Elias had found himself in another room entirely.

Instead of the grim interior of a dark chapel, his eyes met with a lavish view of flowers and light. Life breathed through this room as it had high-rise ceilings with numerous aesthetical depictions of movement and flow.

A carving of a river flowing all around the walls surrounding this circular room. There was no beginning or end, only the flow exists. Adding on actual flowers growing small segments of the ground around him, this was the complete opposite of where he came from.

Right beside him was a priest kneeling down. He held his stomach with one hand while using the golden scepter to keep himself steady. Skin turning pallid white, Gaben felt the immense recoil of using [Teleport] on two people over such a long distance.

“Where’s Sammuel?”

“Left behind… It’s a pity but there’s nothing I can do. Bringing along another person’s already reaching the limit of what I can do.” Recomposing himself, Gaben shook his head. “I didn’t expect Vzella the Great Dragon of Symphony to actually use [Draconic Rage]. Fortunately, Riccen’s there to deal with it. They must be ripping each other apart by now.”

There were far too many questions Elias had. Matters pertaining to how the world worked, why they were taken away, and the current situation of the world. Yet the most pressing matter at hand for him was Sammuel’s condition.

Seeing Elias’ firm gaze, Gaben could only explain.

“Do you not… have Dragons in your world?” Confusion had set in.

Elias shook his head. “There are no mystical creatures where we came from. The only intelligent beings are humans.”

“A world where only humans are the intelligent species… I didn’t think that a world like that existed. That’s why everyone was so weak. You wouldn’t need to get stronger if nothing could pose a threat to you. That’s why the blessings were so absurdly powerful.” Gaben trailed off in his own head. He didn’t even care to hide his thoughts, mumbling off all on his own.

“I apologize for Sammuel. A Dragon is a supreme existence even in this world. A higher form of a Dragon, a Great Dragon, is a variant that’s overwhelming superior. He had just used a [Skill] that exchanged his life force for power. Even I would be rendered powerless from such power. Considering my options immediately, I chose the one that seemed to be the most optimal.”

Elias looked away. This didn’t sit right with him. The entire situation didn’t sit right with him. Sammuel was what he would call, a complete bystander. He hadn’t done anything wrong except be unfortunate.

Adding on the fact that Sadin was also here, far too many odds things occurred.

“He might still be alive. If you want me to comply with your demands then you should comply with mine. Keep him safe.”

“I can’t just-”

“Then I refuse to follow along with anything you say. From what I’ve seen, you must be pretty desperate for this. I just might even join the other side out of spite.”

Gaben subconsciously stopped talking. This was an extremely troublesome situation. “I’ll see what I can do.” He ran off quickly, finding one of his superiors to try and remedy this situation. Elias knew his value and that was problematic.

Elias took this time to check his condition. There was one thing that he didn’t mention back then. He didn’t have [Absolute Talent], he had something much more unbelievable.

[One Above All - Combination of Absolute Talent, Evolutionary Talent, Unparalleled Talent, Adonis Talent, …]

This went on and on for an unbelievably long period. After this was a series of explanations of what these actually were. Yet there was one thing that prevented Elias from completely running wild. The one thing that he didn’t lie about.

[Assimilation Requirements:

One Above All | Unlocked: Absolute Talent | Locked: Evolutionary Talent, …

Condition: Reach Experienced Mastery in 20 Skills. | Reward: Versatile Talent

Condition: …]

Another even longer list of [Conditions] that he needed to fulfill to receive the corresponding power. Elias saw this and didn’t completely assume that he would be strong, instead, his mind wandered off into thinking something else.

If I received something this absurd, what about the other two? I refuse to believe that it favored me above them. Sadin might’ve just glossed over it which is par for the course of his personality yet that Sammuel must have something just as terrifying. I have no concrete evidence but I have a feeling that this isn’t as simple as it seemed.

Faced with a world that was filled with wonderous magic, the thought of going back didn’t even strike Elias just as it didn’t bother Sadin. Polar opposites yet they were more alike than they seemed.

~~~

Sammuel had managed to get rid of all the statuses that negatively affected him. His heavy body turned light and nimble, similar to the speed of a goblin. His overall Combat Power might have lowered but his speed drastically increased.

The lowering gap between the goblins and him suddenly became static. For as far as his legs ran, it was the same distance as those goblins managed to run. As there were only 10 minutes left, it was safe to say that Sammuel managed to run along safely.

He was fully energized. His body didn’t morph yet his attributes changed.

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Vzella watched on as Sammuel narrowly escaped death. His gaze pierced through the distance between them. His fury slowly grew. Nothing worked in his favor this time around. With how much power he had, killing Sammuel was as easy as lowering his claws. One simple motion and that would kill Sammuel.

If Sammuel was going to live on, Vzella had no other choice but to break the [Contract]. It would render him severely injured but taking down one future threat was better than nothing. Vzella’s scales slowly shimmered, showing an ominous glint of malice.

Riccen noticed this changed quickly. Vzella tried to move as discreetly and as quickly as he could yet Riccen’s superhuman senses noticed this far too quickly.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Riccen’s greatsword, Blade of Anthanom, slashed down. There was no technique behind this strike except for overwhelming force.

Vzella’s draconic black and crimson body focused enough of its power. Color seemed to have been siphoned away from its body, taking away the grimness of its scales and creating a small condensed orb of electrifying power. As the orb grew, it condensed. This cycle repeated rapidly.

This orb was sent out. Aiming to take an insignificant human’s life.

[Annihilation Nova]

[Contract Broken | Permanently Lose Combat Power: ??? | Vzella: ???]

Vzella’s scales lose their luster as its gigantic body is struck by divine power. Riccen slashed through, trying to prevent this orb from attacking one of his men. Taking the brunt of the attack, Riccen felt his insides churn, very his core life force was dissipating by the millisecond. His pale armor cracked away into dust. Similarly losing its vibrant hue.

Yet Riccen wasn’t able to take it all at once.

The orb was severely weakened as it went after its target.

Sadin looked above, seeing such a menacing force weigh down on him. The target of this orb was Sadin. In Vzella’s eyes, Sadin was a greater threat than Sammuel would ever be. If he was going to take a mortal’s life with his overbearing power then it would be someone vital.

“No!” Riccen cried out. His body was breaking apart from the destructive power of Vzella’s attack.

[Teleport | Lose Combat Power: ??? | Vzella: ???]

Vzella the Great Dragon of Symphony had disappeared from the scene bearing grave injuries. Even if he didn’t manage to kill Sadin, at the very least, it forced Riccen to bear his power. Both of them had taken immense damage yet in Vzella’s eyes, it was favorable for him. His regenerative capabilities were greater than Riccen’s.

As for whether Sadin died, Vzella was greatly confident that he would die. No matter how great his talent was, there was no way to survive a head-on collision with his attack.

Sadin felt his very body slowly break apart from the intent alone. Yet he didn’t despair, with a mad look in his eyes, he faced Vzella’s attack, [Annihilation Nova].

There was no way such a mortal would be able to dodge something such a grand creature could send. Sadin was directly hit with such an overwhelming destructive ability.

[Assimilation Requirements:

Condition: Face the attack of a Great Being | Reward: Favor of a Great Being]

Sadin didn’t expect that such a thing could even exist. Instinctively, he had activated this ability.

[Favor of a Great Being - Great Spirit of Fire | Gain Combat Power: +??? | Sadin: ???]

A hand came out of nowhere. It was made out of burning cinder. The flames of this hand came out of the already-cooled magma around him. This very sensation of the fires of the world favoring Sadin felt mystical. This hand formed from mere embers yet the protective capabilities of this barrier were immense.

Sparks of fire heat up the air. Cold air turned blazing hot, in turn, causing the barrier formed to become even greater. An unexpected effect was that the nearby goblins turned ablaze. Their skins melted away as they couldn’t bear the sudden increase in temperature.

[Annihilation Nova] had struck Sadin’s barrier. He was completely satisfied with how strong this seemed. Sadin maniacally laughed as he expected this newly formed barrier to protect him. Unfortunately, there was only so much it could do.

Vzella’s attack passed through Sadin’s defenses like butter. With each hand that it went through, a fraction of its power disappeared alongside it. The broken hands turned into wisps of sparks, reinforcing the other hands that were still intact.

It had become a thrilling outcome whether Sadin would survive this attack. One hand broke apart, scattering in the wind, causing the temperature to blaze up even more, reinforcing the other fiery hands. Slowly, [Annihilation Nova] was starting to show signs of visibly slowing down.

Sadin no longer felt as relaxed as before, seeing that there were only a fraction of the hands remaining. This was the only source of protection Sadin had from such an overbearing power.

“Bring it on!”

Such a powerful cry from such a weak mortal.

It had come to the point where there was only a single hand between Sadin and Vzella’s [Annihilation Nova]. He stood firm. At the very end, with great severity, [Annihilation Nova] had broken through and hit Sadin.

After Riccen took the majority of the damage, Sadin only needed to bear a hundredth of the power. Through the [Favor of a Great Being - Great Spirit of Fire] he further lowered the destructive power behind it to a thousandth of the strength. Now, Sadin was bearing the power of an extremely weakened attack from a Great Dragon.

The results were as to be expected. Sadin was standing there. His skin had been burned to a crisp, he was missing an arm and his entire body was bearing the rampaging entire inside him. Yet at the end of the day, Sadin survived such an attack.

A mortal had managed to survive an attack from a Great Dragon. Though not for long. Riccen wasted no time, going after Sadin and putting his body in stasis through one of his skills. Sadin might be alive right now yet it was clear that he wouldn’t be for long. Riccen ignored the aftermath of the war for one simple reason. He had gotten what he wanted. Whatever happens right after no longer matters to him.

Sammuel had been running through the plains with countless goblins aiming for his life. Amidst this chaos, he still managed to see the aftermath of Vzella’s attack. The only problem here was that what was to come of him now?

Riccen and Gaben had left the scene with their own respective chosen, leaving Sammuel to fend for himself. This was an unjust outcome.

Sammuel couldn’t dwell on this any longer, he ran on, desperately hoping to find an end to all of this. His legs were starting to tire yet he was finally here.

An actual small encampment where a few people were discussing their current plans. With the [Contract] breaking apart, Sammuel shouted at the top of his lungs, “Help!”

The flurry of goblins right behind Sammuel kept their pursuit. A goal was still a goal.

“We don’t need to help him.” A burly man scoffed. His great axe was firmly strapped behind him. The aura of intimidation he gave off suppressed normal people.

“We’re still adventurers at heart, aren’t we?” A platinum-haired young man smiled. He seemed to be the leader of this small group. Unsheathing his sword, he ran up to Sammuel. His movements flowed from one motion to another, everything he did seemed to have been unrestrained yet followed along a stream.

[Flash | Gained Combat Power: +253 | Verim: 1253]

Within a blink of an eye, countless corpses fell down right behind Sammuel. He had fully seen just how feeble he was in comparison.

“Are you alright there? Looks like you’ve been through a lot, haha.” Verim reached his hand out for a handshake. Sammuel hadn’t expected that even such an unassuming person held so much power.

Sammuel looked at what kind of person Verim was.

[Name: Verim Censer

Card Quality: Gold

Star Quality: ???

Affinity Level: 19%

Combat Power: 1253]

From Sammuel’s perspective, he was a complete monster.