Chapter 188
Chapter 188: Descended From the Heavens Like a Paragon—Truly a Fine Upstanding Example for Humanity!
Hera.
This woman possessed an absolutely beast-like way of thinking.
In the society of jungle predators, the strong were worshipped as a matter of course.
And Hera had taken this mentality and twisted it to its most extreme.
Only a male more powerful than herself would ever earn Hera's favor.
The reason Hera revered strength so utterly was simple—
She wanted a child.
From a very early age, Hera had formed this conviction: she must find an exceptionally powerful being and have his seed combine entirely with her own.
In fact, as long as they were strong enough, the target of her search need not even be human.
Because she herself was not human.
All manner of powerful adventurers frequented the Adventurers' Capital.
And the reason she had established the Beast Guild here was precisely to discover a male whose strength was formidable enough to surpass her own.
Even her ventures into the Magical Creature Rift to explore the Abyss had all been in pursuit of this same goal—to seek out a male creature who might be stronger than herself, and with whom some form of communication was possible.
This was also why, after the First Prince notified her that an exceptionally powerful creature had appeared within the Magical Creature Rift, she had immediately and eagerly assembled a team and rushed over at the very first opportunity.
She had indeed witnessed a powerful magical creature—but she had also laid eyes on a man who surpassed even that creature.
Viktor Clavena.
If she could obtain this man's seed, she was certain it would give her the finest offspring imaginable.
But……
"Are you worthy?"
Those merciless, ice-cold words drifted across the earth in an unhurried echo.
Every adventurer nearby went still where they stood, mouths hanging open, staring at Viktor.
Hera was no exception.
The dark ashen hearts in her eyes began to crack apart, and a flower bud burst through those fractured hearts, settling at the base of her gaze.
She stared at Viktor with a blank, dazed expression, even her voice trembling slightly.
Perhaps it was because this—her very first courtship advance—had been rejected on the spot, leaving her unable to accept it.
"What……do you mean?"
Viktor had only flung out a single sentence to shatter the last of Hera's illusions.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Hera was not human. She carried the beast-minded way of thinking through her every waking moment, and her understanding of the world was no different from that of a beast.
Powerful beasts would watch their offspring slaughter one another, keeping only the final, strongest survivor as a way of raising the next generation.
Ensuring the quality of their bloodline—continuously cultivating superior descendants through a process of relentless selection.
She herself had been born in exactly such an environment.
As a member of the【Wild One】, Hera had, since childhood, slain every last one of her siblings for the sole purpose of proving that her bloodline was the finest of all.
Raised under constant indoctrination of this belief, only 1 conviction remained in her heart.
And that was:
No matter what it took, she would produce offspring that surpassed herself—surpassed everyone.
Pursue the strong. Revere the strong. And ultimately……
Transcend the strong.
And yet, just as Viktor had said.
"You are not yet worthy."
On one hand, Viktor would not allow his bloodline to survive and grow in such an environment. On the other hand,
Viktor spoke to Hera slowly, in a tone of perfect mundanity:
"Do you consider yourself strong?"
The moment his words fell, the saplings that had just barely sprouted were gradually swallowed from their roots upward by a creeping green.
In the blink of an eye, they had grown into several towering trees.
That rich, dense green poured into the trees' bodies, and from bare branches devoid of leaves, lush foliage came spreading outward—along with flowers still waiting to bloom.
The raindrops falling from the clear sky gradually calmed, sliding across leaves before striking the earth below, forming shallow, crystal-clear puddles that reflected deep and vivid shades of green.
Thriving green grass pushed up through the earth, and a gentle breeze drifted through the forest, sending rippling waves of emerald rolling outward with a rustling, rushing sound.
Hera looked at the environment that had transformed in an instant around her, and found herself stunned all over again.
Anyone who witnessed a sight like this—something that belonged to the realm of the miraculous—would find their mind completely overwhelmed by the impact of it.
Her mind went blank for a moment. But before long, her consciousness once again answered to herself.
In this moment, Hera fell into a deep self-doubt.
Was she……truly strong?
Before encountering Viktor, she could most certainly have declared it with absolute confidence.
She was—extremely, exceptionally strong.
From the time she grew up, through all her years of becoming stronger, up until the moment she entered the Empire.
Hera had never met a person stronger than herself.
There may have been those who could match her as equals—but merely as equals. That alone was not enough to make them a candidate in Hera's eyes.
Even when she had heard news of Viktor, the newly appointed Council Member of the Mage Council, not even the slightest ripple had stirred within Hera at the time.
A small-time Council Member—how much power could he possibly have?
Until she had witnessed it with her own eyes.
That world-altering Magic of devastating power—capable even of defeating a creature so overwhelming it could have laid waste to an entire stretch of land.
And the one who had used that Magic.
Was the man standing before her.
Viktor.
Elegant. Powerful.
He had even taken only the slightest of injuries at the very start of the battle.
After that, through nearly a full day of grueling combat against his opponent, he had not received so much as a single additional injury.
Viktor's voice, still as flat as ever, rang out once more.
"There is a considerable gap between you and me—and that, you should understand more clearly than I do."
"So on what basis could you possibly believe yourself worthy of me?"
Hera listened to Viktor's every word in silence.
Each one was like a slender needle, slowly piercing into her heart.
The words Viktor had spoken left her mired in distress.
She had countless followers of her own—and indeed, no shortage of suitors.
And in the world of beasts that she inhabited, she preferred to call the behavior of those people by another name: courtship.
The weak follow the strong, and they too had sought her out because of the power Hera possessed.
But Hera, just as Viktor was doing now, had rejected all of them.
With exactly the same reasoning.
"Are you worthy?"
What Hera sought was someone stronger. The weak held no value in her eyes.
Now, her own courtship advance had been met with that same rejection.
Because here, she was the weak one.
Viktor was the strong one.
The strong had no obligation to humor the weak with false courtesy—and so Viktor had rejected her with exactly the same reasoning. Hera had nothing she could say in return.
Because she was a beast, she had to abide by the way of beasts.
The strong devour the weak—and the words of the strong were the right ones.
With that said, Viktor turned and walked away, never looking back.
He tilted his face upward toward the sky, a faint white luminescence flickering in his eyes.
The white Formation spinning ceaselessly beneath his feet gradually contracted, and streaks of magical energy shaped like wings began circling endlessly around that Formation, swirling at Viktor's feet.
The next second, that enormous white Formation surged upward into the air, the gathered wings erupting outward with a sudden force, and the Formation dissolved entirely.
With a spiraling rush of air, Viktor vanished from where he stood.
Only 2 unhurried lines of words lingered in the air, echoing:
"It seems this round of negotiations did not go particularly well—but your ambition has earned my recognition."
"I will keep waiting for word from you. Until next time."
All of the adventurers gathered together, watching Hera with concern—her head lowered, standing rooted in place, her expression unreadable.
"Boss……"
Before long, upon hearing that single call, Hera raised her head again and returned to the composed, graceful bearing she had carried from the start.
Fan in hand, she raised it to cover her mouth, and smiled softly:
"It is nothing. I was only rejected once."
Being rejected on the very first courtship advance—if she was being truthful, it had left her a little disheartened.
But it had also allowed Hera to understand something.
She took a step forward, stepping down onto the shallow puddles underfoot, sending several glistening droplets splashing outward.
Hera breathed in the clean, fresh air around her, her mood easing.
She drifted in an unhurried pace toward the way ahead, making her quiet steps through the depths of the forest as she moved slowly forward.
That solitary silhouette, bathed in sunlight, looked all the more alone.
She continued her quiet walk, and the adventurers continued their silence.
All of a sudden, Hera stopped, turned around, and looked solemnly at those 4th-Tier adventurers, her gaze moving up and down over them with measured assessment.
Hera gave her wrist a light flick and opened her fan, concealing the faint smile on her face entirely.
In her eyes, a touch of fervor gleamed.
"I believe the Beast Guild should make some changes."
As her words trailed off, a feeling began to gradually rise from the depths of the adventurers' hearts.
They seemed to understand what she meant.
It was not only Hera who thought this way—every adventurer who had joined the Beast Guild had themselves inclined toward a beast-minded way of thinking.
These 4th-Tier adventurers of theirs had, more often than not, been defeated at Hera's hands at some point in the past, or had simply been moved to submit to Hera's power of their own accord and chosen to become Guild members.
And Viktor's appearance had sent a shock reverberating through their hearts as well.
The【Wild One】revered the strong. It was only right to follow the strong.
And now, Viktor was that strong one.
"Being taken under the wing of the Clavena Family—that will be an opportunity for our Beast Guild."
***
30th Layer of the Magical Creature Rift.
【Jade-Green Sky Path】
Passing through an enormous gate, they had at last arrived at the far end of the【Jade-Green Sky Path】.
What appeared before everyone was an extraordinarily vast open expanse.
The Demi-human unit entered in orderly formation, their expressions growing profoundly grave.
In every direction—nothing but rotting-looking green vines and dim, faint light.
As though something had sensed their presence.
A massive claw broke through the green earth from below, and then a gaunt, withered skull emerged.
Its eyes were vacant and blank, struggling and writhing as it pushed half of its body out from the ground.
The entire unit went on high alert. They could clearly feel that the magical creature about to emerge carried an overwhelmingly powerful aura.
Even Gwen Delin had drawn her blade, eyes sharp with readiness, braced for whatever came.
Auréliane, however, looked at that still-struggling, blank-eyed creature—as though she recognized it—and said slowly:
"Found it. The far end of the 30th Layer."
"The Floor Guardian—the Soul-Lurking Undead."