After the two left, Daniel gave a mocking sneer. Those two, especially the Grand Minister, could clearly assess the situation.

They knew they couldn't match him, so they backed off and chose not to engage.

Or could there be another reason? He doubted it was just because they were afraid of him; there could be a much bigger reason.

"If I'm not mistaken, Elisira said the empire can't attack the tree." He muttered to himself.

No change could be seen in his posture, but his mind was not calm. Rather, it was tirelessly piecing together the fragments he had gathered during this time.

Fragments that, although each seemed meaningless on their own, now together… formed a concerning picture.

So the reason these two didn't dare attack him could be related, apart from concern about the depth of his power, to the fact that they cannot attack the cursed tree?

His gaze fell on the tree.

"The Divine Prophet…"

Elisira's voice, the hesitation in her tone, and those short pauses between her words were still alive in Daniel's mind.

"The Holy Empire…"

An organized structure, a central power, but not independent; more like an arm carrying out an order.

"The tree…"

Not just a creature, not just an energy source… but something older, something that existed even before the empire itself.

No one knows what this cursed tree is or what purpose it serves, what abilities it has, or why it is dangerous to the world.

Yet they want to obey the order and destroy it.

He had told those players before that perhaps the reason this world was destroyed was because they destroyed this tree, a tree that might have been a chance for their salvation.

He sensed no evil from this tree. In fact, on the contrary, it gave him a feeling of closeness and peace, as if he was next to something that was of his own kind.

He had examined this tree over and over, and each time he became more sure that this tree was not an evil thing. In fact, this tree only devours the life force of the dead and has nothing to do with the living.

This alone could be another sign.

Daniel took a quiet breath and turned his mind toward the Divine Prophet.

A woman, in a sealed temple, a voice claimed to come directly from the "gods."

But here, the first doubt formed.

"If she really speaks with the gods, then surely she must have received a solution or help against the beasts of corruption by now, but it doesn't seem that way."

There was no definitive answer to this, only probabilities to go by, but none of these probabilities were interesting either.

"Either she can't…"

"Or that voice… is not what they think it is."

And this possibility was the most dangerous of all.

"If that voice is wrong, this entire world is operating based on a lie."

His face remained indifferent, but his mind was not calm. What if that Divine Prophet is not really an intermediary between the gods and mortals, but actually belongs to the forces of corruption?

This could also be the reason this world fell so easily, and two continents have already been destroyed.

This was a matter that could truly be terrifying for the people of this world. A matter that, if true, could cause the collapse of everything.

"It's not like I can make a decision without any evidence." This matter didn't really concern him, and he was just curious.

Daniel raised his gaze and this time truly looked at the tree.

Roots that had twisted across the ground, branches that had grown unnaturally, and that fruit… which pulsed like a living heart with a specific rhythm.

Could this tree be a weapon? He wasn't sure about this, and in fact he doubted it, but it didn't seem impossible.

Of course, not a weapon that could fight the beasts of corruption, but rather a weapon with which a hero could save the world.

"If this reasoning is correct, then that Divine Prophet wants to destroy it so that no one can save the world."

"But if this is a weapon, who made it?"

This was not something that came into existence naturally; it was clearly designed.

Though guessing this wasn't hard. It could be the work of this world's will itself, or of gods who truly wanted to save this world.

Daniel closed his eyes quietly.

"Let's see how entertaining this world can be." All the tower floors he had conquered so far had very important secrets, well, except for the first floor perhaps.

On the second floor, he was able to see the Church of Eternity with his own eyes, saw a real god and was even acknowledged by him, and in the end, gained leadership of the entire religion of Eternity.

On the third floor, he learned about the power of faith and understood the true nature of his most powerful skill, Fallen Will, and gained the experience of fighting a god.

He wanted to know what he was going to face on this floor.

Then his focus turned inward. The energies began to move.

Naturally, now that he had free time again, the best thing to do was to try to complete his technique.

Combining them was not simple. He had tried many times and failed many times.

But now progress was clear. The flows connected more smoothly.

The resistances had lessened, and a structure was taking shape.

Daniel clearly understood the reason. His bloodline, by itself, was a raw source of power. His race determined the structure and capacity of that power.

But if these two were properly combined, he wouldn't just become stronger.

"I can rewrite my limits."

This was no longer just an upgrade. This was a change of foundation.

By combining them, he could redesign the energy structure of his body, so that it was no longer limited by the natural laws of his race.

He would gain the ability to absorb and convert incompatible energies into divine power. This was an idea that came to his mind after seeing the abilities of the cursed tree.

If he could create a new identity by combining his bloodline and his race, and rewrite his racial limitations, perhaps he could truly do this.

Of course, it's not easy, and there is more than a 90% chance of failure, especially because he wasn't sure at all that his bloodline could help him rewrite his racial limitations.

But for now, he hadn't even been able to combine them completely. The cursed tree had helped him a lot, but it still wasn't enough.

Something still destabilized the structure at the last moment.

He still hadn't been able to fix this flaw to create a technique that could combine the two.

"What do you say, will you help me again?" He looked at the tree and asked with a smile.

But unfortunately, no answer came. And just as he was about to give up and go back to completing his goal, he suddenly felt two external presences.

His eyes opened.

This time, they weren't hidden, and their pressure was direct.

The ground beneath their feet reacted, the soil compressed slightly, and the air around became heavier.

In the distance, two people were slowly approaching, but there was something strange. They were not together.

Their rhythm of movement was different, and their auras were incompatible, as if they had met on the way, not that they were together from the start.

But they had one thing in common: the level of their power, and it was not ordinary.

Daniel, as soon as he sensed them, measured them in his mind.

If he measured by the standards of his own world—

"Half Step S Rank."

They hadn't yet reached S-rank, but they were not far off. In fact, both of them were more powerful than Jason and Lana.

Daniel stared at them with the same indifference.

And at a distance where their faces were not yet clearly visible, one of them, with a tone that held genuine interest, said,

"So… you're the one who caused all this uproar."

Daniel smiled.

And without taking his gaze off them, very quietly, to the tree behind him, he said,

"…Finally, your next meal has arrived."