The divine beast opened its mouth and released a long, shrill neigh. A surge of strange mana filled the chamber, shimring like translucent threads of energy.
Then, the light ford shapes, two translucent versions of itself, identical in form but made entirely of pure elental energy.
Mark's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, co on, now you can clone yourself too?"
The two energy clones didn't hesitate. They tore through the air, unaffected by the crushing gravitational pressure, and lunged straight at Mark with icy ferocity.
"Shit," Mark spat. He didn't have ti to think. His hands flew into position, activating a skill. "Lightning clones, go!"
Two crackling figures of blue lightning burst from his body and sprinted forward, looking exactly the sa as himself too. They collided with the beast's translucent clones mid-air.
And just when they collided, Mark mumbled, "Explode."
And in an instant, his two lightning clones flashed and transford into condensed lightning energy, before exploding into a blast
The blast that followed was like a miniature supernova.
The entire chamber shook. The shockwave expanded outward with enough force to distort the walls themselves. Mark was caught at the edge of the detonation, while the Blizzard Pegasus took the brunt of the reflected explosion.
Mark unfurled his icy wings, just in ti. They expanded outward, encasing him to act as a shield. The blast slamd into him, but the wings held, absorbing most of the impact. Even then, Mark's feet were pushed backward along the floor, and his arms trembled from the vibration.
Across the chamber, the Pegasus staggered. The divine beast's breath ca out cold and ragged as the explosion had burned away half its ethereal mane and cracked one of its icy armor plates.
But its eyes?
They were still sharp.
Still proud.
Still burning with the will to fight.
Mark lowered his wings slowly, breathing heavily. "Damn… that was too close."
The monster lifted its head, exhaling frost. "You… continue to surprise , human."
Mark pushed himself off the cracked wall and steadied his breath. His entire body ached, and even his regenerative physique felt sluggish after the brutal exchange.
Across the chamber, the Blizzard Pegasus shook the lingering sparks of lightning and ice from its ethereal mane.
She rose slowly, its hooves carving deep prints into the stone floor. Though she bled divine energy from several wounds, she still stared at Mark with a frightening resolve, as if refusing to accept defeat even while inching toward collapse.
Then its opened its mouth opened its mouth once more, gathering an enormous amount of energy. The swirling frostlight inside its throat ford a concentrated beam, one capable of freezing the very laws of nature.
Mark clenched his teeth. He didn't have the strength left to block another one. He had no choice.
He dismissed the Gravity Do.
The oppressive pressure vanished instantly, and with it, Frost's movents regained sharpness. Mark felt ether pulsing back into his body at a rapid pace, recovering the lost reserves. He stared at the invisible counter that only he could sense. Seventy-four percent… seventy-nine… eighty-three…
He needed at least ninety for the antimatter beam, if he had to go for a sure kill. But the Pegasus wasn't going to give him ti.
At eighty-six percent, the divine beast fired with the blinding beam of frost that shot forward like a celestial cannon. The floor beneath it froze and shattered instantly.
"F**k." Mark's pupils contracted. With no hesitation, he invoked Short Teleportation. His body flickered, vanishing from the beam's direct path and reappearing above its head with a sharp snap of displaced air.
The Pegasus jerked its head upward in shock as Mark had whispered the command.
"Activate… Antimatter Beam."
In the next instant, without needing any casting ti, a blinding lance of annihilation erupted from his palm.
There was no sound, only a violent, devouring burst as space folded and ruptured around the impact.
At point-blank range, the antimatter beam consud everything. The pegasus scread as the blast tore through its divine body, and the floor beneath it detonated into dust. The chamber collapsed in a thunderous implosion as antimatter ate through stone, ice, and mana alike.
Then ti froze.
Quite literally, as a spell was activated on the floor.
The shattered walls stopped mid-collapse.
The dust particles hung suspended.
The cracks in space halted like paused ripples. The trial dinsion's laws reasserted themselves and began rebuilding the chamber, rewinding destruction piece by piece, restoring pillars, sealing ruptures, and resetting the terrain until the arena stood whole again.
When ti resud its flow, only two figures lay on the remade floor, one was near death, and other… well… in the state of a corpse
*Ding!
[You died.]
Mark's body didn't move for several seconds.
Then...
[Phoenix Bloodline Trait Activated: Instant Resurrection]
[Death Count: 3]
[Remaining Lives: 6]
[Prival Bloodline Detected. No side effects imposed]
A faint glow pulsed from his heart. His shattered bones realigned. His torn flesh rewove itself. A burst of heat washed over him as he drew a sharp breath and opened his eyes with a pained groan.
"Ugh… damn… that was more painful than before… I guess it's because the last two tis I died… I didn't willingly die."
Seeing the notifications still hovering in the corner of his vision, Mark let out a long exhale. He slowly sat up, pressing his palm to the floor. His vision cleared, and he turned his head.
The beast lay several ters away.
The mighty Blizzard Pegasus, son of the Blizzard Pegasus Queen, was barely breathing. Divine energy flickered around its body, but the antimatter blast had inflicted wounds its natural regeneration couldn't nd. Entire portions of its icy coat were gone. Its wings trembled. It released low, broken groans that were equal parts pain and stubborn defiance.
Mark approached slowly, his footsteps echoing in the quiet chamber.
"Hey…" he said, a tired sigh escaping him as he stared down at the monster. "You're one tough beast, aren't you?"
The beast raised its head by a tiny margin. Its eyes were half-open, filled with fatigue yet burning with pride. When Mark knelt beside it, it exhaled a soft, struggling breath.
"You lost," Mark said gently. "It was a fair fight."
The divine beast released a faint groan, weak but clear enough.
Ark interpreted imdiately.
[Translation: "You won."]
Mark blinked and let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I see… so you accept it."
He stared at the majestic yet wounded creature. In his head, there were two ideas earlier. One, to kill it. Two, to ta it.
Since it accepted defeat, Mark reached for the Taming Skill as he asked, "Will you follow for the rest of your life?"
[Taming Skill, Activated.]
A golden rope of divine law materialized between his hands, glowing with a brilliance that reflected in its weary eyes. The divine beast didn't resist. Instead, the beast closed its eyes as though acknowledging the new bond… or simply too exhausted to fight anymore.
The rope wrapped around its body and dissolved into shimring dust.
The system responded imdiately.
[ Taming Successful ]
[ Monster Companion Acquired]
Mark let out a tired smile and patted its head.
"From now on… you're with ."
Mark felt the new connection settle into his soul like a soft pulse, steady, vibrant, and unmistakably alive. Its presence was now knitted into him through the soul contract, and Ark confird it calmly inside his mind.
[ Monster companion bond established. Blizzard Pegasus is now linked to Master's soul. ]
Mark let out a long exhale and gently stroked its head, still in beast form, feeling the icy mane ripple under his palm. "Thank you," he murmured. "Rest for a bit. let recover so energy and heal you."
anwhile, the holographic screen flared back to life with a cold blue glow: Floor 9 Cleared. Proceed to Floor 10.
Mark didn't get up imdiately. He sat cross-legged and waited for his ether to recover to a little over half. Only after Ark notified him did he reach inward and activate the next skill.
[Elixir of Vitality, Activate.]
As he unleashed the skill, a transparent glass flask materialized in his hand, swirling with a thick golden oil that radiated life energy.
Mark didn't waste ti; he uncorked it and poured it directly over Frost's wounds. The liquid spread like warm sunlight, filling every injury and knitting divine flesh back together. Within seconds, the Pegasus's breathing steadied, and the divine glow around it thickened.
"Much better," Mark smiled and stroked its mane again.
As if responding to him, the beast's body suddenly glowed.
Mark blinked as the divine light grew, expanding and reshaping, and then, with a soft hum, it vanished.
Standing in front of him was a tall man who looked human.
Reviews
All reviews (0)