"Oh? I wonder what I have that could be of interest to the lofty foremost contender of the land?"

Ancestor Damon's tone did not fluctuate as he spoke mildly.

Merlin enunciated each word coldly, "The world's will!"

"Rumble."

Ancestor Damon trembled and the entire courtyard seemed to quake as well. At the same time, the Candora Trio-Lords sensed an incomparable force coming off Ancestor Damon, causing them to shudder.

They were mighty ultimate contenders yet they trembled. Without having to fight, they knew they were no match for Ancestor Damon by far. Nonetheless, this was what most surprised them. Previously, though they had felt that Ancestor Damon was mysterious, he seemed to be an ordinary ultimate contender. Who knew that Ancestor Damon's force would be so terrifying?

This was not the Ancestor Damon they knew. The Ancestor Damon they knew did not possess such fearsome force that caused them to tremble in dread.

As for the "world's will" mentioned by Merlin, they had not even heard of it. Each of them felt that this matter had a deeper meaning to it.

"Hehe, it's one thing for an outsider like you to stay quietly in this world but you've stirred up so much trouble. Haha, don't you know that once your secret is exposed, the world's will would immediately wipe you out? Do you that you'll be able to contend against the entire world's will?"

Ancestor Damon gradually stood up, his eyes as piercing as blades as they glared coldly at Merlin.

It turned out that the sensation of being exposed was not Merlin's misperception. Ancestor Damon truly had seen him through. Even Merlin's identity was exposed by him in a few words. Merlin was still rather astounded. This was the first time someone had discerned his identity. Merlin was ultimately not a man of this world.

Even so, Merlin did not panic and instead, took a deep breath. He laughed coldly. "Ancestor Damon, the world's will can obliterate me indeed. However, you possess a strand of force from the world's will. You're unlike an ordinary ultimate contender. Could you be an avatar of the world's will?"

Merlin's expression turned increasingly icy. He had already vaguely sensed something unusual about Ancestor Damon, which was a strand of the world's will. As Merlin had acutely detected this strand, he had stopped here.

"Swoosh."

Ancestor Damon's face shifted slightly but he did not speak, keeping his cold glare on Merlin.

"Let me guess. Only the legendary sacred beasts can possess the world's will. Plus, you're the one who gave the Candora Magic Mirror to the Candora royal family. That strand of sacred beast's will in the Candora Magic Mirror must be your own. Have I guessed correctly?"

Merlin asked with a stiff smile. Conversely, a huge change washed over the Candora Trio-Lords beside him.

"Ancestor Damon is a sacred beast? How's that possible?"

"A sacred beast – the sacred beast's will in the Candora Magic Mirror is really Ancestor Damon's?"

"Our Candora Empire has a sacred beast existence!"

The Candora Trio-Lords' faces were filled with incredulity. Their ancestor was a sacred beast. Anyone who heard this would feel incredulous.

However, if he were a sacred beast, why had he hidden here all this while and never revealed himself?

"Haha, outsider, not bad, you're not wrong. I'm a sacred beast and I made the Candora Magic Mirror with my own hands. As for the Candora Empire, I founded it from behind the scenes to create a peaceful environment. However, you've now destroyed my peaceful environment. To prevent my secret from leaking out and avoid the detection of the world's will, you must die today!"

"Boom."

Instantly, an endless, mighty force burst out of Ancestor Damon. Simultaneously, he started to shapeshift. A colossal almighty beast of unparalleled size emerged in the sky, its body covered in countless scales. The two wings on its back shielded nearly half of the city. It was inconceivable how large it was.

Compared to this almighty beast, any other almighty beast was not worth mentioning, seeming minuscule.

"Great… Great Dragon?"

"Ancestor Damon is a Sacred Dragon?"

"My goodness, isn't that the legendary Great Dragon?"

Ancestor Damon had revealed his true self, which was the ancient and renowned Sacred Dragon, possessing terrifying strength to wreak the land. In ancient times, it had left behind an unknown number of bloodlines.

"A Sacred Dragon?"

Merlin was stunned deep down. Just this gigantic bulk already gave him an unprecedented pressure. At this point, he no longer held back and displayed his complete shifted form for the first time.

"Roar…"

Rows of spurs grew over Merlin's body as he rapidly swelled up, getting unimaginably bigger. The terrifying aura of his body also grew, causing one to feel suffocated.

After Merlin had merged with over a thousand almighty beasts' will, this was the first time he had unleashed his shifted form at full strength. Even he did not know how fearsome he would be after shapeshifting.

The Candora Trio-Lords stared at the shapeshifted Merlin with mouths agape. No one could expect that he had transformed into an incomparably immense body and had grown this powerful now. His body after shapeshifting was like an enormous peak and his momentous size was not inferior to Ancestor Damon's sacred beast in the slightest.

It turned out that Merlin had reached this extent of power, which was far from what the Candora Trio-Lords could have imagined. It was not surprising that even when Merlin did not exhibit his shifted form, they were no match for him.

"This feeling of strength!"

Merlin felt that he was somewhat close to his power in the Void Zone for the first time. He was standing at the apex, having nearly unrivaled strength! After he had shapeshifted, he felt his body brimming with incomparable energy. The force of his body clashed against Ancestor Damon's and was not inferior at all. Both were evenly matched.

Ancestor Damon's face shifted slightly. He glared steadily at Merlin's shifted body. What a peculiar form. He dared to assert that no sacred beast of the ancient past had possibly looked like this.

Even so, it seemed that only sacred beasts could possess such an enormous body. Other than that, he had never heard of an almighty beast growing to this point.

"It's impossible, he can't possibly be a sacred beast! Although the force of his body is formidable, he doesn't have the world's will!"

To become a sacred beast, one must possess the world's will because originally, sacred beasts were a part of the world's will. Still, Ancestor Damon did not detect any world's will from Merlin.

"Kill."

Ancestor Damon did not hesitate. Faced with a "monstrosity" like Merlin, he wished to test how strong Merlin was. Thus, Ancestor Damon's massive body employed a primitive, direct movement, which was to barrel directly toward Merlin with its gigantic mass.

Merlin could feel his endless, boundless power throughout his body. As he stared at Ancestor Damon's Great Dragon form hurtling toward him ruthlessly, he made no evasive maneuvers at all. After all, who could evade that gigantic body?

He could only meet force with force!

"Roar…"

Merlin roared thunderously. He was clashing with a true sacred beast - the Sacred Dragon. This was a peak power in this world. Two incomparable sacred beasts viciously collided amid their roars.

"Boom."

In the capital city of the Candora Empire, everyone felt as if it was difficult to breath as a crash rang out in their minds. The collision of two unmatched sacred beasts caused a terrifying shockwave that spread mightily in all directions. Everything in its path was reduced to dust.

All was dust. No one would resist this. This was a true battle between sacred beasts, enough to destroy the land itself. Even the fallout of the fight could easily annihilate a city.

The Candora Trio-Lords were endlessly appalled and hurriedly fled backward as far as they could. They certainly dared not stay here one second longer. Whether it was Merlin or Ancestor Damon, ultimate contenders like them could not compare by far.

After the forceful clash, Merlin and Ancestor Damon each merely retreated a short distance but neither were injured. Conversely, their aggression was more inflamed. It was their first clash but they were evenly matched. No one had the upper hand.

"A sacred beast's body – so a Host can rely on their overpowering will to suppress tens of thousands of almighty beasts' will and grow into a genuine sacred beast's body!"

How incisive was Ancestor Damon's observation? Naturally, in one glance, he could discern the reason Merlin had grown so formidable. In other words, sacred beasts were an avatar of the world's will, so naturally, Merlin could not conceal his differences from Ancestor Damon.

Merlin had relied on being a Host and the superiority of his willpower to suppress and merge countless almighty beasts' will. At last, he had obtained a sacred beast's body.

Nonetheless, this was just a sacred beast's body. If one read between the lines of what Ancestor Damon had said, sacred beasts were not that straightforward.

"Again!"

This time, Merlin moved first. His gigantic bulk exploded at full might and the spurs over his body became even sharper as if they could tear through anything.

Ancestor Damon's Sacred Dragon body did not back down either. The scales of his body twinkled with radiance and the wings on his back flapped powerfully. At a greater speed than before, his immense body turned and rushed toward Merlin.

"Rumble."

In this collision, both their strength was almost twice stronger than the first time. However, this clash had disastrous results. Ancestor Damon's scales were shattered and his flesh was mutilated.

As for Merlin's spurs, half of them were snapped off. He was dripping with blood and appeared pitiful.

In this second clash, both had mobilized their greatest physical strength but both sides had suffered losses.