63 We Will Not Wait for Death! (1/2)

Refining a totem required a complete skeleton. Therefore, Konrad skinned the Stolas Beast of its useless parts and carved the ritual circles as instructed by the Flame Mark before placing the skeleton at the center.

He then powered the ritual circles with his demonic energy, causing the skeleton to shrink until it could fit within a palm while eldritch glyphs rose and embedded themselves within it.

The ritual carried on for some time. Green light shone from the miniature skeleton's empty eye sockets, and finally, the ritual came to an end.

When conducted by the barbarian tribes, such rituals required blood sacrifices. However, thanks to his demonic energy, Konrad didn't need to resort to such means.

He then erased all traces of the ritual and took the Stolas Beast Totem within his palm.

Not everyone could possess more than one physique. The number of physiques one could bear was directly linked to the bloodline's level and might.

As a Pureblooded Incubus, Konrad's limit was three. When he increased his bloodline level to Dream-Weaver, he could unlock another slot. He sat cross-legged, placed the totem against his chest, and absorbed it within. His eyes shone with violet light while the refining process began.

Just like with the Anzu Beast Totem, he entered a trance-like state during which he seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

A green stream coursed through his veins, transforming his insides to accommodate the Stolas Beast's power. By the time the refining process ended, the poison attribute was added to his list. Be it sight, smell or hearing, his sensory abilities drastically improved and he obtained formidable resistance against poisons beneath the Transcendent Rank.

However, just like with the Anzu Beast Physique, his cultivation wasn't enough to fully control his new abilities.

He stood up and resumed hunting. The Monstrous Beasts in the surroundings no longer fit his appetite. Therefore, he headed deeper into the third level to challenge mid-level Monstrous Beasts. By the end of the first day, his kill count was twelve low-level Monstrous Beasts and eight mid-level Monstrous Beasts. As for high-level Monstrous Beasts, he avoided them.

Although demonic beasts beneath the Accursed Rank couldn't harm him thanks to his Transcendent Rank Physiques, destroying high-level Monstrous Beasts without Man-Breaker or a fourth circle spell was a nigh impossible task.

Worse, assuming he did manage to bring them down, bringing such trophies to the outside world would do him more harm than good. How was he supposed to explain his ability to slay such creatures with his current cultivation level?

Questions would rise, and investigations would follow. Nothing good would come out of it. As the first day came to an end, Konrad went down to the second level to check the situation.

There were hundreds of Voracious and Superior Beasts within the third level and thousands of Lesser and Intermediate Beasts within the first. Exterminating them all within three days using one-hundred-eight contestants who mostly were at the Grand Knight Rank was no mean feat.

To speak bluntly, it was impossible.

Upon realizing what they were dealing with, those who became aware of the seemingly endless number of demonic beasts quickly sent words to the higher levels. However, their worries were neglected by the stronger teams eager to accumulate points.

This all changed when the Stolas Beast's appearance within the third level forced everyone to return to the lower levels.

They were now all desperately seeking and slaughtering the demonic beasts en masse.

Feeling the extermination cloud looming over their heads, driven by their higher intelligence and stronger survival instinct, the Superior Beasts of the second level banded together in packs and went down to the first level to meet the foreign oppressors.

Beasts of various races lined up within the first level under the leadership of the Superior Beasts for a brutal counterattack.

At the beginning of the second day, the roars of the beast legion pierced the sky, alarming all contestants.

”What the hell is going on?”

”Why is the earth trembling?”

Dawn was barely announcing itself when confusion began spreading within the contestants.

Indeed, as the beasts gathered, the earth trembled, and the sky darkened, bloated by incoming flying beasts.

It was thanks to those winged creatures that the contestants realized the avalanche of problems coming their way.

And witnessing the scene, even Konrad had to take the situation seriously. He activated his Origin Sight to scan the whole beast army from a distance. What he saw almost made him panic.

”This can quickly turn into a carnage.”

Around three hundred Superior Beasts, five hundred Voracious Beasts, two thousand Intermediate Beasts, and five thousand Lesser Beasts stood together.

Originally, due to the limited range of his Origin Sight, Konrad couldn't get an accurate estimation of the three levels' population.

After all, each level stretched across dozens of square miles and the beasts were scattered with the strongest occupying larger territories.

But now that they all banded together under the leadership of the strongest Superior Beasts, their might became evident. If a battle really broke out, the only people facing extermination were the Holy Flame Empire's nobles.

The cloud of almost one thousand winged beasts alarmed all of them. No matter where they stood, they could clearly witness the scene.

The demonic beasts were not willing to sit and wait for death. Thus, now the hunters became the preys.