This was definitely a sentient lifeform.

And clearly not a player. No player would talk like that unless they were completely delusional.

Derek felt a surge of excitement.

This might be an unexpected event, exactly what he had been hoping for. Whether this twelve-winged crystal was connected to the super beast remained to be seen.

He spoke up.

"Who are you?"

The twelve-winged crystal radiated boundless light and answered plainly.

"I come from the distant Divine River Galaxy. I belong to the Norvind Legion under the Supreme. I now declare to you that your galaxy will be brought under the rule of the Supreme. I grant you a choice. Submit to me and join me in conquering this galaxy, or..."

As it spoke, its light condensed into a beam and struck a distant island.

Boom!

A massive explosion shook the world. The island was instantly obliterated, a display of power far beyond anything Derek and his team could resist.

"Or I grant you equal death."

The team exchanged looks.

There was nothing to consider. After finally encountering a rare event, of course they would follow it.

Derek immediately chose submission, but an idea formed in his mind. He intended to follow this lead while also keeping the super beast in play.

"We choose to submit. But if you plan to conquer this planet first, it might not be so easy."

"Hmph."

The crystal’s voice turned cold.

"Conquering a low-level planet poses no challenge."

Hooked.

Derek suppressed his excitement and continued.

"As far as I know, this planet has a guardian. A super beast with a body comparable to a planet. Are you confident you can deal with it?"

As expected, the crystal’s aura shifted.

Without hesitation, it released a wave of energy, scanning the entire planet and nearby celestial bodies.

Nothing.

There was no planet-sized beast anywhere.

Its tone turned icy.

"Are you toying with me?"

"Absolutely not."

Derek felt a hint of disappointment. Was the super beast really just a coincidence?

"In that case..."

The crystal paused, then projected a star map into the air. It expanded its scan range, pushing outward until the surrounding star system was fully displayed.

In an instant, everything froze.

The crystal’s light trembled violently, on the verge of collapse.

Silence.

Derek’s pupils shrank to their limits. His entire team stood frozen, staring at the star map in complete shock.

At the center was the planet they stood on.

Nearby were several other planets of similar size.

And beyond that...

A massive claw.

A Cosmic Beast far larger than the sun.

To it, the sun was nothing more than a ball of fire.

And their planet...

Was being held in its claw.

Watched with casual interest.

The sheer scale was beyond terrifying.

"How is this even playable?"

Derek stood there, stunned.

They had not found the super beast.

Instead, they had found a Cosmic Beast.

Only now did he realize that Evolution Battle Royale was far more terrifying than he had ever imagined.

This was impossible.

Defeat that thing?

What a joke.

Their entire planet was no bigger than a grain of sand in its grasp. What could they possibly do?

One of the team members muttered blankly.

"What rank would that even be?"

Derek had no answer.

Beyond SSS?

From the beginning, no higher classification had ever been defined. After all, SSS already meant planetary destruction. Anything beyond that had no practical meaning for humanity.

Faced with such a horrifying sight, the twelve-winged crystal immediately turned to flee back through the spatial gateway.

But it could not escape Caelum’s grasp.

Cosmic energy descended instantly, destroying both the crystal and the entire planet. The gateway shattered in the same moment.

Derek’s vision went black.

Game over.

In that instant, he finally understood.

So all those unexplained deaths before...

This was the cause.

This Cosmic Beast had been destroying planets at will.

Caelum examined the crystal’s transplant list. At his level, ordinary traits were useless.

He needed abilities.

And they had to be worthwhile.

"Found it."

His eyes lit up.

[Consumed: 10000000000 Evolution Points]

[Transplant: Spatial Traversal]

[Hundredfold Enhancement Triggered]

[Ability upgraded to Void Sovereign]

[Void Sovereign: Ignore spatial distance and instantly reach any destination]

Spatial Traversal could only cross star systems.

Void Sovereign allowed movement across the entire universe. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The difference was obvious.

Caelum had wanted a spatial ability for a long time, but none of the Cosmic Beasts he killed had one.

Now, this crystal had delivered it directly to him.

There was no way he would let it go.

As for the Divine River Galaxy...

Caelum considered it briefly.

"First, clear out the Milky Way. After one more evolution, it won’t matter what galaxy it is. I’ll crush them all."

Space rippled.

Caelum vanished instantly.

With Void Sovereign, his speed in sweeping the galaxy increased dozens of times over. His Evolution Points surged rapidly.

[Evolution Points +45000000000]

[Evolution Points +38000000000]

[Evolution Points +50000000000]

[Evolution Points +15000000000]

Before long, every Cosmic Beast in the Milky Way was wiped out.

After destroying nearly a thousand life-bearing planets, his total Evolution Points surpassed 10 trillion.

A new prompt appeared.

[Evolution Points reached 10000000000000]

[Spend 10000000000000 Evolution Points to perform Third Evolution?]

[Upon completion, you will gain a new form and advance to Tier 4 Life]

Caelum did not evolve immediately.

Same approach as before.

Strengthen first.

A full attribute upgrade now cost 100 billion Evolution Points.

In moments, he wiped out ten life-bearing planets and gathered over 100 billion Evolution Points.

[Consumed: 100000000000 Evolution Points]

[All Attributes Enhanced +1]

[Hundredfold Enhancement Triggered]

[All Attributes Enhanced +100]

With the upgrade complete, his power surged once more.

Then he spent everything.

10 trillion Evolution Points vanished instantly.

The third evolution began.