Ryker breathed out even breaths. He had just broken through, so all of his wounds were perfectly healed. But now it seemed as though he had gone right back to step one.

There didn’t seem to be a single inch of his body that wasn’t injured, and blood leaked from him like a faucet. Even so, he was grinning such a fiendish grin that he seemed to be more devil than man.

He could imagine it all. He could practically hear their thoughts as though they were whispering them right in his ears.

He knew exactly how the Valorian Clan would react to his breakthrough. He knew what his father would think, what his uncles would scheme, what his cousins would piss from their mouths.

And for once, it didn’t enrage him. It fuelled him. He could feel that his time was coming soon.

Soon, 18… no, 19 years of suppression would explode first.

He would turn the Valorian Clan upside down if he had to. And whatever or whoever else came after could face his wrath just the same.

Before Ryker, the corpses of two beasts lay in broken piles of ice and fire.

“Calm down, Prometheus. These items must be processed properly. It’s not yet time for you to absorb them. First, we’ll bring you to the Ascension Realm. Once that happens, I’ll let you feast to your heart’s content.”

The chains that wrapped around Ryker’s body rattled before calming down.

This time, Ryker had really gone all out. But he also realized the limitation of the techniques he had relied on all this time.

Whether it was [Whip Like Shield] or even [Soul Ripple] and [Divined Step], they were all too limited.

They were just foundational versions of the true powerhouse techniques of the Valorian Clan and Ryker realized that while he was in battle, they were unable to bring out the full strength of his Dao. He felt that his Daos were actually being held back.

But Ryker didn’t mind. When he returned to the Valorian Clan, no one would be able to stop him from studying whatever he wanted.

And if they did…

He would have the strength to kick them out of his way.

“It’s time to go.”

Ryker took a deep breath.

He could already feel that his body was quickly healing, and that was without using his Time Type Spirit Energy.

It was quite fantastical.

Not only was it his foundation as an Ascension Realm expert, but far more so than his Dao.

It seemed that the Dao made one a part of the world. This essentially meant that when Daos reached a certain level, absorbing like-Daos could actually add to your strength.

This was a huge part of why Ryker was able to win as well. Because the Fire and Water Type Spirit Energy was so dense here, Ryker could rely on his Dao of Fire and Water to replenish himself and even heal his wounds.

‘Daos are truly magical…’

Ryker, of course, didn’t know that this wasn’t possible for everyone. Relying on a Dao to do something like heal yourself, at least when it wasn’t a Dao specifically related to vitality, was extremely difficult.

But he did so as though it came to him as easily as breathing.

…

Ryker rushed up the volcano and burst out.

He unleashed a roar that covered the wilderness.

He feared nothing and had no need to fear anything in this world any longer. There was no one worthy of stopping his footsteps.

With a BOOM! he landed on the ground and dug up the prison. A moment later, he released Ravenna.

Ravenna had been stuck inside the prison for a long while. She had even begun to worry that Ryker had lied to her.

But when she was suddenly released along with her beast, she was stunned.

Still, she recovered quickly, looking toward Ryker with a quirked eyebrow. She looked him up and down.

“Why are you naked?”

She wanted to ask about the odd, almost energy-like purple chains wrapped around his arm, but she felt that that would probably be less appropriate.

“Why don’t you follow me to bed for a night and find out?” Ryker asked with a grin.

“Do you realize that I’ve recovered?” Ravenna asked.

Ryker was gone for too long. The Divined Chains he left on her had been slowly whittled away and then shattered by her.

The level of strength she controlled couldn’t be compared to Nyx and the others of her Shadow Clan. There was simply no way that chains formed from a 9th Enlightenment Realm Ryker could possibly keep her under control for so long.

Ryker had, indeed, been gone for longer than he expected. His original intention was only to melt the ore. He didn’t also expect to gain so much and stay for so long.

But since he had released Ravenna… should he care?

Ryker smiled. “What do you mean by that?”

Ravenna suddenly attacked, but her fist was aimed right for Ryker’s crotch with every intention of shattering his manhood.

A Silver Mirror flickered into existence behind Ryker, and a Domain of silver danced to life. Runes that reflected the Dao of Time bloomed like gorgeous silver roses.

Ryker hadn’t even used the Silver Mirror during his battle with the two foxes. It was too fragile and susceptible to being damaged for a battle of such a scale.

He had only just gotten it to not be useless. He wouldn’t risk it when he didn’t need to.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Now that he had laid its foundation, he would strengthen it and then increase its defenses. This would be a far simpler task than the road he had walked until now.

But against Ravenna, he didn’t feel like he was risking it at all because he no longer took her very seriously.

So why not take it for a spin?

Ravenna found her body slowing to a crawl, and suddenly crossing the single meter that separated them felt like crossing a hundred. No matter how she circulated her Spirit Energy, she couldn’t shrug off this feeling at all.

Of course, someone of her caliber could still cross a hundred meters with exceptional speed, so her fist was still far faster than any normal mortal could manage.

But it wasn’t fast enough.

Ryker calmly side stepped her attack and caught her wrist. When the Domain vanished, Ravenna’s speed suddenly accelerated, and she stumbled forward.

However, Ryker’s grip on her wrist remained firm.

“Is this necessary?” Ryker asked with a chuckle.

The shock in Ravenna’s heart was palpable.

Honestly, she had been holding in a bundle of frustration for a long time, and she was truly getting tired of Ryker and his flirting. She didn’t actually plan to castrate him, but only wanted to scare him a bit.

What she didn’t expect was for this to happen.

“QI! QI! QI!”

Beatrice the butterfly flapped wildly, about to attack, but Ryker just pointed a finger at the beast and Prometheus surged forward, wrapping around it. His Divined Chains ran through Prometheus as a conduit and the Spirit Beast was frozen in place, unable to do anything.

“Don’t hurt her! I’ll do whatever you want!”

Ravenna tried to start undressing herself.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Ryker stopped her. “What the hell are you doing?”

Seeing the look in Ryker’s eyes, Ravenna actually felt a bit embarrassed, but she composed herself well.

“Don’t play the role of gentleman now. What do I have to do for you to let me and Beatrice go?”

Ryker chuckled and looked her up and down.

Ravenna had all the charm of a mature, middle-aged woman. While she had faint lines of age around her eyes, her face was still delicate and gorgeous.

Her skin was sickly pale, which took away from that a bit. But her bright violet eyes and lustrous hair more than made up for it.

What was even more enticing was her figure. She hid it well, beneath layers of robes and a modest mindset, but Ryker was too experienced to be fooled.

Her hips were wide, and her bosom, while not as large as Patience’s, was still full.

Even so, it didn’t matter.

He had said it to Sofia once before, and he would proudly say so now.

He had no interest in women who felt forced to enter his bed. Where was the fun in that?

“I don’t want your body this way, beauty. I’d much rather you climb into my bed of your own accord.”

Ravenna’s lip twitched.

“You think too highly of yourself. Do you think I haven’t heard these things before?”

Ryker’s head tilted to the side, and he looked at this woman deeply. He had sensed weird emotions coming from her for a long time, but what was odd was that she shouldn’t have such emotions for him.

That meant that she was remembering someone else. But it didn’t seem to be a lover of some kind, not that he would care one way or another. He didn’t even know this woman. He was just casually having some fun because he was in a good mood.

“What do you feel so guilty about?” Ryker suddenly asked.

Ravenna was taken aback, but then her gaze became frightening cold.

“Don’t speak nonsense.”

She shook her arm and ripped herself free of Ryker’s grasp.

Ryker shrugged. “I wouldn’t normally care very much, but I plan to leave this place and I don’t have the time to waste to clean everything up.

“I am entirely uninteresting in the Enlightened Empire or your struggles. I also have no interest in controlling this place.

“But I will have to leave my women here for the time being, and it’s better that they’re under the protection of someone strong.

“The best candidate is you, though you’re still a bit weak right now. It’s probably related to the pale complexion you’re sporting. You’ve pushed yourself very hard to make it this far, but you’ve definitely harmed yourself in several unexpected ways. Your health is probably not very good.

“That aside, I need to know more about you if I’m going to let you take on this task. So let me ask you again.

“What are you feeling so guilty about?”

Although Ryker said he was asking, his teasing smile and vanished, and he loomed over her.

Ravenna seemed to realize the sheer size difference between them only now, maybe because she was so used to size, meaning next to nothing before her strength.

Staring straight forward, she could only look right at his chest.

Taking a deep breath, she actually broke down as tears pooled from her eyes.

Ryker was stunned, but he didn’t even get to say anything as Ravenna began to vent something she had had on her chest for a long while.

**

Ryker walked through the wilderness, his breath even and his eyes bright. It took everything in him not to grin ear to ear.

At the moment, he looked no different from a prince. Robes of sky blue, silver and gold wrapped around him. His hair was perfectly pressed and lay loosely around his shoulders, and his blue eyes seemed to shimmer with their own light.

He had been saving these robes for his return to the Valorian Clan.

When he did so, it wouldn’t be as a beggar, nor on his last legs.

He would do so as a mighty man and retake his place as the rightful best of his generation.

No one would encroach on his light.

As he walked, he seemed to cover a great amount of distance despite his slow pace. From time to time, he would think of Ravenna’s story and slowly shake his head.

It turned out that the reason for Ravenna’s guilt was entirely related to the Divine Dagger she had in her possession.

To his surprise, this dagger came not from a coincidental encounter, but rather from Patience’s dead brother. It was also thanks to the dagger that she was able to have her achievements.

And it also turned out that the dagger was also the reason for her injuries.

As expected, it was impossible to use the dagger to progress into infinity.

Ryker chuckled. “She’s really too innocent.”

One would think with all the waterworks that Ravenna had personally killed Patience’s brother or something. But in reality, all she had done was reject him.

It turned out that Patience’s brother was quite in love with her, which was a bit amusing in Ryker’s opinion.

The Shadow Clan was suppressing the Federation at the time, and Ravenna had already become an Ascension Realm expert. How he had managed to fall for literally the worst woman for him was beyond Ryker’s understanding.

In the end, Ravenna blamed herself because he died after a particularly harsh rejection, one where she stripped him of all his belongings and kicked him out of her territory.

She had been planning to return his items later, but that was when he ended up dying.

Ryker shook his head as he came to a stop at the edge of the valley.

He took a breath and looked down.

In truth, if he had the time to spare, it would be smarter to clear this Iteration of all its issues. Unfortunately, he was just one man, and he had too few Contracts and they were still a bit too weak.

If he had a full slate of nine beasts, or if Prometheus, the Silver Mirror and Phoenix were in the Ascension Realm, he would do it in one fell swoop.

But he had neither.

He didn’t feel like there was anything in this world that could threaten him any longer. But there were simply too many enemies here. Even a lion could fall to enough ants.

While using military tactics and slowly taking things over step by step was possible…

Did he have the time for this?

‘Six months… six months…’

Ryker looked right at the beautiful white fox below. His gaze was calm.

Mariah stared back at Ryker, but her heart was in turmoil. How long had it been since she last saw this human? How had he grown so powerful so quickly?

“Still trapped here, huh? Long time, no see.”

Ryker smiled.

Mariah didn’t respond.

“I know you can speak now, you know? Mariah, was it?”

Mariah’s pupils constricted. “You…”

“Do you want me to get you out?” Ryker asked.

Mariah's maw opened, but she didn’t know how to respond. She stayed silent for a long while and then shook her head no.

“You fear that man?”

“… Leaving this place will lead to a calamity. I cannot…”

“You fear those jailers, then?”

“You—! How?!”

Ryker chuckled. “I assume you fear them because of your Spiritual Resonance, correct? You should be one of the few, if not the only, capable of becoming a Spirit Beast as a human… This Spiritual Resonance is truly powerful. More powerful than the two of mine.”

“… How do you know all of this?”

Ryker flipped a palm, and the prison appeared.

At this point, Mariah’s mind went blank.

“… Just who are you?”

Ryker grinned. “Me? I’m Ryker Valorian.

“Tell you what. The problem of these jailers and your Iteration, I will handle them for you. I just want you to protect my women while I’m gone. Do that for me and I can give you the world.”

The confidence in Ryker’s words boomed forth.

He would never have to lower his head again in his life.

Not to the Valorian Clan.

Not to the Mystery Master Alliance.

Not to these jailers of another world.

He would be an Emperor of all things.

**

Planet Valorian was in a quiet, peaceful state… almost too peaceful.

But that was when a BOOM! echoed across the skies.

A roar that covered the world echoed along with it.