Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Sanctum Mutation!
As Aster Grant stepped into the Sanctum, the scene before him took his breath away.
It was a scorched earth soaked in blood.
Cracked with numerous sinister fissures, the black-red soil partially buried bones beneath the dust, with the air filled with an inescapable metallic scent of blood.
What kind of Sanctum is this?
It was clearly a bloody battlefield!
Aster Grant recalled the information about this Sanctum...
This was once a spatial rift connecting to the Otherworld.
Seventy years ago, the Demon Clan’s army surged forth like a tide, aiming to use this as a springboard to invade the present world.
The battle lasted a whole three months, and ultimately, at the cost of a million soldiers’ lives, Draconia successfully prevented this disaster.
And because too many demons fell in this area, under the accumulating effect of Demonic Qi, new demons would continuously be produced.
And to prevent these demons from growing and eventually destroying the seal of this passage from within.
Zane Drake ordered this passage to be used as an Awakening Sanctum for students to level up their second Beastbond.
Not only could it cultivate students from Aegis Academy, but it could also provide a chance to eradicate the demons generated in the Sanctum.
A win-win!
"Roar——"
Suddenly, a chilling roar shattered the Sanctum’s silence.
Aster Grant’s gaze sharpened, and he saw ten Flayers, their skin rotten, closing in from all directions.
[The Flayer]
[Level: Awakening Tier Five]
[Talent: Demon Captain]
[Power: 60]
[Constitution: 51]
[Spiritual: 21]
[Speed: 45]
[Skills: Flesh Stripping...]
These low-level demons, infamous for their cruelty, loved skinning their prey alive, hence their name, The Flayer!
Although these are the most numerous in the Demon Clan’s lower ranks...
Why did ten appear all at once?
Aster’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.
He knew that not everyone’s Beastbond was as extraordinary as his.
Vera’s spiritual attribute broke a hundred at the Awakening Tier One.
But other students...
Even the Legendary Level Lava Dragon-Lizard.
Their attributes are only around 30 points in various areas.
Facing ten Awakening Tier Five demons right out of the gate, if the Beast Tamer didn’t have exceptionally powerful talent...
The danger would be immediate!
As the hoard of Flayers was about to pounce, Vera, in Aster’s arms, frowned in displeasure...
These unsightly things dared to interrupt her bonding with her master!
A glint of coldness flashed in her emerald eyes.
The Elven Race was destroyed due to the Demon Clan, so Vera naturally held no good feelings towards these demons.
Moreover, they now interrupted her and her master’s bonding time.
Vera lifted her slender fingers slightly, without even needing to use any skills—
Ten thick thorns suddenly burst from the ground, encasing the demons in cocoon-like restraint as if they were alive.
This was the innate talent of the Elven Race, and as royalty, Vera’s ability to manipulate plants was unparalleled.
A few soft rustling sounds were heard, and those thorns turned from green to red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few breaths, ten shriveled demon corpses lay scattered on the ground like rags.
While on Vera’s body, a faint glow of leveling up emerged...
[Nature Elf (Vera)]
[Talent: Myth Two Stars]
[Level: Awakening Tier Four]
[Power: 120]
[Constitution: 134]
[Spiritual: 480]
[Speed: 123]
[Skills: Natural Lament, Elf Monarchy, Natural Domain (Initial)]
[Evolution: Heart of Nature, Spring of Life...]
Looking at Vera’s attribute panel with its exaggerated numbers, Aster couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his eye.
If Lazuli is a hexagonal warrior, with evenly developed attributes.
Then Vera is a thorough specialist!
At just Awakening Tier Four, her spiritual attribute was already approaching the 500-point threshold...
This value even surpassed many Extraordinary Level Beastbonds!
"Master~"
The little elf looked up with her charming face, her emerald eyes full of anticipation.
Aster obligingly reached out to stroke her golden locks.
Next, all he needed was to raise Vera to Awakening Tier Nine as quickly as possible.
With Vera’s current spiritual attribute...
Just by using skills, she could sweep through the Awakening Stage demons!
Thus, Aster’s gaze was fixed on the center of the Sanctum.
With his spiritual power, he sensed...
The demonic presence was strongest there, naturally making it the demons’ gathering place.
It was also the best place for leveling up!
...
At the Sanctum’s entrance, students kept stumbling out with faces full of lingering fear.
"Damn it! As soon as I went in, I ran into five Awakening Tier Five demons!"
"Wasn’t it just a few scattered ones in previous years? What’s going on this year, like poking a hornet’s nest of demons!"
"My Epic Level Beastbond saw the setup and backed out immediately..."
Facing these unexpected situations, Crystal Winslow frowned slightly.
She clearly remembered a similar situation occurring five years ago.
It was said that the demons in the Sanctum rioted then, causing their numbers to increase exponentially.
It was this special reason that allowed Noelle Quinn to astonishingly complete her Beastbond’s breakthrough from Awakening Tier One to Tier Nine in just 9 hours.
"Crystal, you don’t think anything’s happened to Aster, do you?"
Although Caelus Quinn had already reached the Extraordinary Level, his family hadn’t found a suitable second Beastbond for him, so he didn’t participate in the Awakening Sanctum this time.
At the chaotic scene before him, a trace of worry crossed his face.
Despite his confidence in Aster’s strength, currently, Aster could only use one Awakening Stage Beastbond.
No matter how gifted Aster was, he couldn’t create miracles with just one Awakening Stage Beastbond, could he?
The mentor responsible for the Awakening Sanctum’s face drastically changed, immediately realizing the gravity of the situation.
The memory of the demon riot five years ago was still fresh—
At the time, if not for Noelle Quinn single-handedly stabilizing the Sanctum, the demons might have already broken the seal and caused a catastrophe.
But now...
"This time, there’s no prodigy like Noelle Quinn to hold the fort!"
The mentor dared not delay, immediately initiating the emergency contact protocol.
At the same moment, in the principal’s office—
Zane Drake had just seen off Jay Fletcher when a red alert suddenly sounded.
"What?! The Awakening Sanctum mutation?!"
The communicator in Zane Drake’s hand cracked with a splitting sound.
"High-tier demons are born again..."
His expression turned as grim as iron.
He knew all too well the truth of that riot five years ago...
At the time, the Sanctum had birthed a demon of Demon King Level, and if not for Noelle Quinn intervening, the consequences would have been dire.
The old principal tapped his fingers on the desk, pacing back and forth in the office.
Currently, there were two choices:
First, he could personally eliminate the entire Sanctum.
But this would cut off an important avenue for new students to cultivate their second Beastbond.
Second, send in students with Beastbonds of Awakening Tier Nine to conduct a cleansing of the Sanctum.
As long as they cleared the demons before things worsened, he wouldn’t need to destroy the Sanctum himself.
This way, they could resolve the crisis while preserving the Sanctum.
Quickly, an emergency notice spread rapidly through the campus broadcast system:
"Attention all faculty and students! There’s an abnormal fluctuation in the Sanctum, and all students with Beastbonds at Awakening Tier Nine, please head immediately to the Sanctum entrance for assembly! Repeating..."
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