Leon’s consciousness came into contact with the treasure’s vast mana reserves. He reached out greedily, trying to absorb the mana, thinking he’d found the perfect cheat to accelerate his growth dramatically.

I desperately need to get stronger. Strong enough to use that portal guarded by the damned, angry red dragon.

That was the ideal scenario he wanted—escaping this pocket dimension through the dragon-guarded portal rather than facing the alternative Archon Vyrra had warned him about.

The monster that would eventually return to finish what it started. The creature that had nearly destroyed the Pyrrhan civilization before being driven away at tremendous cost.

She told me that facing the dragon would be like walking through a flowery garden compared to confronting that thing and its dark power, as only by surprise attack were they able to drive the monster away at that time. I definitely don’t want to be here when it arrives.

Leon needed power. Desperately. And this glowing orb seemed like the perfect shortcut.

However, the moment his absorption made actual contact with the treasure’s overwhelming mana reserves—

WHOOOOOM!

Instead of flowing into him as expected, an overwhelming force reversed the entire connection and sucked his entire mana pool completely dry in less than a single second.

"What—?!"

The shock was immediate and terrifying. His mana—all several thousands plus points of it—vanished like water down a drain.

But the relic didn’t stop there. It kept pulling relentlessly, trying to drain even the slightest remaining drops of energy from his body—reaching desperately for his Life force itself.

The suction was far too strong. Leon felt utterly helpless against it, like an insect caught in a whirlpool.

His knees buckled beneath him. His body lost all its enhanced power as his mana reserves hit absolute zero. The strength that had made him superhuman evaporated instantly.

He started dropping toward the ground like a puppet with suddenly cut strings.

No! I’m dying! This is killing me!

Gritting his teeth with desperate determination, knowing he had seconds at most before total collapse, Leon called upon his other trump card—the holy energy source that operated completely independently from his mana system.

GLOW!

Golden-white divine light erupted from deep within his heart, flooding his body with sacred power. The completely different energy source stabilized him, preventing the complete bodily collapse that would have meant death.

But the nightmare wasn’t over yet. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

BOOM!

His right hand—the one still touching the enormous mana source—exploded violently without warning. Flesh, bone, and blood scattered in all directions as the limb disintegrated completely up to his forearm.

The explosive force of the treasure’s vast mana threw Leon backward with devastating power.

CRASH! TUMBLE! SLAM!

His body traveled hundreds of meters through the air like a broken ragdoll, tumbling completely out of control, bouncing and sliding across the grassland.

Finally, through sheer force of will and holy energy, he managed to stabilize himself mid-flight.

He landed hard on both feet, sliding another dozen meters before stopping completely, leaving deep furrows in the grass.

Blood dripped steadily from the corner of his lips. His right arm was gone entirely up to the forearm—just a ragged, bleeding stump remained where his hand had been.

That was... incredibly reckless and dangerous.

Leon’s enhanced mind raced through what had just happened, analyzing in horrifying detail how close he’d just come to permanent death.

If it wasn’t for my holy power stabilizing me at the last possible second, I would have died right there. Completely drained and destroyed.

Even his Phoenix Feather resurrection treasure might not have saved him from that fate. The relic would likely have just drained him to death again the instant he revived while still in contact with its surface.

He might have barely managed to teleport away with his Life in those final moments, but that entire scenario had been genuinely, catastrophically lethal.

I made a terrible mistake. I got greedy and careless. Almost paid for it with my Life.

Over the next couple of minutes, Leon stood there breathing heavily, focusing on recovery. His natural mana regeneration gradually restored enough energy to activate his healing abilities.

GLOW! SHIMMER!

His severed forearm began regrowing slowly—bone forming first from the stump, then muscle tissue wrapping around it, then blood vessels, nerves, and finally skin, until the limb was completely restored to perfect condition.

Holy energy can reattach severed limbs if they’re intact, but my arm was blown to scattered pieces. Far easier to just wait for mana recovery and regrow it entirely from scratch.

Now that Leon’s arm was fully restored and functional again, he could feel the tower’s urgent desire for its power source more clearly than before.

The mental connection he’d established when deploying the structure pulsed with need.

It’s practically screaming for connection. But how do I actually link them together?

There was no obvious place on the gigantic tower that indicated where to insert or attach the power source. He hadn’t received any telepathic instructions about this critical step either.

Let me try the most logical approach first.

Leon carefully pushed the massive circular glowing orb closer to the tower, moving it steadily toward the sealed gate entrance, and didn’t dare to try to touch the humongous mana source, now having learned his lesson.

The closer he brought the relic, the more intensely the gate began to glow with responsive blue light—a clear sign of recognition and compatibility.

Oh, it’s working! There’s definitely a connection being established between them.

When the blazing bright blue orb finally made direct physical contact with the gate’s surface, Leon felt unexpected resistance despite the entrance glowing brilliantly.

But that wasn’t necessarily a major problem.

Looking more closely now, he saw a clear marking that had just appeared—an outline of a hand on the glowing blue gate, positioned perfectly at chest height. The outline seemed to be actively drawing mana directly from the orb.

It’s too obvious. I need to put my hand there to complete the connection.

However, having just learned an incredibly painful lesson moments ago, Leon realized with crystal clarity that he needed to be far more cautious going forward.

I’ve always tried to be careful, but clearly not careful enough. This world is far too dangerous for carelessness.

His eyes burned with renewed determination and self-criticism.

I have to be more cautious. Always. Test things safely first before committing.

He didn’t want to wait years for this tower to become operational, but he already knew exactly what to do. He had his clone—he could use that for testing instead of risking his real body unnecessarily.

Even though he possessed a resurrection treasure, Leon had realized something profoundly important: sometimes resurrection might not be enough to save you. That wasn’t even far-fetched. This world was too vast and held too many dangerous mysteries. There could easily be deaths that even the Phoenix Feather couldn’t reverse, or situations where resurrection would just lead to dying again immediately.

Leon didn’t need to explain anything verbally. Both bodies shared the exact same consciousness.

A single thought was sufficient.

SHIMMER! PORTAL!

A silver dimensional rift opened directly next to him, the familiar gateway to his time dimension. His clone stepped through immediately, identical in every physical way.

The clone understood the plan instantly without any communication needed.

It walked forward confidently and placed its hand on the outlined handprint without hesitation.

HUMMM!

The entire glowing gate responded immediately, humming with deep vibration and flowing energy.

Leon’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he watched through both sets of eyes simultaneously.