Meredith combed her feathers with her hand, turned around, and said as she walked, "Come with me, my master—the Shadow Queen—has been waiting for your arrival."
In Todd's mind, the image of that stunningly beautiful queen with waist-length purple hair and those emotionless, crimson eyes flashed before him. He asked, "Regarding the Trial of Fate and the Gate of Darkness, there are some things you've been hiding from me, aren't there?"
Meredith said in a low voice as he walked forward, "It's not exactly hiding anything, because there are some things that even my master and I only have a vague understanding of."
Following the woman through the ruins of the temple, Todd looked around and asked Meredith, who was standing in front of him, "I remember there was someone here who passed the trial, I think his name was..."
"Cú Chulainn".
"Yes, that's the name. Where is he?"
"He has completed a year of training and returned to the Kingdom of Ulster." Meredith said, then let out a long sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, that little rascal is finally gone."
Todd wanted to ask a few more questions about Cú Chulainn's identity and abilities, but the figure of Scáthach, the Queen of Shadows, on the temple's "deck" made him choose to remain silent.
“My master, Lord of Twilight City, Todd Fischer, has arrived.”
Meredith's words startled Todd, as he didn't recall ever revealing his true identity in the Shadow Kingdom.
Scáthach slowly turned around, a fleeting, unreadable emotion flashing across her cool eyes: "Todd, I know you've already seen Leviathan..."
Scáthach's words startled Todd again. Before he could ask, the Queen continued, "All those who pass the trial of fate have been given the same mission by Leviathan himself: to find the best balance between species and destiny."
Todd pondered Scáthach's words carefully, and finally said with a puzzled look, "I'm sorry, Queen of Shadows, I really don't understand how to interpret those words."
Scáthach closed her eyes and gently shook her head: "Not only you, but over the years, no one has truly understood the meaning of this sentence. But at least through continuous attempts, we have learned some things..."
"Something?"
Meredith then turned to Todd and said, "Before we continue this topic, you need to transform into a demigod."
Todd glanced at Meredith, whose expression was extremely serious, and in the end, he followed her instructions and transformed into Tyrant form.
Looking at the colossal creature, over ten meters long, lying prostrate on the ground, Meredith gasped in shock, covering his mouth: "Gods above! It hasn't been long, and you've changed so fast!"
Scáthach looked at Todd in front of her, her brows furrowed, and said, "Your current state is somewhat unexpected..."
Todd, now a tyrant, looked at the two women before him and said in a deep voice, "Can you explain this?"
Meredith and Scáthach exchanged a glance and nodded. Meredith began to speak slowly: "Anyone who passes the Trial of Fate will encounter Leviathan after passing through the Dark Gate. The latter will grant them the opportunity to become a demigod... which is what you mentioned before as transforming into a tyrant. After repeatedly using the transformation ability, the human body will gradually degenerate, and the tyrant's form will gradually take its place. The most direct manifestation is that people find it increasingly difficult to control the time and place of transformation, and the power after transformation becomes stronger and stronger..."
Todd looked down at his thick iron claws and said to Meredith, "I guess what you're about to say isn't going to be anything good."
Meredith sighed, "It's a mixed blessing. As the power increases, the changes in the body become more and more significant, and the Tyrant will gradually enter its second form..."
Todd interrupted Meredith: "Wait! You just said second form? What's that?"
"The second form of the Tyrant will completely eliminate its human appearance and will be fixed in its transformed form under normal circumstances."
Todd's golden eyes widened: "You mean... I'll stay like this forever?! I can never change back?!"
Meredith rolled her eyes at Todd: "Keep calm, I haven't even gotten to the worst part yet."
"What? There's something even worse?!"
"The physical changes during the transition from the first form to the second form will put enormous pressure on the human soul."
Meredith's words immediately gave Todd a bad feeling: "Immense pressure?"
The former added, "You might as well think about what would happen if you let the soul of an ant control the body of an elephant?"
Todd murmured, "The soul collapses, the body enters a long slumber, and finally both return to nothingness."
Meredith spread her hands and said, "That's right, that's exactly it."
At this point, Todd growled angrily, "Damn it! What do you mean by 'mixed fortunes'?! It looks like a dead end no matter which way we go!"
Meredith held up a finger and shook it as he said, "Don't rush. What I'm going to talk about next is how to control and prevent the soul collapse caused by the second form. After many years of trying, we actually have two methods. The first is to never try to enter the Tyrant's second form."
Todd asked, "Never try to enter the second form? How should I do that?"
"Reduce or stop using transformation, allowing the human form to gradually take control of the body."
"What's another way?"
"Completely abandon the human form and actively enter the second form of the tyrant. Before that, strengthen the power of the soul through training or other means to avoid the soul collapse caused by the second form."
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