Chapter 30 : Snowy Graveyard II
"This cost me a lot, so from now on, you owe me two favors," Daniel said to Olivia while stroking Vorak's head.
"Thank you, I promise to repay you," Olivia said, bowing slightly to Daniel after checking her body and standing up.
She was sincerely and deeply grateful. If Daniel hadn't saved her, she would surely have died today.
"There's no need to thank me or repay anything. It was Vorak's blood essence that saved you—you owe him, not me," Daniel said, gesturing toward Vorak.
"Thank you," Olivia said as she bowed to Vorak as well. She wasn't foolish; she naturally understood the value of blood essence.
"Whenever you visit my home, I can ask my father to compensate for what he lost."
"Good. Now tell me, what happened here?" Daniel asked, glancing again at the corrupted beasts' corpses.
Olivia also glanced at the bodies before explaining the situation to him.
"I see," Daniel said after listening, nodding slightly.
It turned out this was where Olivia underwent her awakening and opened her spiritual sea.
After starting the grand trial, she intended to leave this area. But suddenly, the ground around her began to shake, and hundreds of corrupted beasts emerged from the canyon below, heading in a specific direction.
These beasts completely ignored her, but the problem was their sheer number. Many of them were enormous, and the smaller ones were crushed in the chaos.
Olivia had the misfortune of encountering one of the colossal corrupted beasts. Just a single blow from it had left her in her current state.
"Is it really one of those two species?" Daniel took a step forward and looked down into the canyon.
Judging by the scene, he was increasingly certain that the boss of this trial was indeed one of the two legendary types.
The issue was that if it were one of them, they had no chance—death was certain. Even if by some miracle they set a trap and, by an even greater miracle, the creature fell into it, survival was still impossible.
"What are you planning to do?" Olivia asked as she walked up beside him. Unconsciously, she had already begun to see Daniel as the leader.
"Nothing for now. We need to figure out what's scaring the corrupted beasts," Daniel said as he mounted Vorak.
"Come on."
Olivia hesitated for a moment but eventually climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist—a gesture that made her face flush red.
"Follow their trail," Daniel instructed Vorak, who began moving forward.
Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. The blazing sun gave way to the cold light of the moon.
They were still wandering through the snowy forest with no results. Every living creature in the forest had vanished—both the living and the dead were nowhere to be found.
"Does this forest ever end?" Olivia muttered, unable to suppress her complaints. She wasn't wrong, either.
For hours, they had been following the trail of the corrupted beasts, trying to reach the source or destination. Yet they still hadn't arrived.
She couldn't understand why it seemed like the forest stretched on endlessly.
"This is a miniature world—it's naturally vast," Daniel explained, glancing around. The silence in the forest was unsettling. It was far too quiet.
He couldn't fathom what kind of entity or force could cause this.
"My Lord," Vorak suddenly stopped, his body trembling with fear as he addressed Daniel.
"What is it?" Daniel frowned, noticing Vorak's unease.
"Do you see that mountain? The one with the black smoke rising from it?"
"Yeah?"
"That's the place. That's where all the corrupted beasts have gone," Vorak said, his voice shaking.
"Why are you so afraid?" Daniel couldn't comprehend the magnitude of Vorak's terror.
"I don't know, my Lord, but I'm certain there's something there far beyond my existence. Its life essence is on an entirely higher level than mine."
"Far beyond yours?" Daniel's frown deepened. Such a statement could only mean one thing: the source of this trial was an A-rank corrupted beast—a creature whose power rivaled that of the holders.
Although Daniel didn't want to admit it, all the evidence pointed in that direction.
"Girl, I don't think we'll make it out of this trial alive," Daniel said as he dismounted Vorak.
Olivia didn't respond, only letting out a sigh as she stared at the mountain. She, too, understood the implications of Vorak's words.
Just as a Wakened's life essence was on a higher plane than that of a mortal, a holder's life essence was on a higher plane than that of a Wakened.
And that was exactly what Vorak was referring to.
"I don't know why, but I don't feel much of anything," Olivia said with a faint laugh. "Maybe it's because I've already been to the brink of death and back. I've become numb to it."
"Maybe we feel that way now," Daniel said, not even sparing her a glance as he walked toward a tree and leaned against it.
"But now that I'm sure it's an A-rank corrupted beast, I can make a guess about what kind it is. And trust me, if it really is that one, you'll wish I hadn't saved you."
Olivia fell silent, her expression grim. Was it truly that terrifying?
Daniel closed his eyes. He needed to think—to find a way to win this trial.
Setting a trap? That wouldn't work. Such cheap tricks were useless against a corrupted beast of this level. Trapping such an entity would require celestial-grade artifacts.
A direct battle using his power, Vorak, and the remaining participants? They would all be dead in the first instant.
His mind, despite being a million times sharper than that of an ordinary human, was drawing a blank. There was simply no way.
'Why would such a creature need to summon all these beasts and even the dead?' Daniel couldn't understand. If it really was the beast he thought it was, then it shouldn't need to draw the dead to itself.
Wait. Maybe there was a possibility.
"Vorak, does the aura of this creature feel complete, or does it seem…imperfect?" Daniel suddenly opened his eyes.
"My Lord, now that you mention it, its presence feels incomplete. There's definitely some kind of flaw."
"Then maybe… just maybe… we have a way to survive this trial."