Back in the second layer of the void, Michael's battle had also reached a new stage.

At this moment, Michael no longer looked entirely human. His body had expanded slightly, not to the size of a true giant, but enough to give him the appearance of a miniature titan.

Grey-black patterns covered parts of his skin, while dark water and faint black flames twisted around his body like living armor. In his hand, the long dark spear hummed violently.

KRAAAABOOOOM!!!

Michael swung the spear horizontally.

The two Legendary beings attacking him were forced backward at the same time. The old man's blue-black flames shattered apart, while the woman's water rings collapsed into countless droplets across the void.

Michael's eyes were bright.

The earlier success of Eternal Abyss Barrier had opened something inside his mind. It was as though a door had finally been pushed open.

Ideas that had previously existed only as vague concepts were becoming clearer with every exchange.

Michael's understanding deepened rapidly in the middle of battle. Taking advantage of the moment, he began comprehending the one Law he was most familiar with.

Beginning's Law of Brutal Rebirth.

The Law of Brutal Rebirth was not simply about surviving injury. It was not merely regeneration, endurance, or stubborn vitality.

Its deeper concept was evolution through violence.

Beginning embodied that concept perfectly. The more damaged it became, the more terrifying its rebirth became.

Michael's eyes shone brighter.

"So that's it…"

The old man and woman immediately felt that something was wrong.

"Stop him!"

The woman shouted coldly.

The old man's flames erupted again, transforming into a massive serpent head that lunged directly toward Michael. At the same time, the woman summoned a giant spear of compressed abyssal water and hurled it forward.

Michael did not retreat.

Instead, he gripped his spear with both hands. Dark grey light erupted from his body.

"Law Skill…"

His voice was low, but it echoed clearly through the void.

"Brutal Rebirth, First State."

KRAAAACK!

A violent sound erupted from inside Michael's body.

For a brief instant, his heartbeat became thunder. His muscles tightened, his bones creaked, and his mana surged like a dam breaking apart.

A terrifying force flooded every part of him as though his body had been forcefully dragged beyond its natural limit.

His power instantly rose by nearly fifty percent.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

Michael disappeared.

The old man's pupils shrank.

Fast.

Too fast.

The next instant, Michael appeared directly before the serpent head of blue-black flame and thrust his spear forward.

KRAAAAAABOOOOOM!!!

The flame serpent exploded instantly.

Without stopping, Michael twisted his body and swung the spear again. The dark spear collided head-on with the woman's abyssal water spear.

The water spear shattered.

The woman was forced backward several hundred meters through the void, her expression filled with disbelief.

Michael remained in place, breathing slightly heavier than before.

He could feel it clearly.

This Law Skill was strong.

Very strong.

But the cost was equally obvious.

His life force was being consumed.

Even with his terrifying vitality, this was not something he could maintain casually. It was a burst-type skill and a trump card meant to decide a dangerous moment, not something to use freely in a prolonged battle.

Yet Michael's excitement only grew because he could feel that this skill was incomplete.

Beginning's Law possessed three states depending on the severity of its injuries. Michael was not arrogant enough to believe he could perfectly replicate all three right now, but he was confident he could eventually develop at least a second state.

Perhaps even a third one in the future.

What made this skill even more special was that it did not interfere with Beginning's passive Law effect. The more injured he became, the stronger he grew.

Which was to say that perhaps, in the future, Michael could achieve as many as six different burst effects.

The thought alone made his blood heat slightly.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to slowly study it.

The two Legendary beings had already recovered from their shock.

Michael slowly raised his spear again, his aura pressing down on both of them like a mountain.

"When are the two of you planning to reveal yourselves?"

The two immediately started looking uneasy.

When Michael had first fought them, he felt a strange sensation from the pair. The longer the battle continued, the stronger that feeling became.

After some time, he noticed that both possessed bloodline fluctuations similar to the Black Serpent royal family.

Yet neither had revealed a true bloodline form.

Not once.

That alone was abnormal.

The Emperor had transformed. The two ancestors fighting the High Drake had transformed before they disappeared.

Every bloodline warrior Michael had encountered eventually relied upon their bloodline form when pushed into a corner.

So why had these two not done so?

It was then that a shocking realization came to him.

These two were monster kin.

Bloodline warriors gave off a certain aura. Monsters gave off another.

Even if a monster transformed into a human, traces always remained.

Likewise, bloodline warriors who transformed into beasts still retained their human origins.

They were similar.

But not identical.

The same principle applied to Michael's undead.

A sufficiently powerful observer could always notice subtle differences.

When all those clues were placed together, the answer became obvious.

These two had monster origins.

Michael did not know whether they were the children of the Emperor or some other ancestor, but he had to acknowledge their adventurous spirits.

However, outside of their bloodline issue, Michael was focused on something else.

Killing humans did not provide experience points.

The same was true for other intelligent races outside the monster race.

Since these two were technically monsters, was it possible that killing them would grant experience points?

Though he suffered from the increasingly difficult requirements of leveling through experience points, these two were stronger than him and he was only a single level away from reaching the maximum.

Only one of them was needed.

Combined with the bonus he would receive from killing a higher-level opponent, he would almost certainly level up and reach the limit.

By then, his Rank Advancement Quest would finally be revealed.

And as long as he completed it, Rank 4 would not be far away.