Daniel stood quietly, his gaze fixed on the remains of those who had fallen before him moments ago.

Ragnar, Seraphina, Sel’nora, the Holy Emperor, Kyroth, and Elisara.

Six beings, each capable of changing the fate of nations on their own.

Six legends, six pillars of this world. And for someone like Daniel, six extremely valuable sources.

"Now that I think about it, if this were a novel or a movie, wouldn’t I be the villain?" He muttered to himself. From the perspective of this world’s people, he was certainly a villain, practically the ultimate demon trying to destroy the world.

"But it’s not my fault that these fools thought they had to destroy that tree. The fools didn’t even understand that the tree was most likely sent by the gods." He sighed.

His conflict with these six people and this entire continent had been a misunderstanding from the very beginning. A misunderstanding that led to the death of millions.

Unfortunately for this world, he was too lazy to explain anything. Besides, he doubted they would have listened to his explanation anyway.

They thought the tree was cursed and responsible for the world’s destruction, but the tree had been nurtured by the gods, or even by the world itself, to give birth to a divine fruit.

A fruit that could have allowed one of them to reach the peak of Demi-God, perhaps even a False God. And that way, they might have had a chance to save this world from the beasts of corruption.

But these fools thought the fruit would bring about the end of the world.

"Couldn’t that old man in the real world have warned them? Or did he not know the truth back then either? In fact, that old man himself could have used the fruit to become a being just below the gods." He muttered to himself.

Naturally, he was referring to the old man he had seen a few days ago, before the battle with the million-man army and Valdrak.

He still didn’t know how powerful that old man was, but he guessed he was a Demi-God, perhaps even a False God. He wasn’t sure. He was just surprised that the old man seemed to know this world was fake.

But either way, it wasn’t his problem, so there was no need to think about it.

Then his right hand slowly rose toward Kyroth, and he let a drop of blood fall on him.

The ancient mage’s existential remnants had not yet completely faded. A moment later, cosmic lights gathered around him.

The system reacted.

[Attempting to create a new Fallen]

[Attempt successful]

The cosmic light shone, and then a figure slowly emerged from within the light.

It was Kyroth, but with galactic purple skin. His height had doubled, and he now had black wings like those of angels.

But the power emanating from his existence seemed even deeper than during his lifetime.

Daniel looked away from him and moved toward Seraphina.

Then Sel’nora.

The Holy Emperor.

And Ragnar.

One after another, there was no resistance, no obstacle. Fortunately, they all became his Fallen.

He now had five beings at the national awakened level as his Fallen. This meant that his Fallen army alone was now more powerful than all the guilds in his country combined.

"If I count the dragons as well, is there anyone left who can stand against me?" He chuckled, feeling a strong sense of pride.

But he wasn’t foolish enough to think he was completely invincible. Demi-Gods were still a major threat to him.

Now, by gaining 10% of these five people’s stats, his power would increase again, though not significantly.

"But they have good skills." He could copy one skill from each of them.

Then he moved on to the last one, the Divine Prophet. But suddenly, something happened that hadn’t occurred in a long time.

Suddenly, a cold voice echoed in Daniel’s mind.

[ERROR]

Daniel frowned.

[The target cannot be turned into a Fallen]

[A divine soul cannot be turned into a Fallen]

A few seconds of silence passed, and Daniel’s frown deepened. He raised his hand again.

The pressure of his presence caused the surrounding space to collapse for a moment.

His blood drop rushed toward Elisara’s remains again.

But the result did not change.

[The target cannot be turned into a Fallen]

[A divine soul cannot be turned into a Fallen]

This time, Daniel’s gaze lingered on the message for a few seconds. This wasn’t the first time he had been unable to create a Fallen. Back when he had first become an Awakened, when he tried to turn elves into Fallen, he failed.

Because their souls returned to the World Tree after death.

And now another example had appeared before him: a being with a divine soul.

"What does a divine soul even mean?" He had no answer to his question.

But in the end, he said nothing and looked away from Elisara’s remains. If he couldn’t turn her into a Fallen, he would have to forget about her.

"Her future-seeing skill would have been very useful. What a shame."

Then his gaze turned into the distance, toward the last survivor, Serius.

He had been hidden inside a Half Step-Divine’s defensive layer the entire time.

The moment Daniel’s gaze fell on him, Serius’s body froze. The defensive layers were still active.

Thousands of protective seals shimmered around him, but none made him feel safe. Thanks to these layers, he had survived the waves and effects of the attacks.

But he was still afraid and worried.

Daniel took a step. Just one step, and Serius’s heart pounded against his chest.

A second step, and cold sweat dripped from his temples.

A third step, and breathing became difficult for him. He had seen the entire battle.

The death of Ragnar, the death of the Holy Emperor, the death of Seraphina, the death of Sel’nora, the death of Kyroth, and the death of Elisara. All those legends had fallen.

And now that being was coming toward him. Daniel stopped in front of the protective barrier.

He glanced at it briefly.

"The Half Step-Divines don’t want to come out?" His voice was calm.

But to Serius, it sounded more terrifying than any threat. It took him a few seconds to answer.

His throat had gone dry.

"Even if they wanted to, I doubt they would dare. They’d be hunted."

The space grew heavier for a moment. Daniel just looked at him, showed no reaction. No anger, no mockery, no satisfaction.

"I see." Then he said very quietly.

A few seconds passed, and then he nodded.

"So my guess was right."

And then he turned and simply left. But just as his presence disappeared...

Something broke inside Serius. His knees buckled, he fell to the ground, and his hands trembled.

His breathing was ragged. All the beliefs of his life had crumbled. The Holy Council was destroyed. The legends were dead.

And the world had knelt before one person.

An incomprehensible laugh escaped his throat, then crying, then laughter again. His eyes went empty.

Meaningless whispers came from his mouth. His mind was collapsing.

And just at that moment, space quietly split open. A delicate, silent fissure. An old man with long white hair stepped out.

He wore a golden robe, and deep, ancient eyes shone in his face.

Serius’s master, one of the world’s Half Step-Divines. His gaze fell on his disciple, and at that moment, he sighed heavily.

"His future may be gone." His disciple had gone mad, his mind and heart had clearly fallen.

He looked around and saw the empty spaces where six legends had been.

He was silent for a few seconds.

"What a terrifying monster..." And then he whispered.

"If I had been in their place, the outcome might have been no different."

Even for him, admitting this was bitter. He was a Half Step-Divine, truly one of the most powerful living beings in the world.

But after seeing what had happened here, even he was not sure he could do anything.

His gaze fixed on the sky, on a place far away, a place the Half Step-Divines had been secretly working on for years.

An exit path. An escape route. A way to leave this world.

"Just one more step remains. We just need to complete the exit path." There was no hope left for this world; escape was the best option.

Then he grabbed Serius by the collar, space rippled, and both disappeared.

At the same time, Daniel reached his destination: the remote ruins, the cursed tree, and the divine fruit.

He stood motionless for a few seconds, seeing the complete version for the first time. It didn’t look like an ordinary fruit, not even like something belonging to this world.

It was like a small star hanging among the branches, like the beating heart of a world.

White and golden light slowly flowed from its surface.

And each pulse made space ripple softly.

Daniel’s golden eyes fixed on it, and at that moment...

A notification appeared before him.

[Floor 4 Cleared Successfully]

[Congratulations on clearing the fourth floor]

[Remaining Time Before Transferring to Lobby: 00:25:00]

Daniel stared at the message for a few seconds, and then his gaze returned to the fruit.

Twenty-five minutes. Only twenty-five minutes remained until leaving the fourth floor.

And this time, no one remained to stand between him and the fruit.