There was a popular streamer named Axiom. He had already used all his allotted game time, and was in front of his camera, explaining the traits of various monsters. He put a hand up as he began to receive a bunch of DMs from his collaborators. "One second, chat. I’m receiving tons of DMs."

He began reading through what he was sent, and frozen. "Chat..." He stared at his camera, his prepared content completely abandoned and forgotten. "Let me pull it up on stream for you guys. Look!"

He presented the forums to his chat. They were full of countless new posts, mostly from players who were there, about the Raid that had just gone on.

Scrolling through the titles, there were things such as:

"I just got ten levels at once!"

"We just bullied a Raid Boss! We surrounded him with a thousand of us LMAO."

"Examining the power of a level 99 demon."

"My hymn to my new Emperor, Lumi."

The more Axiom scrolled, the his jaw dropped open in shock. Each title was more exaggerated than the last. Ten levels at once? Huh? "Chat, are you seeing this? Lumi just... he just led a raid on a demon. A level 99 demon! With over a thousand players!"

His chat was scrolling so fast it was completely illegible, with messages such as:

"He did it again!?"

"BRO I couldn’t get on today! I wanted to join!"

"Fuck my guild, as soon as he makes one I’m abandoning mine!"

"You guys weren’t there? Well I was~"

"Have you seen his girl though... she has crazy eyes."

"Chat." Axiom suddenly declared, making a decision. "I doubt he’d respond, but I’ll try messaging him for collab. Clearly, he’s the goat. One achievement is good luck. This many? Handling a thousand idiots?"

His chat got particularly responsive at that part.

"Idiots? Who?"

"Hey! We’re smart."

Axiom flashed a smile. "Yeah, talking about you guys."

...

Back in the sealed space...

"Squack! Squawk!" Sol began to squirm violently in Eden’s arms, making any noise it could with increasing urgency. "Chirp CHIRP!"

It took a deep breath... "Squack Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!" Its eyes were locked on Currway’s corpse with laser focus.

"Sol? What’s wrong?" Eden tried to calm his partner, but Sol wouldn’t settle. The agitation was growing. Through their bond, Eden felt something powerful. Sol had to get closer to the demon’s body.

Eden suddenly realized this had to be exactly what Lumi had told him about earlier. He didn’t quite remember the specifics, something about Sol growing stronger through absorbing evil?

He quickly began running forward.

"Hey, stop!" Tora reached out a hand, chasing him. "Where are you going?"

Eden looked back at Tora. "Just follow!"

Eden rushed past the players. "Master!" Eden called out urgently. "Something’s happening with Sol!"

Lumi heard him and moved immediately, teleporting next to Eden and Tora.

"Sol wants to get closer to the demon," Eden said quickly. "The feeling is really strong through our bond."

Lumi’s eyes widened slightly. "Of course. The evil has been defeated. Sol needs to absorb it. Teleport over!"

The two executed some continuous teleports until they were next to Currway’s large body. Hazy and Vice were already present, securing the body from any unwanted players touching it.

Sol immediately leaped from Eden’s arms.

The phoenix landed on Currway’s chest, with his small clawed feet bathing in the demon’s blood. He shuffled around, traversing parts of the demon’s large chest. He did his best to ignore the poison and fire still on Currway, and finally, positioned himself near the demon’s heart.

"Chirp." He gave a single, stern sound of acknowledgement. While staring into the demon’s body, he opened his mouth. An invisible suction began to materialize. A stream of dark energy flowed from Currway’s body into Sol’s mouth. The energy was visually akin to black smoke, with occasional flickers of red and purple mixed in.

Eden watched in awe. "What is that? Is that really how...?"

"Indeed. That’s the evil that Currway represented," Lumi explained. "Sol is an Imperial Phoenix. The death of evil nearby makes them stronger, and this is why. Though they have no need to defeat it themselves, they have to absorb the essence to claim that strength."

Through the system, Lumi could see Sol’s level rising steadily.

However, the changes were far more than merely some numbers within the system. Visibly and obvious to the naked eye, the phoenix was growing rapidly. His flesh stretched and expanded, his claws growing wider and his chest ballooning up.

His break grew out, becoming sharper and more durable. His plumage expanded, becoming more vibrant, and the aura of high-level magic began to saturate him.

Not only did magic emanate from him, but his very features were shining bright white. His body kept growing and growing.

Then something strange happened. Though Lumi had been continuously monitoring Sol’s level, it suddenly stopped, despite the absorption clearly continuing.

[Sol: Level 50]

Now, however, the phoenix slowly, yet surely, began to stop growing. This continued until finally, the glow calmed down. It left merely an ethereal aura. Dark energy kept flowing into Sol in even greater quantities. The phoenix’s body glowed brighter, surrounded by a corona of light.

Yet the level counter didn’t move.

The absorption continued for another full three minutes. By the time that Sol was done, Currway’s dead body looked no different than before.

"Woah..." Eden’s eyes shone as he looked on. Not only was he witnessing a mystical process, witnessing his partner grow stronger in real time, but he was also receiving some feedback.

He felt his body grow stronger, bigger, and somehow, his mind felt sharper. He felt an even stranger connection to the magic in the air.

The sharp difference in power gave him the illusion of being a god. It felt as if the very fabric of reality was at his command, where magic would follow his command effortless. "M-master, I’m feeling... what is this? Am I... powerful?"

Lumi understood the feeling. It was an extremely rare, yet existent phenomena. Normally, you grew stronger at a slow, steady rate. When it was bypassed, the massive difference in strength gave one illusions of grandeur.

Lumi gently patted Eden’s shoulder. He took a look at Eden’s level through the system, and immediately understood his situation.

[Eden: Level 30]

"Congratulations, Eden." Lumi replied to his disciple, calmly. He chose his language carefully to calm Eden down, grounding him in reality. "You’ve skipped a few weeks of effort." He quickly gestured towards Sol for him to look at. "Quick, thank your partner for the gift."

"F-few weeks...?" Eden repeated, slowly. He was stunned. He felt so powerful! He felt like a god. He was being told... this was merely a few weeks of progress?

"Quick, now." Lumi urged the boy. "Don’t be rude."

"O-oh, right!" That snapped Eden back into reality. He was being self-absorbed, wasn’t he? He didn’t achieve anything. It was all a gift from his partner. He faced Sol, and then suddenly gave a sharp bow. "Thank you, Sol!"

"Hahaha," Lumi lightened the atmosphere with a laugh. He gestured towards Sol, who was turning his head in confusion. "Don’t be so stiff, you’re confusing him!"

"Right..." Eden let out a shy of embarrassment, and stood back up, naturally. "Sorry, I don’t know what came over me."

"Don’t be." Lumi stopped him. "That feeling? It’s only natural."

"I see..." Eden nodded, then looked back at Sol. He felt his connection to the bird, and it felt... bloated? "Lumi, could you explain um, this? He looks so different, and... feels like he’s gonna explode."

Lumi nodded. "Of course. As you know, Imperial Phoenix’s can grow stronger through absorbing evil. There is more to it than that vague notion, but for now, what you have to understand is this. It must grow, for that is the easiest way for a little one to grow stronger. Yet, Sol’s body isn’t developed enough yet. The phoenix is still technically a hatchling. The energy is going into reserves."

"I... see." Eden nodded. He could only do his best to take it in stride. Ever day, there were countless things that were new to him. He could only do his best to not overreact over every single detail.

Feeling better than ever before, Sol let out a triumphant cry. Flames erupted around its body in a brilliant corona.

The phoenix had grown significantly, now roughly the size of a large dog. Its wings spanned nearly two meters when spread.

Sol flew back to Eden, landing on the boy’s shoulder. Eden staggered under the weight. "You’re so much heavier now!"

Sol chirped happily, nuzzling against Eden’s cheek.

The players below were pointing excitedly.

"The phoenix is glowing!"

"Did it just level up from eating the demon?"

"That’s so cool!"

Lumi faced the crowd.

The raid was over. They’d won.

Soon, it would be time for one of the most troublesome parts of the raid. More troublesome than killing the demon itself, would be managing the aftermath.