The black sword in Daniel’s hand slowly rose, and at that moment, the world reacted.
No explosion occurred, no wave of mana shook the sky. On the contrary, everything became quiet. Too quiet.
The wind that had been moving through the burnt ruins suddenly stopped. The ashes falling from the sky remained motionless in the air. Even the scattered flames on the dragon corpses went out.
And then time slowed down.
Rodric was the first to understand this. Not because of any special skill, but because his body began to tremble. His instinct, all his experience. All the years he had held a sword, they were all screaming.
Run.
He couldn’t even stop himself and unconsciously took a step back.
He had faced very powerful enemies before. Enemies he had been able to defeat with the help of his soldiers, with difficulty and at a heavy price.
But the result was always the same. He would win.
And now? All that experience, all the intuition he had gained over the years, was shouting only one thing.
Run! Get out of here with all your speed!
Beside him, Alindra held her breath. Her tired silver eyes trembled completely for the first time since the battle began.
Even Varkas... who moments ago had bowed his head before Daniel like a believer... now unconsciously lowered his head even further.
Because the dragon blood in his body was warning him wildly.
He could feel that the Dragon God was about to do something great. That he was about to show a part of his power to this lowly world for the first time.
Daniel’s golden eyes fixed indifferently on Valdrak.
And then, his sword moved. Just a quiet horizontal slash, but the moment the blade moved, space stepped aside.
As if existence itself retreated to escape that strike. And then everything in the blade’s path...
Was severed.
No massive light existed, no explosion occurred, but a dark line split the entire world in two.
The sky opened, clouds disappeared, distant mountains were silently erased, and even part of the horizon did not exist for a moment.
Valdrak understood at that moment. If that strike hit him directly...
He would die.
Not wounded.
Not defeated.
But absolute death.
For the first time since his arrival, his calm gaze became completely serious. And then the pressure of dragon blood exploded.
"Ashen Sovereign Form."
The massive phantom behind him became more complete.
Ashen scales formed on his arms. His pupils transformed into the vertical slits of a dragon. Black horns emerged from among his silver hair.
And at that moment, the sky bent.
Not because of mana, but because a very ancient being had awakened. All the remaining dragons fell to the ground.
Even Varkas, who now looked at Daniel like a crazed believer, stared at Valdrak in horror for a moment.
Because what had been released was the pressure of one of the beings closest to the primordial ancestors of dragons.
Valdrak disappeared. Daniel’s dark line passed beside him. But even with dodging, blood sprayed. One of his black horns spun quietly in the air and fell.
His left arm no longer existed. Not cut off, not destroyed, but erased.
Rodric’s face lost its color.
Because he now understood that until this moment, Daniel hadn’t been fighting at all. All that massacre, all the destruction of the army, all the breaking of the commanders, had just been a game.
But now? Now he had truly moved his sword.
"Hahahahaha." He started laughing like a madman, because he realized that defeating this monster was not simply possible.
Perhaps even a Half Step-Divine would stand no chance against this monster.
While laughing like a madman, a strike suddenly hit him, Alindra, and Varkas. Both of them were split in half, and their lifeless bodies fell to the ground.
They had no chance to react. All of them were killed. Even the remaining dragons were all slaughtered and fell to the ground.
Valdrak slowly landed on the ground, black blood dripping from his erased arm.
But a faint smile settled on his face. Not fear, but excitement. As if the madman inside him had finally found a worthy opponent after centuries.
His eyes locked directly into Daniel’s gaze.
"So this is your true power."
Daniel said nothing, just watched. Not like an excited warrior, but like someone analyzing an interesting phenomenon.
"So this is the level of a being more or less at the ceiling of the world’s power. Not bad. Not bad at all." His voice was indifferent, but for the first time, a hint of curiosity could be seen within it.
This person had power equal to a quasi-national awakened. Stronger than any S-rank, but still weaker than national awakened. However, the gap wasn’t that large. Perhaps if given some time, he could reach that level.
"If that’s the case, then the strongest Eternal Warrior must either be a national awakened or a false national awakened." He reasoned.
That such beings existed on the fourth floor of the tower was unprecedented in itself. He was the first person to encounter beings at this level on the fourth floor.
And clearly, the reason was himself. The tower considered him so powerful that it had no choice.
"It seems you killed them too." Valdrak gestured to the corpses of Alindra, Varkas, and Rodric. Their deaths were a loss, but against that strike, he couldn’t protect them.
"No problem." Daniel answered quietly. He wanted to turn them into Fallen, and for that, he didn’t need them alive.
All three of them, plus Miralia, were at the peak of S-rank. Turning them into Fallen would bring him immense benefit. Then his Fallen army alone could rival the strongest armies in the world.
Of course, there would still be a long way to go before reaching the level that could be called the world’s strongest, because for that, he would need Fallen with the power of national awakened.
Valdrak laughed, and then the sky grew dark. The remaining lightning in the sky went out.
The flow of destruction around Daniel’s sword slowed. Even death calmed down for a moment.
"World Quietus."
Absolute silence descended. A domain within which even concepts went silent. And in the midst of that silence, Valdrak appeared.
Not like before with thousands of strikes. Just one slash. Quiet and precise. His short black sword passed by Daniel’s face.
And for the first time, blood fell. Just a thin line opened on Daniel’s cheek. A drop of dark-golden blood slowly slid down.
And the entire field froze.
Because something had happened that seemed impossible. Daniel had been wounded.
Valdrak stepped back a few meters. His breathing was heavy. Part of his body still did not exist.
But his gaze shone. Because he understood. He had truly managed to strike this monster.
And then, Daniel quietly touched the blood on his cheek. He looked at his finger for a few seconds.
Silence reigned.
And then he laughed. There was no anger, no rage, but pure excitement. Because for the first time since the start of this floor, he was entertained.
And at that moment, the fruit behind him pulsed more intensely than before. White cracks spread across its surface. A piece of the shell separated.
Valdrak frowned, because he now understood that he didn’t have much time. If he didn’t destroy that fruit right now, it would soon be complete, and disaster would occur.
Daniel slowly lowered his sword. His golden eyes had now become deeper than before.
He hadn’t expected this person to be able to scratch him. But the skill he had used was truly remarkable. He had managed to bypass all of Daniel’s defensive layers.
That skill had practically stopped the world’s flow for a few seconds, to the extent that all of Daniel’s defensive layers also stopped and failed.
In the end, if it weren’t for the fact that Daniel’s presence was able to crush the power of that skill, perhaps more than just a scratch would have landed on him.
"Good." Then he said quietly, and a faint smile settled on his face.
"So you can still show me more than this."