The burns on Ashton''s body were healing, but the affect-effects, mainly the tiredness, of using the [Regeneration] knocked him out. By the time he woke up, hours had passed and Sven and Celeste had already finished taking care of the remaining Monklins.


    [Rise and shine princess.]


    ''Astaroth, I''m not in the mood right now.''


    [That''s specifically the reason I teased you.]


    ? Ashton shook his head in dismay before forcing him back on his feet. His body still felt a bit sore but it wasn''t something that required his immediate attention.


    ''At least now I have a better understanding of how [Regeneration] works.'' He thought, ''The more grievous the injury is, the more stamina it takes out of me.''


    But that wasn''t the thing that bothered him too much. His real concern was how close he hade to dying and if it hadn''t been for the [Regeneration] and [Blood Armour] skills, he would have definitely died right then and there.


    The gorin served as a reminder to him, that no matter how strong he became there would always be someone stronger than him waiting ahead. It was a necessary reality check that he needed in order to reevaluate his strength.


    Sven and Celeste immediately walked up to Ashton as soon as he was back on his feet. Both of them appeared to be equally worried about his well-being. But Ashton shrugged their worries off and headed towards the corpse of the gorin.


    <Unique Skill: Resurrect has been activated.>


    <Level 69 Gorin has been selected as the target.>


    <Caution: The host''s level is lower than the target''s. Resurrection has only a 63.34% chance of sess.>


    <The user possesses more than needed intelligence and mana to tame the beast. Proceed as nned?>


    "Yes."


    As usual, a magic circle filled with the power of death and darkness devoured the corpse, only to reform it and spit out a new and stronger form. The gorin once again rose to her feet, her renewed soul had no enmity towards Ashton but it had no loyalty towards him either.


    The gorin''s head was swallowed with ck mes and only her skull was visible above her shoulders. It was an appearance that would strike fear in the hearts of even the bravest warriors on the.


    Her size was altered as well. The gorin wasn''t half as tall as she had been before, but her strength more or less remained the same.


    Ashton did not know what to expect as the resurrection of every creature was different and so were their actions. Judging by the way the gorin was thrashing everything around her in her confused state, it didn''t look like it would be easy to control her.


    The resurrection had given birth to a strong, yet confused beast of demise. However, Ashton already knew such a possibility could arise and hence had already prepared to beat the creature into submission if he had to.


    "Master, allow me."


    To his surprise, Sven stepped in front of him and mmed his sword deep into the ground. He then mumbled something and the following moment his sword changed into a heavy metal whip.


    Sven used the whip to wrap around the Gorin''s neck and proceeded to force it onto the ground to kneel in from of them. Ashton was speechless. He thought it would take an absurd amount of time to tame the beast and yet Sven managed to do it in mere moments.


    "What was that?"


    "My ss ability, master." Sven replied, "It''s called Death whip. It helps in controlling and calming a fleeting soul. But it''s only effective in taming Death Beasts and nothing else."


    "Are you hiding some other skill of yours?" Ashton inquired because he genuinely wanted to have such an ability himself, but he knew it wasn''t going to happen, not just at least.


    Sven shook his head. He had only been given two skills upon evolving into Death Baron.


    "Next time, tell me about such skills the moment you get them."


    "As you wish, master."


    Sven replied and his whip changed back into being a sword. However, the whip had left something behind on the Gorin''s neck. It appeared to be some kind of a cor but it was made up of darkness, just like Celeste''s cloak.


    "What''s that?"


    [It''s a cor that''ll keep the beast in check and also force it to obey yourmands. It''s a wonderful object.]


    ''So it''ll obey my everymand?''


    [As long as it is a possible request, then yes.]


    "That saves a ton of time."


    ***


    Half an hourter...


    The four of them found themselves in a secluded part of the forest. A section that no cartographer had ever mapped before, hell, even Ashton wouldn''t have known such a ce even existed if the Gorin had not guided them to it.


    There were a few thousand eggs scattered all over the hidden ce under the ground. The eggs would hatch in a timely manner, hence providing a continuous supply of Monklins to defend the forest and chase and kill the intruders.


    "Destroy them." Ashtonmanded and the Gorin immediately spewed out ck mes, destroying her eggs without a second thought, "This [Hellfire] ability is quite strong."


    Once the eggs had been taken care of, Ashton headed towards the real treasure of the Gorins. The thing which made a normal night creature like the Gorin turn into a fire breathing monstrosity.


    It was a massive piece of ck stone sitting in the middle, giving out an ominous aura. Just being around it, made Ashton rethink his decision iming it, but Astaroth had other ns.


    [So here it is... I was wondering why no one found it yet.]


    "You know what this is?"


    [Of course, I do. After all, I''m the one who brought it here. Go ahead, touch it. It shouldn''t bite you.]


    "Shouldn''t?"


    [Well, it wouldn''t bite me, and since you and I are one unit, it shouldn''t bite you either.]


    Ashton sighed and cautiously touched the stone and... nothing happened.


    "Are you sure- argh!"


    Suddenly the stone began glowing at the same time Ashton''s body temperature shot up. His insides were on fire. His blood vessels, muscles, bones, and every part of his body were being burned alive.


    [Angel''s blood is flowing without your body. It''ll hurt, but you won''t die as you possess my organs. They''ll nullify your pain a bit. Do not let go of the crystal. Bite your lip and cling on to it.]


    Ashton fell to the ground but didn''t let go of the crystal. Even as he squirmed he held on to it as if his life depended on it. Sven and Celeste tried to assist him but the moment they took a step toward him a wall of fire surrounded their master as if it was trying to protect Ashton.


    Had it not been for his fire resistance, his skin might just have melted and slid off of his bones. The pain he was experiencing now was much worse than he had experienced before.


    Why? Because back then it was an essential evolution and hence the pain was limited. But right now Astaroth was forcing Ashton''s body to evolve even though his body was clearly not prepared for the burden it was experiencing.


    After an hour of iling in pain, the crystal was fully assimted and became one with Ashton.


    __


    You have tamed the [Seraph''s mes].


    You have obtained the legendary skill: [Heaven''s Downfall].


    [Seraph''s mes] has evolved [Fire Resistance lvl 18] to [Fire Immunity].


    __