Daniel glanced at the Sky Titan, the gigantic bird still flying in the sky, occasionally casting mocking looks at the two of them.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and appeared in the air.
"What?" William was stunned at the sight, for a moment feeling like he was seeing wrong.
This man was flying? But how? Why did it look like the restrictions didn’t affect him at all?
He had thought, like himself, that this masked man could only leap long distances and didn’t actually have the ability to fly. So all this time he had been deceived?
In reality, Daniel had never lost his ability to fly. It had only been limited—he couldn’t go higher than a certain point, and he couldn’t use much speed while flying.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t fly. From the very start, the only reason he hadn’t shown his flight ability was because he was being cautious around William.
For some reason, William gave him a strange feeling. Every time he spoke with him, he felt like he was talking to a very powerful and well-known Expert.
Yet William was clearly young, so where did that mature and superior aura come from? All of this had made Daniel wary of him.
But now, because he was cornered by this Sky Titan, Daniel had grown somewhat irritated. Even without his skills, that didn’t mean any winged insect could stand in front of him.
The important point here was that he didn’t really know how powerful he currently was. All of his guesses were just guesses.
Still, he had no doubt that below Rank S, finding an opponent for him was difficult, maybe even impossible. This wasn’t arrogance—it was fact.
His sword shone in his hands. The aura of death suddenly filled the entire atmosphere, and even the Sky Titan felt fear and death pressing down on it.
For a brief moment, it felt like their roles had switched—no longer the hunter, it had become the prey.
"Playtime’s over. It’s time for this fight to end," Daniel said coldly before swinging his sword.
The blade surged forward, empowered with death and fused with sword aura. The beast tried to dodge, but it was completely useless.
Daniel had already created four separate mana layers around them, forming a cage. It also blocked any outside observation.
In other words, William had no idea what was happening inside.
The Sky Titan let out a horrifying scream and activated all of its defensive skills, wrapping its wings tightly around its body to protect itself.
But the outcome had already been decided... the sword pierced through its wings and then split its body in two.
The giant bird let out one last screech before its terrifying eyes slowly dimmed and closed forever.
"Pathetic." Daniel smirked with ridicule. The feeling of no longer restraining himself was incredible.
At the same time, he was a little surprised by his own power. He hadn’t expected his sword strike to be that strong. That single blow had killed a Half Step S Rank.
Granted, the beast was already heavily wounded from his and William’s earlier attacks, but the fact that it could still be finished with just one strike showed how absurdly and unreasonably powerful Daniel himself had become.
"Maybe defeating an S Rank isn’t impossible after all," he muttered. Until this moment, he thought there was no way he could beat an S Rank in his current condition.
But now, his thoughts had changed. With [Apocalypse], there was a good chance he could heavily wound one.
Killing one? Probably not yet. But Daniel already had plans.
He had ideas on how to evolve [Apocalypse], and once those ideas worked, with the new skill that would be created, killing even an S Rank might not be impossible.
"With my current power, I’m beyond the young generation. Honestly, I’m already standing on the line between the strongest of the young and the strongest of the previous generation." A smile formed on his face.
The strongest of the previous generation were currently the S Rank powerhouses, like Leia’s father and the leaders of other powerful guilds.
Considering Daniel’s current strength, he was already beyond the young generation, because even the greatest genius of the young probably couldn’t kill a Half Step S Rank this easily, right?
He glanced at the corpse of the gigantic bird in front of him and set those thoughts aside for now. Without hesitation, he activated Everlasting Physique.
His stomach suddenly turned into a devouring black hole, swallowing the Sky Titan’s entire body in one move. As it was consumed, a notification appeared in front of him.
[ Your physical strength has increased significantly ]
The only reason he hadn’t turned this bird into one of the Fallen was, first, because it would be too noisy, and second, because for now, he wanted to improve his physical strength to stand on equal ground with S Ranks.
If he wanted to find his father and learn what really happened to him, his personal strength had to be the highest priority.
Of course, that didn’t mean he would completely ignore the Fallen. After all, they were his personal army and extra lives. Naturally, he wouldn’t forget about them.
Even more importantly, after reaching Rank A, his limit of Fallen had increased from 300 to 1000.
He needed to find a place to fill that limit. The more Fallen, the more extra lives—and the more places he could use them.
Then he dissolved the mana layers and calmly landed on the bridge.
"You killed it?" William asked with a strangely calm face, though his tone carried an odd weight. He saw no scratches at all on the masked man.
"I killed it." Daniel nodded.
"Then let’s go." William turned and continued walking. Surprisingly, he didn’t ask any questions, didn’t show any curiosity. Even Daniel found it strange, but he just walked alongside him.
From the corner of his eye, William occasionally glanced at Daniel, but it was unclear what he was thinking or what kind of plan he had.
It didn’t take long before they reached the end of the bridge without encountering any other danger.
"If we step over there, we’ll officially enter the central layer of this dungeon," William murmured. Still, it was obvious his words were meant for the masked man beside him.
That man didn’t reply, only staring silently into the central layer. From where he stood, he could faintly see the tree in the middle of the island.
For some reason, he felt like that tree was calling to him. But when he shook his head, the feeling vanished.
"Am I hallucinating?" he thought, but didn’t give it much importance.
Daniel took the final step and officially entered the central layer of the dungeon. Seeing this, William, who was behind him, had no choice but to take that last step as well.
Now, they had officially entered the central layer.