There was no way he could conclude whether those danger zones were actually being cleared by Axel Storm or by another individual. But one thing was certain. Whoever it was, whether a single individual or a coordinated group, their clearing speed was astronomical.

In the two hours and some minutes since they had been flying toward their next hunting ground, the clearer had not only eliminated three additional danger zones, but had also demonstrated a transportation speed even more unbelievable than their clearing rate itself.

The map updated in real time, and each transition from red to green occurred with alarming swiftness.

In comparison, they were moving at a speed nearly ten times faster than the golden spaceship.

It was not merely impressive.

It was unsettling.

Yet unless they encountered this person or group directly, they could not conclusively determine their identity.

Meanwhile, during the three-hour flight, many of the previously unconscious individuals aboard the ship gradually regained consciousness.

Aside from Drever, who had awakened first, Max, Draven, and Norian Storm soon joined him.

Drever quickly reunited with his father, whom he had not gotten the chance to see in a very long time. Despite loathing him for hiding after the Lunaris incident, the magnitude of how much he had missed him was far greater than the temporary hatred he had carried in his heart. That lingering resentment did not outweigh the overwhelming relief he felt now.

Max, on the other hand, was rather quiet.

He did not accept the appearance of the Vereenas as quickly as Drever had.

For the first few minutes after his eyes fluttered open, he became extremely vigilant. He did not even rise from his bed as he watched the Vereenas closely, suspecting that he had been captured and transported somewhere unknown.

Nonetheless, when he saw Drever and Norian, he relaxed slightly, though not completely.

And when Liora, the very attractive alien young lady, walked past him, he finally released most of his vigilance, momentarily dumbstruck by her beauty.

Liora’s caring and friendly attitude as she came to check up on him made his one-sided infatuation with her deepen even further. He began speaking more than he usually would, attempting to appear composed and mature.

Unlike Max, Draven did not react much to anyone around him.

The white-haired young boy sat upright on his bed and scanned the beautiful interior of the ship from time to time without pause. His gaze followed every individual who walked past him with measured vigilance and calculated awareness.

He had no relationship with any of them. Heck, he had not even seen any of them except Norian Sterling, who was currently with his son. As a result, there was no one he could question about his current situation or about the aliens roaming around freely within the ship.

His ability to read others, which he had sharpened and refined from surviving on the streets of the Deadlight District, enabled him to deduce that the aliens were friendly, or at the very least, not hostile.

It was somewhat harder to read Nox, to be honest. The black-haired Vereena was nowhere near as openly friendly as the others. When Draven met his gaze, Nox stared back with the blankest expression he had ever seen. One that even Draven, known for his cold detachment, could not decipher.

In comparison to him, the others were noticeably warmer. At least, they smiled or nodded at him when their gazes met. Though none seemed to approach him, which was for the better, as he too was not particularly skilled with conversation.

In the meantime, he searched for the presence of Marlon, who was nowhere to be seen.

He needed to ask him a lot of questions, especially about his sister and the dragon-taming aurax who had turned him into a toy during the previous battle.

Unbeknownst to the Devourer’s thoughts about him, Marlon was currently interacting with Obsidian.

Obsidian had grown slightly larger than it was the last time he had taken it out of the beast domain.

It had doubled in size. Although still not matured, the intelligence within its round eyes had become sharper and more evident. It had even begun to shed some resemblance to an eagle, far more than its previous plain and underdeveloped appearance.

Marlon checked its details.

Name: Obsidian

Race: Elemental War Eagle

Potential: SSS-rank

Current stage: F-rank

Affinities: Fire, Earth, Water, Wind

Unlocked abilities: Flight, Basic elemental strikes, dual-cast, meditation, assimilation (new)

Loyalty: 100%

Familiarity: 100%

The newly added skill was not difficult to notice.

He clicked on it and read the simple description. It stated that Obsidian could consume low-grade items. He assumed it referred to monster cores and aether crystals, since the description did not explicitly specify. Upon consumption, it could rapidly assimilate their essence, allowing it to grow stronger and eventually evolve after reaching the required threshold.

"Interesting."

He muttered to himself quietly. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Yet he was somewhat short on low-grade items at the moment. The lowest items in his possession were B-rank skill books, which he would have to discard very soon, as he had only kept them for his friends and they were no more. Aside from that, there were some B-rank monster cores he had found at the beginning of all this chaos and stored away carefully.

But none were truly suitable for immediate use.

He turned to observe Obsidian, who hovered steadily in the air in front of him, watching him in silence.

"I will get you something to test your new skill on very soon," Marlon promised with a faint smile, to which Obsidian responded with a soft chirp of agreement.

The elemental war eagle flapped its wings once, then settled comfortably on his shoulder and fell asleep. It was likely tired from flying earlier, Marlon reasoned calmly.

He held it gently and lay back on the bed before carefully adjusting it on his shoulder so it would not fall.

"How long before we arrive at our destination?"

The telepathic link with the Vereenas was still active. Orion could maintain it almost mindlessly thanks to the surge of efficiency granted by the moon, as it was still nighttime. Using it, Marlon contacted Orion.

"About half an hour..."

Orion responded almost immediately, as though he had been anticipating the question.

"We’ve already arrived at Weststone Nation, just a few moments before we reach the danger zones," he added.

He further explained that the flight had been deliberately delayed slightly because he wanted daytime to arrive. That way, their second main attack unit, Solan, would be at peak condition.

Apparently, nighttime did not only cause a dip in the strength of the solar Pathos, but it also made recovery and recuperation noticeably slower.

Marlon had no problem with that arrangement. He needed time to rest as well. He had been in the monitoring room since the flight began and had only left about an hour earlier.

His attempt to deduce the clearer’s identity through their clearing speed and the rate at which they transported themselves from one zone to another had failed completely.

He remained in contact with Orion through their telepathic communication.

He also used the opportunity to inquire whether any of them possessed low-rank items.

Thankfully, they did. Or more precisely, Liora did.

He realized he should have considered that possibility earlier, as given the nature of her power, it made sense that she would carry such items regularly.

Liora was genuinely happy to hand them over when she learned they were for Obsidian. Her human-like, pet-loving tendency compelled her to remain in his room for a few minutes, quietly hoping for Obsidian to wake from its short slumber so she could pet it before leaving.

Unfortunately, her hopes proved futile, and Marlon eventually had to politely ask her to leave.

Nevertheless, the moment she stepped out of the room, Obsidian’s eyes slowly fluttered open, locking directly onto Marlon’s.

"I knew you were awake," Marlon muttered with a faint, knowing smile.

Obsidian simply chirped in response before hopping lightly from his shoulder and hovering in the air above him.

Its round eyes shifted toward the small pile of differently colored low-rank crystals Liora had left behind. The crystals were all elemental crystals, a category of item that had never existed in Arden.

There were mainly four colors present. Orange represented the fire element, blue represented water, brown symbolized earth, and gray represented air. Although they were quite small, each crystal emitted a gentle luster that clearly distinguished them from ordinary stones.

Obsidian’s gaze scanned across all of them before settling more intently on the orange-colored one.

Marlon followed its line of sight and then tossed one toward it.

Obsidian caught it neatly with its beak and, without hesitation, swallowed it whole.

Instantly, its body began to emit a faint orange, misty aura. The energy formed a thin, cloudy layer around its body and released a subtle wave of warmth into the room.

A holographic window materialized in front of Marlon, its translucent surface glowing faintly in the dim room.

[ Your pet is assimilating E-rank Fire Elemental Crystal at 5x speed ]

[ Potency of skill: Fire, is increasing speedily ]

[ Your pet power is increasing ]

Seeing this, he immediately sent Obsidian back into the beast domain, along with a few additional fire elemental crystals for it to continue absorbing without interruption.