Suddenly, Kessa and Franklin stopped for a moment. Their expressions changed as their bodies shuddered.

Kessa turned one of her heads to Franklin and asked, "Did you feel it, Sir Franklin?"

"Yeah, the parasite in my body felt something." Franklin nodded before continuing, "The King and Queen of the Parasitic Essence Eater."

"The King and Queen?" Kessa was confused.

"Yeah, our Lord has returned... It seems to be calling us," Franklin answered. At that moment, when his parasite shuddered, it felt like he was on death’s door. He had forgotten that the King and Queen parasites controlled all others in the entire world.

Kessa’s eyes lit up when she heard Franklin’s words. "Calling us? Souta is back. Then let’s go back."

Franklin smiled faintly and nodded. "Yeah, let’s return. We’ve been playing in this realm for months now, so it’s time to go back."

They had been in the Dream Realm for a long time. After the war months ago, Franklin met Kessa in the Land of Vanko. The two of them rampaged through that land before departing for others.

The law of the jungle was extreme in the Dream Realm. Numerous beasts devoured other creatures, and there were lands with chaotic laws that could pose dangers even to Hero-rank experts.

Franklin and Kessa encountered many things.

They constantly fought other entities that wanted to devour them. Through continuous battles, they grew stronger. They pillaged resource-rich lands and killed numerous beings that got in their way. They even offended a nation ruled by a Demigod. With no other choice, Kessa and Franklin escaped as the nation continued to dispatch forces to chase them.

For months, they experienced hundreds of battles. Of course, there were places that only housed weaker beings, but those places didn’t catch their attention.

Kessa and Franklin turned around.

...

Somewhere in an underground place on the God’s Continent.

A dwarf with a thick beard and mustache was hammering a sword. His sweat evaporated from the extreme heat of the surroundings. His muscles bulged as he struck the blade with precise, powerful blows.

He raised his hammer and was about to swing it again when he felt something inside him.

"Huh?" The dwarf’s eyes widened.

He turned his head in another direction as he slowly placed the hammer down.

"That guy, Souta... he has returned," he muttered. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Call Amanda here. Tell her it’s something important!"

This dwarf was none other than Gragas.

Gragas sat down on a chair and waited. After a while, just as he expected, a woman with flowing red hair and sharp eyes entered the room.

She was Amanda Brune.

"Did you feel it?" Amanda asked as she sat on the vacant seat.

Gragas nodded. "Souta seems to be calling us."

"But where should we go? We don’t even know where he is," Amanda said.

"For starters, let’s return to Hall Plains. We’ll gather information there," Gragas answered.

Amanda agreed.

Thus, their destination was Hall Plains.

Amanda and Gragas quickly packed their things and immediately departed.

...

In the Immortal Land.

Eztein, Vashno, and Doranjan stood side by side. They looked at each other as the three of them felt the same sensation coming from the parasites inside their bodies.

"Our boss is back..." Eztein said.

Vashno and Doranjan nodded at his words.

Actually, everyone knew that Souta was alive due to the existence of the parasites. They just didn’t know when he would return.

"So what should we do?" Doranjan asked as he looked at Eztein and Vashno.

"Hm, let’s continue our journey. Let’s see if Isabella is really here," Vashno said.

"Okay, that’s the plan. We’ll pick up Isabella before we return," Eztein nodded.

Doranjan agreed as well.

Since they had made their decision, the group continued their journey. This time, their pace was several times faster than before.

The three of them flew into the air and shot forward, leaving shockwaves behind.

...

Blood Realm.

Souta hovered above, observing everything happening across the entire realm like a god. Battles continued to erupt, and the number of deaths kept rising, yet he remained indifferent.

This was necessary to establish the hierarchy of the Blood Realm. Once everything was settled, he would do everything he could to make them far stronger. He would provide them with battlefields and resources.

They would move in accordance with his will.

Below, the Nightmare Conjurer remained unmatched with his power as an Intermediate Fifth Stage Monster. He was the strongest entity below, and no one dared to challenge his might.

He was the former Rank 1 Ruler of the Land of Reem. The one who should have been his rival was the Rank 1 Sovereign of the Land of Vanko; however, Souta and Kessa had killed the Sovereign, so there was no one left who could rival the Nightmare Conjurer.

He quickly established a connection with the core of the Blood Realm.

Tasman was also doing well, as he didn’t have any opponents either. After all, only the Nightmare Conjurer could make him retreat in the entire Blood Realm.

"Soon, the process will be complete," Souta muttered.

He raised his hand and tore the space in front of him. He arrived in a world where twilight was eternal. The ground was covered in blood, while the darkness and light in the surroundings moved as if they were alive.

It was his dreamscape.

In his dreamscape, he saw Yuko floating above the ground, emitting a terrifying energy. Her aura was rising, sending waves of ominous energy through the surroundings.

"She’s about to reach the Fifth Stage." A smile formed on Souta’s face.

This was good news.

Ohm!

Waves of energy continued to spread like ripples.

Dots of light floated in the air and turned blazing crimson. In the next second, the energy was sucked toward Yuko like a black hole, forming a cocoon of dense energy.

Thud!

A strong heartbeat resounded, resonating with the energy in the air.

Souta narrowed his eyes. If something went wrong, he was ready to save her. Nonetheless, he still believed that Yuko would succeed, just like Doranjan.

After more than ten minutes of tense silence, a surge of energy erupted, far greater than anything before, crashing outward like a raging tidal wave.

BOOM!!

The blood sea below was violently torn apart, hurled into the air as if the world itself had been overturned.

Cracks like spiderweb spread across the surface of the cocoon. They spread rapidly, fracturing, splitting, until...

A massive paw wreathed in blazing fur burst through.

It tore the cocoon open with brutal force.

A monstrous presence surged from within.

Then,

She emerged.

Standing ten meters tall on her hind legs, Yuko rose as the cocoon exploded into countless shards of crimson light. Flames danced across her body as if she were born from a burning star. Her fur blazed a deep, violent crimson, streaked with stark white lines along her back. Her eyes burned pure red, feral, ancient, and filled with overwhelming power.

An exoskeleton-like armor encased her shoulders, jagged and molten in appearance, while searing patterns of flame crawled from her neck down to her arms, pulsing like living veins of fire.

The air trembled.

Yuko had ascended to the Fifth Evolution Stage.

Souta’s lips slowly curled into a smile as he watched her.

She had caught up.

He remembered when she was nothing more than an ordinary monster when the two of them first met.

But now...

Now she stood as a calamity.

ROOOOAAARRR!!!

Her roar exploded into the heavens, shaking the dreamscape itself. The sound carried power, dominance, and raw savagery. An announcement to all existence that a new apex being had been born.

"Come here," Souta beckoned.

"Master." Yuko vanished, her figure blurring, reappearing right in front of him in less than a second.

"Finally... the Fifth Stage." Souta smiled faintly. He raised a hand, calm and unshaken. "Attack me with everything you’ve got."

Yuko was surprised but she nonethelessly nodded. A savage glint flashed in her crimson eyes.

Flames erupted around her body.

OHM!!

An overwhelming surge of best feram spiraled outward like a raging hurricane, distorting the very air. Heat and pressure crushed everything nearby as she raised her massive paw and brought it down with all her might.

In that instant, her paw slammed against Souta’s outstretched hand.

Sparks exploded violently between them, tearing through the air like lightning. A devastating shockwave burst outward, ripping across the ground and shaking the entire dreamscape.

BANG!!

The earth beneath Souta’s feet collapsed, cratering under the force. The sea of blood around them boiled and evaporated in an instant, turning into a storm of crimson vapor.

Souta stepped back and casually waved his hand, dispersing the raging flames in the surroundings as if they were nothing more than smoke.

Silence returned in an instant.

He shifted his gaze toward Yuko, a flicker of surprise hidden deep within his eyes.

After a moment of thought, it made sense.

Doranjan possessed the natural advantage of his race, a dragon born at the Third Stage, standing above most beings from the very beginning.

But Yuko...

She had started from nothing. An ordinary monster, insignificant and easily overlooked. Yet now, the power she displayed as a Fifth Stage being rivaled that of Doranjan when he had first reached the same level.