The ringing in my ears is extremely loud, but my vision has returned, as my full power isn't fully concentrated on keeping my astral form at max capacity anymore. Now, a large portion of my mind is occupied with using my self-regeneration to its maximum output while walking forward to the black box that's fallen from the ceiling. Each step is painful, as my entire body is fatigued and filled with pins and needles that become sharp with every movement. Ember, walking forward in his human form, doesn't look like he's in much better shape than me. His face still exudes a confident and curious expression, but his body language shows that the ordeal took a lot out of him too. While I have an enormous amount of pure mana farmed from the artificial mountains still locked away in my storage in pure crystal form, ready to use for emergency hibernation if necessary, the boxes in front of me hold my full leftover attention. They glow with a dim white light that feels similar to divine energy, creating subtle gravity waves as it seeps out of the black boxes that don't show any openings. As soon as Ember and I get up close enough to the prizes, the tops of the small boxes dissolve away, shining with a far stronger white glow inside. The box in front of me holds three items. The first that catches my eye is a jagged piece of black metallic stone, but as it floats upward, pushed up by the white mist inside the box, it begins shimmering deep yellow and gives off the gravity signature of a true core. I raise an eyebrow and turn my head to see Ember's box open as well, and in front of him, there's only a single item: a small white dragon's scale, glowing with the same odd white divine glow. His finger makes contact with the white, nearly translucent scale, and at the same time, he transforms his body into his hybrid dragon form. The scale starts to glow brighter white, and the excess energy around it starts to flow into Ember's body, making his black scales, crimson eyes, and tail glow with a bright white light. The scale disappears once it looks as though it's been absorbed entirely, and all of the white light around Ember dissipates as well. I can't even tell if anything has changed, other than the pleasant expression on his face now and his apparent lack of fatigue. As he begins reverting back to his full human form, I notice a slight golden shimmer beneath some of Ember's scales, like their true color is peeking through for the first time. However, a headache pulls my vision away before I can observe any further, and I do as Ember instructed and drop the Low-quality Divine Ether pill into my mouth. It dissolves instantly, and tastes sweet like candy. The white glow spreads throughout my body quickly, feeling similar to when Abby uses her Restoration skill, but with a strange divine twist to it. It feels as though I'm just being healed back up to full health, but at the same time, an innate potential deep inside feels like it's being brought up to the surface, where I would usually have to dig far deeper to grasp. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Just as soon as the warm feeling washes completely over me, it leaves just as fast, and the white glow completely disappears with the two black boxes with it. All of my fatigue, ringing in my ears, and even the pins and needles all over my body have completely left me. Yet, I don't feel especially refreshed; I just feel normal... Two lines of text hover in front of my eyes, the first in yellow, and I feel my Soul Sword vibrate in my hands as the system text rings in my inner ear. [The Divine Emperor's Soul Sword Evolution Attribute has reached Lv. 1!] The second is in shimmering silver, above the arching doorway, in the ancient tower's voice that rings in my mind with even more clarity than ever before. [Proceed to Trial 2: Mind] It heals its wounds back up and grips both its bronze daggers while its body becomes covered in Demonic Soul Energy. "I'll give you one last chance to submit. Lord Vermillion is a reasonable leader; he will spare your lives in exchange for labor. Not just on this world either; once we've taken over this planet, the expansion will only continue." Maria's massive energy blade comes crashing down while Abby zips through the sky around it to send a dual attack. As they all clash again, and the Demon is pushed back with two dagger marks in its chest plate, Abby replies to its words. "One last chance? I don't think you know who you're up against here... you're not walking away from this battle alive, and neither is your Lord." Abby glances toward the tower, but the Demon only bursts out into a monstrous demonic laugh. "You believe any mere human could kill a Demon with a noble bloodline flowing through their veins...?" It laughs louder and louder while all of its wounds and armor heal. "You truly believe our leader could be killed on this puny world? Allow me to demonstrate; as one of the Lord's underlings with just a fraction of its power. I'll unseal my bloodline to give you a taste of what fate this race is in for..." Its laughs cease, and the demon closes its eyes. There isn't even a fraction of a second of activation time before its eyes open again, and a pulse of grey energy erupts from its core. An eerie pressure fills the silver dome, and the gravity of the bronze-horned Demon's True Core increases many times over. It jumps off the air to move forward, and its speed is incomparable to what it was just seconds ago. It collides with Maria's blade that would push it back before and keep it occupied while Abby went in for the kill, but this time Maria can't follow through with her strike at all. She has to use her Soul Energy core to pulse with dark blue light multiple times in a row to keep her positioning while Abby goes in to attack. It laughs again while locking eyes with both of them, grinning, as its body grows larger and plumes of dark purple Demonic Soul Energy cover its massive form. The Demon's aura makes the air hot and heavy while it creates the manifestation of a massive dark black and purple Demon the same size as Maria's Ice Goddess. It speeds forward with its enlarged energy daggers ready to kill, now truly on the offensive.