Victor suddenly felt his consciousness being pulled away.

Eleanor stared at the gigantic beast that had emerged from the crack, her face grim.

’Why is he spacing out all of a sudden?’ she frowned, noticing Victor staring listlessly into the sky. She didn’t have time to snap him out of it—without hesitation, she used the special boost of the carriage to increase its speed.

While Eleanor focused on escaping, Victor’s consciousness drifted into a different space.

"Where the hell am I?" Victor muttered, frowning as he looked around. The entire place was pitch-black, an endless void of darkness. One moment he had been in the carriage, and now he was here.

"Is this my mind space?" Victor mumbled as he scanned his surroundings.

Pop.

A soft popping sound echoed, and suddenly, a small object appeared before him.

"What the... isn’t this the egg I got from the system?" Victor’s eyes widened in shock. Floating before him was a four-meter-tall egg glowing brilliantly, with electric arcs dancing around it and illuminating the entire void. It was the egg he had received from the system after completing a mission.

Instinctively, his hand reached forward to touch it. The moment his fingers brushed against the egg—

Woosh.

It shot away into the distance, blazing with even brighter golden light while stronger lightning crackled around it, instantly engulfing the entire space.

Tremble.

The void itself began to shake violently.

"What the hell is happening?" Victor cursed, his eyes widening in disbelief at what unfolded next.

The egg began to crack, and violent purple lightning burst out from within it.

ROAR!

[Ding Dong]

[You have successfully hatched the spirit of the legendary beast Jormungandr]

[The body has been completely destroyed and only the soul remains]

[Soul of Jormungandr is searching for a vessel]

"Holy..." Victor’s jaw hung open as he looked at the thousand-meter-long white serpent spirit crackling with lightning. A chill ran down his spine as the eye, as large as an eight-story building, stared directly at him. He swallowed hard, feeling like nothing more than an ant standing before a dragon.

[Soul Lightning Armor has detected the presence of a Mythical Lightning Spirit]

Rumble.

The armor which he had stored away appeared before the serpent. It then plunged directly into the armor.

[Mythical Soul and Soul Weapon are attempting to establish a connection]

<Connection Established: 99.29%>

<Connection Established: 99.65%>

<Connection Established: 99.83%>

<Connection Established: 99.99%>

�

<Tier 4 beast detected nearby>

<Tier 4 beast will be used as fuel>

------

"Faster, it’s closing in on us!" Amber said anxiously to Eleanor, who was steering the carriage with a pale face as the beasts chased them and rapidly closed the distance.

Amber and Eleanor watched as the beasts wantonly attacked civilians and soldiers alike. Their expressions remained cold and unchanged, even as people were being slaughtered.

’They can only blame themselves for being weak,’ Eleanor thought indifferently. She had witnessed countless such scenes and had long since grown numb to them. Of course, if the situation allowed it, she would help—but right now, even she could die if she made a single mistake.

"What’s going on with him?" Amber muttered with a frown. She could sense that Victor had fallen into some kind of temporary coma. Just as she was trying to figure it out, her eyes widened when the SS-rank beast suddenly teleported in front of their carriage.

ROAR!

Bang!

The monster’s claws slashed directly at the carriage, instantly tearing away the rooftop.

"Damn it!" Eleanor cursed upon seeing this.

Thud!

The winged beast landed heavily only a short distance away from them, glaring at the group with murderous intent.

Just as all of them thought it was over, both the humans and the beast suddenly sensed a wave of danger. Their heads snapped in the same direction—toward Victor.

"What... what is this feeling coming from him?" Eleanor’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Victor, whose body was suddenly enveloped in a faint white glow.

Roar!

For the first time, the beast felt a sense of danger—something that should have been impossible, as it was far stronger than a mere Tier 1.

ROAR!

The winged beast grew even more panicked as it sensed that the danger was directed straight at it. Every instinct screamed at it to flee.

"!!!" Amber’s eyes widened in disbelief as a crimson beam of light shot out from Victor and struck the fleeing beasts including the Tier 4 one. In an instant, the beast vanished from sight.

"What the hell... where did it go?" Eleanor muttered as she hastily cast a detection spell, scanning the surroundings—only to find no trace of it anywhere. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

-------

Inside Victor’s mind space, Victor, who had just seen the notification, was dumbfounded.

ROAR!

Victor’s eyes shrank when he saw the winged beast appear in his mind space, radiating overwhelming killing intent. The moment it spotted him, it lunged forward like a mindless monster.

’Damn it, move, body!’ Victor gritted his teeth as he found himself frozen stiff under the suffocating pressure.

Woosh!

ROAR!

Before the beast could reach him, the giant serpent reemerged and swallowed it whole. The monster shrieked in agony as it struggled, but within minutes, its entire form was absorbed into the serpent.

"Huh... what?" Victor was dumbfounded when he saw the Tier 4 beast so easily devoured by the spirit of Jormungandr. "As expected of a Mythical beast. Even as a spirit, it’s in a league of its own."

Before he could even blink, he was hurled out of the mind space.

-------

Outside, Victor’s body, which had been in a temporary coma, twitched. His eyelids fluttered, and he slowly blinked as he observed his surroundings.

"I’m... back? What the hell just happened?" Victor mumbled. He frowned when he realized he was lying on the ground amid debris. The last thing he remembered before his consciousness slipped into the mind space was trying to escape with the girls.

"Victor, what the heck did you just do?!" a feminine voice snapped from beside him.

Victor turned his head and saw Amber and Eleanor staring at him wide-eyed, their mouths slightly agape.