"So, explain something to me..."

  Lawrence still doesn't believe her words, no, it would be more accurate to say he doesn't want to.

  "Why did that army follow such a worthless general?"

  Because if that were the case, it would mean that a level 500 wouldn't necessarily be able to face hundreds of demonic beasts that would come endlessly.

  Serene Will closes her eyes for a second and then smiles subtly, "What do you think is the most valuable asset of a tyrant?"

  "His treasury vault and his ring-- Damn, what's inside there?!"

  The storage ring is unowned, so Serene Will easily retrieves an item from inside it.

  "A spell book?"

  A book like any other is in her hands.

  "What magic does it have to--?"

  He stops mid-sentence because a change occurs in the spell book. In the center of its cover, a malevolent eye appears.

  After blinking twice, it understands the situation it is in, and a reddish aura circulates through its pages. In just an instant, it separates from Serene Will's hands and begins to fly.

  "Do you think I'll let you go?!"

  She immediately reacts. Her sword intent surrounds the spell book, preventing its escape.

  Feeling endangered, the book exerts force trying to free itself. Its eye turns bloodshot, and the reddish aura increases, but it's futile, Serene Will's sword intent does not break no matter what it does.

  Swinging from side to side, it ends up in the hands of the woman.

  "Recognize me as your master."

  The eye on its cover opens wide and then seems to smile.

  "Recognize me as your master!"

  Her sword intent applies pressure on the spell book, only now the eye begins to show fear.

  "Recognize me as your master!"

  The eye on the cover demonstrates endless pain. Just as a crack appears on its body, the spellbook yields to her demands. It closes its eye, returning to a simple cover, but in exchange, the reddish aura enters through the woman's forehead.

  Serene Will has become the new master of the book.

  Lawrence and Sky Petal watched the situation from a distance, ready to react if she needed help, but after seeing the successful procedure, they approach her.

  "What was that book?"

  "A heavenly treasure."

  The one who responded was not Serene Will, but Sky Petal.

  "That's right. Were it not because it was in the ring's dimension and inside the Forbidden Area for a long period of time, its disconnection from the world allowed me to force it to yield, otherwise, even a level 800... Hah, have you witnessed a similar event in the Divine Plane, Sky Petal?"

  "No, but the plants have told me about them. I recognized it as soon as I saw it."

  Serene Will is continually amazed by Sky Petal's vast knowledge. Were it not because the plants do not reveal detailed information, she would like to ask about the mysteries of the world.

  "Hahaha, not even half a day has passed, and we already acquired a heavenly treasure, Hahaha!"

  All heavenly treasures have a destiny, they are created by the world without human interference. Each of their masters has left a mark in history hard to erase. And they, without even trying, have obtained one.

  "So, what knowledge did it impart to you?"

  Serene Will approaches him with a captivating smile, just as her hand was about to touch his forehead, Lawrence immediately moves away from her.

  "Speak, answer me, Serene Will."

  Without removing the smile from her face, she casually responds. "Memory and Emotion Rewriting. With it, the general manipulated the minds of his army, making them faithful lackeys who would give their lives for him."

  "What the hell were you trying to do to me just seconds ago?!"

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Her hand was about to touch his forehead, did this woman intend to...?

  "I wanted to impart this magic to you, don't you want it?"

  Lawrence frowns, faced with a dilemma. If he allows her to use magic on him, will she impart the magic or manipulate his mind just as that general did?

  'The worst part is that she must be reading my mind right now.'

  In response, Serene Will smiles even more.

  "Tsk, don't you dare do something foolish."

  He wants to have the magic from a heavenly treasure in his hands, so he will have to trust Serene Will.

  He closes his eyes and allows her hand to touch his forehead.

  Immediately, he feels a burning sensation in his head, but to back out now, would he remain a retard for life? Lawrence knows that the transfer of knowledge is not a simple process, only Serene Will can do it because it involves a heavenly treasure, with any other magic, it would be impossible.

  Unaware of when, the burning sensation disappears.

  "The knowledge has been passed on, you can open your eyes."

  Lawrence opens his eyes and assesses his current state, surprised to see no change.

  "The magic will appear in your mind when you wish to use it. There is also a rather pleasant side effect, by knowing this magic or being influenced by it, you gain absolute immunity to mental manipulation. However, this does not seem to work on manipulations that occurred before the acquisition of immunity."

  Erasing or rewriting magic that modifies memories is impossible except by the original owner, as a result, the latter can continue manipulating his mind completely nullifying the purpose of the immunity.

  He follows her instructions, and then the knowledge suddenly appears in his mind, as long as his mana circulates, he can activate the magic at will.

  Lawrence smiles. 'Not bad, my thoughts about them remain intact.'

  His concerns disappear as he discovers that his mentality remains the same as always. It is then that he asks about the book she holds in her hands, she nonchalantly says it's just a small induction magic, the real deal was the magic she inherited, this book is just an empty shell of the heavenly treasure.

  "Give it to Sky Petal as well. She might not need it, but the immunity is enough to want to give it a try."

  Acquiring such a treasure pleasantly surprises them, temporarily forgetting the situation they are in. Sooner or later, they will face the same enemy that annihilated an army of thousands, they may have a higher level, but the enemy numbers are limitless.

  "Take these desert roses with you."

  Sky Petal hands each one a small pink flower, the same ones who gave her the information about this vision to the cactus.

  "I will be able to locate you if we separate, as well as the condition you are in."

  Lawrence is the one who likes the idea the least. Unlike Serene Will, who places it on her long jet-black braid, he simply hides it in his pocket.

  "Where are we headed now?"

  They have secured their guide, which proved useful. Now all that remains is to finish this.

  "Towards the mystery that this Forbidden Area hides. We will not deviate no matter what treasure it is, we must not forget our purpose upon arriving at this place."

  Both nod in response.

  The voice of the plants echoes in her mind. After long seconds of waiting, Sky Petal distorts her gaze for an instant. When asked about this, she shakes her head, she simply heard a different voice from the rest, that's all.

  After getting the answer, they engage in flight magic and head towards a location unknown even to Sky Petal.

  They traveled for hours. Until without saying a word, the three stop in the air.

  "We've arrived"

  The same event they witnessed in their vision is happening in front of them.

  "Even if trash gathers, it's still trash!"

  Lawrence's shout travels to the herd of hundreds of demonic beasts. The giant worms raise their heads and laugh, swaying their bodies back and forth joyfully.

  The weakest among them is level 400, the rest close to 450.

  In their small minds, level 500 is nothing compared to their numbers.

  "Ha! These little beasts think it's the first time I've seen so many gathered. The Rhino Beetles from that time are a much greater threat than this, and I haven't forgotten that I have debts to settle with them!"

  Lawrence grits his teeth remembering the humiliation suffered by those demonic beasts, he had to travel between planes constantly to get away from them. Without such ability, those beetles would have introduced their larvae into him while he was still alive.

  But today is different.

  "Let's begin."

  Mana flows through their bodies. Lawrence, Serene Will, and Sky Petal watch as it disappears at a frightening speed. The three will have different magical affinities, but there's nothing in this world that brute force can't unite.

  Magic begins to take shape dozens of meters above their heads. Compressing over and over until it reaches its limit.

  "Useless effort!"

  "Our brothers will eat the flesh and drink the blood of proud human rankers today, nothing can stop us."

  Frenetically the demonic beasts crawl on the ground towards their direction, wishing to be the first and fearing being the last. The Forbidden Area provides an environment conducive to growth without the need for food, but their bodies wish to unleash their murderous instincts.

  The opportunity is in front of them, they cannot let it pass!

  "In this world, only the strongest can survive, you should never have set foot in our territory!"

  A beam of light bursts from their snouts. One of them may not have the strength to scratch the skin of a ranker, but hundreds of them united solve the dilemma!

  The magic of the same affinity resonates. Small changes arise in their trajectory and the beams of light begin to merge with each other, forming large-scale magic. Not to mention level 500, even a ranker of level 550 couldn't stop it!

  "Hahaha"

  Faced with the enemy attack, Lawrence can only laugh arrogantly. "How many times do you think we've compressed our level?"

  The very moment the beam of light was about to touch their bodies, the fused magic takes shape.

  "Eh? Was our magic that bright?"

  The worms are dazzled by the grandeur of their own magic. When they feel something strange, it's already too late.

  A beam of light hundreds of times more powerful than theirs destroys their entire flock in just fractions of a second. Immediately the roar of the explosion arises, the shockwave annihilates all the demonic beasts that were lucky enough to survive the main attack.

  No more than a few minutes passed, but the battle is over.

  "Hahaha, Hahaha!"

  Lawrence laughs cheerfully, Serene Will joins him with a subtle smile. Only Sky Petal is different, she is relieved, this incursion has finally ended.

  Now all that remains--

  "Serene Will... What is that?"

  His laughter stops as he sees shadows emerging from the sand.

  "Impossible..."

  Serene Will does not want to admit the description given by her ability. "Spirits should not take form!"

  Thousands of shadows rise from the ground, all with a single quality.

  Human appearance, all those beings who have died in this place have come back to life.

  Average level, 500.