FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

After entering the third and final danger zone of the secret realm, the speed of many figures noticeably slowed. Unlike the previous zones, the third region was dominated by beasts in the grand master realm.

And among these terrifying beasts, the Torkuns are considered the strongest.

As the map shrunk further, many of the figures moving in groups started encountering each other.

A few clash occurred here and there, but after the appearance of the horrifying beasts, they had to shift their focus to surviving their onslaught.

It was in this zone that the death rate of the students skyrocketed.

The number of figures who entered the secret realm barely reached three hundred. Yet less than five minutes after the third zone opened, a third of them perished. That was just how dangerous the zone was. The beasts weren't the only dangers to watch out for. Even a few of the plants and trees had developed consciousness and were strong enough to take the lives of the younglings who were already prepared for them.

Even in this perilous situation, a few among the invaders still shone brilliantly.

A deep red aura wrapped around a boy as he swung his sword, and slaughtered the beasts around him. The boy's shoulder-length Auburn hair waved from the shockwaves generated from each of his swings. This figure was Steven, Mr Martin's son and the senior of Tina and Miller.

Unlike the others who charged directly to the inner regions of the secret realm, Steven took his time to kill beasts that were far weaker than him in cultivation. He was one of the few who had an affinity for an abstruse law just like his father.

And even among abstruse laws, his innate law, the law of massacre was special. This law granted the user the title of conditional strongest. And the reason for that was the special resource he could tap into because of his law. This resource was called Killing Intent.

Steven meticulously killed advanced-level beasts in the first zone as he gathered a lot of killing intent, causing a deep red aura to surround his body. Unlike other mages who could cause a wide range of attacks, Steven was only able to use Killing intent to directly boost his physical stats to untold heights and to launch attacks similar to soul types. Even with the many outcomings, the law of massacre was an immensely powerful law almost equal to or even greater than supreme laws, as there was no limit to the amount of killing intent the user could accumulate.

It wasn't until after almost two days that Steven entered the third zone. Even then, he quickly closed the gap to the other formidable presences as his rate of killing was simply unrivaled.

Beasts in the grandmaster realm launched at him from all directions, yet he remained unfazed in their encirclement.

He gripped his sword tighter, and with narrowed eyes, released his killing intent. The lunging beasts came to a stop as their bodies uncontrollably froze while the few more formidable ones merely flinched for a moment.

But that was enough!

Steven's hair flew as the pressure around him increased. His muscles tightened before he swung his sword in a circle around him.

*Boooom!"

The shockwave generated from his mere swing sent the beasts around him flying and outrooting the tall, strong trees before carrying them away.

A clearing with a diameter of fifty meters appeared in the jungle.

With a mere swing!

This was a physical prowess way beyond any normal mage could display and was in the range of formidable warriors. This was why abstruse laws were special. They were simply incomprehensible and could even break the norm.

After removing the Beast's cores from the corpses, Steven whose red aura had been amplified many times moved deeper into the third zone.

*****

After entering the third zone, Landon the leader of the vampire group found it harder to head deeper.

Aside from him, only two other vampires had broken into the grandmaster realm. And while they were all geniuses who could jump multiple levels to fight, that system only applied to when they were outside.

In here, the beasts were almost as twice as those of the same cultivation outside, so the vampires who were still in master realms could not directly face them. This caused their speed to visibly slow.

"Bastards!" Landon cursed as he glared deep into the jungle. They had encountered the werewolves once again after entering the third zone but unlike them, the werewolves could form a pack of five which allowed them to share their strength. The Alphas who were the leaders of the packs could share their strengths with the Betas who were their followers. This allowed even the weak ones to overcome their shortcomings and display strength way above their normal cultivation. Of course, there were restrictions. A werewolf could only ever be in a pack in all his life, otherwise they would become outcasts. So before a werewolf forms or enter a pack, they had to be absolutely sure that it was the right choice.

With their superior strength as a group, the werewolves barely slowed down when they entered the third zone. Soon they left the struggling vampires in the dust.

"We can't bear it any longer!" shouted a vampire, before the fist of a Torkun rammed him into the ground. He coughed a mouthful of blood before quickly turning into a swarm of bats to escape the Torkun's onslaught.

"Landon!" the second strongest third year who was a female called out to him in an anxious voice. She alone was singlehandedly facing three Torkuns of the same cultivation realm. Yet she could still barely hold up.

Landon struggled to decide as he exchanged blows with eight Torkuns. His hands turned into a monster's, and every time he crashed with the Torkuns, they were sent flying before standing up and lunging at him once again. He was a supreme-level genius and had believed he could bring even the weaker ones into the third zone. He couldn't bear looking bad compared to the werewolves but now he couldn't help but think it through once again.

After a while, he made his decision.

'I will not smear the title of the vampires as the strongest!'

"World of darkness!" A huge dark sphere suddenly appeared on the battlefield as Landon and the Torkuns he faced off with, along with five others were enveloped in thick darkness.

The Torkuns swung their limbs around and attacked randomly as their senses were cut off.

Landon's eyes shone ruby red within the dark world, his fangs grew longer and dark veins appeared directly beneath his eyes.

With a bang, his body kicked off from the ground before seeming to merge with the disturbing darkness.

In a mere second, he appeared before a Torkun before ripping its heart out from its back. With a whoosh, he bit down on the still-beating heart as the Torkun slumped down.

He could feel the energy he had consumed to release such a large-scale attack actively recover.

His eyes glowed brighter as blood dripped from the sides of his mouth. His eyes which could even peer into the thick darkness studied his preys, and with a last bite, he finished the large heart.

With his bloodied mouth flashing a satisfied grin, Landon released a roar causing a spiritual wave to spread around him. The Torkuns who were already rendered helpless went completely still as they lost their consciousness. With a whoosh, his body turned into a dark flash, marking the start of a slaughter.

Outside the dark sphere, the vampires started overwhelming the Torkuns after much of the pressure had been reduced on them.

Together with the two remaining grandmaster realm vampires, they were able to kill off seven Torkuns.

As the last Torkun fell dead to the ground, the world of darkness fell apart, and a bloodied Landon biting into the neck of a Torkun was revealed to the outside.

The other vampires quickly followed after him and bore into the still-warm corpses around them.

Gulping sounds resounded constantly in the area. A minute later, Landon finally let go of the neck, causing the body to fall to the ground. Ignoring his mates who were still feeding, he looked at a branch a few meters away before opening his mouth:

"How long will you continue to hide?"

He only received silence as his response but he didn't withdraw his gaze.

Soon after, the light around the branch seemed to distort before a beautiful voice resounded.

"Indeed, we can't escape the divine sense of a vampire!"

Four figures with otherworldly appearances appeared before Landon's eyes. Their most distinct characteristic would be their pointed ears but Landon ignored them altogether and instead gazed at the ball of light floating beside the male elf who had spoken.

Squinting his eyes, Landon realized that within the ball of light was a tiny figure who somewhat resembled the elves. It was almost comparable to a fairy but Landon knew it wasn't. After all, he was familiar with what made the elves one of the most terrifying races along with the vampires.

"Nature's spirit...the elementals."