Chapter 141 - 4th Stage Authority

[The System has heard your plea. You are now granted the 4th Stage of the Beast Supplier System.]

Terrence was still completely unconscious, while the eerie smirk printed across the Patriarch’s face refused to disappear. He held Terrence up by his knees, letting his whole weakened body hang suspended like a helpless rag doll.

The Patriarch’s smile stretched even creepier, looking as though he were actively reading Terrence’s internal structure just by touching him.

"Grr..." Noir growled softly in the background.

"You better be smart," the Patriarch warned, casting a cold side-glance at the beasts. "I can kill your master right here and now, and you know it."

Noir and Avery were the only beasts left conscious. Every single one of the extra beasts Terrence had summoned lay dead on the floor.

The Patriarch shook his head as he finally gained a deep, terrifying grasp of what Terrence truly possessed.

Utilizing his own unique ability—a latent talent no other tamer in history possessed—the Patriarch was reading Terrence’s body on a fundamental level.

The Patriarch could read the literal codes and foundational build-up of life itself. It was the exact power he had used to raise his rank since he was a young man, eventually using it to rewrite his physical body, strip away the aging process entirely, and slowly achieve functional immortality.

"I want these codes..." the Patriarch murmured greedily, dropping Terrence without a single care.

Terrence’s head hit the floor with a short, painful slam. Avery and Noir instantly twitched in response, nearly lunging forward to attack, but they froze mid-movement. They knew all too well that Terrence could be executed in a heartbeat if they provoked the Patriarch further.

If only they could do something... or perhaps share their power with Terrence on a completely different level, Terrence might actually have a fighting chance to win.

But as they were, they were simply SS-Rank Beasts who had yet to grasp the full extent of their own true potential.

All they knew how to do was overpower normal tamers and ordinary beasts through raw force. Yet in front of an abnormally powerful, experienced monster like the Patriarch, their high ranks felt like nothing more than meaningless letters of identification.

"Hmm..."

As he analyzed the internal codes, the Patriarch’s brows furrowed tightly. Every single time he attempted to subtly rewrite Terrence’s unique code onto his own body, the newly written code would simply vanish into thin air.

Taking the matter seriously, the Patriarch rolled up his dark sleeves, exposing a body heavily tattooed with all of his successful biological experiments from over the years.

He had spent decades developing two distinct ways of rewriting his body structure. The first method involved permanent physical markings—tattoos, scars, or deep etchings carved directly onto his skin. The second method was far easier, albeit weaker and subtler: rewriting his structure from within using his mind to touch the deepest parts of his biological sphere of life.

"Why... why is this so difficult?!" he spat out.

The Patriarch failed yet again to duplicate the sequence. Even though he understood the exact effects of Terrence’s code, applying it to himself proved utterly impossible, as the lines dissolved the moment he finished writing them.

Driven by impatience, he dug his own sharp fingernails directly into his flesh to carve the code into his skin, but the wounds instantly healed back over, erasing his work entirely.

"I want a body that can contract multiple beasts!" he roared, his voice echoing violently off the high ceilings. "I finally found the exact code! So why can’t I copy it?!"

Gripping Terrence’s limp wrist tightly as his hopes began to slip away, sheer frustration painted itself across the Patriarch’s youthful face.

He bit his lower lip so hard out of pure irritation that blood trickled down his chin.

His glaring eyes snapped over toward the two remaining beasts standing nearby.

"I have manipulated my entire physical system! I have absorbed the life codes of every beast I deemed useful! So why can’t I replicate this single human’s code? Why doesn’t it work on Terrence?!"

This was the very first time in his long life that he had faced such a bizarre, insurmountable barrier, and the frustration was driving him mad.

...

[Due to the effects of the 4th Stage of the Beast Supplier System, you have unlocked your beasts’ full potential.]

Terrence heard the mechanical voice echoing somewhere in the dark during his nth visit to the void.

What was that sound? He couldn’t quite tell, but it felt deeply familiar.

’Did I die again?’ he asked himself silently, completely unable to recall the exact sequence of events that had dragged him back into the darkness.

[You are still alive. We are simply rewarding you for your plea. However, you must work even harder for us moving forward. This current result is far from sufficient.]

Terrence had no idea what the voice was referring to, but somewhere deep within his fading consciousness, a sudden wave of soothing warmth washed over him.

Slowly, a bright light pierced through the shadows, blinding his vision until his consciousness snapped back to reality. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing the ornate ceilings of the Patriarch’s chamber.

Noir and Avery immediately noticed the subtle movement of his fingers, remaining on high alert for any command he might give.

[Congratulations!]

However, instead of receiving a battle order from Terrence, a sudden, blinding light engulfed both beasts as the System delivered a massive notification.

[Transfiguration Skill Unlocked!]

[Named Beast: Avery the Sky Dragon has received the Transfiguration Skill!]

[Named Beast: Noir the Shadow Hound has received the Transfiguration Skill!]

...

"If I can’t copy your code," the Patriarch growled, his face twisted in pure rage, "then there is absolutely no reason for you to remain alive!"

The Patriarch raised his hand, reaching out to crush Terrence’s neck once and for all. But in that exact fraction of a second, Terrence’s eyes snapped wide open as he fully regained consciousness.

Twitching slightly in brief surprise, the Patriarch didn’t waste another moment, continuing his hand’s trajectory straight for the throat. He clamped his fingers around Terrence’s neck with crushing force, swinging his arm back and lifting Terrence high into the air like a discarded doll.

With a brutal shove, the Patriarch hurled Terrence across the grand hall, sending his body flying back toward the entrance he had walked through earlier.

CRASH!

Slamming violently into several stone columns along the way, any ordinary human surely would have died on impact from the brutal collision.

However, a faint, completely unique strand of energy suddenly began to radiate from Terrence’s battered form, causing the Patriarch’s arrogant grin to freeze instantly.

The Patriarch stared at the rising aura in utter disbelief, his voice barely a whisper. "Just what... what kind of code is that?!"