Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil - Chapter 1947

Eren didn’t care that Azurea was flaunting her draconic lineage. Instead, he frowned before posing another question.

"There’s gotta be something wrong with your information. You know… I’m the only one who swindles others—not the other way around.

So stop bullshitting me, you loudmouth lizard. No matter what you say, this can’t be exclusive to dragons.

If an SSS-Rank existence is possible anywhere, then everyone should have an equal shot at reaching it. But if that’s the case, why is it said that all Paths to Power are cut off after SS-Rank?"

This time, Marina answered.

"Eren, the Paths to Power truly are cut off after SS-Rank. A human Saint cannot advance any further because they have already reached the pinnacle of power their race can achieve. The same applies to most other races.

However, are you familiar with the Path to Power for Echidna’s Children?"

Eren simply nodded. He knew the monsters’ Path to Power all too well. In fact, with the help of various Blood Seeds, he could assume the identities of different monsters himself.

It was just that he could only assume the identities of A-Rank equivalent monsters and below. Because he was not a Sage, he couldn’t become a Monster Sovereign himself.

He understood that the monsters’ progression was fundamentally different from that of humans, elves, and other humanoid races.

While their ranks could be categorized using the human system from F to S, these classifications only indicated the types of opponents they could contend with at a given stage.

For instance, a Grandmaster Ranker was required to handle a Monster Emperor. Similarly, a Monster Sovereign could only be challenged by a Sage—also known as a Kaiser in Labh Salem.

But if a Monster Calamity existed, who could handle such an existence among humans and other humanoid races?

After staying in Labh Salem for around a decade, Eren knew that SS-Rank monster entities existed as well. They were called Monster Monarchs and could only be handled by Saints, also known as Grand Kaisers in Labh Salem.

Monsters shared a similar Path to Power with beasts, meaning beasts were given the same titles. A Beast Monarch was on the same level as a Monster Monarch and a Saint.

For humans and other humanoid species, Saints—also known as Grand Kaisers—marked the end of their Path to Power. For monsters, the limit was the Monster Monarch, and for beast-like creatures, it was the Beast Monarch.

However, Eren had never imagined that dragons had discovered a way to break past the limits of SS-Rank and reach SSS-Rank.

However, the feelings of shock were soon turned into something else.

Excitement!

Unbridled excitement!

Just moments ago, he had felt uneasy.

But now, realizing what this revelation could mean, excitement surged through him. If dragons had the means to achieve a Rank Upgrade beyond SS-Rank, then perhaps such a possibility existed for a Ranker like him as well.

Of course, Eren wasn’t interested in taking the path of a Faithless Celestial Path. He already had a God Spark.

His divine path to power existed outside the bounds of other paths and unlike the other paths, the divine path was endless and didn’t really have an obstacle for him.

As long as he survived and kept on accumulating faith energy, he could keep on progressing forward in his divine path.

However, the divine path also had a drawback. It required too much time. He wouldn’t be able to grow at a rapid rate and increase his might if he only relied on the divine path.

As such, the butcher had started considering breaking past the barriers of his chosen path to power as a Ranker. The various experiments related to the pseudo avatars had already given him a few ideas. However, he was unclear about the key aspects.

Eren’s cold blue eyes shined for some reason as he looked at the dragon sisters with excitement. However, he controlled his emotions and allowed Marina to speak without any interruption.

"The Echidna’s Children follow a Path to Power similar to that of beasts," Marina continued. "This means that both we beasts and Echidna’s Children evolve with each Ranking Breakthrough. For us, racial limits don’t exist in the same way. As long as we continue evolving, we can surpass our limits.

On the other hand, humans and other related races only accumulate and refine the mana they cultivate when they achieve a breakthrough. They don’t evolve as a species, which means their predetermined racial limits remain with them throughout their Ranking Journeys.

The Sage Rank is the practical limit for most humans and human-like races, while SS-Rank pushes their racial potential to its absolute maximum. That’s why, it is said that beyond SS-Rank, there is no further Path to Power for Rankers, Elementalists, or even Body Cultivators from human and human-like races," Marina explained calmly.

"I see," Eren nodded before asking his next question.

"But if those who can evolve are able to transcend their limits, shouldn’t the Calamity Rank exist for other monsters and beasts as well? Why is it that only True Dragons can achieve the Calamity Rank?"

"That’s easy to answer," Azurea said, smirking as she enjoyed educating Eren on the ways of the world.

"It’s because dragonkind is prioritized when Creation forms new worlds. In most cases, we stand at the highest level of any food chain that can exist in a living world.

Like humans, we are an Existential Concept—one that is accepted across countless worlds throughout the boundless cosmos and found in various planes of existence.

Believe it or not, we are often created first in new worlds, even before they adopt the Existential Concept of humans and other races. When a world is young and thriving, our species is usually the first to descend upon it.

To help life flourish in these new, often harsh environments, we are gifted with powerful traits that ensure our survival. Some of us then cultivate those abilities to their full potential.

In a way, you could say our talent stems from our Existential Concept."

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AN: Creation was first explained in chapter 1735. Existential Concepts were explained in chapter 1503.