Second Transcendence? Flee immediately!

The searing flame was the first thing that greeted him.

No warning.

No time to process.

Just the heat… and screams.

Screams of beasts that didn't belong to his world, echoing from the blazing shadows as if they were burning alive.

Lloyd didn't back down. He didn't have the option to.

He threw his body forward toward the nearest beast, sweat already pouring from his brow. His right fist was clenched in anger, his left… held tight as if carrying a promise of blood. And his mind was empty of everything but a single goal: stay alive.

The first creature emerged from the smoke, its skull aflame, its eyes not gleaming but burning. It pounced like a starving leopard, but Lloyd was faster. He leaped up with an innate agility, his fist pulling back before rocketing forward like a thunderbolt toward the beast's jaw.

CRACK!

The sound of cracking bone was music, but the beast didn't fall. It only staggered back… and spat fire from its burning mouth.

Lloyd jumped to the side, throwing an arm in front of his face to block the flames, but the edges of his skin were still singed.

"Ah…" he gasped, then spat on the ground and smiled.

The air around him was scorching, and creatures were closing in from all sides, their glowing eyes watching him with a passion that could only be matched by an executioner seeing his victim tremble before the slaughter.

He slammed his fist into another beast's jaw and heard a faint crack, as if a bone had shattered, but the creature barely flinched.

Lloyd spat on the ground again. "Doesn't matter… It just means I can break them, even if it takes a thousand punches!"

The response came as a collective roar. Ten… no, twenty beasts. Dozens now surrounded him. Some crawled, some stood on all fours, and all of them shared one thing… the desire to devour his soul.

The creature that had barely flinched before growled low, then charged again, its claws gleaming as they sliced through the air.

Swoosh—! Boom—!

Lloyd dodged with a slight bend, but he couldn't escape the back-kick from another beast on the opposite side. His body hit the ground hard, his back slamming into a black rock that dug cruelly into his skin. He let out a gasp of pain, but he didn't stop.

"Get up… Get up now!" he screamed at himself, pushing his exhausted body to rise.

[Warning! Physical deterioration has surpassed 85%!]

[Immediate withdrawal is advised!]

"Withdrawal? In this place?..." he whispered, before smiling sarcastically and cracking his knuckles. "Besides, there's no option to withdraw, is there? This place isn't called the [Torment of Beasts] for nothing."

"Alright then… let's play until the end."

Grrraaa—!

The nearest creature lunged, but this time, Lloyd was waiting. His elbow rose like an axe, tearing through its jaw.

"You feel that?!"

A second kick struck the beast's knee. It fell, but it didn't die.

"I said die!!"

But it didn't die.

BOOM!

Another beast charged from behind, but this time he anticipated it. He spun quickly and drove his elbow into its nose, following up with a high kick that ripped apart its burning jaw. The creature staggered back screaming, ash pouring from its wounds.

"Great…" Lloyd muttered, breathing heavily. "I'm starting to get used to my new body weight…"

But he wasn't alone yet. There were more than thirty beasts around him, advancing slowly… as if they wanted to consume his soul before his body.

"Yeah… try it. I'm… hungry too."

He lunged at two of them at once, leaping over the first and planting his feet on its back, using it as a platform to launch himself at the second, driving his elbow directly into its ribcage.

Bone shattered!

But it wasn't enough… so far, he hadn't killed a single one of them completely.

'It said… the body must be completely destroyed, right?' he thought, his eyes burning with intense focus.

[Warning! Muscular pressure exceeding 180% of current body capacity!]

[Risk of fiber tearing!]

But he didn't stop.

He slammed his foot on the ground, raising clouds of dust and ash. In their midst, he threw his entire body at one of the exhausted beasts.

"Die, you bastard!" he yelled, and slammed his fist into the center of its chest, and…

BOOOOM!

Its upper half exploded, crumbling like a sand statue under an iron fist. The top half of the beast disintegrated, ash pouring from within… then its entire body began to break down into black dust and vanished.

[Eliminated "Raging Flame Beast"!]

[Physical Barrier Broken: First Embodiment Successful!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained a common title!]

[Stubborn Masochist I]

[When facing enemies stronger than you, your recovery rate increases by 6% and your strength by 10%.]

[Congratulations! You have absorbed a number of Body Reinforcement Strands!]

[Acquired Body Strands: 1]

Lloyd felt a heat flow through his body, but it wasn't fire…

"Is… my body getting better?" he whispered, staring at his fist, which was now showing traces of the beast's residual ash.

[First level of the First Training Tower: Unique Training Property!]

[The more you fight, the more your body adapts! The more you suffer… the stronger you become.]

He laughed, despite the pain, despite the wounds that tore at his chest and back… he laughed in a low voice, as if he had lost his mind.

"Good… very good. Finally, something that treats me the way I treat myself."

…

Three hours passed…

The air was heavy. So heavy that every breath felt like a dagger's thrust. The number of beasts had dwindled, but they had grown fiercer. He dropped to his knees for a moment… but he didn't fall completely.

Lloyd's body was completely covered in blood and ash. Out of thirty beasts, he had eliminated nine. Two more were barely able to stand. The rest were surrounding him, trying to exhaust him to his last breath.

But he didn't fall.

His legs were trembling, every breath he took was a battle in itself, but his eyes… his eyes still burned with that quiet, unquenchable flame.

"Oh, don't think I'm going down now…" he said in a hoarse voice, before dropping to one knee.

His eyes were the only thing that hadn't changed. No flicker. No doubt. Just a fire… not one that burned, but one that melted.

[Warning! Body Status: Internal tearing – mild hemorrhaging – partial skin burns.]

[Risk Endurance: 72% - Threshold: 85%]

[Acquired Body Strands: 9]

[Physical turning point approaching!]

Suddenly, the beasts stopped their attack… and began to retreat, as if something had changed. They backed away. Not in fear… but in respect. As if they were waiting… for a master.

And the ground shook.

From the heart of the rock, a creature emerged…

Lloyd, with great difficulty, raised his head… and his eyes fell upon a massive creature emerging from beneath the ground, larger than anything he had seen before. Its height exceeded ten meters, crawling like a mutated beast, with four arms, a single cleft head, and a body covered in ancient scars and wounds.

[Ding!]

[Detected "Master of the Beasts – Lauran the Scorched"!]

[Awakening State: Second Transcendence – Level 75]

[Status: Undefeatable under current conditions]

[Advice: Flee immediately!]

But he didn't move.

"Undefeatable?" he muttered with a faint smile. He laughed. A laugh that wasn't sarcastic… but quiet.

"It's a good thing… I don't listen to advice anymore."

Then he raised his body, despite the tearing, despite the blood.

"Come… Master of the Beasts."

The creature roared, a sound that echoed through the sky, and then it charged.

Lloyd screamed with all he had, not for survival, but as a final cry of defiance. His body was breaking, but his spirit… was thriving.