Like an alerted rabid that saw a predator closing in for the kill, the ck Hands and Awakened that are resting after the fight instantly sprung up and went into their battle stances, holding their weapons tightly in their hands.


    It seems they were wrong to be rxed and lets the man handle the figure on his own.


    "Something is not right, Shapeshifters aren''t able to use fire elements"


    "H-He evaporates just like that..."


    "Then what is it? If it''s not a Shapeshifter then what the heck is it?!"


    Many started to show signs of panic as the dark-skinned man from earlier was the second strongest in their group, his power is practical yet effective and deadly. Out of all of them, he also has one of the strongest durability.


    But this unknown figure is somewhat able to evaporate the man in an instant.


    Like a scared toddler at the sight of something unknown, the ck Hands and Awakened started backing away, signaling to the others to quickly retreat with a hand gesture while keeping their eyes on the figure.


    After killing the man, the unknown figure resumes his walk again.


    "Something definitely feels off about that thing. We don''t know what it is, so it''s best we retreat right now. You! Tell the military to stand down and move theirnd vehicles away quickly, we''re not going to engage"


    One of the Awakened said sternly, she tries to be calm and take a rational decision.


    Not wasting a single second, the ck Hand quickly does as she said, turning around and started sprinting to the tanks that are already pointing their barrels at the approaching figure.


    If it can take down the dark-skin man easily, then tank shells would do nothing to it.


    Just as the Awakened look around to see if they are in the clear to retreat, another Awakened beside her gasps and points forward. Even though she was the leader of this campaign and has responsibility, she tries to escape and teleport away.


    Despite not looking back, the woman knows that the figure vanishes from its spot.


    "G-General Novalie...?"


    Looking at their general''s body that sublimely blurred for a second beforeing back, the other Awakened and ck Hands realized that she tried to teleport away yet she was forced back here.


    A sudden pang can be felt in General Novalie''s heart when she realized she can''t escape.


    General Novalie feels her blood run cold under the gazes of the others that were also looking at her in horror. But then suddenly, her eyes bulged and the veins in her eyes exploded as she vanished from her spot.


    Crash!


    Right in front of the others, General Novalie''s body was flung away.


    None of them realized what had happened to her, a thick sudden silence envelops the entire ce as the Awakened and ck Hands slowly turns their heads to the side and saw General Novalie lying weakly on the ground quite far away from them.


    Additionally, a big wooden tree trunk can be seen stabbing through her abdomen.


    Even though she trusted her senses that told her to abandon the army and flee almost instantly, she was denied from doing that by an unknown force, capable of taking her down with rtive ease.


    Shifting their attention back, the other Awakened and ck Hands saw the figure.


    In exchange for where General Novalie was standing earlier, the wide frame of the figure is standing there. Just like what the dark-skinned man from earlier saw before his death, the Awakened and ck Hands were exposed to the figure''s reptilian deep blue eyes.


    A pair of eyes that holds insurmountable power, looking down at them with pride.


    Out of nowhere, the figure''s eerie energyless body emits a tiny sliver of his deep blue aura.


    Nothing happened for a fraction of a second, but in the following instant, a powerful pressure mmed right on the Awakened, ck Hands, and the military''s backs, pressing them into the ground with horrendous power.


    nk!


    Under the pressure, the military''s vehicles were ttened to the ground.


    The fact that militarynd vehicles such as tanks, SUVs, and other auxiliary machines which are made with enhanced metallic alloy that keeps on progressing throughout the years, weighing in tons were ttened like a toy from pressure alone is beyond anyone at this ce.


    Even the people with seventh-rank realm power were forced to their knees.


    One of the ck Hands slowly looks up and saw the air around them is literally trembling due to the figure''s pressure, he then gritted his teeth and forced out a question, "What are you, monster?"


    "Someone your eyes shouldn''t meet" the figure replied with a domineering voice.


    Just from the way the figure acted and also his voice alone shows the daunting pride that he possesses, seeing these Awakened and ck Hands no more than insectspared to himself.


    "Speak, human, where is the Executor...?"


    "As if we''re going to te-"


    Not even letting the ck Hand finish, the figure''s deep blue eyes glisten with a glow.


    Ssh!


    It happened in an instant, the pressure around the ck Hand increases rapidly to the point of his entire body was crushed, and exploded into meat paste. Even the others were surprised, their bodies suddenly drenched with thick blood.


    ncing to the side to see the ck Hand''s remains, the others'' breaths started to stutter.


    Seeing that one of them was killed in a fraction of a second without the figure even needing to lift a finger makes their entire body tremble in horror, they can''t believe that there''s a lurking powerhouse around them.


    Additionally, this powerhouse is an unknown one, he doesn''t resemble any of the Kings.


    "Where... is the Executor?"


    Once again, the figure asked another person. His tone is unchanged from earlier.


    Even though the ck Hand he killed earlier tries to mock him, he doesn''t seem to be affected judging from his tone. On top of that, there''s no change in his facial expression can be seen.


    It''s clear that the blood in his hands is too much for him to care for the life of a mere human.


    General Novalie who somehow survived and gasping for air looks at the scene in front of her and saw the figure is subduing the others with his sheer pressure alone, none of them was able to do anything.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    What makes the scene particrly terrifying was the level of control the figure had.


    Judging from the way the figure is able to take her and herrade down rather easily without any sign of struggle shows that this figure is definitely in the ninth-rank realm, and yet he was able to control his power sublimely.


    Other than the military vehicles, the normal military personnel are still very much alive.


    Normal people that are very fragile for someone of General Novalie''s power were pinned down to the ground with enough pressure to immobilize them, it''s a feat that she would find hard to do to ten people at the same time.


    But the figure was doing it to thousands at the same time on top of his higher strength.


    As she thought of that, General Novalie''s eyes suddenly widened suspecting what the figure really is. It''s been a dozen years or so, and her memory is hazy, but she still recalls a somewhat simr appearance and familiar aura to the figure she was seeing right now.


    ''Damn it, why did ite when we just managed to be on the offensive...''


    Meanwhile, the figure keeps on forcing an answer to his question from the ck Hands and Awakened. Each was given no more than ten seconds before he killed them without any remorse whatsoever.


    In the end, the figure gained his answer from one of the terrified Awakened.


    Knowing what would''ve happened as soon as the Awakened told him the answer, General Novalie push her body out of the big wooden tree trunk, hissing in pain through gritted teeth.


    Doing onest push, she managed to free herself from the wooden tree trunk.


    Looking down at her abdomen which now has a big hole in it, she moans in pain before biting her lower lip to force herself to stand up with the help of the tree. Not even looking back, General Novalie makes her way out of the ce slowly.


    About half a minuteter, she heard screams of agony from the back.


    Just like an intimidation disy, the screams of agony from the thousands of military personnel, Awakened, and the ck Hands thatposed of the army rang inside her ears like a melody from hell.


    But it only happened for a brief moment before everything turns silent once again.


    General Novalie limps away as she can obviously tell that the figure crushed each one of them as he gained the answer. It''s a cruel time they are living in, Supernaturals have little to no mercy for humans, and this one, in particr, has zero tolerance whatsoever.


    ''It''s a Heavenly Dragonman, and he''s not even in his Dragon form. We''re in trouble!''


    ~


    Katcha!


    After a rigorous process of thebined full focus of him and Devo in absorbing Giana''s spirit core, he eventually reaches the first threshold and a shattering sound rings inside his head.


    It was the sign of his breakthrough to the eighth-rank realm on his lightning element.


    Rex can feel an ufortable burning sensation in his chest, it also feels like he was being lifted off the ground due to the weird space in his chest. But in the next moment, he was inflicted with a sudden pain.


    "Huaarggh!"


    St!


    Like earlier, blood crawled out of his mouth and create a beautiful arc in the air.


    Usually, achieving a breakthrough would feel pleasant as the cells of his body rejoice and be stronger. But contrary to that, this breakthrough only brings pain, and his body needs to heal rapidly.


    Even before his body adjusted to the new realm, the process keeps on going.


    Stopping even for a single second would cause the spirit energy inside Giana''s lightning spirit core to be severed briefly, and that would trigger a blowback that would suck back the spirit energy that Rex has already absorbed.


    If that happens, then Rex can only expect the worst for him.


    ''Damn it, this is way more taxing and painful than I thought. But I have to see it through''


    Rex is currently in a world of pain, the skin around his chest area also started to break and blood tore its way out. ncing over to Calidora in worry, due to the immense blood he was bleeding, he surprisingly finds her sitting silently in her spot.


    It was surprising to see knowing how much she went crazy for his blood earlier.


    But that''s the more reason he bes even more determined, there''s no distraction for him.


    Under the pretense of absorbing Giana''s lightning spirit core, time started to go by, minutes has already turned into hours without anyone entering the room in the process. Rex is fully immersed in the process.


    Devo and even Amanir also experienced the same, the pain overwhelms them.


    Each one of them is linked to the other, and Rex''s spirit core is what binds them together.


    None of them are having a good time as Rex''s spirit core started to grow bigger and bigger, the coursing spirit energy and mana inside his body was also increasing in density and power as he makes his way to the ninth-rank realm.


    Due to theplexity of this process, some of Giana''s spirit energy leaked out and vanishes.


    Rex feels like it was such a waste for the spirit energy to leak out like this despite him trying his best to sustain it, yet he still has plenty more, and reaching the ninth-rank realm definitely still possible.


    At least the early ninth-rank realm is still possible for him.


    Simrly, Calidora also has the same focus as Rex, but for a different reason altogether.


    Looking at the painful expression Rex is wearing right now as he endured the tearing of his spirit core, she was mesmerized, the elemental aura that ising out of him was increasing rapidly.


    It was so fast that Calidora can''t even believe that this is real.


    But this makes her eyes sparkle even more in attraction, she now realized that his strength didn''t juste from his talent, and hepletely deserves the level of strength he has judging from the length he was willing to go to be stronger.


    Just then, the spirit energy, mana, and aura vanish in an instant.


    Calidora watches this in confusion as the rampagingbined energying from Rex earlier disappeared suddenly, the room was calm and silent for a moment, but then in the next second.


    BOOM!