Chapter 236

"Huff.... Haaaa.... Haaaa.... Argh...."

Bruce could be seen panting exasperatedly, his chest heaving with every ragged breath.

The sickening sound of bones cracking echoed through the space, followed immediately by a muffled grunt of pain from the werewolf.

The fractured bones of his right arm, which he had sacrificed to deliver that final, powerful strike, could be seen shifting back into their proper alignment.

Once he had finished resetting the bone, he stared down at the torn blood vessels and mangled skin of his hand with a stoic, detached expression.

Slowly, the monstrous features of his werewolf form began to recede, melting away as he reverted to his human state.

The entire cavern fell into a heavy, expectant silence.

The remaining Aspirants looked back and forth between Bruce and the corpse of the Minotaur, which lay buried under a mound of jagged rubble.

Soon enough, the transformation was complete.

Bruce stood—or rather, knelt—in his human form once more.

His pants were stretched to the absolute limit and shredded at the hems.

His torso was marred with fresh, shallow wounds that dripped crimson onto the stone.

His right arm lay limp at his side while he remained on the earth, anchored by sheer exhaustion.

He could barely move a muscle as he stared blankly ahead.

Inwardly, Ray was frantically checking the system interface, his eyes locked onto the energy tab.

[Energy: 20/170]

«Close one,» Ray whispered in the mindspace.

He honestly didn’t know what hitting zero energy points would entail.

Would he lose all bodily functions?

He knew that being transformed meant a drain to zero would force him back into human skin, but was that the extent of the risk?

Was that really all?

He had no definitive answer, and the uncertainty gnawed at him.

"We—we—we actually did it?!" Van exclaimed, his voice trembling with a mix of relief and disbelief.

He stared at the fallen Minotaur for several seconds, half-expecting the beast to spring back to its feet and resume its path of destruction.

But the monster remained still, lying in a widening pool of its own dark blood.

Unmoving.

Chloe let out a shaky, jagged breath as tears of joy began to stream down her cheeks.

"We—we did it? We actually survived? Good gracious... I thought we were going to die."

"Wrong," Bruce snarled, his head snapping up to glare in the girl’s direction. "I did it. Not ’we.’"

Everyone froze, staring at him with stunned expressions.

Was he really about to claim the entire victory for himself after everything they had been through?

Felix, meanwhile, had already shuffled back to his feet.

His partial transformation faded as he rushed toward the carcass of the beast.

Along the way, he snatched up a shard of Trish’s broken sword and slid on his knees toward the corpse.

Within a second, he was expertly dissecting the monster while the others were occupied with their banter.

Unfortunately, Bruce was physically unable to lift a limb, let alone stand.

Instead, he simply sat there, projecting a menacing aura and glaring at anyone who caught his eye.

Caster stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a conflicted expression darkening his features. ’Now... what exactly do I do about this situation?’

Kai cast a fearful, sidelong glance toward the Aspirant. ’Oh boy. This is going to be a massive hassle.’

The complex contraption on Van’s hands had long since crumbled, dissolving into dozens of tiny mechanical spiders that filtered back into the small compartment of his bracelet.

Swiftly, he turned his attention to the device the Corps had provided, tapping away at the interface with a focused, intense look.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

Trish strode forward.

After a few moments, she stood directly before the werewolf, staring down at him for several long seconds.

Bruce met her gaze with an icy stare of his own.

"What?!"

Trish continued to watch him for a few more beats before silently turning away, retreating from the werewolf without a word.

’What a weird human. Couldn’t even offer a hand to help me up,’ Bruce fumed inwardly.

«Now, will you get out of the chair before you do something truly stupid? I need to heal this body,» Ray shouted from the mindspace.

Bruce remained silent for several seconds before letting out a mental snort.

’Fine. Here. Come take your damn, useless chair. I don’t need it anymore,’ he spat, standing up within the mental realm and walking away from the throne.

Ray heaved a massive sigh of relief.

He rushed toward the seat with blazing speed, terrified that the werewolf might change his mind at the very last second.

He sat on the warm seat, a wave of relief washing over his consciousness.

Back in the physical world, the boy’s eyes suddenly shifted, the piercing black fading back into their familiar, dull gray hue.

Van lifted his head from his bracelet, glancing in Ray’s direction.

As he looked at his friend, a sense of warmth and genuine recognition crept back into the boy’s heart.

"Ra—Ray? You—you’re the one?"

Ray blinked for a few seconds before turning his head in the direction of where his friends were gathered.

Every single one of them—except Felix, of course—was staring at him with an apprehensive, uncertain look on their faces.

He simply beamed softly before nodding.

"Yeah. It’s me. Who else would it be?" He chuckled loudly, the sound helping to break the lingering tension.

Kai, Van, and Chloe breathed a collective sigh of relief at that confirmation.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Ray scrolled through his system screen and selected a specific skill.

[Celestial Healing]

Immediately, his entire body lit up softly with a ghostly white glow.

It caught the attention of everyone present, as the boy looked as if a miniature star were burning from within his chest.

The light spread rapidly through every pore in his body.

Under the radiance, his right arm began to move.

The torn muscles around the limb stitched themselves back into place with supernatural efficiency.

The jagged injuries on his body healed at a stunning rate, and the heavy exhaustion washing over him was reduced to a far more bearable extent.

He curled his fingers into a fist a few times, feeling the strength and flexibility return to his right arm.

He heaved a deep sigh of relief.

With a heavy grimace, he pushed himself back to his feet, though he still stood with a bit of a stagger.

Caster and Trish kept their eyes fixed heavily on him, refusing to look away for even a second.

Kai was busy peeping over Van’s shoulders, wondering what he was doing on his device.

Chloe, on the other hand, was looking in Felix’s direction as he continued to dissect the beast, rummaging through the gore.

A minute later, the werewolf was finished.

He rose from the carcass with dark blood staining his hands heavily.

For some reason, he remained motionless, standing there as if he were stunned or caught in a trance.

"Hey, pervert! What’s wrong?!" Chloe shouted.

The shout drew everyone’s attention toward Felix.

They saw him standing there, blood dripping from his fingers—obviously the beast’s ichor—but he didn’t move an inch.

The sight worried them all, and they immediately stood on guard, wondering if another hidden threat was lurking in the shadows.

Slowly, Felix turned around.

His eyes were wide, and his hands were squeezed softly as if he were clutching something incredibly precious.

He wore a stupefied look on his face.

"Er... Felix? What’s going on? Why are you so stiff?" Ray questioned with a raised brow.

He was currently trying his best to block out the torrential wave of system messages flooding his vision.

Finally, Felix uncurled his hands to reveal what he had found.

"Guys... when the hell did beasts have two cores?!" he questioned, presenting two identical beast cores.

They gleamed with immense, concentrated energy—shining almost as brightly as a phone flashlight in the dim cavern.