Shin grabbed Lara, who had fallen on the ground. He pulled her body closer, pressing her against him, while scanning his surroundings.

He noticed the dog girl was shining, but he had no idea what the reason behind it could be. And, aside from that, he knew very little about the situation.

With Lilel temporarily dead, he also couldn’t ask her for information.

Still, he focused his attention on his enemies, dodging an ice attack coming from Gut. At the same time, he parried Zack’s dagger, as both of them advanced to kill him.

The pressure came instantly.

Gut’s ice attacks grew faster and more precise, forcing Shin to constantly shift his footing, barely dodging the sharp spikes that erupted from every direction.

At the same time, Zack closed in relentlessly, his dagger flashing in quick, lethal arcs that gave Shin no room to breathe.

Clang.

Shin blocked one strike, only to be forced back by another. He twisted his body, barely avoiding a blade aimed at his throat, but that movement left an opening.

A shard of ice sliced across his side.

"Tch..."

He gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on Lara as he retreated another step. They weren’t giving him not even a second to recover. Every move he made was being punished. And needing to protect Lara amidst all of it, wasn’t helping at all.

But then, the ground shook with a surge of power.

Lara’s body glowed even more intensely, and a mark appeared on her chest. From it, Lilel emerged quickly, landing on Shin’s shoulder.

As usual, dozens of notifications flooded his vision, informing him of the commands his little fairy was forcing into the system to revive. And she seemed to be getting better at it.

When he finally cleared the system notifications from his sight, he saw Lara step away from him, her body radiating power.

"Don’t you dare hurt him!" she screamed in rage, and the sheer pressure of her aura forced her enemies to their knees.

〇〇〇

Lara found herself in an idyllic place. A vast meadow stretched beneath a golden-blue sky, a gentle breeze carrying a soothing warmth. For the first time in a long while, her mind was at peace.

Then, she saw her.

Elyndra stood a short distance away. Her long, silver-white hair cascaded like molten moonlight over her shoulders, framing a face of ethereal beauty with full, plump lips and eyes that glowed faintly.

Her body was voluptuous and impossibly seductive. Massive, heavy breasts dominated her figure, each one enormous and perfectly round, easily larger than her head and straining heavily against the thin, misty fabric of her pale gold veil. Her nipples, stiff and prominent, pressed visibly through the translucent veil, begging for attention.

Her narrow waist flared out into wide, fertile hips and a thick, heart-shaped ass that begged to be grabbed, while long, toned legs completed the vision of a motherly and sensual daughter.

"Who are you?" Lara asked.

"It has been a long time, my lost soul," the goddess said gently. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Lara’s eyes widened. She quickly dropped to her knees, bowing her head.

"My goddess... is it truly you?" she asked, her voice trembling now. "Why am I here? I... I stopped hearing your voice. Was I... a disappointment to you?"

Before she could say more, Elyndra stepped forward and embraced her. The touch was warm and comforting.

"You were never a disappointment," the goddess whispered softly. "I have always been watching over you."

"But... I couldn’t hear you..."

"Your pain," Elyndra continued gently, "your fears... they clouded your mind. They built walls that even I could not cross. Not because I abandoned you... but because you could not let me in."

Lara’s body trembled slightly.

"Just leave your soul open," Elyndra said, pulling back slightly to look at her. "And I will come to help and guide you."

"Thank you," Lara said, bowing deeply once more, her eyes shining with emotion. "Please... tell me what I must do."

Elyndra’s gaze softened, her motherly gaze fell on Lara, and she smiled.

"You must devote yourself," she began, her voice calm. "There is one who walks a path intertwined with yours. Stay by his side. Protect him. Become his guardian. his loyal hound. Through him, your purpose will be fulfilled."

Lara listened intently, her breathing steady, absorbing every word.

"With him," the goddess continued, "you need not fear restraint. What you hold back... what you deny yourself... can be released. For his sake, you may give everything without worry. I will be at your side, watching over it all."

Slowly, Elyndra raised her hand and placed it on Lara’s forehead. Then power surged through her.

Lara gasped, her eyes widening before slowly closing. And then she opened her eyes again, and now what she saw was Shin desperately fighting two enemies.

And back to that idyllic place, for a moment, the radiant figure of Elyndra stood still.

Then her form flickered. The divine glow dimmed, the veil dissolving into particles of light. Her silver hair shrank, her figure shrinking, until Lilel hovered in her place.

The small fairy stretched her arms with a tired groan.

"Ugh... that was way more work than I expected..." she muttered, rubbing her eyes."But at least it worked."

Lara had been mentally blocked, most likely by Zack’s hypnosis, preventing her from accessing her full potential.

But now... that barrier was gone.

Released from her limits, the guard dog advanced aggressively,

〇〇〇

Meanwhile, Arlo, who had been separated from Lara before, was fighting for his life. He slammed against a stone wall, the impact cracking the bunker behind him. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as the monstrous chimera let out another deafening roar.

The creature was absurd.

Its massive body looked like a fusion of several beasts stitched together into one nightmare. Thick black fur covered parts of its body, while exposed muscles pulsed unnaturally beneath its skin. Multiple glowing red eyes stared at Arlo with pure killing intent.

And worst of all the monster was adapting quickly. Arlo had already frozen its legs, cut multiple members, and even frozen it’s hard. But the chimera always found a way of surviving and adapting to the attacks.

Without giving the man time to rest, the monster charged again.

Arlo immediately thrust both hands forward. "Ice Prison!"

Massive pillars of ice erupted from the ground, crashing into the chimera from every direction. Frost spread across its body, freezing layers upon layers around its limbs.

For a brief second, the creature stopped moving. Seizing this opportunity, Arlo compressed mana into his sword until the blade itself turned pale blue.

Then he dashed forward. The frozen floor shattered beneath his feet as he accelerated with explosive speed.

"Die!"

His sword pierced straight through one of the creature’s throats. At the same time, he unleashed all the cold mana stored inside the blade. The monster’s entire upper body froze solid instantly.

However once again the chimera seemed to slowly be adapting, the cold working less and less on her.

"Fuck!" Arlo growled.

He wouldn’t get another opportunity like this, so he needed to use everything he had.

Arlo let out a furious roar as his body partially transformed. Fur spread across parts of his skin, his nails sharpened into claws, and his muscles swelled violently from the surge of power.

Without hesitation, he slashed his own left arm, drawing blood. Then he activated <Beast Blood Pact>.

For a brief instant, the skill forcibly extracted even more power from his body at the cost of pushing it far beyond its limits.

His glowing blood spread through the air like crimson threads before instantly solidifying into countless sharp spikes that pierced straight into the chimera.

"Ice Cocoon..." he muttered coldly.

A gigantic crystal of ice materialized around the creature.

In an instant, the monster was completely frozen solid. Every cell inside its grotesque body had been sealed within an almost indestructible block of magical ice.

It probably wasn’t enough to truly kill that thing. But the chimera wouldn’t be moving again for days.

So Arlo had won. Or at least... that was what he thought.

BOOOOOOOOM!

A gigantic explosion shook the entire underground facility. Arlo’s eyes widened as a terrifying magical wave spread through the area.

"That crazy asshole..." he muttered, immediately understanding what Gut had just done.

He could feel it. Dozens... no, hundreds of presences. His blood ran cold as he forced his exhausted body to remain standing.

Without wasting another second, Arlo sprinted toward the forest area, desperately hoping what he sensed was some kind of false alarm.

But the reality became undeniable the moment he arrived there.

The gate that served as one of the seals of the Dark Forest had been broken, and countless monsters were pouring into the area where the test was taking place.

Of course, something like this would immediately attract the attention of the other instructors, and Gut would never escape punishment for doing it.

"He’s probably desperate..." Arlo muttered. "But... fuck, what a psychopath. He actually wants to see everyone get killed."