taken from her yet never had she expected that such an occurrence would happen to someone whom she didn’t even bless. The world was vast and grand, even she had not achieved a full-scale understanding of what it had to offer.

It was a minute amount of power, barely something she could even care about. Even if Sammuel tried to pry as much power as he could from her, it wouldn’t meaningfully affect her at all. The only thing that made Alyur care about this was that she was unable to take her blessing away.

“An enigma but compared to everything else this is at best... interesting.” Alyur didn’t bother pressing on this matter. Sammuel could use her blessing as much as he could since no matter what he did, it was limited to that much.

Unless Alyur gave him an even greater blessing, Sammuel would be stuck with [Great Blessing of Moonlight]. Her gaze swept across to what mattered. The battlefield didn’t even matter to her due to there having nothing else new to be seen. It was once again humanity's victory.

This adequate loss didn’t faze her as it wasn’t her troops. They were simply the dregs she found in the Hallowed Gap, inconsequential to her. Besides, she wasn’t expecting to make progress during the first few weeks. It was only a matter of time before the humans grew tired and weary.

The stronger beasts are coming soon enough. A Combat Power of 1,000 would soon be the norm, eventually reaching even higher numbers than that. There was no need to rush the city's eventual downfall.

Sammuel kept using [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey], completely demolishing everything in his path through brute force. In this state, his defense had explosively grown, feeding back to [Hardened Fist] to grow even stronger than before. Though, as dictated by Alyur's blessing, it inverted everything. His hands were his weak points now... yet that was not the case at all. Compared to how others received this blessing, his body retained the most powerful aspects of everything. Not only did he keep [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey]'s powerful fists, but his body also grew proportionally stronger.

This led to a questionably terrifying combination.

[Hardened Fist | Gain Combat Power: +1003.52 | Sammuel: 1852.86]

Through the deaths of countless can Sammuel grow beyond his means. A gift that just seemed to be inherently fiendish.

Sammuel felt the sheer power coursing through his veins. What should've only strengthened his fists now surged At this rate, he would be unstoppable. He had received such amazing skills that he was essentially undefeatable for the time being. This further solidified one fact that he had been mulling over.

With these mindless beasts having such absurdly high base Combat Power, what would happen if they managed to use [Skills] as well? He was essentially a beast in human skin. His numbers relied on [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey], if he ever reverted back to [Ego: Base] then he wouldn’t even be remotely close to such power.

If that was the case then monsters that had inherently higher strength should be dominating this world. If that’s the case then why were humans the superior species in this world? Something wasn’t adding up.

Of course, people could cultivate and refine their mana, slowly getting stronger and stronger. But this also similarly applied to sentient monsters. Just what was this world hiding? The closest answer Sammuel arrived at was Mastery of Skills. It was possible that with [Skills] being the deciding factor, humans had the advantage of learning greater power than any other creature in this world. Yet he still didn’t know if he was correct or not.

Sammuel reached out his hand and punched a great troll before him. The creature exploded into a red mist. With such an overwhelming disparity between them, Sammuel easily disposed of them all.

“For a [Greater Blessing of Moonlight] to give me this much power… just how terrifying is a Great Being?” Sammuel was deep in thought. “Sadin managed to survive Vzella’s attack, someone even stronger than Alyur. Have I even reached the hems of their clothes at this point?”

Sammuel shook his head. He knew the truth. “No, I haven't. Not even close.”

This was the truth. The cold hard truth.

On Sadin’s side, he had just been given an overwhelming terrifying power, such as the [Supreme Blessing of Domination]. Despite the euphoric amount of destructive power given to him, he still felt sour that he had to bow his head down.

After deactivating such an overwhelming blessing, Sadin returned back to his original state. The Great Devil had already left a long time ago. Looking behind him, Sadin watched as the remnants of his army were nothing more than empty husks. Except for the one carriage behind him that contained all his spoils, the majority had their souls devoured.

There had once been mountains beyond the eye could see trailing behind his back yet what remained were just rubble and debris. The firm mountain range was eradicated ever so easily by a Great Devil. Yet compared to the destructive power that Alyur's [Annihilation Nova] showed, it was still a far cry in power.

Sadin observed himself.

[Name: Sadin Eredic

Essence: Awakened

Affinity Level: 639.46%

Combat Power: 2946]

This was him in his weakest state. He had learned numerous skills and powers that completely changed how he approached battles. It was correct that no other person in the Awakened Stage could be his equal. It required those in higher stages to even hope of rivaling him. Of course, the only exception was Elias.

With the two heroes having essentially equal battle prowess, except for Alyur, the Great Dragon of Moonlight, nothing could harm them. This was why both the Vis Empire and Salvo Empire were confident enough to send them off.

Turning his back, he went to see just how many he had lost. Counting the dead bodies, it seemed as if he had lost roughly half. Sadin screamed in full raging wrath.

“I’ll pay you back you disgusting freak! I’ll raze the Plains of Divinity to kill every single one of your race! By the time I’m done, Devils will no longer exist in this world.” Such a heroic statement was spoken all for the wrong reasons. Sadin’s hatred had been formed as the first roadblock on his journey. Between two evils, only the greater one will survive.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Not even Vzella nearly killing him had enraged him as such. If anything Sadin respected Vzella’s strength and conviction, even taking grievous losses to try and strike him down. But for cowards like that Great Devil, ordering him around merely angered him. It had the strength to do anything it wanted but to act this lowly... it was despicable.

Sadin wrapped up all his remaining men. His strict voice made every single person here tremble. Sadin had shown his commendable leadership during their expeditions but this was no longer the time for him to play. “Bring them back to the Vis Empire. Don't disappoint me.”

He uttered no threat for there was no need to. The degree of his cruelty was widely feared throughout his army. Now that Sadin's entire tone had shifted, everyone under him changed into a proper army.

“Understood!” Compared to the easy-going person Sadin was, even to the point of letting them laze around for as long as they didn’t bother him, the current Sadin was exactly how a tyrant acted. Even so, this was the kind of person that the Vis Empire greatly valued. A strong person who knew what he wanted, crushing everything in his path through sheer violence.

One of Sadin’s remaining strategists came up to him. He seemed afraid but still acted upon his job. “Lord Sadin, what will you be doing for the time being?” He immediately closed his eyes, expecting his death.

On the contrary, Sadin didn’t immediately slay him. He just turned around and left his remaining words. “I’m going to steal the Hatchling. Don’t bother going after me, you’re all too slow.”

The strategist gave a sigh of relief, at the very least he had an answer to give to the Vis Empire, no matter how absurd as it seemed.

[Great Blessing of Wind | …]

[Great Blessing of Fire | …]

[Great Blessing of Water | …]

[Great Blessing of Earth | …]

[Great Blessing of the Elements | …]

Sadin’s body didn’t morph at all, merely having a swirling aura of pure natural affinity around him. His very senses expanded beyond what any human could achieve. Yet this wasn’t all.

[Breath of the Wind | …]

Sadin’s entire body had turned semi-transparent. His speed had exponentially increased and he gained the ability to fly. He was going to make sure he got to Aganth as soon as possible to pay that Great Devil back a hundredfold. The sooner he cleared this restriction, the sooner he could train and become stronger to realize his goals.

With the Great Spirit of Wind blessing Sadin with such a powerful enchantment, his speed was unparalleled. At this rate, he would only need two weeks to reach Aganth if he traveled non-stop. Fortunately, he didn’t have to physically report to the Vis Empire, otherwise it would’ve taken even longer. His men could do it in his stead. At times like this, he recalled the days back on Earth where he was alone. It was somewhat nostalgic yet at the same time depressing.

Back in Aganth, Sammuel slashed one last time, decapitating a squirming worm. It was the size of a two-story house as it burrowed deep underground, striking unsuspecting prey from below. Due to its problematic maneuvers, it was the last one to survive. Yet it still fell at the very end. It couldn't handle the fierce attacks aiming at it.

Sammuel’s pure white body had turned back to his normal color palette. A mixture of blood from different creatures covered him, making him reek. After such a bloody slaughter, Sammuel could unwind from the tense situation.

[Condition Cleared: Defeat 10 creatures with 300 Combat Power or higher (10/10) | Reward: Increased Card Drop Rate]

[Condition Cleared: Gain 10 Silver Ego (10/10) | Increased Card Drop Rate]

[Condition Cleared: Gain 100 Bronze Ego (100/100) | Passive Ego Healing Efficiency Increased]

[Condition Cleared: Reach 1000 Combat Power | Increased Mana Affinity]

[Condition Cleared: Refine mana to permanently gain 10 Combat Power (10/10) | Increased Mana Affinity]

There were a series of continuous notifications that informed him of his achievements. Gaining [Ego] was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sammuel had even gained 3 of the 9 remaining monsters’ [Ego] that had received [Blessing of Moonlight] from Alyur.

The current amount of [Ego] in his possession was overwhelming. But there was one key problem, he didn’t necessarily grow stronger from the many [Ego] he just gained. They were all weaker than his current arsenal.

Granted that this made him extremely versatile but in terms of actual Combat Power, his strongest state was still [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey] which was under [Greater Blessing of Moonlight] and using [Hardened Fist].

As amazing as this was, Sammuel felt his body turn weak. He immediately fell to the ground, unable to even muster a single bit of strength from his body.

[Status: Blessing Exhaustion | Lose Combat Power: -439.34 | Sammuel: 10]

His [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey] had completely lost all ability to move. To use such a powerful force, Sammuel needed to pay a corresponding price. Yet for an entire hour, he was unstoppable. He didn’t know how long this would take but he didn’t need to worry about it too much.

Ever since he was rewarded with the ability to passively his [Ego], Sammuel was no longer so afraid of battle. With so many [Ego] in his possession, it was simply a matter of switching his [Ego] as he wished to heal from his injuries. In essence, he was a literal living army.

If Sammuel played his cards right, he was essentially immortal. Other than disappearing in one hit, Sammuel didn’t see himself dying anytime soon. Then again, his so-called immortality only mattered when his foes were on the same level as he was.

Looking to the side, Xeril was parading with his fist up in the air. He had shown himself to be quite the leader being able to save so many people. As much as people wanted to praise Xeril, the person who shined the most out of this situation was undoubtedly Sammuel.

As a freak of nature that rendered any attack against him null, Sammuel was a streak of white light to deliver death to anything around him. He was strong, genuinely so yet compared to Xeril’s [Point Burst], Sammuel still had a long way to reach that point.

Despite everything he had achieved, so much work and effort was put into getting to where he was. Xeril was still much stronger than he was. To the point that Sammuel even questioned just how vast the disparity had grown.

As people came along to clean up the battlefield, Sammuel was brought up and similarly placed right beside Xeril. Though the air was a little awkward between them. Sammuel was the one to break the silence.

“I don’t need your protection.”

Xeril awkwardly smiled, “Things got more serious faster than I expected. I just thought that you were getting burdened with the weight of keeping up.”

“I can see others failing but not me. I’m here in the first place because you needed someone to protect you, right?”

“I thought I was going to but it didn’t seem that way in the end. Instead of a protector, I found a friend.” Xeril took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He composed himself and looked back at the slumping body of Sammuel. “A friend that I’ll never doubt again.”

[Switch Ego: Base]

Sammuel broke out of his awkward stance and weakly punched Xeril’s shoulder. “You got that right. I may not be a heaven-defying genius like you but I have my ways.” After doing so, he kept his hand up.

“I can see that.” Xeril reached his hand out as well and fist-bumped Sammuel. “As your General, I’ll have to work you to the bone. After all, as my friend, you need to show your worth.”

“Sounds easier than it seems but I’ll make do.”

Out of a sudden, an intruder came up and interrupted them. “Are we having a party right after?” Ian placed his arms over the two’s shoulders and smirked. “Or was I interrupting some kind of bonding moment?”

“Let’s go all out. But it’ll be on you, Ian.” Sammuel nodded along.

“I don’t think my pockets are deeper than our General here. Isn’t that right, Xeril?” Ian saw the both of them team up against him and sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll host the party but it’ll be just the three of us. I’ve been meaning to talk to you both about a topic you’ll find very important.”

Ian smiled and closed one of his eyes. The symbol that was supposed to appear in his eye was projected out to the world. Sammuel and Xeril felt the world isolate them into their own tiny special place. They couldn’t hear the screams of joy and the stench of monster blood anymore.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Xeril might have asked like he was worried but considering Ian’s nature, he was more interested in why he did so.

“I needed a private moment away from Alyur and Weston’s ears.” Ian laid out all of his cards. “It’s about the Hatchling. Are you interested now?”

The symbol on the barrier that isolated them away from the world was one of a singular leaf, held by two human hands. One was old and the other was young, both gave a feeling of fleeting ephemerality.

It was the sign of the Genesis Foundation.