Rasmus watched the wyrm slide down toward him and struck him with its massive jaw that could eat him whole like a piece of candy. Rasmus dashed to the side, dodging the big mouth and its razor-blade fangs. He drove his sword into the ground to redirect his momentum. Stone cracked as he kicked off the blade from the ground, wrenching it free and launching himself back toward the wyrm. He swung his other sword right on the wyrm’s neck, cutting through the thick scale and flesh but not deep enough to kill it.

The wyrm hissed and roared, wiggling its head from the pain. Rasmus was about to strike the wyrm once again, but the drake charged toward him and tilted its head, lunging toward the lower half of his body. Rasmus immediately swung both swords toward the terrifying mouth of the drake that was right in front of him. He released a powerful slash wave that was enough to cut the drake’s mouth all the way to its neck in half before it could bite him.

The wyrm used that opportunity to use its tail, smashing through the drake’s head that had been split by Rasmus. Rasmus blocked it but he was thrown off the cliff because he wasn’t strong enough to overpower the momentum. He landed on the sharp and steep boulders, but instead of his body getting impaled, the boulders were crushed by his durable skin and bones.

"You’re not strong enough with just pure strength. Demonic energy molded their bodies, and you can’t overpower them with just pure strength," Rullein’s voice could be heard inside Rasmus’ skull.

"Learned the hard way..." Rasmus stood up and cut all the boulders around him in half with a single swing of his swords.

The remaining wyrms and drakes jumped down from the cliff to follow Rasmus. With the lack of an ability to dodge mid-air, Rasmus used that opportunity to release dozens of slash waves, cutting those free-falling demonic beasts. The black and gooey blood of the demonic beasts was like a pungent waterfall. Rasmus had to jump away and release more slash waves for the remaining wyrms and drakes that survived his attacks earlier.

Since they were demonic beasts, they could regenerate their missing limbs except when their heads were decapitated. Many survived and didn’t hesitate to charge toward Rasmus. With their size, they were quite agile, and that they didn’t care about what was beneath them or what kind of obstacles were in front of them. They were mindless and raging beasts, and that was terrifying for Yur to watch.

Rasmus was busy dodging and trying to decapitate those demonic beasts, but those demonic beasts didn’t wait, didn’t hesitate, making their moves unpredictable. While he was busy, some of the demonic beasts chose to devour the dead ones, making them stronger after consuming the demonic energy that lingered on the corpses.

"You want to push yourself to the limit?" Rullein asked. "Your chance of winning with just pure strength is extremely low, but you won’t lose either because I don’t think they can chew your body," she added.

Rasmus was too busy looking at his surroundings at the random attacks of the demonic beasts. He had to be aware of the claws, fangs, and tails of those creatures. He could easily defeat them by using Aura, but he didn’t know what would come after him next if he revealed himself. The mission was not to eliminate the threat but rather to eliminate the source.

Aris and the others could hear the growls, roars, and screeches of the demonic beasts that echoed throughout the quiet night. They could feel the tremor under their feet, realizing that the numbers of the demonic beasts were at least a dozen. Aris couldn’t sense any Rasmus’ Mana, but she could smell his scent and she knew he was fine.

"He’s fighting those creatures with just pure strength," Videl said, his arms crossed while listening to the terrifying sounds those creatures made. "Hope he didn’t die," he said with a straight face.

Rasmus was covered in black gooey blood, losing friction of the swords’ handles. The ground became slippery, and his body became heavy because of the blood that stuck on his clothes. On the other hand, the demonic beasts had surrounded him, observing him so they could launch a sneak attack.

Although Rasmus was surrounded, he was protected by the corpses around him. The corpses that acted as walls to protect him and gave those creatures so little space for them to find an opening. He took a deep breath and decided to close his eyes, showing his vulnerability to those mindless demonic beasts. In that moment, all of them charged at the same time, pushing and clawing each other so they could be the first one to feast on his body.

Rasmus stayed put, listening to how close they were from reaching him. The moment he opened his eyes, two of the wyrms lunged toward him but Rasmus immediately cut their heads in half simultaneously. More and more demonic beasts stacked on top of each other while Rasmus dodged and cut their heads one by one. He was stuck inside the pile of demonic beasts, but the less space he had, the less space for those gigantic creatures to reach him.

Yur watched as a massive pile of demonic beasts, shrieking in fear and concern for Rasmus’ safety. However, in just a matter of minutes, the horrifying scene became quiet because all of the demonic beasts stopped moving. Yur was too scared to approach the pile until suddenly the pile was cut in half and Rasmus came out of it with the flood of black gooey blood.

"I’m not just using pure strength, but also my brain..." Rasmus stood up as he looked at his body soaked with pungent corrupted blood.

"I forgot that you were a dangerous killer back on Earth, the difference is just that you’re unimaginably stronger here and the enemies too," Rullein chuckled, still nesting inside Rasmus’ body. "But this is all such a waste. I could devour them, turning them into my own power, but I couldn’t because we are restricted from using our power," she sounded sad and annoyed at the same time.

"You’ll find your opportunity later..." Rasmus said as he removed his suit and shirt. "Let’s head back to the group, Yur," he looked up at Yur who was relieved but still trembling in fear.

The silence made everyone worried until suddenly they saw a silhouette of a man in front of them. They were relieved that Rasmus was alive, but what shocked them was the fact he was fine, not even a single scratch on his body. However, the pungent smell made everyone lose their appetite because it was unbearable where they could taste it in their mouths.

"There’s a river near... I suggest we go there so he could wash himself while we rest?" Doloran looked at Yur.

Yur agreed and led everyone to the river which was only an hour from where they were.

Rasmus dipped himself in the cold water and watched the black gooey blood being washed away. Lance lent his clothes to Rasmus to wear since they almost had the same body size. He was deep in thought as he washed his body when suddenly Aris came to see him.

"How was it?" Aris asked, sitting on the edge of the river.

"It was quite overwhelming," Rasmus answered as he splashed water onto his face. "My body wasn’t strong enough to overpower their nature," he added as he rubbed his face. "You might be able to kill them all a lot faster and easier," he looked at Aris as he pulled his hair back.

"You haven’t fully awakened your Orthias blood. You’re only two steps away from becoming like me," Aris said as she looked at her reflection in the water. "Although, the problem isn’t about why I haven’t let you awakened, but rather if I should let you awaken," she looked at Rasmus.

Rasmus hummed as he nodded with understanding, knowing exactly what worried Aris.

"You’re afraid of the Overlord’s power within me," Rasmus said, revealing Aris’ concern.

"Yes, and once it realizes your body is befitting to be consumed and conquered, I don’t know if you can fight against it. That time when you first tried to exert its power, you were losing control of your body. Aristoria said that was nothing, not even worth mentioning compared to what that thing could do," Aris explained as she looked at Rasmus’ body, imagining when that body would become the Overlord’s vessel.

"Did my mother say anything? About how to control it?" Rasmus asked out of curiosity since Aris had been communicating with his late mother and at the same time Aris’ predecessor.

"No, she hasn’t said anything about it. But I know one thing that she doesn’t want you to try to use that power often," Aris answered as she shook her head.

"I see," Rasmus nodded and then looked at the group that had been resting for quite a while. "I think we should start moving again. We can’t be here for too long," he said as he walked out of the river and took the clothes off.

"I’ll inform the others," Aris nodded as she stood up and then walked back to the group.

Rasmus stood there, putting the clothes on as he stared at Aris for a moment longer before he looked at his palm.