Silently, the three stand, waiting for Serene Will to reveal the identity behind the sandstorm. They hope it's merely a natural phenomenon, fearing their inner thoughts might come true.

  "No, no, no..."

  She steps back, seemingly losing a part of her life with each step.

  "It's a qilin... level 550."

  A mythical beast on the same level as a dragon. Such an adversary approaches them, leading a sandstorm.

  "hahaha..."

  Lawrence begins to laugh maniacally. 'Are you telling me that damn level 500 wasn't enough? That our magic artifacts are useless? Then what was the point of compressing our level if in the end a beast equal to a dragon would appear?'

  Everything in this world exists to see an end. If out of nine possibilities of death, the Forbidden Area must offer one possibility of life.

  Those were their beliefs, those of everyone present.

  It never crossed their minds that this Forbidden Area was not seeking a conclusion.

  Sky Petal takes a deep breath and then steps forward. "I--"

  But she is stopped by Lawrence.

  "You must have read my thoughts, so you know what you have to do."

  His gaze turns to Serene Will, who seems distracted, looking up at the sky with no expression on her face.

  "Sacrifice yourself for me, Serene Will."

  "..."

  As soon as he saw the sandstorm, he knew two fates awaited them. Lawrence wished with all his being that their efforts were worthwhile, that everything would fall into place.

  Now he understands that from the beginning, someone had to die.

  "Go and give your life for me."

  Serene Will stops looking at the sky and turns her eyes toward him. Then a calm smile appears on her face, a smile of farewell.

  She walks past him, facing the approaching storm.

  "Goodbye."

  These are her farewell words, the only words she could utter.

  "Serene Will--"

  Sky Petal wants to say something, but once more he stops her. "Let's go, now!"

  Lawrence grabs Sky Petal's hand and starts to fly, quickly the woman's back disappears into the distance.

  "Lead the way, only you know where the mystery of this Forbidden Area lies."

  Reluctantly, Sky Petal separates from him and begins to fly alongside him, slightly altering their course.

  "Don't you feel anything, Lawrence?"

  It's been a long time since Sky Petal was as angry as she is now. "Serene Will agreed to sacrifice herself for us, but you couldn't even offer her words of comfort. Say at least!"

  "Don't mistake my silence for indifference. Do you think I don't regret what happened?!"

  After seeing his expression, Sky Petal calms down. "Still, you should have said something."

  "Tsk."

  Lawrence clicks his tongue and increases the speed of flight. ‘Damn it! Curse it! I spent so many resources on that woman, not to waste them like this. Had I known this would happen, I wouldn't have been so indulgent in fostering her growth. How many treasures did she take to the grave?'

  It's true that Lawrence regrets it, but in a very different way than what Sky Petal believed she saw in his glance.

  "There! That's the place!"

  In the distance, they can see a place different from the rest, there is life, the ground is green. The sky seems clearer there, the weather cools sending a suitable breeze. From their current position, that place is no larger than their finger, but they know it is the beginning and end of everything!

  Just minutes away, explosions send sand in all directions.

  "More demonic beasts... Didn't we exterminate them all?!"

  Giant worms emerge from the sand and without a word, they gather their mana and prepare a large-scale magic together. Just seconds will suffice for them to unleash the beam of light they once faced.

  Sky Petal yells: "Don't stop! Just keep going!"

  "Why--?"

  Lawrence is surprised by Sky Petal's attitude, but before he can finish his words, he immediately discovers why her expression changed in an instant.

  "Spirits... Not again!"

  The shadows of the worms distort, slowly beginning to take human form. If before the spirits took some moments to gain consciousness, this time they completely skipped that step.

  They circulate their mana and attack together with the demonic beasts.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Someone is controlling them!"

  The demonic beasts are of an aggressive mindset, always chattering and mocking their enemy. While the spirits attempted to understand the circumstances before acting.

  None of that is evident in them, the Forbidden Area wants to see them dead!

  Lawrence clenches his teeth and without stopping for anything, creates a royal cloak protecting him and Sky Petal. For her part, she introduces her mana into the cactus. Hundreds of thorny vines sprout from it and create a hard crust over the royal cloak.

  They continue creating layer after layer, until the enemy's preparations conclude.

  A vast beam of light illuminates the desert, from a distance it is a beautiful event, but from close by it is a devastating occurrence. Five layers disappear in the blink of an eye, the last royal cloak protecting them is destroyed by Lawrence himself to recover some of his mana.

  They survived, but blood oozes from their lips. Having resisted an attack of such magnitude caused internal injuries, they are no longer fit to fight!

  "Let's split up! Only a few kilometers left!"

  Both divide, as do the enemy attacks.

  Each of the spirits attacks instinctively, with the magic they most used in life. While the demonic beasts continued attacking with beams of light, constantly interrupting their flight.

  The few kilometers they could cover in seconds are no different from an unlimited distance plagued by obstacles. A diversity of attacks crosses before their eyes, blinding lights as well as searing heat. Both of them ascend and descend depending on the attack, being in the air gravity rotates according to their evasive movements, losing sight of the sky and the ground.

  Their minds remain blank, they can focus on nothing but dodging... until at some point they touch ground.

  "Are they leaving?"

  After reaching their destination, all attacks stop. The giant worms return to the sand, while the spirits turn to dust.

  "Lawrence, look there."

  At the place she points her finger, a tree remains at the center.

  "From it came the voice I heard that time."

  This tree has no leaves, it's just a white trunk with some branches, but what's most special is what hangs from them. Four fruits resembling a...

  "Apple?"

  As soon as they saw them, they couldn't take their eyes off them. At some point, they begin to walk towards them, it's when golden sands rise from the ground, they regain consciousness of their actions.

  In silence, they watch as the golden sands gather in one place, forming the appearance of the being they thought they had left long ago.

  "Why are you here?!"

  Lawrence can't control his emotions upon seeing it.

  "Serene Will was supposed to stop you!"

  The same qilin for which Serene Will sacrificed her life stands before them.

  "A human stopping me? Ha! I haven't even moved from here." The qilin arrogantly looks into the distance and smiles. "What you saw was just my clone. If you can't deal with it, don't expect to have a chance with me."

  Sky Petal and Lawrence take a step back. If death is their fate, then--

  "You've passed the test, as soon as you touch the fruits it will be over."

  But the qilin has no intention of attacking them, mockingly moves a hundred meters away from the tree and lies down on the ground. When his eyes close, he utters his last words.

  "How does it feel to reach the end after sacrificing one of your own? Hahaha! I sent the order to my clone to play a bit more with her, if you return now you can see her last moments. But don't expect to see her intact, she suffered so much when I ate her arm in front of her. I mean, my clone, hahaha!"

  'Bastard! Wretch!'

  Lawrence clenches his fists until blood drips from them. Sky Petal approaches him and shakes her head.

  "Let's go back."

  Without saying another word, Lawrence approaches the tree and plucks one of its fruits. In his hands, the fruit is like any apple from the Divine Plane, perfect, very different from those of the Inferior Plane.

  He unsheathes his sword and for a moment looks at the qilin resting with his eyes closed, the next he engages in flight magic and departs with Sky Petal.

  The return flight was not without problems. It's true that the Forbidden Area no longer saw them as enemies, if a demonic beast looks at them, it's out of mere curiosity.

  The real problem arises from their internal injuries, the medicinal pills stopped being effective. Only Lawrence's own magic could potentially help, but using it at this moment, would he lose consciousness?

  Faced with uncertainty, both prefer to increase the speed of flight.

  "Serene Will!"

  That woman who always kept her back straight, her long braid swaying in the wind, with a calm gaze and sometimes serious, stands on the sand and in front of her is a qilin that far surpasses her in size.

  For a moment she seems to want to look at them, but then withdraws her gaze.

  Her clothing is stained with blood, this time not belonging to her enemies.

  Sky Petal is surprised. "Your arm…"

  "Why did you come back?"

  Her right arm, her dominant hand with which she always wielded her sword... is not there. Cut off at the root, Serene Will has lost her right arm.

  "I didn't want you to see me like this."

  In her left hand, her sword shines like never before. Sky Petal immediately understands its significance.

  "You sacrificed your Way..."

  Each hunter in this world must discover their own way, depending on the weapon and their vision, each way is unique. That Serene Will has sacrificed hers can only mean one thing.

  She will no longer be able to use sword skills.

  And yet, there is something that Sky Petal wants to know.

  "Look at me."

  Because since the moment of their arrival, Serene Will has turned her back to them.

  At that very moment, the qilin spits something out. Serene Will trembles seeing the trail of blood on the ground, because up to now, the mythical beast has sought ways to torment her before killing her.

  And he has succeeded.

  "You bastard!"

  "No!" Sky Petal tries to stop her, but she can't.

  The sky and the earth split, her sword creates incredible changes in the environment. A force impossible for a human to sustain.

  The qilin has been awaiting this moment, smiling as he watches the sword heading towards his head. The human's sword is a threat, but so what? From the beginning, she didn't have the requirements to take his life.

  The sword falls, destroying everything in its path, but the qilin disappears into the dust without leaving a trace. A few meters away, the sand gathers, creating the appearance of that vile mythical beast once again.

  "Say goodbye."

  His attack sends Serene Will flying tens of meters.

  Coincidentally, she falls right in front of Lawrence and Sky Petal, and only then do they understand why she didn't want to face them.

  "Your eye..."

  "Why did you come back?! I didn't want you to see me like this!"

  Not only her right arm but her left eye has been torn out. The trail of blood that the qilin spat out was not anything other than the humiliation of eating it in front of her and reminding her of how everything happened.

  That's why she didn't want to look at them, that's why she wanted to die with her last attack.

  "Do it, human! Waste it on her!"

  The qilin leaps thunderously, and his hooves head towards Serene Will's head. If not stopped now, she will undoubtedly die.

  Sky Petal realizes something and looks at Lawrence.

  "Tsk."

  He clicks his tongue and from his storage ring retrieves a beautiful apple, which he brings to Serene Will's lips. As soon as she bites into it, the qilin falls on them, creating an explosion that sends sand in all directions.

  But none of it affects them, because they have completed the trials.

  Neither they nor the qilin can touch each other, he is no different from an illusion.

  "Hahaha! Fools. Having the chance to give it to another, you use it on someone dead! Hahaha!"

  Serene Will looks back at the apple and then sighs.

  "Listen, Lawrence, this fruit--"

  "Hahaha!"

  In front of everyone, Lawrence starts laughing uproariously.

  "Stupid deer! You're far from equal to the dragons!"

  His hands touch Serene Will and a golden aura begins to heal her wounds, not only that, but her eye and arm begin to regenerate.

  "Others might need level 700, I could regenerate limbs since level 300! How does it feel, trash? Did you think you were so superior? Hahaha!"

  Because of this, the children destined to be the doors of change had to die at an early age. Their talent combined with their innate ability would create a variable that the world was not ready to face.

  But the evil sect Abyss Soul managed to create someone like Lawrence.