Legendary Beast Master: Starting with Contracting SSS Rank Dragon
Chapter 63: The Crimson Terror

Chapter 63: The Crimson Terror

The wind was still. Too still.

Kael stood at the edge of the abyss, his chest still echoing with phantom pain from Kiona’s punch. The air here was thick, not with heat or cold, but with something far worse—silence. A silence so absolute that it rang in his ears like an ancient bell tolling in the void.

The cliff below stretched endlessly downward, shrouded in swirling mists that devoured light and reason. Even his Draconic eyes couldn’t find a bottom. It was a pit meant to swallow everything.

But it was the crimson tree that held his attention.

Unlike the version in the illusory forest, this one was much larger. Its gnarled roots twisted through the broken ground like a sleeping leviathan, and its leaves glowed with a deep, pulsating red, like blood flowing through veins.

The closer Kael looked, the more it seemed like the tree was breathing. He detected life signs from it using his [Beast Sense].

"This is no illusion. This is the real second floor," he murmured. "That’s also why I didn’t sense anything earlier using my [Beast Sense]."

The source of the hallucinations. The heart of the anomaly.

[Be careful, Master. The concentration of soul energy around the tree is overwhelming. Its rank is definitely not any lower than B, possibly even A-Rank.]

Alpha’s voice echoed in his mind with a rare tone of unease.

"A Demi-God," Kael muttered. "This isn’t a place to grind. This is a test—a trial set by Tharnyx."

As he took a step forward unconsciously, his instincts—sharpened by countless life-or-death battles—screamed at him to stop. It was only then he realized that the influence on his mind was far stronger here.

But he could resist, as he was in full control over his soul.

He wanted to retreat, but he didn’t, because now, he could see them.

Faces.

In the trunk. In the roots. In the leaves.

Hundreds of faces—some human, some beast, others too deformed to recognize. Their eyes were wide open, mouths frozen in silent screams, etched into the bark like damned souls clawing at their prison.

"Souls... this thing has absorbed them," Kael whispered.

He clenched his fists. His mana surged slightly, instinctively reacting to the danger. The call from the tree was getting stronger.

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him and his heart tensed up, as he actually didn’t feel any danger. He immediately turned around, only to see Kiona walking toward him in a dazed state.

Her eyes were blank, and she moved as if she was a puppet being controlled by something.

Kael clicked his tongue, and reaching over to her, he smacked the back of her head tightly—almost making her fall forward—but he caught her.

Clarity returned in Kiona’s eyes as she blinked in confusion and looked around, shocked to see the dark atmosphere surrounding them.

"Looks like it works from outside too," Kael said, before turning around. "Where are the twins?"

Fortunately, the twins had large bodies, so Kael easily spotted their figures even in the darkness. He then said, "Let’s go!"

Kiona walked behind him and asked, "Master, is this how the Labyrinth usually works?"

In her opinion, things were way too dangerous in this Labyrinth, so why did everyone say that it was much easier to rank up in one?

It didn’t make sense to her, as she knew without Kael, she would have died in that strange illusion.

"Not really. This Labyrinth is probably a form of test from Tharnyx," Kael answered. "That’s why it’s so dangerous."

"Inheritance?" Kiona asked thoughtfully.

"Possibly. Also, don’t try to look at that tree. It’s probably a Demi-God."

Kiona almost stumbled forward upon hearing his words and resisted the urge to turn around. She gasped, "He left behind a Demi-God monster on the second floor?"

Kael shrugged, as even he was surprised by that.

Soon, they reached the twins and found them slowly raising their legs, as if they were also about to start walking.

"Perhaps our bodies here follow the actions we do in that illusion," Kiona said. "Before waking up here, I was approaching the tree. Wait! Why was I doing that?"

Hearing her confused tone, Kael smiled. "That tree is probably bound to one place, so it uses these tricks to get people to go near it. Once they are in range, their survival rate is close to zero."

Kiona’s body shivered as she imagined the scenario he described. It was creepy and terrifying, as she would have died believing that she was taking rest in a gentle tree’s embrace.

[But Master, even if a Demi-God rank monster casts an illusion on you, I’m sure it’ll be much less effective because of your constitution. So I think it’s related to the individual named Tharnyx.]

’I also thought the same.’

Just as the twins had taken their first steps, they received two solid punches that shook their souls back to reality.

After Kael confirmed that they were safe for the time being, he explained his guesses to the three of them so they could be more careful in the future.

As for his guesses, they were actually very simple. Either they were unlucky, or the entrance to the second floor existed within the territory of that Crimson Tree.

That’s why when they entered, they were immediately struck by one of its abilities that allowed it to pull people’s souls into an illusion.

Given its appearance, it would be hard to get people to approach it, so the tree created a situation where people considered it a benevolent tree and reached out for it.

And the moment they got within its attack range, their souls would be harvested and become one with the Crimson Tree.

Kael had a feeling that the illusion wasn’t as simple as it seemed. There were definitely far more dangers within that peaceful hallucination.

Fortunately, they managed to get out before encountering anything worse. As for how they got out—it was also pretty simple.

Since the soul was in the illusion, a solid fluctuation would surely jolt it out for a moment, and that moment was enough for the soul to sense the calling of their physical body, which pulled the soul back to reality.

"Anyways, we need to find the portal first. That’s our priority," Kael said.

[I’ve got the map. It wasn’t hard to track where your body traveled once I got full control over your senses.]

’Huh? You have control over my senses?’

[Yee, we share your senses. I’m a part of your soul, you know, so I need your senses to know the surroundings.]

Kael nodded and glanced at the three of them, who seemed to have accepted the situation rather easily. He liked this attitude, as it made decision-making much easier.

He then led the three of them using the map Alpha created. The journey wasn’t an easy one, as the land was barren and broken, with cracks appearing all over the place and a gray fog that messed with their sight.

There was also the calling from the Crimson Tree, which everyone was trying to avoid. And finally, there was another fear in their hearts—

What if there was another monster like the Crimson Tree hiding in the dark?