An hour before sunrise, William heard a knock on the door of their room.
"It's time." The young man's voice could be heard from the other side of the door. "Meet me on the first floor as soon as possible."
The Diabolical Hell Ape didn't even wait for William's reply and left them to make some last minute preparations.
William and Lilith had both woken up when they heard the knock on the door. Only Chiffon was still asleep, and slathering William's chest with her drool. This was not the first time that this had happened, so the Half-Elf was already used to the pink-haired girl's sleeping habits.
"Chiffon, wake up," William lightly nudged the sleeping glutton. "Breakfast is ready."
The pink-haired girl's eyes abruptly opened as she sleepily looked around her.
William chuckled as he lightly pinched Chiffon's cheek, which made the latter break out of her daze.
Ten minutes later, all of them gathered on the first floor. William explained the strategy that they would be using, and the Diabolical Hell Ape nodded his head in understanding.
"After you've done your part, run away as far as you can," the young man said. "I will head towards the East, so you guys run to the West."
The Diabolical Hell Ape then gave William a blue gem with an intricate design.
"This will allow me to sense your location," the young man explained. "After I escape from their pursuit, I will come to find you guys. Until our reunion, do your best to survive."
William, Chiffon, and Lilith nodded their heads.
Since this was the last time that the Diabolical Hell Ape would be using the tree as his base, he took the special artifact that he had embedded in the tree and stored it inside the golden bracelet on his right wrist.
This was the same bracelet that allowed him to temporarily take human form. The Diabolical Hell Ape didn't want to pretend to be human. He really yearend to be one, so even though he could take human form, he still wanted to realize his dream of actually becoming one.
As they neared the clearing, William, Chiffon, and Lilith, could sense a heavy pressure that was steadily increasing with every step that they took.
"This is more dangerous than I thought," William muttered as he broke out in cold sweat after Optimus gave him the number of Beast that were vying for the Golden Fruit.
Thirty Myriad Beasts.
That was the total number of Beasts that had gathered in the clearing to snatch the fruit that had started to release a very fragrant aroma. After giving it a quick glance, William noticed that it had reached 99% maturity.
Basically, the fruit could fall any moment from now and, once that happened, a Royal Rumble of epic proportions would definitely unfold.
If Thirty Myriad Beasts were to suddenly appear in the Central Continent, the Patriarchs of influential families, the Kings and Emperors of their respective domains, would all be praying to their respective Gods and Goddesses for salvation.
Fortunately, the Myriad Beasts born in a Forbidden Ground would be unable to leave it due to the powerful restriction that the Domain possessed.
William felt a shiver run down his spine because he understood that the Myriad Beasts in the clearing was just a small number compared to the overall population of Beasts within the Seventh Sanctum.
As an Independent World, the Seventh Sanctum was just as big as the Central Continent, and many more powerful Beasts hid within its vast expanse of land.
"Remember, after you distract them, run away without looking back," the young man reminded. "If you have an instantaneous movement technique, use it right away."
Chiffon's and Lilith's expressions paled when they heard the young man's reminder. If possible, they didn't want to experience that again.
If not for the current tense situation, William would have teased the two pale-faced girls because of the impending hardship that they were about to face.
"Don't worry, I will not make the two of you suffer," William said. "Chiffon, I'll leave Lilith in your hands."
Chiffon looked up at William and nodded her head in understanding. "I understand. Be careful, Will."
The pink-haired girl then grabbed Lilith's hand as she walked forward.
Lilith was caught by surprise by Chiffon's actions, but before she could even ask for an explanation, a portal appeared in front of her.
A few seconds later, both girls had successfully entered the Thousand Beast Domain.
Although William knew that sharing this secret with Lilith might hold complications later on, this operation was too dangerous for them to participate in. The Half-Elf was confident that he could run away if he was alone. However, if he were to drag Chiffon and Lilith along during his escape, it might cause consequences that he was not willing to bear.
"You made the right choice," the young man said as he patted William's shoulder. "I'm going."
"Goodluck," William replied. "May the Gods shower you with their blessings."
The Diabolical Hell Ape smiled as he walked towards the tree, which was now surrounded by many formidable beasts that were not weaker than himself.
The five Black-Striped Terror Rats hissed at the Beasts that were trying to get close to the tree. Clearly, they were hell bent to stand their ground to defend and acquire the golden fruit at all cost.
The young man took a deep breath before he transformed to the ferocious Diabolical Hell Ape who was born from the pits of hell. Dark-purple flames enveloped its body as it prepared itself to fight with everything it had.
As if waiting for that moment, a loud cracking sound reverberated in the air.
Several cracks appeared on the surface of the Golden Fruit, as the fragrant smell in the air intensified. The various beasts then started to bare their fangs as they, too, prepared to snatch the fruit that was on the verge of falling.
Suddenly, the entire Golden Fruit shattered and a golden ball, no larger than a basketball fell along with the broken shards of the fruit's shell that protected it until it reached maturity.
"Now!" The Diabolical Hell Ape shouted to William via telepathy as it charged towards the falling fruit.
William threw the lollipops in his hand and activated Lightning Strider, flying towards the East.
Since everyone's attention was on the falling fruit, they didn't notice the lollipops that William had thrown by using the power of his Quick Shot War Art First Form, Railgun.
These lollipops arrived in front of the falling golden fruit and a blinding light erupted in an instant.
The various Myriad Beasts were caught by surprise and all of them shrieked in pain by the sudden brightness that turned their world completely white.
The Diabolical Hell Ape then snatched the falling fruit and ran towards the East with all its might. It knew that after the Beasts had regained their bearings, all of them would run after it and tear the Diabolical Hell Ape apart.
William didn't even bother to glance behind him, and simply left the scene at the speed of lightning.. He sincerely hoped that the next time he met the Diabolical Hell Ape, the latter would have already taken the final step to realizing its long cherished wish.
