More than twenty gazes snapped onto Raine at the same time.
The geniuses from the upper-tier races looked stunned at first—but that quickly turned into undisguised contempt and mocking amusement.
In their eyes, Raine was nothing more than a little insect baring its fangs.
"An ant that doesn't know death!"
"Daring to spew such nonsense in front of the honored lords! Do you think this is your Iron Dragon Fortress, where you can run wild?!"
The Tempest Blackhawk roared, gathering power for a lethal strike.
Raine acted as if he hadn't heard a word. He calmly adjusted Arlis's position on the griffin's back.
"I was just thinking hunting ordinary trash was getting a little boring," Raine said, his voice clearly reaching every hunter in the encirclement.
"I was worried I couldn't find prey worth my time—yet you deliver yourselves to my doorstep."
"If I slaughter you beasts and those so-called 'geniuses,' the harvest should be… quite abundant."
The moment those words landed, all the alien-race prodigies froze, as if they couldn't believe what they'd just heard.
Surrounded by a group of Master-rank lords—and even top geniuses from upper-tier alien races—this human was still talking big?
Even the four alien beasts trapping him showed an almost human sense of absurdity in their eyes.
They'd heard this human was arrogant, but they never imagined arrogance to this extent.
Was he really throwing away his life just for pride and some so-called backbone?
Ridiculous.
"I'm genuinely curious," a blackwater clan prodigy sneered. "Who gave you this confidence?"
At that moment, the lightning around Bruce flared brighter, more dazzling.
He didn't want to waste another second on an ant.
"About to die, and you're still mouthing off!"
The Shadowvenom Spider was the first to lose patience, spewing venom and webbing.
Opportunities like this—to show off in front of upper-tier alien races—didn't come often!
"I'd like to see what an Elite-rank ant thinks it can do to kill us!"
The Twin-Headed Lion roared, its frost-and-flame breath surging even more violently.
At that critical instant, Raine's eyes sharpened like blades.
"System! Spend bloodstones—temporary advancement to Expert rank!"
Raine barked inwardly. On the system panel, the bloodstone number plummeted in a frenzy.
[Ding! Consumed 8,813 bloodstones. Temporarily increased rank to Expert Lv.9!]
[Duration: 1 hour!]
WOOOOOM—!!!
A vast aura erupted from Raine's body!
Expert rank—the level of Instructor Black Falcon—an existence Raine had once looked up to from afar.
But as Raine swept his gaze across all the alien races surrounding him, he only felt… still unbearably small!
Keep leveling up!
"System, temporary advancement to Master rank!"
[Ding! Further deducted 27,261 bloodstones. Temporarily increased to Master Lv.9!]
[Duration: 1 hour!]
Dark-gold Obsidian Golem Sigils flowed wildly across his skin, releasing a suffocating, crushing pressure!
The Blackglow War Spear in his hand blazed with black radiance, its edge extending a full meter, devouring the air.
The Infernal Griffin beneath him swelled in size instantly!
Its form became far more solid. Flame patterns ran through the gaps of its scales, almost as if they were about to ignite, a ferocious aura surging into the sky as its presence reached the peak of Master rank!
The Infernal Griffin threw back its head and roared, then beat its wings violently!
BOOM!
The sealing webbing and the closing frost-and-flame breath were forcibly blasted apart by sheer brute force!
"What?!"
"How… how is this possible?!"
Every trace of mockery on the alien races' faces was instantly replaced by disbelief!
They sensed it with absolute clarity: the human they'd considered an ant just a heartbeat ago was climbing ranks in rapid succession.
First, he surged into Expert… then immediately stepped into the realm of Master!
And not the shaky aura of someone newly entered—his dense presence was even pressing toward Grandmaster.
This shattered everything they understood!
Temporarily crossing a single major rank was already unimaginable—yet this was two major ranks in one leap…
A myth.
"Is this guy even human? He's a monster!"
"Did he hide his strength? But it doesn't look like it…"
"Forbidden art?!"
"Impossible—he could drain himself dry and still never pay the cost to reach Master!"
The young geniuses exchanged looks, utterly baffled by the scene.
But Raine had no time to care about their confusion.
"Go!"
With a low roar, Raine urged the ferocious Infernal Griffin forward, launching the charge himself!
His target was the first to strike—
Shadowvenom Spider!
The Infernal Griffin, wrapped in hellfire, slammed into it like a falling meteor!
Shadowvenom Spider let out a terrified hiss, spewing venom and webs.
At the same time, the eye-like patterns on its carapace flared, unleashing a mental shockwave.
But in the face of absolute power and speed, such struggles were meaningless!
Raine hurled the Blackglow War Spear with one hand.
It became a bolt of black lightning, crashing into Shadowvenom Spider's head!
PSSHHK!
The spearhead plunged in all the way to the shaft!
Violent power detonated inside the Shadowvenom Spider's body!
"SSSS—!!"
A shriek of agony tore through the forest.
The spider's massive body convulsed violently. Its eight long legs twitched helplessly a few times—then it crashed to the ground!
[Killed Master-rank Shadowvenom Spider. Bloodstone +9,580!]
A one-shot kill on a Master-rank beast!
The battlefield went deathly silent.
Only the rush of air from the Infernal Griffin's wings remained—along with the heart-crushing, vast pressure radiating from Raine.
Grrr… grrr…!
SKREEE—!
Tempest Blackhawk, Twin-Headed Lion, and the berserk gorilla snapped out of their shock.
Fortune lay in danger—this was a perfect chance to prove their worth!
Although Raine had killed a Master in one blow, the alien races all believed this was his limit.
After all, a Master rank reached through a forbidden method—how much power could it truly exert?
The Blackhawk beat its wings furiously.
Countless cyan wind blades surged toward Raine and the Infernal Griffin like a storm!
At the same time, its massive body followed close behind, talons aimed straight for Raine's head!
The black gorilla let out an earth-shaking roar.
Its hill-sized body burst with terrifying explosive power, leaping hundreds of meters into the air.
Its giant fists—like two mountain peaks—smashed down toward Raine!
"ROAR—!"
The Twin-Headed Lion's two heads howled together.
Frost and flame intertwined into a spiraling pillar of light, sealing off Raine's retreat.
In the distance—
Bruce's lightning exploded outward, killing intent condensing into substance.
He became a streak of silver lightning and lunged straight at Raine!
First lesson of the battlefield: never underestimate your enemy.
He would personally end this human variable.
Attacks surged in from all directions.
Wind blades, crushing fists, frost-and-flame breath, a lightning thrust—
Every strike was enough to heavily wound—or outright kill—a Master-rank powerhouse!
Raine's mind raced, instantly mapping the trajectories, intensities, and gaps.
"Infernal Skyburn! Sacred Gale!"
His thoughts flashed as he drew upon the power of his two contracted beasts—
fusing their core strength into his own combat system!
A dark-red fireball condensed in his left palm.
When he thrust his hand forward, it transformed into a shrieking Infernal Griffin phantom that slammed into the Blackhawk's storm of wind blades!
With his right hand, two fingers joined like a blade—he sliced through the air.
A golden wind blade imbued with sacred properties tore the void, meeting the frost-and-flame breath head-on!
At the same time, he drove the Infernal Griffin into a violent sidestep, narrowly dodging the berserk gorilla's mountain-crushing blow.
BOOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOM—!!!
The griffin phantom collided with the blade storm, exploding into a sky of sparks!
The golden wind blade clashed with the frost-and-flame breath, releasing a piercing screech as chaotic energy surged outward!
Raine had successfully dissolved the pincer from both sides—
But Bruce's lightning-fast thrust had already arrived right in front of him!
A fist wrapped in annihilating thunder expanded rapidly in Raine's vision.
Damn it—too late to dodge!