Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me

Chapter 492: The Bloody Shore

[ Daniel Noir — Welcome to the Third Floor of the Tower ]

[ Floor Name: The Bloody Shore ]

[ Difficulty: Hell ]

[ Phase One: Find the Crimson Temple ]

[ The Mother System wishes you the best of luck ]

Daniel slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on soft sand. Cold air blew through the grains, brushing against his body.

The air was chilly, and the sky looked dark. In the distance, he could see the sun setting below the horizon.

A gentle breeze carried the cold from one side to another, making him feel a bit of the chill — which was strange, because as an Awakened, he shouldn’t be affected by the temperature at all.

He looked at the notification and quietly read it. As usual, there weren’t many details — just a few brief words.

”The Bloody Shore? The Crimson Temple?” he muttered, searching through his memories and knowledge to see if he remembered such names within the Celestial Domain.

The answer was no. He had never heard of places like these in the Celestial Domain. Of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t exist — the Celestial Domain was vast, and there were many regions he still didn’t know.

He closed the notification and stood up slowly, glancing around. As far as his eyes could see, there was only a deserted shore.

The sand and dust covered everything. There was nothing else in any direction.

”Hm?” His eyes fell on the sea ahead of him, and his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise.

The sea was red... like blood? He stepped closer to the shoreline to get a better look, and what he saw was truly astonishing.

The sea had two layers — two distinct colors. One layer was blood-red, and the other was clear, like normal water. For some reason, the two layers didn’t mix and stayed perfectly separated.

He lowered his hand to touch the water... but the moment his fingers made contact with the red layer, his hand began to burn and disintegrate completely.

”What the hell—” He quickly pulled his hand back, frowning as he looked at it. The flesh and skin were completely gone.

The bones of his hand were visible, and if he hadn’t pulled back fast enough, even the bones would’ve been dissolved.

He activated [Mana Healing], and his hand quickly returned to normal. Then, he reached out again—this time, touching the clear layer of water instead of the red one.

Thankfully, nothing happened this time.

”So the red layer causes disintegration, while the clear one is normal—agghhh—!” Before he could finish his sentence, a wave of unbearable pain struck his soul.

He immediately pulled his hand back, his mind thrown into chaos as he screamed in agony. His soul burned as if it were being torn apart.

It felt like he was a mortal whose entire body was being burned alive while still conscious. The pain completely overwhelmed his mind.

His eyes turned red, and he nearly lost consciousness. It was as if he was experiencing the suffering of thousands — maybe tens of thousands — of people all at once.

He tried to use [Mana Healing], but it was useless. He collapsed onto the ground, screaming in pain.

Time passed slowly. The sun disappeared completely, replaced by the moon. Fireflies danced in the night sky, illuminating the darkness.

The sky was covered with dazzling stars, and beneath that beautiful night, a young man lay on the ground, his eyes filled with torment.

After hours of unbearable pain, his soul finally calmed down. Even so, he could still remember the agony clearly — enough to make him shiver.

He had never felt such pain before — pain so excruciating that he had actually thought about killing himself just to make it stop.

Thankfully, it was finally over. He slowly stood up, let out a long sigh of relief, and looked around. The shore was still deserted, with no one in sight.

His gaze then fell back on the sea before him. He stood up straight and took a few steps back. He had no intention of touching that cursed thing again.

”Which way should I go?” he muttered, glancing left and right. Naturally, he had to choose one of the two directions.

But there were no signs or clues to indicate which path he should take. The ends of both sides couldn’t be seen, and as far as his eyes reached, there was nothing there.

”Should I trust my intuition?” he whispered. In situations like this, following his instincts was always the best option — and his intuition had never failed him before.

To be sure, he activated his spiritual senses, allowing him to see a much larger area. But even then, there was still nothing.

”I’ll go right,” he decided, turning to the right and moving forward.

The only reason he made that choice was because there was a red star shining in that direction. Among all the bright stars in the sky, only that one had a different color.

It wasn’t a logical choice, but he decided to go that way regardless. Naturally, he didn’t bother walking — he floated up and started flying.

He didn’t want to waste any time. The fastest way forward was the best.

At that moment, after Daniel had left, the sound of the sea no longer resembled waves.

It twisted into a drawn-out, haunting wail — as if the water itself was expelling something... something that shouldn’t exist.

From within the eerie, blood-stained sea, lifeless bubbles rose to the surface and then—

Something like a skeletal hand, thin and draped with rotting flesh hanging from its bones, broke through the water.

Then came the sounds the splitting of flesh, the cracking of bones and one by one, they emerged from the sea.

Their bodies weren’t entirely real, nor entirely illusionary.

It was as if shadows of flesh and bone were flickering in and out of existence, constantly forming and fading again.

Their hollow eyes emitted a cold, bluish light a glow that split through the night and made the mist around them tremble.

Mouths without lips opened not to breathe, but as if to mimic something that once was called ”life.”

A wailing sound seeped from their dry throats more felt than heard.

All of them...

All of them turned to look in the same direction Daniel had gone.

Behind them, the sea fell silent once more.