Immediately after receiving the reward, a new panel appeared before Leon.

[Berserk (Forbidden Skill): Channel your entire power into your soul, doubling your combat power for three seconds. Once the duration ends, you will immediately lose consciousness.]

"HOLY SHIT."

Even Leon completely lost his composure after reading it.

Doubling combat power. Not increasing strength slightly or boosting one of his stats. Doubling everything.

Every single aspect of his combat power would double instantly for three whole seconds.

Three seconds might sound short. But in battle between powerful players or monsters, three seconds was enough to decide everything. Especially for Leon.

Someone with his speed and destructive skills could completely annihilate opponents during such a short window.

The drawback was obviously terrifying.

If Leon failed to defeat his opponent during those three seconds, he would instantly pass out afterward.

And against enemies, passing out basically meant death.

Still... The power of the skill was so monstrous that Leon honestly felt the drawback was justified.

If he had possessed this skill while fighting the [Forsaken King], perhaps things would have gone very differently.

Maybe he would not even have needed [Oblivion Meteor].

Or maybe he still would have. The king had been absurdly powerful after all so Leon didn’t think he’d win in only three seconds.

But regardless, Leon understood one thing immediately: this skill would become one of his greatest trump cards.

A terrifying final move reserved for situations where he absolutely needed overwhelming power.

And finally... Leon moved toward the third reward.

The others nearby had already finished checking their first two rewards and were now waiting.

"I think it only unlocks once everyone finishes checking the previous rewards," Violet explained calmly.

And indeed, the moment Leon finished viewing [Berserk], the final panel appeared before all five of them simultaneously.

[Reward #3: You have obtained the privilege to enter the "River of Souls." It is finally time to attempt breaking the shackles placed upon your souls.]

The moment the message appeared...

Fwoosh!

A massive blue flash erupted in the middle of the [Colosseum of Ascension].

The light became so bright that the five players instinctively shielded their eyes for a moment.

And once the glow faded... A gigantic gate had appeared before them.

The gate looked ancient beyond belief, covered in glowing blue markings and massive chains made out of transparent energy.

And beyond the gate, they could see it. A gigantic river stretching endlessly into the distance.

The river itself looked completely unnatural.

It was made out of both darkness and light simultaneously, the two forces flowing together endlessly like opposites that somehow coexisted.

"What the hell is that..." Godrick muttered while staring blankly.

"I... don’t like this place," Oasis whispered nervously.

Even Alicar looked unusually serious. The pressure coming from the river was overwhelming.

It did not feel evil. But it felt ancient. Far older than anything they had ever encountered before.

Perhaps even older than the gods.

Even Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly while observing it carefully.

This place was different. Completely different from everything else they had seen until now.

And considering it was the final reward of this God-Rank assessment... It was obviously extremely important.

"It mentioned breaking shackles on our souls..." Alicar muttered quietly.

"So what do we do?" Godrick crossed his arms while looking toward the gate. "Do we just walk in?"

"I don’t think we really have another option," Alicar replied with a shrug.

"Oh gods..." Oasis hugged herself slightly. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

"Relax," Violet said while trying to reassure her. "I doubt this is dangerous. It’s supposed to be a reward after all."

Meanwhile, Leon barely paid attention to their conversation anymore. Instead, his thoughts were elsewhere entirely.

Because now did he wanted to check something important: the drops from the [Forsaken Ghoul] and the [Forsaken King].

He had not even checked what items they dropped yet because everything afterward had happened too quickly.

So while the others kept staring nervously at the gate leading toward the [River of Souls], Leon quietly opened his status panel instead.

Leon immediately opened the panels showing the items dropped by the [Forsaken Ghoul] and the [Forsaken King], his eyes quickly scanning through everything while the others nearby were still discussing the strange gate leading toward the [River of Souls].

And the moment he saw the rewards... A satisfied grin slowly appeared on his face.

---

[Forsaken Ghoul Essence: Consuming will increase Agility by 1,700 and Strength by 1,500.]

[Forsaken King Essence: Consuming will increase Strength by 7,000, Constitution by 5,000, Agility by 5,000 and Spirit by 3,000.]

[Sub-Talent Scrolls: King of Darkness (S-Level), Monarch of Darkness (SS-Level)]

[Forsaken Ghoul Claws (Ancient): Can be used to craft extremely sharp weapons.]

[Forsaken King Crown (Ascendant): You cannot wear this item.]

[Forsaken King Armor (Ascendant): This darkness seems to reject you for some strange reason.]

[Skill Book: Shadow Bullets (Ascendant)]

---

"Nice..." Leon honestly could not hide how pleased he was, ’Though I didn’t get a trophy for the ghoul or the king.’

The stat essences alone were already absurdly valuable, especially the [Forsaken King Essence], but the true treasures were obviously the skill book and the SS-Level sub-talent scroll.

Even Leon, who had returned from the future and possessed knowledge most players would never dream of having, understood how ridiculous such a thing was.

And then there was [Shadow Bullets]. The exact same skill the [Forsaken King] had used against him.

Leon still remembered the countless dark projectiles filling the throne room from every direction, each one carrying enough destructive power to instantly kill most monsters in the city.

If not for the blessing granted by the [Divine Armor], Leon genuinely would have died instantly against that attack.

Which made obtaining the skill himself even more satisfying.

Still... Before learning it, Leon focused on the strange items dropped by the king.

More specifically, the crown. And the armor.

Both were ascendant-rank equipment, meaning they should have been extraordinarily powerful.

Yet their descriptions were strange. Almost as if the items themselves rejected Leon.

Curious, he immediately summoned both items into his hands.

The crown appeared first, made out of dark metal covered in strange runes that constantly shifted and moved across its surface like living shadows.

Then the armor appeared. Heavy. Dark. Covered in ancient patterns resembling the tendrils Leon had seen inside the fog surrounding the city.

And the very instant Leon touched them...

BOOM!

The two items exploded violently. Dark fragments scattered everywhere before instantly dissolving into particles.

Leon blinked blankly, "...Dude."

Then panels immediately appeared afterward.

Ding!

[The "Forsaken King Crown" and "Forsaken King Armor" have been destroyed.]