Fallen Crypt was a Yellow Threat area, and Fume Throne, despite its creepy presence was a Light Yellow Threat area.


    And... this ce was now ruled by a Purple Threat level creature, gue Reaper. He was stronger than anyone trapped inside Fume Cathedral, even Fog Hunter, a rather strong Light Yellow monster couldn''t do anything to him.


    Thus, inexperienced Phantoms or thosewho werein this situation for the first time might have a logical question.


    Why was gue Reaper a Purple Threat Level monster?


    gue Reaper was stronger than Gray Stalkers, Weeping Harahas, Fog Hunter, and a bunch of other Light Yellow Threat monsters. In that case, shouldn''t gue Reaper have rated as a Light Yellow Monster more, only ranking higher?


    Well, the answer was quite simple.


    When killing gue Reaper, which happened, albeitextremelyrarely, Phantom would gain Purple Threat Level genes rather than Light Yellow ones. But, this was only a technical part of the reason and was not as significant as theother one.


    The main reason was that monsters like Phantoms had to evolve to be stronger.


    For example, Adamwas capable of killingmonsters thatwere meantto be K2-Phantoms. Moreover, for anyone who knew what Adam could do, it was clear that hewas able todefeat the weakest and newest of the K2-Phantoms.


    Sure, experience and instincts honed in mortalbat would y abigrole in his victory, but his abilities and energy reserves had impressive power and bulk.


    But despite this, Adam was not a K2-Phantom, thoughtechnicallyhis power could qualify him for the position.


    In this case, it was understandable, as Adam had yet to create the Key, obtain the Midnight Crystal, or go through evolution. So...gue Reaper was in a simr situation as all monsters of the Top-10 in Purple Threat Level.


    Whether it was Essence Thunder Demon, Essence Scarlet Pyromancer, or someone like Snow Follower, allof themcould defeat weak monsters of the Light Yellow.


    Thus, all of this could lead to the following question.


    What will happen when a monster like gue Reaper evolves?Well,it willclearlybe a threat that no K1-Phantom and most K2-Phantoms can handle.


    gue Reaper was a frightening opponentnot onlybecause he was Top-1 andreallystrong,but alsobecause of his potential.


    However, everything in this world had itsownbnceanda strong creature needed a lot more time and resources to increase its power even more to get to the next level.


    For this reason, Prime Thunder Demon stole therva king because he was already close to evolution and needed apowerful, activesource of energyto make the final leap to a new power.


    Fume Cathedral also had a powerful energy source that wasnot easyto subdue.But it was a passive energy, as ithad longbeen umtedin tiny drops from the environment and energy crystals buried deep underground.


    Did gue Reapere here for this energy? No, that kind of energy would not be able to help him start an instant evolution.For that,he needed powerful active energy like therva king, but even that would not be enough.


    For a creature like gue Reaper tomake a rapid evolution, it would take severalrva kings full of energy or something more than that...


    Silence.


    At gue Reaper''sorderall the gates were closed, therewas no longer any way out of Fume Cathedral, at least not an obvious one.


    Along with the tense silence camepletedarkness,the few crystals in the ground were not enough to illuminate such arge room.


    Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.


    The Fume Throne shudderedreleasinga bright light thatforamomentblinded everyone inside.


    ''Right... Silvana said Fume Throne was dangerous. At first, I thought gue Reaper had somekind ofspecialstance, but itseemed to takea while for Fume Throne to take effect. Adam muttered inwardly, looking at the bright light through his fingers.


    Then, he bit his lip, looking at gue Reaper''s calm, serene face. Any monster or Phantom would have been at least startled by the sudden change in Fume Throne, but gue Reaper looked as if he knewexactlywhat he had to do to avoid the consequences of his actions.


    "What''s going on!" E eximed, taking a few steps backward.


    Osana frowned, confidently continuing to stand her ground.


    "Fume Throne. Whoever sits on it must pass a test. If gue Reaper passes, he will receive all the energy that has been stored inside Fume Throne for so long and will be able to give orders to Fume Armors, but ifnot, Fume Throne will destroy him, turning his life into its energy until a truly worthy one appears." Osana said confidently,watchingcarefullyas events unfolded.


    Fume Throne was practically a living being, overthe long time absorbingenergythis object had developed a will of its own.


    It couldn''t beparedto a human mind or will, FumeThrone couldn''t think and make conscious decisions like a living being.


    But, Fume Thronewas capable of actingording to strict rules as it did with anomalies. It was a mechanism that had to figure out if gue Reaper, or anyone else who chose to sit on the throne, was worthy of all that energy.


    Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.


    Thus, Fume Throne, all of itsenergyhad areurajustlike Phantoms or Monsters.


    Streams of white light quickly began to take the form of massive swordsto bedirected at only one target, gue Reaper.


    "Holy shit..." Katrin gulped as a shiver ran through her body, "What is this power?Each of these swordsis capable of inflicting powerful damage, both internal and external, right?"


    It wasn''t clear who Katrin was asking the question to, but they had someonewho could answer either of them.


    ''Yes, since Fume Throne uses its aura to control energy and swords are made up of stored energy, this attackis capable of damaginggue Reaper more than once.'' Silvana calmly exined.


    Everyone knew that with The Will and Spirit, one could only deal damage once, after which the aura could no longer affect the opponent. But, for Fume Throne, the weapon was energy, and the aura was just a tool with which it could fulfill its purpose and punish the unworthy.


    gue Reaper nced at the seven snow-white swords that trembled slightlyas ifwith a powerful desire to pierce their target.


    Adamwholike everyoneelsewas watching this scene gulped. He now fully understood what would happen to him if he sat on Fume Throne. He wasn''t sure if his abilities and aura would be enough to block or dodge each of the seven swords.


    However...not one of the swords had attacked yet.


    Whooooooooooooooooosh.


    The first sword began to slowly rotate, gradually elerating until arealvortex appeared around it.


    Then, in a heartbeat, the sword came down directly on the gue Reapersittingserenely on the throne.


    Crackle.


    gue Reaper jerked his head sharply, allowing the sword to pass close to his neck and pierce Fume Throne, sinking its broad de a third of the way into the stone.


    Adam''s pupils dted as the scene of the gue Reaper''s movements reyed in his mind. He could see it,he couldunderstand the gue Reaper''s speedandit brought a slight smile to his face.


    ''Oh, I see... He is indeed fast, but now that I have calmed down a bit after his sudden appearance, I can seethat heis not invincible. At the very least, in our battle, I''ll be able to keep up with his actions.'' Adam pondered as he prepared for the inevitable battle.


    Unlike Oskar or Lerowhojust dreamed of escaping from Fume Cathedral and heading to a safe zone, Adam realizedthat itwas unrealistic.


    After everything that had happened, after the gue Reaper hade here with a vested interest in the incident, there was no turning back.Only death or life, there was no other choice forany ofthem, neither Phantoms nor monsters.


    ''But... He needs to deal with Fume Throne first. It''s unlikely he''ll be able to do that without a problem, ifhe''s seriously injured, then I can take advantage of that and attack.'' Adam inwardly mutteredncingat his hands, electric shocks passed between his fingers.


    gue Reaper nced at the swordthat wasnext to his face and asionally shook. At the same time, the next sword began to rotate, preparing to fall on its victim.


    "Agh..." gue Reaper let out asigh filled with frustrationbefore exhaling a ck cloud of dust, causing the first sword to copse.


    Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.


    The snow-white sword was covered in cracks, quickly disintegrating and turning into dark ash, like dust.


    Osana frowned.


    ''So it can do the same thing not only to a living being but also to energy? That''s not good at all.'' Osana bit her lip.


    Whooooooooooooosh.


    At thesamemoment, the next sword descended on gue Reaper with even greater speed than before.It seemed thatthis timethesword wouldn''t miss because itwas aimedat the monster''s chestandgue Reaper had no time to dodge such an attack.


    Then, everyone saw the sword stop abruptly, held back by gue Reaper''s palm and the invisible barrier between his hand and the sword.


    It was his aura thatwas gradually growing, for gue Reaper was about to activate his The Will and show his Spirit.