Chapter 242: The Ancient Beast Soul
Iron gripped his greatsword and was the first to step onto the pitch black stone staircase beneath the throne.
Zich did not hesitate and followed closely behind with Tiamant.
The instant the last person completely entered the passage, a violent tremor suddenly came from the Beast King Arena behind them. Countless black stone seats, shattered remains, and the summoning formations that had already lost their light simultaneously dissolved into countless tiny motes of light, as though the entire third trial had merely been some kind of projection forcibly maintained from the very beginning.
The stone staircase continued downward.
No one knew how long they had been walking before a faint dark red light finally appeared ahead.
However, the moment they truly stepped out of the passage, even Zich stopped in his tracks.
This place did not resemble an underground world at all.
A boundless black plain stretched all the way to the limits of his vision. There were no mountains, no plants, and not even the slightest trace of ordinary life. Instead, enormous beast skeletons, each so massive that they were almost impossible to comprehend, covered the land.
Some possessed ribs that alone reached dozens of meters in height. Others had skeletal backs so vast and broad that they seemed capable of having once carried entire cities.
Farther away, the wings of a colossal flying beast that had long since lost all its flesh remained spread across the ground. Even after an unknown number of years, those skeletal wings still extended for hundreds of meters.
And the strangest thing was that every single one of them was kneeling.
Regardless of what race they had once belonged to or how powerful they had been while alive, every skeleton now faced the elevated altar at the center of the black plain, their heads lowered as though they were worshipping something.
Buzz!
The Graveyard Space within Zich suddenly trembled.
Death energy so dense that it had nearly become tangible surged toward him from every direction. For the first time, Slimy did not make a single sound. Iron slowly lowered the greatsword in his hands, and even the soul of the Three Headed Blood Python, which had remained dormant deep within the Graveyard Space, began trembling violently.
Only Tiamant did not stop.
It followed the path between the countless beast skeletons and walked toward the central altar one step at a time.
As it drew closer, the enormous skeletons that had already lowered their heads suddenly began producing faint grinding noises.
Crack. Crack, crack...
The heads of the beast skeletons kneeling across the earth actually began lowering even further.
Zich’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not stop Tiamant.
Not until it truly stepped onto the altar.
Boom!!!
An indescribable pressure instantly descended.
The entire black plain sank at once!
The earth beneath the altar began violently churning as an enormous, indistinct shadow slowly emerged from underground, so vast that it almost completely obscured their vision. It possessed no complete body and could no longer even maintain a distinct outline. Only two eyes resembling stars on the verge of extinguishing slowly opened within the darkness.
Zich instinctively tried to Inspect it.
However, nothing came up.
From beginning to end, its gaze remained fixed entirely on Tiamant.
"Such a bloodline..." A deep voice resounded. The entire Burial Ground of Myriad Beasts trembled along with it.
"And yet you formed a contract with a human."
Tiamant raised its head without retreating.
"Young descendant," the ancient beast soul slowly spoke.
Rumble!
Countless dark golden motes of light suddenly surged from beneath the altar.
They were not ordinary mana. They were pure beast soul energy that had survived even after the passage of countless years.
Merely being near it caused the incomplete and weakened soul within Tiamant to visibly react.
"I can repair your soul. Awaken the portions of your bloodline that still remain dormant. And even..."
The ancient consciousness swept its gaze across the countless kneeling beast skeletons.
"Grant you the qualification to command the remnant souls within this Burial Ground of Myriad Beasts."
"You only need to do one thing." It finally looked toward Zich. "Sever your contract with this human."
Buzz!
The instant those words fell, an invisible force directly intervened in the connection between Zich and Tiamant.
[Warning!]
[An external force has been detected attempting to terminate the summoning contract with "Tiamant."]
[The target may freely choose whether to accept or reject.]
[The Summoner is not permitted to interfere with the current decision.]
Zich stared at the notification for two seconds, slightly shocked to see the message, but he forced himself to remain calm and then looked at Tiamant.
"Choose for yourself."
Tiamant silently stared at the seemingly endless sea of beast soul energy beneath the altar.
If it stayed, the soul that would originally require an extremely long time to recover might be repaired within a very short period.
But... the ancient mother dragon looked back at the white haired boy.
Several seconds passed that felt like an eternity. Then She slowly turned around and returned to Zich’s side.
No words needed to be shared. Tiamant’s stance had been made clear.
Buzz!
The summoning contract that had been forcibly loosened instantly stabilized once again.
Inside the Graveyard Space, Slimy immediately cried out excitedly.
"Bo!"
Iron tightened his grip around his greatsword once again.
Even the restless soul of the Three Headed Blood Python gradually calmed down.
The ancient beast soul remained silent for a long time before it did something that made Zich raise his brows.
"Hahahahaha..."
Ancient laughter suddenly echoed throughout the entire burial ground.
Great clouds of dust simultaneously fell from the surfaces of countless skeletons.
"Good. An existence qualified to command myriad beasts must possess neither bloodline nor strength above all else. It must first know whom it is willing to follow."
Zich’s eyes flashed with realization.
"So that was just a test?"
"If it obeyed you merely because of the power of your class, then it would have no right to inherit what was left behind here." The ancient beast soul’s tone suddenly changed.
"However, I did not awaken the three Beast Altars merely to search for an inheritor."
The surrounding air suddenly turned cold.
"Before you arrived here, someone had already entered the deepest region of the Burial Ground of Myriad Beasts."
For the first time, a distinct chill appeared within those enormous eyes that seemed on the verge of extinguishing.
"He used Soul Control Spikes to forcibly enslave the remnant souls that were still guarding the Beast Altars. The Three Headed Blood Python you encountered at the first altar was merely one of them."
Zich immediately thought back to the spike on the Three Headed Blood Python...
’So it was not random.’
"And while everyone was participating in the trials, he has been stealing from the Myriad Beast Soul Spring." The ancient beast soul continued. "That is the source sustaining the continued existence of every remnant soul here."
Boom!!!
A heaven shaking explosion suddenly erupted in the distance.
At the far end of the black plain, one enormous pitch black chain after another shot into the sky. Countless beast souls that had originally been sleeping within the skeletons were forcibly dragged out and pulled toward an enormous, bottomless pit amid agonized roars.
The ancient beast soul’s gaze became completely cold.
"He is preparing to leave."
The next moment, a new system notification appeared before Zich.
[Hidden Final Quest Triggered: Thief of the Burial Ground of Myriad Beasts]
[Defeat the intruder controlling the Black Soul Control Spikes.]
[Prevent the Myriad Beast Soul Spring from being stolen.]
[Quest Reward: Entry into the Myriad Beast Soul Spring.]
[Additional rewards will be calculated according to the number of beast souls successfully rescued.]
Tiamant slowly raised its head.
For the first time, unmistakable killing intent radiated from its still young dragon body without the slightest attempt to conceal it.
Zich followed its gaze.
At the end of the black chains, a man wearing tattered black combat clothes slowly turned around, his disheveled hair almost completely covering half his face.
His appearance was sloppy and deathly pale, yet his eyes were filled with extraordinary madness. That familiar combination of neglect and twisted temperament immediately made Zich think of a particular group.
’Failures.’ His lips twitched.
Floating above the man’s palm was a pitch black soul orb.
Inside the orb, an unknown magical beast so enormous that it almost occupied the entire space was sleeping.
The black robed man froze for a moment when he saw Zich. Then the corners of his mouth slowly stretched into a grin.
"Looks like... that dying old bastard really did manage to find someone capable of making it all the way here."