Leon and Celeste appeared in a quiet clearing surrounded by tall trees that stretched far into the sky.
The ground beneath their feet was covered in soft grass, and the air itself felt heavy with natural energy.
Directly in front of them was a massive temple constructed from pale stone and wrapped in enormous vines that crawled across every surface.
’Hm.’
Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the temple, though what truly caught his attention wasn’t the structure itself, but the panel that had appeared the mont they arrived.
[May the will of the heavenly one be with you, for your death is now certain.]
This particular version of the phrase sohow sounded even more ominous than any other yet.
Even more so than the "because nothing else will" version.
"Oh well," Leon eventually said with a small shrug as he looked ahead toward the temple’s entrance. "I guess there’s nothing to do but clear this place."
The [Temple of Nature] clearly wasn’t an ordinary zone.
Leon imdiately noticed that there had been no prompt asking him to select a difficulty level before entering.
Still, simply reaching this place was already sothing almost nobody in [Higher Domain #1] could accomplish.
The only entrance to this temple required passing through the terrifying zone protected by the endless vines of the [Will of Nature’s Attack Zone].
Without the protection of the [Plant King Flower], even high-level players would be torn apart instantly before they could get anywhere near the gate.
Perhaps... even level 100 players would die.
In other words, Leon and Celeste had already done sothing that most players would never even attempt.
Leon slowly stepped forward, his sword resting comfortably in one hand while his staff remained firmly gripped in the other.
But the exact mont he took that step toward the temple—
"Leave."
The single word exploded through the clearing like a thunderclap.
The voice was so powerful that the ground itself seed to vibrate.
A violent gust of wind erupted outward from the temple’s direction, forcing both Leon and Celeste to shield their faces as their bodies nearly lost balance.
Celeste instinctively raised her arm to protect her eyes, her flas flickering slightly around her as she braced herself against the overwhelming pressure.
’Holy hell, that thing is powerful,’ Leon thought, his eyes widening slightly as he steadied himself.
But despite the terrifying display, Leon knew that they couldn’t leave.
Once they had entered this zone, their only options were to either clear it... or die trying.
Death itself wasn’t particularly frightening to either of them anymore.
Still, that didn’t an they would treat the challenge lightly.
Leon stepped forward once again.
BOOM!
"You stand... no chance..." the sa voice echoed through the temple grounds, its tone filled with absolute confidence. "You are only level 56 and 58... you will never defeat ."
Leon and Celeste instinctively glanced at each other.
If the system expected players around level seventy-five to challenge this place, then technically speaking, they were extrely under-leveled.
But Leon didn’t seem particularly worried.
His eyes briefly shifted downward as he opened his status panel.
[Combat Power: 122,722 ( 396,752)]
"Damn..." Leon muttered quietly.
His total combat power had now surpassed five hundred thousand, resting sowhere around five hundred and twenty thousand after all his equipnt and bonuses were calculated.
That number alone was enough to compete with monsters far above his current level.
As for Celeste, she now had around 370,000 Combat Power, which was noticeably lower than Leon’s.
Still, even that amount was already extrely impressive.
"Once we get you the enhancent-type sub-talents," Leon said calmly while glancing at her, "your [Combat Power] will skyrocket."
Celeste nodded slightly as she understood what he ant.
At the mont, she only possessed a single enhancent-type sub-talent: [Strength Enhancent (D-Level)]
It helped, but the rank was far too low to truly unleash her potential.
If Leon managed to obtain sothing like [ga Strength Enhancent (A-Level)] or even [ga Spirit Enhancent (A-Level)] for her, the difference in power would be massive.
With talents like that, Celeste’s combat power could easily rise to match Leon’s.
Leon was actually extrely satisfied with how things were progressing.
Both Celeste and Emilia were capable of keeping up with him despite the insane pace at which his own strength was growing.
Naturally, Leon still possessed far more experience and knowledge due to his previous life, which gave him an advantage in most situations.
But even so, their strength was more than enough to deal with almost anything they encountered.
’They’ll also have to fight the gods and their servants in the future,’ Leon thought quietly as his eyes focused on the temple, ’So this level of power is the bare minimum.’
For a brief mont, Leon hesitated.
There had been many tis where he wondered whether it was truly right to drag Celeste and Emilia into a conflict that would eventually involve fighting literal gods.
After all, they would be actually risking their lives fighting those beings.
But...
"Hey, Celeste," Leon suddenly said, breaking the silence.
"Hm?" she responded while tilting her head slightly.
"If you had the strength to do it... would you be willing to fight a god, even if it ant you’d most likely die?"
The question ca completely out of nowhere.
Celeste blinked once, clearly surprised by the sudden topic, though it only took her a second before a grin slowly appeared across her face.
"Heh, why not?" she replied casually. "As long as I can fight with you, I guess I’ll take on anything."
Leon simply nodded. That answer was exactly what he expected.
And if Emilia were here instead, he was almost certain she would say sothing similar.
Which ant that from now on, Leon had only one true priority: to make sure that he, Celeste and Emilia beca strong enough to dominate even the gods themselves.
For Emilia, that ant increasing her raw statistics even further, especially since her [Constitution] and [Spirit] were multiplied by five thanks to her unique abilities.
For Celeste, however, things were slightly more complicated.
The first thing Leon wanted to do for her was to obtain another [Ember] to strengthen her talent.
Unfortunately, even Leon had absolutely no idea where such a thing could be found.
"Alright," Leon finally said as he turned his focus back toward the temple. "Let’s just concentrate on clearing the [Temple of Nature]."
This ti, as both of them stepped forward once more, the mysterious voice did not echo again.
It had already warned them twice.
At this point, if they still wanted to enter the temple... then so be it.
Leon walked directly toward the massive entrance of the [Temple of Nature], with Celeste following closely behind him.
And the mont they crossed the threshold—
FWOOSH! BAM!
Hundreds of thick vines suddenly erupted from the ground behind them and slamd together with imnse force, sealing the entrance completely.
The exit was instantly blocked.
Leon didn’t even bother attempting to cut through them.
Celeste, however, couldn’t help but shudder slightly as she looked at the massive wall of vines now locking them inside.
Then both of them slowly turned their attention forward.
They were standing inside an enormous chamber supported by dozens of ancient stone pillars, all of which were covered in thick vines that had grown across the structure over countless centuries.
In fact, vines were everywhere: the floor, the walls and the ceiling.
The entire temple looked like it had been completely overtaken by nature.
"The [Goddess of Nature] thinks she’s so strong," the sa voice from earlier echoed from deep within the chamber. "But once I get out... I’ll show her."
Leon and Celeste imdiately focused their gaze toward the far end of the room.
And there... they finally saw it.
A figure was pinned against the wall, completely restrained by hundreds upon hundreds of thick vines that wrapped tightly around its body.
It couldn’t move even a single inch.
The creature itself seed to be made entirely out of vines as well, its form vaguely humanoid but constantly shifting as the plant-like structure twisted and moved slightly.
Where its eyes should have been, two faint glowing lights flickered with anger.
Leon and Celeste exchanged a brief glance before imdiately analyzing the being.
Appraisal!
---
[Will of Nature (Zone Boss)]
[Level: 75]
[Exclusive Talent: Nature Control (S-Level)]
[Combat Power: 750,000]
[Details: A being that once controlled the nature around "Higher Domain #1", until the "Goddess of Nature" sealed him here forever.]
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