The Transcendent Godslayer

The moment Kallen felt a little semblance of clarity, he popped a pill into his mouth. Looking into the pill bottle, he had only about seven of them left, before he would have to go back to waiting for his regeneration trait to patch him up.

It tasted bitter and strong, like herbs—and Kallen was only now truly acknowledging its taste for the first time. Being deprived of his senses, even though for only a short while, made him appreciate them all the more.

As his body began to mend, the blisters from heat on his skin burst and peeled away, revealing healthier, fresh skin beneath.

The smell of damp earth and lush grasses was the first to hit him, drifting into his nose just before his eyes fully regained focus.

Kallen took in his surroundings, a vivid scenery of natural life unfolding before him.

He stood upon a plane of fresh, green grass, and about ten steps ahead, the first line of towering trees marked the entrance to a vast forest, standing tall and mighty like ancient sentinels.

The sun above was warm and golden, casting a rich light across the landscape. Beneath its glow, his complexion gleamed like burnished gold.

Unlike Ares, whose atmosphere made the sun appear blue, this realm's sky gave the sun its golden hue, thus altering even the color of his skin.

He had however, anticipated this. From what he'd learned, these rifts led to, or had self-contained biomes in them, each housing their own ecosystems, rules, and civilizations... Actual civilizations.

Each one had its own race, that came from nowhere. In essence, they were like miniature worlds unto themselves.

Before the storm came, Kallen had considered staying the night in a settlement. But due to his peculiar circumstances, that wasn't an option.

Still, he managed to extract some valuable information, by kidnapping and interrogating a young orc who served as a guard for a small newly formed "tribe".

At the center of their compound, there was a rift, just like this one, which they entered and came out from in alternative waves. Something they called "raids".

Their overall level had been weak, with the strongest among them barely scratching the surface of the Second Ascension, and even then, at a low level. So, Kallen couldn't be bothered to care about them.

According to the young orc, these rifts limited entry based on Ascension level. The one in their settlement, for example, gave off the pressure of a First Ascension being. Only those at said Ascension or lower could pass through. That was how Kallen knew Zephyrus couldn't follow him here.

On his journey, he'd passed this particular rift, and it was due to his close proximity to it, that the bull had first attacked him. Before he threw the bull off his trail, he had genuinely considered entering it. But it wasn't ideal. It was very dangerous.

This one radiated the pressure of a Second Ascension realm. That meant any enemy inside would be at that stage, with the cap being the peak of Second Ascension.

Although Kallen had previously faced Yula and Menelaus, both Second Ascension ascendants... they were incredibly weak examples. Not only were they mediocre in skill and talent, but they had also barely passed level 50, at most, somewhere in the early 60s.

To Ascend, one needed to: reach level 25 from 0 and accept their First Class for First Ascension. Then reach level 50+ where they would receive their Second class, 100+ for Third, 200+ for Fourth, and so it went on.

If Kallen encountered a mid-Second Ascension opponent, say level 70 or even late 60s to early 80s... he wasn't confident in a 30 percent chance of victory. If the enemy was level 85 to 90, he would almost certainly lose. Against anything higher? He would be loosing his life most definitely.

Still, he remained calm. Rising slowly from the damp earth, he felt the cool, moist soil slide between his slender fingers.

Once on his feet, he turned toward the forest and began walking, toward the domain of beasts and a race of people strong enough to kill him.

Why would he willingly walk into such danger, even with the possibility of death looming? That was because he would be damned if he ever let himself be enslaved again.

Just like Zephyrus feared… he would rather die. But Kallen had no intention of dying. Quite the contrary, he planned on dominating this rift, and using it to grow as strong as possible.

His eyes darkened to a deeper, bloodier crimson, and his killing intent billowed out in waves, pulsing through the air as Blood Will amplified its intensity.

Without hesitation, without fear, without care for whatever awaited him, he stepped into the sea of trees.

Aeneas' short sword made its way to his left hand, and a familiar bladed chain made its way to his right.

The bladed ends of the chain dragged against the floor, making slithering sounds as they scraped against the lush earth, announcing his presence loudly to every inhabitant within... If his overwhelming killing intent, was not already a beacon enough.

---

Not long after Kallen vanished into the trees, Zephyrus' underlings began to emerge—each one dropping to the ground in different fashions as they experienced the same crippling vertigo Kallen had endured.

The archer was the last to arrive.

Like the others, she collapsed, the violent disorientation and wave of nausea overwhelming the already fragile control she had over herself, courtsey of Zephyrus.

A lewd expression twisted across her face as she convulsed on the ground, surrendering as she let out the gushing discharge she had been trying to restrain.

Even after the others managed to recover, she remained sprawled shamelessly in the dirt, gasping for air, as she reeled from the dual onslaught her body had just endured.

When she finally rose to her feet, she looked a complete mess, in both the literal and feminine sense. Soil clung to her damp dress, and her release, let out pheromones that hung in the air like a drug, stirring something primal in those around her.

Both male and female alike, turned to her with the hunger of beasts in heat. She met their stares with indifference. In truth, it was better this way.

Like Zephyrus, she specialized in control, though her methods were different.

'It seems we won't need to waste time hunting him down,' she mused with a faint smile, as she turned her gaze toward the forest.

She could hear the sound of beast roars from within the forest, alongside a suffocating killing intent in the air.