Recalling the one who killed him, Xyphur couldn't suppress his anger any more.

"Damn it! This is the second time I lost my life!"

When Xyphur first died, it was due to the Divine Sense of a deity-Realm Combatant, thus he completely accepted his death at that time.

"Wait. Did the intruder used Heaven's Force?"

"We felt it too. Maybe we're wrong. How could someone traverse through different worlds?"

"That attack.. It looks quite familiar."

Without wasting any time, Xyphur used the hive mind to contact his superior.

"Esteemed one."

"Mn. Why did you call me?"

"There was a.."

Xyphur told him what happened just now. An unknown attacker killed him, he might be a user of something similar to Heaven's Force, and so on.

"I'll inform the others to find that attacker. He might be connected to the deeper forces of this world. Just do what you are supposed to do."

"Understood."

The connection got cut off. Still, Xyphur is thinking about the situation just now. He developed this cautious habit due to him living in hiding for 30 years, so its hard to remove.

"Right! That move, it's very similar to a Deity-Realm Combatant that I saw through the hive mind!"

"Huh. What are you talking about now?"

"No, really! It's the move of.. Sword Fanatic."

'Sword Fanatic.'

A gleam of light passed through Xyphur's eyes. Moments later, the group of surviving zergs left. There's no need to stay in this place where there's no space nodes.

****

Looking at the surroundings, Lugh found out that they arrived in a place with dark walls. The place where they landed just now looks similar to a corridor as there's some light sources illuminating it.

"We're at?"

"The ruins."

Right after arriving, Lugh felt like he would collapse. Not only did he use around 95% of his reserves this time, he had to concentrate completely on that attack too.

The reason why it's only a bit of danger earlier is that they can just escape if things go wrong. If Lugh fails to kill Xyphur, the zergs won't be distracted. They would just escape, thus escaping from that danger. He knew Xyphur's worth, someone who was escorted out by a Deity-Realm Combatant of the zerg race.

If he's not here, the zergs won't be distracted momentarily.

"Shit. I'll recover for a bit."

Summoning a cultivation jelly from his [Subspace], he sat down and munched at it. He then activated the upgraded [Military Fundamentals-Cultivation (Platinum)]. Thanks to the derivation skill of the panel, he can now use it until the SS+ Rank.

"He completely utilized the pure.. energies? What's that?"

While he is recovering, Alina couldn't help but exclaim in shock. This is the first time that she saw a weird concoction containing 3 energies. As a Deity-Realm Combatant, she's still familiar with them even though she couldn't learn them. When he is recovering, she felt that the 3 energies entered his body and got refined quickly.

2 hours later, he completely recovered. With that, he stood up.

"Aria, let's go."

"You're alright?"

"Mn."

Looking at the screen, Lugh saw some red spots here and there. Thankfully, there's only one who's at EX Rank.

"This place is the first trial that I've prepared. It is a maze, and only by going to the exit can you be able to progress through the next one. Though, I'll cheat since the situation is very urgent."

 With a thought, a golden glow suddenly appeared on a wall nearby. Following that, the golden glow turned into a door.

"This is it?"

"This is the door to the next trial. Though, I can only do it here."

Lugh and Aria both entered the door. The next thing that they saw is a huge corridor. There are also quite a few people here already.

"The next trial that I prepared is all about withstanding the pressure. There are about 15 steps before you reach the end of that corridor, so you must withstand the pressure until you finish all 15 steps."

"What about it's power?"

"I adjusted it based on the person's rank. If you're at S+ Rank, the pressure that you'll receive is also at S+ Rank."

They were about to talk more about itd specifics when a flying dagger struck Lugh.

Clang!

With his <Myriad Form Armaments> at <Sword of Extremity> form, he blocked it.

"Here I am, thinking that I could have some peaceful time.."

As he spoke, magical attacks such as Fire Pillar, Poison Spear, and the likes flew at him.

"Let me try this one."

A wall of darkness formed out of thin air. This time, Lugh didn't use the <Darkness Control>'s property to move Shadows. As he didn't have <Shadow Control>, it would've been much harder.

Though, he's now able to form this thanks to it being at LV6.

"Run!"

Seeing that their attacks didn't dk anything, they chose to run at the corridor. Suddenly, ropes made out of darkness flew at them. Even though it successfully binded 3 of them, the remaining two was able to step in the huge corridor.

"You won't be able to do anything to them there."

"Why?"

"I made it so that every step is a different space. Only when you reach his step can your attacks reach him."

"Hm.. Aria?"

"Mn?"

"Did people attack you like this too?"

"Let's see.. There's that one time when F+ Ranks tried to kidnap me, but I sent them to meet their ancestors. There's also that one time when an E Rank attacked me due to my Sword, but I also killed them."

"It's because of your disguise."

"Disguise?"

"You've set it so that no one could see both of your power, right? In the eyes of others, it looked as if you're weak. They gambled, but lost."

"I see. Disguises.."

'Xiao Song, can you fix my disguised rank at SS+?'

{Yes. Though, some might be able to see through it.}

'Then, will they be able to see through my real rank?'

{No. That is the fundamental function of [Godly Disguise], so people at the Law Realm won't be able to see through it completely.}

'I see. Please fix it at SS+ Rank.'

One by one, the aura on Lugh's body became stronger until it reached SS+ Rank.

"Aria, you too. Fix your disguise at S+ Rank. If they see through it, you can transform to your [Dragon Form]."

"Un!"

Just like Lugh, Aria's aura rose up until S+ Rank.

"S-spare me!"

"Don't kill me!"

"P-plea—Argh!"

After dealing with the 2 SS- Ranks and 1 S+ Rank, they proceeded to the corridor and took the trial.