Daniel and Drael took flight and quickly ascended. To make sure no flying monsters followed them and to stop the rest from climbing the mountain, he summoned his Fallen.

More than a hundred of them appeared in the sky before him and bowed. He ordered them to go after the monsters and slaughter every last one of them.

The Fallen nodded without wasting time and charged toward the horde.

"My god! What the hell are those things?" Drael asked, shocked and curious, clearly not expecting such a sight.

"Nothing special." Daniel didn't bother giving a real answer, and Drael decided to drop it.

The mountains beneath their feet looked like masses of petrified flesh. The higher they climbed, the hotter and heavier the air became, not from sunlight, but from the fever of blood.

When they finally reached the peaks, the sight before them even made Daniel fall silent for a moment.

All the summits were covered with thick glowing crimson veins. Blood seeped from cracks between the rocks, sliding down the slopes like living rivers.

But what truly sent a chill down their spines was a massive hole in the center of the tallest peak. From its mouth, blood erupted—hot, fresh, and steaming—as if a living heart was beating inside the mountain.

"This mountain… is alive?" Drael said with wide eyes.

Daniel didn't respond. Now he was sure of it,it was either that a buried god was sealed within this range, or this entire range was the heart of that god.

It sounded insane, but they were talking about a god, a being above the world

A moment later, both of them felt it at once. A heavy pressure fell on their chests, and for an instant, they sensed a presence beyond comprehension, beyond time and space, gazing straight at them.

But it faded quickly.

Then the ground trembled. From within the streams of blood, massive bubbles began to boil, one, two, ten, then hundreds.

Suddenly, a burst of roars and screams tore through the air. Blood-born monsters leapt out of the veins, creatures made of liquid flesh, their eyes bubbling in hollow sockets, bones like spears jutting out from half-melted skin.

Each one, even the weakest, had power equal to a Peal A-rank

Daniel took a deep breath, but even he felt the chill crawl up his neck.

"Their number isn't as big as the ones below, but they're way stronger."

"They're made from the blood itself. Until we destroy that source, they won't stop coming!" Drael said firmly.

"Can you create a mana explosion? Something that could blow up that source?" Daniel looked at him for a second, then asked.

"I can… if I survive long enough to get there." Drael nodded with hesitation.

Daniel raised his hand; darkness twisted out of his fingers and formed into a small orb of condensed death in the air. The energy leaking from it froze the air and cracked the layers of space-time itself. He handed the orb to Drael.

"If you throw this into the source, it'll destroy everything in there. I'll distract these things. You just finish the job."

"I'll try not to die," Drael muttered, biting his lip.

"Doesn't matter. Just succeed," Daniel said lazily.

Without wasting a second, he dove straight into the horde of monsters. The Heavens Honor left its sheath, and at that moment, its light split the air apart.

A wave of death erupted around him, shattering dozens of blood creatures instantly. But from within the blood, new ones rose again.

Daniel spun among them, cutting them down, then moved swiftly in another direction to draw them away from the main peak.

Meanwhile, Drael took the chance and flew toward the source.

The air was scorching, and the blood vapor clung to his skin like red mist. Every step made him feel the heartbeat of the mountain itself.

But halfway up, something burst from the blood ahead, a monster larger than all the others, a melted humanoid with bone wings and tongues of blood flickering behind it.

The moment Drael saw it, he felt an overwhelming sense of danger and tried to speed up to simply pass it.

The monster roared and slashed at him. Drael's body crashed into the ground with a heavy impact, his leg snapping with a sickening crack.

A scream of pain escaped his throat.

But he didn't back down. With bloody hands, he dragged himself upward, leaving a trail of red behind with every step.

The monster roared again and lunged toward him, but Drael didn't even look back. He had no choice, either die here or reach the top.

It reached him from behind and raised its arm to crush him, but suddenly, a wave of death energy, so powerful it split the sky, came from the distance.

The monster didn't even have time to scream. Its body evaporated instantly, leaving only the smell of burnt metal in the air.

Drael smiled weakly and kept going, even with his broken leg.

At that moment, Daniel summoned several Fallen from afar and sent them to protect Drael, impressed by the man's sheer willpower.

He now had a clearer picture of what kind of person Drael really was.

The Fallen surrounded Drael without hesitation, fighting off every monster that tried to approach.

Finally, Drael reached the highest peak.

The hole was right before him, black and glowing red, steam of blood rising from it. The divine stench of something between life and death filled his lungs.

Seeing it made his heart tremble. He felt as if he was staring into the eyes of something that shouldn't exist.

His hand shook, but he didn't back away. He lifted the orb of death, glanced at the sky, and the sense of danger grew even stronger.

His intuition screamed that if he did this, he would be cursed, something worse than death would happen to him.

He hesitated for a moment. Should he really do it?

Then he remembered something, and his eyes hardened with resolve.

He threw the orb into the hole.

For a second, silence.

Then—

Boom.

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