……

As Tinker was starting to panic due to what he was seeing, Adept Hands suddenly put her hand on his shoulder and said. “Don’t worry. It is nothing but an apparition. Aside from looking at us and what is going on here, he can do anything.”

Tinker frowned as he turned to the alchemist beside him. “That? An apparition? But how come the aura that it has is so dreadful that it can suffocate anyone just by staring at it?”

“It is because it is a higher entity than us. Looking at it can kill us due to its authority,” she added before pointing her chin at the growing tree at the altar. “Fortunately, we are being protected by the Tree of Life here.”

Hearing that, Tinker was finally able to heave a sigh of relief. He thought that they were going to fight such a powerful monster that they could not hope to defeat.

Then he suddenly asked when he realized something. “How are you able to know about that information? Did the young master tell you about it?”

Adept Hands shook her head. “That’s not it. I immediately contacted the young miss when I saw that demonic face in the sky. Then the ‘Bookkeeper’ contacted me and told me to show that face through a shared vision.”

“That is when she told me that it is nothing but an apparition of a higher entity,” she added as she gazed at the sky once again.

“The ‘Librarian’ of the firm? If it is her, then it is reliable information,” commented Tinker as he became reassured.

He then paused for a moment as he became confused before asking. “But why is that thing gazing at us? Or more specifically – why is it gazing at this kingdom?”

Adept Hands shrugged her shoulders as she also did not know the answer. “I don’t know. But the Bookkeeper says that it must be a dreadful premonition that is supposed to warn us about what is about to come.”

“Don’t tell me it is a new update? Is it a big one? But we just have such a major update recently, how can there be another one?” muttered Tinker in a low voice.

Adept Hands shrugged her shoulders for another time. “How can I know? I am also quite confused.”

She then paused before adding. “But I think the young master knows a thing or two. After all, he is the one leading the operation right now. Whatever he is doing on his side, I guess it is related to that thing in the sky.”

…

On another part of the Sacred Light Kingdom.

A couple of moments before the purification light swept through this place, Shin’s three Elemental Spirit Companions simultaneously opened their eyes.

They all sensed the incoming purification at the same time and quickly sprung into action.

They positioned themselves on three corners of the magic array that Solus had drawn on the ground while preparing themselves to activate it.

Shin, Diablo, and Leonard were asked to stand at the center of the altar that Astaroth had built earlier for this situation. When they saw what the three elementals were doing, they instantly realized what was going on.

“It is coming, kiddo. Prepare yourself and activate the token.”

Shin held the dimensional token in his hands and activated it as Hanzo instructed him.

The dimensional token floated from his palm and spun rapidly while releasing a purple light that illuminated the whole cave along with crimson and black runes engraved on the wall.

A few moments later, outside the mountain where they were located, the purifying light suddenly swept through the place before continuing to head forward.

But the evil formation that Paimon and the Pandemonium Descendants left behind immediately activated at that time.

Swoosh!

A powerful suction force was suddenly formed from the pit at the peak of the mountain and started to suck all the purification light greedily along with the dense life energy that it contained.

Shriek!

The Dragon Centipede that was coiling around the energy core tightened its clutches and clumped its sharp claws and legs on the core with more strength.

It also seemed to be excited about what was about to come. It could feel that it was about to evolve into a higher entity as it absorbed the life energy.

But before it could rejoice further, Solus immediately made her move. She closed her eyes and channeled her Eternal Flames into the formation that she had drawn earlier.

Swoosh!

The rune sequence drawn on the ground shone brightly before spreading in every direction. The runes that she had drawn earlier started to shine one after another along with the ones on the wall.

The runes shone in golden light and overshadowed the crimson and black runes that were underneath them.

Taking that as a signal, Hanzo took out his weapon stabbed it onto the ground, and channeled his Void Powers into it. His unique mana spread in every direction, following the patterns of the magic array.

It was the same for Astaroth as he took out his greatsword and stabbed it into the ground while channeling his earth and mental elemental mana. Earth rampant also appeared one after another in certain spots of the magic array, seemingly guiding the spreading mana that was coming from the previous two elementals.

Diablo and Leonard watched everything unfold from the top of the altar and could not help but be amazed. The former was already feeling this way as he watched how Shin’s elemental spirit companions worked earlier, but this was on another level. The latter, on the other hand, somewhat expected this to happen. He knew that Shin’s elemental spirits were different from his, but what he was seeing still gave him an idea of how he would utilize them in the future.

Not long after, the dimensional token floating in the air suddenly absorbed the life energy that the formation had snatched from the one that the Dragon Centipede was taking.

Shriek!

The Dragon Centipede released a deafening cry when it sensed that someone was robbing the life energy from it, but it could not do anything since it could not afford to leave the energy since its evolution would also fail once it left it.

Resonating with the magic array that Solus had set up, the dimensional token was immediately activated and released a powerful dimensional energy that spread in every direction and covered the entire cave.

Swoosh!

Within the next few seconds, Leonard and Diablo watched everything within the cave sucked by a dimensional tunnel that that token had summoned.

They closed their eyes due to the blinding light that it released before sensing that their bodies were being pulled toward the dimensional tunnel. They instinctively wanted to fight, but they quickly regained their composure and let the suction force pull their bodies.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

When they reopened their eyes, they found themselves standing in the middle of an unfamiliar place. They could sense the dense mana that was filling the air, which was making it a little hard to move. But they were able to quickly adjust themselves within a few seconds before sweeping their gazes at the surroundings.

They found Shin standing a couple of meters away from them while staring at the sky. The three elemental spirits could no longer be found since Shin had unsummoned them as he knew they exhausted quite a lot of energy from what they had done earlier.

When Leonard and Diablo cast their gazes toward the direction where Shin was looking, they found a Dragon Centipede still suspended in the air and coiling around the energy core.

The cave was nowhere to be found. It had already collapsed during the transfer, so the formation that Paimon and the Pandemonium Descendants had left on it also disappeared along with it.

The trio watched everything that happened next and closely observed the changes with the Dragon Centipede. 𝑖𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝘮

It no longer had the support of the formation, so its absorption of mana could no longer have supported its evolution. But it still stubbornly wanted to continue. It absorbed the remaining life energy that was left in the energy core until it could no longer take anything from it. Not even a single drop was left.

Crack! Crack!

That was when the three heard a series of cracking sounds coming from the body of the Dragon Centipede. When they looked closer at its exoskeleton, they noticed that its smooth surface was now filled with tiny cracks that were spreading at a rapid pace until it covered its entire body.

The gaps between the cracked exoskeleton released a black smoke that contained a dense demonic mana and an eerie aura that immediately affected the surroundings.

Along with it, they also saw that the claws and legs that it had seemed to be turning into a golden brown color that resembled the earth.

Then they watched broken pieces of scales fall onto the ground like a solid rain.

Shin, Leonard, and Diablo, who were watching closely simultaneously moved and spread in three different directions.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang!

Right after they left their previous spot, a black energy that resembled a whip suddenly landed and sent a strong aftershock that spread in every direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It did not stop in there as more and more black energies flew in different directions and continued to bombard the land.

The trio immediately got busy as they dodged every black energy that was whipping in their direction. They could sense the dense demonic mana containing those black energies and they understood that they could not afford to let them touch their bodies or the consequences would be dire.

This lasted for a couple of moments until the Dragon Centipede finished its evolution.

Bang!

It landed on the ground with its heavy body, sending another shockwave that swept through everything in every direction.

The trio, who were standing a couple of distances away from it, planted their feet on the ground and prevented themselves from being swept away.

A thick and tall cloud of smoke could be seen in front of them, hiding the monster’s appearance.

Seeing that, Leonard suddenly inhaled deeply before shouting with every ounce of his breath, sending a strong gust of wind that cleared the cloud of dust.

That was when they saw the new appearance of the Dragon Centipede – or to be more specific, it was its evolved form.

This new monster had a length that expanded up to hundreds of meters while it was filled with hundreds of legs that resembled earthen spears given their current appearance.

The head of the centipede had hundreds of eyes while the pair of antennae that it had moved like whips that seemingly sensed its surroundings.

They could also see that the legs that it had near its head were much larger and thicker than the ones attached to the rest of its body. They were much sharper and more like pinchers rather than calling them legs.

They were also a pair of smaller versions on each side of the mouth of the centipede. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth and a dark green liquid continuously dropped. When these liquids dropped on the ground, a hissing sound could be heard as smoke could be seen from the spot where they fell.

It was a highly corrosive venom that seemed to be able to melt anything.

Seeing this monster, Shin and the other two quickly used their respective ocular skill to inspect its details.

Diablo slightly frowned as he did not get much information, but Shin and Leonard, who were in the third tier of their respective class had gotten more detailed information.

—————————–

Monster Name: Grand Centipedeus (Incomplete Larva)

Title: Leader of the Bug Tribe Family

Rank Classification: World Class Arthropod Monster

Monster Type: Arthropod Monster, Demonic Monster

Life Rating: Bug Tribe (Mid-High Class Demon)

Level: 185 (Weakened due to the incomplete evolution)

Class: N

/A

Tier: 3 (Had fallen due to failing to meet certain conditions)

Health Points: 25,000,000,000

Skills:

– Physical Skills

1. Exoskeleton Hardening (Passive)

2. Thousand Blades (Passive)

3. Strong Slam

4. Sweep

5. Thousand Earth Spikes (Ultimate)

– Pison Skills

1. Corrosive Saliva (Passive)

2. Venomous Claws (Passive)

2. Spitting Venom

3. Exploding Venom

5. Venom Mist (Ultimate)

-Summoning Skills

1. Call of the Bug Tribe (Venom Centipede Family)

2. Shadow-Venom Tentacles

3. Venomous Aura

4. Thousand Mimicry

5. Venom Manifestation (Ultimate)

———————

The expression of the two immediately turned grave as they saw the set of skills that the monster had.

They both knew that this was not going to be an easy battle, especially when they only had three people on their side.

While they were lost in thought, a set of notifications from the system suddenly interrupted them.

*Ding*

System: A member of the Bug Tribe of the Underworld has appeared on the Lower Plane!

System: The connection of the ‘Lord of the Flies’ to this realm has become stronger!

System: The portal between this realm and the Bug Tribe can now be established.

…

𝘪𝑎.𝘤𝑜𝘮