Chapter 669: Finding the Target (2)

Then... Kyrian’s eyes began releasing an invisible force. In truth, it was more like one of their own functions. His field of vision increased. One hundred meters. One thousand meters. Ten thousand meters. Fifty thousand meters. The distance his eyes could reach began increasing at an absurd rate.

The forest below, which would normally look like an enormous green ocean, became clear before his eyes. He could see individual trees. Rivers. Mountains. Small creatures. And then... He found the horde.

Thousands. No. Tens of thousands of beasts crossed the forest at a frightening speed. They ran without stopping. Some destroyed trees. Others leaped over mountains. Some flew. It was like a living tide advancing through the forest.

Kyrian watched. Five minutes passed. His eyes remained focused. Then...

He found it.

A faint smile appeared on his face. His eyes slowly returned to normal. Even after interrupting the ability, Kyrian could still see much farther than an ordinary person.

"Found it."

He stroked Arcon’s neck.

"Arcon, maximum speed."

The winged horse neighed. Then its wings opened completely.

’BOOM!’

A gust of wind exploded around them. Arcon shot forward. Kyrian leaned slightly forward as the horse flew toward the horde.

Now that he knew where to look, his senses were completely focused on that point. And he finally confirmed it.

"There really is a black mass of hostility..." Satisfaction filled his voice.

"I found it."

Even from that distance, he could perceive a different presence in the middle of the horde. A creature surrounded by black energy. It was similar to what he had seen in the little fox.

"It seems to have taken control of another beast." Kyrian smiled.

"Just like it did with Luz."

This meant that he had made the right choice. If he had ignored the refugees and continued on his journey... He would have missed that opportunity.

’My true cultivation has been stagnant for some time.’ His eyes gleamed.

’Finally, I can advance again.’

The black mass did not seem particularly powerful. Kyrian could roughly perceive its strength even from a distance.

It would not be enough to cause an absurd transformation in his soul. But... It would be enough. It would probably allow him to break through to the next stage of Core Formation. And that was all he needed.

Arcon continued forward. One hour. Two hours. The distance decreased. The black presence became increasingly clear.

Finally... Kyrian jumped. He simply left Arcon’s back while high in the sky. His body began to fall. Below him was the beast enveloped by the black mass.

It was an enormous lion. Its body was several meters long. Two tails swayed violently behind it, each as thick as the trunk of a young tree.

Its muscles were extremely developed, its golden fur stained by veins of black energy that pulsed beneath its skin. Its eyes were completely black, not dark, but literally black, like wells of absolute emptiness that seemed to absorb the light around them.

It was a Two-Tailed Lion.

Kyrian looked at it with a cold expression.

"Finally."

The instant he entered the perception range of the black mass... The creature raised its head. Its black eyes looked directly at Kyrian. A terrifying pressure exploded.

’Roar!’

The lion’s roar tore through the forest. The black energy around its body increased violently. Hatred. Hostility. Fury. Everything mixed together into an extremely unpleasant presence. Thousands of nearby beasts began to stir. Some even stopped running.

Kyrian, however... Remained completely calm. His eyes analyzed the lion.

’A Two-Tailed Lion.’

’Its original cultivation should be... Qi Liberation Realm.’

Kyrian continued observing.

’But after being taken over by the black mass...’ His eyes narrowed slightly.

’Core Formation.’

More precisely... The middle stages of Core Formation.

The black mass had increased its strength to an absurd degree. A beast that had originally been only in the Qi Liberation Realm had been elevated to a completely different level. Kyrian became interested again.

But there was something even more frightening than that strength. The number of beasts. The black mass wasn’t merely strengthening one creature. It also seemed to control tens of thousands of others.

For any ordinary cultivator... That would be a nightmare. Even if the beasts individually weren’t extremely strong, tens of thousands of them could easily destroy a city. If there were a few more powerful creatures among them... The result would be even worse.

Kyrian looked at the lion.

’If I had to fight this directly...’ He thought for a moment.

’It would be a little troublesome.’

Not impossible. But definitely annoying. Especially because he would have to face both the lion and the horde.

Kyrian smiled.

"But I don’t need to fight alone."

His forehead glowed. A small white light appeared. The instant that light emerged... The black mass reacted. The lion’s body trembled. Its expression changed completely. The black energy began twisting violently. Then... A terrifying scream came from its mouth.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The sound was so loud that some of the nearby beasts simply died. Their bodies fell to the ground. Others began fleeing desperately. The black mass was terrified. It recognized that. It was not a technique. It was not a weapon. It was something much worse. Its natural enemy.

The white light grew. Then the blank book appeared in front of Kyrian’s forehead. The pages were completely empty. But at that moment... They seemed to radiate an energy that made the black mass itself tremble.

The lion immediately turned around. It tried to flee. Its speed exploded. But... It was too late. The book disappeared. Two seconds. That was all it needed. The white energy crossed through space and reached the lion. The instant it touched the black mass...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The scream was different this time. There was desperation. The black energy began being ripped out of the lion’s body. It was as if something were being exorcised. The black mass writhed. It tried to escape. It tried to cling to the lion’s body. It tried to flee. But nothing worked.

The white energy continued advancing. Five seconds. That was all. The enormous black mass completely disappeared inside the pages of the book. The lion fell. Its body plummeted toward the ground. The book was immediately returned. It flew through the air. And returned to Kyrian’s forehead.

Kyrian remained falling from the sky. Then he murmured.

"As I imagined." His eyes became thoughtful.

"Really simple." He thought about the book.

"This book seems to be their natural enemy for some reason."