The figure paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something, suddenly understanding as he said, “So you destroyed the insect egg. No wonder the Black Demon Mantis wants you dead. This kid doesn’t look like much, but I didn’t expect him to have such guts.”

It sounded as if he had some appreciation for Brian Cooper, so after pondering for a moment, he nodded, gave a faint “hmph,” and said, “This green poison from the insect egg was supposed to make your life worse than death, but since you lured out that golden-blooded demon beast for the ‘Dragon King,’ I’ll save you this once.”

After speaking, he seemed to take a breath, then suddenly brought his fingers together like a blade and slashed Brian Cooper’s wrist. Instantly, the skin split open, revealing a long wound right in the middle of that greenish mark.

Strangely, although the wound was large, not a single drop of blood flowed from it.

The mysterious figure showed no surprise, as if he had expected this all along. He immediately grabbed Brian Cooper’s arm and pressed it down hard, directly into the golden demon blood that had flowed from the Black Demon Mantis.

At the same time, he seemed to be chanting some strange incantation in a low voice, the tones uneven and irregular, but a peculiar aura began to fill the surroundings, and the nearby golden blood started to flow into the wound on Brian Cooper’s wrist.

As the golden blood entered, the green mark on Brian Cooper’s wrist began to fade at a speed visible to the naked eye. After a while, it had almost completely disappeared.

Brian Cooper’s arm returned to normal, and even the wound that had just been cut open looked as if it was about to heal completely.

Seeing this, the mysterious figure nodded with some satisfaction, then let go of Brian Cooper’s arm and muttered to himself, “Hmm, the rest is up to whether you have the fate to survive.”

After saying this rather irresponsible-sounding line, he turned and walked away toward the giant beast that was still feeding.

But just as he had walked about ten feet away, suddenly, a beast-like roar erupted from behind him.

The figure paused, turned around, and saw that Brian Cooper, who had just been unconscious, still had his eyes tightly closed. But for some reason, his injured right arm had suddenly grown several times larger and thicker, with strange patterns and fur appearing on the skin and flesh, making it look almost like a beast’s limb.

“Beast transformation!”

In the darkness, the figure’s body suddenly trembled, filled with astonishment and disbelief as he stared at the unconscious Brian Cooper, as if witnessing something unimaginable.

“Isn’t this the ability that was lost for a thousand years, and only the ‘Berserk Generals’ of the Wild Tribe could possess?”

“How could a human have such a talent?”

※※※

Brian Cooper felt as if he had fallen into an endless, inescapable dream.

He dreamed of many, many things, saw countless scenes, all so vivid they felt real.

Most of the time, what he experienced were nightmares, bringing him immense pain. It was like a drowning man sinking into water, struggling desperately but never able to be saved. Even though he knew it was a terrible nightmare, he could never wake up.

He dreamed of many, many things—many dead people and blood. Then, very quickly, the faces of those dead, though twisted in pain, all turned into people he knew.

One by one, they died screaming before his eyes, blood spraying everywhere, their bodies torn apart.

A black, terrifying demon killed everyone, leaving only him alive. But soon, the demon began to hunt him, and he ran for his life, trying to escape. But something even more terrifying happened: countless creepy green insects wrapped around his hands and feet, and he was about to die a horrible death.

Flames suddenly rose from his body, burning wildly, consuming everything and incinerating all the insects, but they had no effect on the black demon.

So he still had to run for his life. The nightmare left him utterly exhausted. He wanted to wake up, but was powerless to do so.

Then he suddenly realized that the fire on his body had never gone out, continuing to burn fiercely, and what was burning was his own flesh and blood!

The pain nearly drove him mad, while the black demon behind him let out wild laughter and roars.

He kept running, feeling he couldn’t hold on any longer, that he was about to die. But suddenly, he realized that all the flames and all the pain had somehow concentrated in his right hand.

The black demon charged at him, baring its fangs and claws, arrogant and unstoppable. Then, its head suddenly fell off, its arrogance and terror coming to an abrupt and shocking—

Suddenly, the result was so absurd it was almost laughable.

Next, he saw golden blood flowing everywhere, converging on his right arm. Then, in a dazzling, strange light, he was horrified to find his right arm had grown several times larger, sprouting hair and bulging with muscle, like a giant beast’s limb.