The sky above the bloody Mountain Range twisted violently.

The air was scorching and suffocating, so hot that even breathing had become difficult.

Daniel and Drael were flying in silence. They avoided going any higher than a certain point, especially near those crimson-colored peaks.

Even while flying, both of them felt it deep inside: they shouldn't get close to those bloody summits.

So they stayed below a certain altitude, choosing caution over curiosity.

A heavy silence lingered between them. It wasn't that they didn't want to talk, they just didn't know what to talk about, especially after last night when Drael's true identity had been revealed.

"Are you really from that kingdom you mentioned?" Daniel suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"You think I lied?"

"No. I'm sure you did."

Drael glanced at him, speechless for a moment.

This was the first time he had met someone so annoyingly straightforward.

In truth, he wasn't from that kingdom at all.

He controlled that kingdom.

But before he could answer—

The air around them grew heavy, as if the sky itself was about to collapse.

Drael shivered involuntarily.

"You feel that?"

Daniel turned his gaze eastward, narrowing his eyes.

The scent of death was approaching—from far away.

Something was coming. Not one thing, but hundreds—blending within the clouds.

Before they could react, the air split apart with the silent roar of wings.

From the fog, bloodbirds emerged—monstrous creatures with skeletal wings covered in fleshy membranes dripping with boiling blood.

Their eyes were blind, yet their entire bodies could sense the warmth of life.

When they screamed, it sounded like the cries of hundreds of dying victims echoing all at once.

Without wasting time, Daniel summoned his sword.

Its blade shimmered with the color of death.

Drael tried to gain altitude, but the first wave of the attack hit immediately.

Dozens of flying beasts charged from every direction.

Daniel dove down to pass between them, but Drael wasn't fast enough.

One of the monsters' wings slammed into his leg, throwing him off balance.

"Drael." Daniel gave him a quick glance, but seeing that he would survive even if he fell, he didn't bother trying to save him.

He had more important things to deal with.

In the next moment, he was alone in the sky—surrounded by hundreds of winged creatures circling him like vultures.

"Alright… now that he's gone, I can devour you all in peace."

Daniel lifted his sword and spoke calmly.

With a single motion, the sword's aura expanded.

Lines of black and white light rippled outward from the blade.

The bloodbirds shrieked and dove at him from all sides.

Daniel charged straight into them without hesitation.

His first swing cut through the air—

A wave of death energy burst from his blade, slicing through three monsters at once.

Before their pieces could even fall, their bodies dissolved into mist midair.

Then came the second strike.

He spun the sword in a half-circle, and the Law of Death rippled through the sky.

Each attack absorbed the death energy of the fallen, empowering the next strike even more.

The birds fell one after another, their wings melting in the flames of death until nothing remained.

But their numbers didn't seem to decrease.

The buzzing of their wings filled the air like a maddening symphony.

Daniel, expressionless, kept swinging his sword—each movement precise, cold, and fluid, like an artist painting in blood.

"Why the hell are there so many of them?" he muttered, but didn't stop.

They were weak individually, but there were too many.

One mistake could easily lead to serious injury.

Suddenly, dozens of them attacked from behind.

He raised his sword again, letting the energy of death surge through it.

The stench of death filled the entire space.

Death's aura erupted from his body like a silent supernova.

In an instant, dozens of monsters within tens of meters disintegrated into ash.

The wind carried their remains away.

But it wasn't over yet.

From the clouds above, five gigantic beasts appeared—winged creatures wrapped in pulsating veins of blood.

They were the rulers of this sky.

Their sizes were colossal—each one easily a thousand times larger than the smaller birds.

Their wings alone were enough to darken the heavens.

One of them screeched, releasing a sonic wave of blood and wind that shook the mountains below.

Daniel lifted his sword toward the sky.

Its glow turned silver, and streaks of death energy swirled around him.

His final strike fell—quiet, calm, and absolute.

The sound of impact was like time itself shattering.

For a brief instant, the entire sky flashed white—

Then silence.

When the fog cleared, hundreds of corpses were falling from above.

Feathers of blood floated through the air as Daniel hovered motionless among them.

"It's over."

He lowered his sword and exhaled.

Without wasting a moment, he activated Everlasting Physique and devoured all the fallen bodies.

[ Your physical power has increased. ]

[ Your physical power has increased. ]

[ Your physical power has increased significantly. ]

Below, among the cracks of the rocky cliffs, Drael sat on a jagged boulder, panting heavily.

His clothes were torn and bloodied.

All around him, shadows were moving—monsters made of flesh and stone, with dried veins protruding like fangs.

Drael let out a hollow laugh of despair.

"You've got to be kidding me… After that fall, now this?"

He knew he didn't stand a chance.

Three monsters lunged through the mist toward him.

He shouted in pain, driving his sword into the first one's body, but the second creature grabbed his arm and threw him into another rock.

He crashed to the ground, his chest burning with pain.

"Damn it, heavens! Why don't I have any combat power?! Is this really where I die?!"

Drael roared in frustration.

The third monster opened its mouth, rows of wet fangs gleaming in the dark, the stench of decay flooding the air.

Drael shut his eyes tightly—

But then, from behind him, a calm, sharp, familiar voice echoed.

"Drael… it's not time for you to die yet."

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