Universal Law was incredibly appealing to all living beings.
They couldn't necessarily understand what it was with perception that didn't match Damien's or power like Sia, but they could inherently feel the benefits it represented.
Because Universal Law was the greatest form of law and held the essence of truth within, regardless of what one practiced, swallowing a piece of it would boost their comprehension severalfold.
It was basically a cheat item!
Then, what would happen if even the slightest trace of this golden finger was emitted into the world?
Naturally, those who could sense it would go crazy for it.
It all happened in a single second.
A massive shadow swooped down from above the cloud layer and traversed several hundred kilometers in a single second.
It had no care for the Ascension Ceremony, nor did it bother with the beings around it at all.
It swooped down and swallowed the trace of aura it sensed from its perch in the heavens, its massive body causing ripples in the very space of the Severed World with every movement!
This beast had similar characteristics to a griffin, but rather than the head of an eagle, it had the gaping maw of a crocodile.
The Overseer and every beast around him froze, watching in horror as the Wind Spirit King's blood showered down on them.
That griffin-like beast made an arc in the air, casting an indifferent gaze at the lowly beings climbing the mountain before rushing back up to its perch.
It was an event so jarring that the Ascension Ceremony almost stalled, but the beasts further away from the area made sure this didn't happen!
"Haha! Fuck you, stupid eagle!"
He felt a little strange saying it since he was American on earth, but Damien couldn't suppress his joy seeing such a scourge be dealt with quickly and easily.
"Good work!" He said to Sia, complementing her without reservation.
"Was it necessary to go to such lengths?" She asked, glancing into the cloud layer.
"Of course," Damien responded.
"It's not just a matter of killing that bitch in the grandest fashion possible. Though that's the main reason, do you think the beasts up there will let that creature happily enjoy its reward?"
Naturally, there couldn't be only a single beast who sensed the leaking aura. The griffin might've been the first to come down, but the reason it wasn't followed was because the rest were lying in wait for his return to fight for the treasure!
"It doesn't matter if he eats it or not. As long as they can tear it out of his stomach, they can still obtain the benefits," Sia murmured, the look in her eyes changing.
She didn't expect Damien to be a scheming person. It was surprising to see him make such an informed move.
She managed to ignore the fact that this strategy was only an afterthought, though.
The Wind Spirit King's death came fast and didn't give anyone time to rationalize it.
The Messenger Birds were still trying to attack, unaware that their support system had been devoured.
A light suddenly appeared in the eyes of many beasts.
Messenger Birds, they were a scourge among scourges. There wasn't a single beast in Skyrend Mountain that appreciated their presence, only those that wished them dead!
The Wind Spirit King protected them, but he wasn't enough to scare away all the beasts in the central region.
The truth, the reason why they could claim themselves envoys of the Cloud Emperor, was because the Wind Spirit King had a connection above the cloud layer protecting him.
Therefore, killing him became impossible, and the Messenger Birds gained amnesty as a byproduct.
The Wind Spirit King was now dead at the hands of an upper-level being, and the Messenger Birds…
Well, the Wind Spirit King's backer never cared about them in the first place!
A change occurred.
Much of the fighting at lower altitudes came to a halt. The beasts that were previously making an effort to drag their peers down with them threw away their petty desires and descended the mountain, accepting their final results.
Or rather, they conceded in order to accomplish something greater!
To relieve the grudges and stress of so many years, to slaughter Messenger Birds until the species went extinct!
Anyone who reached their limit left to participate in this great event.
And with that, the brutal environment of the Ascension Ceremony also calmed somewhat.
The Overseer managed to reach the 800-kilometer mark before his armor's regeneration could no longer support him.
He looked over to see a blur of black light, still in hot competition with its peers.
He couldn't say how, but he knew. He knew it was that group who led the Wind Spirit King to such a humiliating fate.
As he resigned to his current position and proudly accepted his place in the central region, he silently thanked his luck that he was accommodating when he first met them!
WHOOOSH!
Winds whipped up a storm as the crowd made its way further up the mountain.
The number of competitors had decreased massively, leaving only a few hundred still ascending, but the overall skill level of these competitors far exceeded the pack they'd begun with!
Zara still used the same tactics to climb higher and higher, but it soon became clear that she was being targeted by her peers.
On the right, a raven beast and a hawk beast used joint maneuvers to blitz them, while on the left, a fat bird whose flight ability looked questionable was easily following them and slamming into their barriers, knocking them off course and leaving them vulnerable to the slope's dangers!
"Khh…!"
Damien gritted his teeth and maintained the barrier with all his mana.
At this point, the atmospheric suppression had reached an insane level.
It bore down on their bodies, compacting their bones and forcing them to experience great pain.
But this level of harm couldn't sway them.
They had goals to achieve, and they wouldn't be satisfied until they achieved them!
"Zara, how are you holding up?" Damien yelled.
"I'm fine! My body can still take this much!" She responded.
Zara's beast body was much stronger than even Damien's current human body. She could tell that she wouldn't feel any problems until they surpassed the cloud layer.
The problem right now was external!
"Tsk!"
Zara clicked her tongue and swerved, dodging the fat bird's charge.
She did a strange loop in the air, circling the attackers on the left and leading the fat bird over.
She wanted to lure them into combat with each other, but they were clearly too in sync to fall for such tactics.
If so, the only thing to do was attack directly!
AWOOOOOO!
A fierce howl left her maw, and waves of dark and deadly mana spread into the atmosphere.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
The attacking beasts were hit and pushed back, shadow mana seeping into their bodies.
Whoosh!
Zara flapped her wings and shot up without waiting for them to recover.
Beasts from the Severed World still weren't familiar with elemental mana in this manner, so the best strategy to use against them was exactly this!
The attack didn't cause much damage, but the mana invading their systems wasn't healthy at all.
Especially when it compounded!
Zara swerved and looped through the sky in formations that would put professional pilots to shame.
She barraged the enemy with small attacks that wouldn't alert them but slowly poisoned them, putting them under control.
And in the midst of this fierce chase—!
BOOM!
The atmosphere exploded, sending shockwaves in all directions.
Zara and her opponents had broken through the cloud layer!
