The God-Tier Beast Architect

Chapter 10 The Forbidden Forest Exam

The sky above the Forbidden Forest was not blue, but a deep, somber gray, choked by a canopy of ancient trees that towered like skyscrapers. Every student’s navigation sensor activa badges ted automatically the moment their feet touched the ground. There was only one goal: collect the group scattered throughout the central region, the very place where the Goldenthorn clan’s Golden Dragon resided in a specially isolated chamber as the ultimate challenge.

"The rules are simple," Instructor Hauer’s voice echoed through the microscopic speakers implanted in every student’s ear. "You Class E losers don't have much of a chance. Just stay hidden. Anyone who survives until sunset without losing their badge will be declared a pass."

Hans snorted, pulling his collar up. "Listen up, guys. Hauer always tries to act like he cares, but he just wants us to die quietly so our class reputation stays in the gutter."

Kenzo didn't answer. He stood at the edge of a misty ravine, his eyes locked onto the mana pulses he had detected. Nihilus, hidden beneath his cloak, shivered faintly. They weren't hunting for badges; they were hunting for information.

"Listen," Kenzo commanded. His voice was low, yet carried a magnetism that silenced Hans and Mia instantly. "This forest isn't a place to hide. This is a giant tracking system designed to hunt for Void anomalies. If we just sit around, the Goldenthorn sensors will tear us apart in less than an hour."

"So, what do we do, Kenzo?" Mia whispered. Her silkworm crawled restlessly on her wrist, turning transparent according to her will.

"We split up, strategically," Kenzo pointed to a silver stream on his holographic map. "Hans, take your troop of rats to the northern sector and stir up chaos with the scent of your mana residue. Bait every patrol bot from the upper classes there. Mia, use your spatial threads to loop around these giant trees; we’re going to build a dimensional cage."

"And you?" Hans asked.

Kenzo flashed a crooked smile. He drew a rusted blade he had forged himself. "I'm going to where Valerius and his lackeys are gathered. They need a reason to stop playing around and start taking things seriously. Today, I'm going to give them that reason."

The forest itself felt alive. The low, guttural growls of high-level wild beasts, not pets, echoed from deep within the woods. The arrogant Class S and A students were starting to feel the challenge, clashing over badges while raining mana attacks that scorched the forest floor along their paths.

Kenzo darted like a shadow behind a massive tree trunk. His Eye of Origin gave him the safest path. Every enemy heartbeat, every leak of mana from the crystals on other students' arms, appeared as clear as a directional sign.

Right at the edge of the Silver Stream, a group of Class A students under the command of one of Valerius’s adjutants was intimidating a group of first-years.

"Hand over your badge! Or my Gold-Draken will tear your clothes right off your skin!" the adjutant threatened.

High up in a tree, Kenzo paused. He sensed something. This wasn't a normal golden dragon summon. It was a trap. Dozens of high-frequency signal transmitters were hidden in the river rocks, ready to "lock" onto any Void target the moment the subject approached.

Good, Kenzo thought. They were waiting for him.

He didn't use his mana aura. Instead, he summoned Nihilus. This time, it wasn't in the shape of a cat. Darkness stretched from his shoulder, hardening into a blade whose surface looked like an infinite black hole.

"Nihilus, devour their magnetic current."

Kenzo leaped down without a sound, landing right between the adjutant and his prey. Dust swirled. The man turned with a sneer of disgust.

"Wow, trash from Class E? Trying to be a hero? You need to know your place—"

The adjutant’s speech was cut short as Kenzo swung his shadow blade not at the man, but at the space beside him. A dimensional crack tore open. The air seemed to be sucked into it, dragging all the mana energy the adjutant was using to summon his Gold-Draken into the void.

BLAM!

The golden dragon vanished, sucked away before it could even unleash its first breath of fire. The adjutant’s jaw dropped. There was no blood, no sign of an attack. Only a chilling void.

"What did you just do?!" the man screamed hysterically.

"That was just the opening simulation," Kenzo said. He stepped forward, radiating an overwhelming aura of death.

Back in the academy control tower, the high-ranking officials and examiners stood up. The massive monitor in the VIP room displaying the location of Valerius's group suddenly flickered. The camera capturing Kenzo’s figure cut out, the feed turning into static.

Valerius, sitting in the main chair, gritted his teeth. "System! Why is the feed dead?!"

"There is massive magnetic interference in the Silver Stream sector, Young Master!" one of the technicians replied, trembling.

"Good. There he is," Valerius muttered, rising from his chair with a magic sword already clutched in his hand. "Open the Golden Dragon isolation chamber. I’m going to finish this Zero subject myself. No one interferes!"

Back at the river, the situation turned grim. All the enemies who had been so arrogant moments ago were now trembling, as no elite student there could channel their mana. Nihilus had created a "Denial Zone" twenty meters wide, where none of the Empire’s physical laws applied.

Kenzo approached, but before he could end the battle, the air around him hardened. Lightning struck the gray sky, turning it gold. Someone descended with an air of arrogance, his feet slamming into the ground and cracking the riverbed.

Valerius had arrived. Behind him, a massive five-meter dragon floated, its wings emitting a blinding light that turned the forest grass to ash.

"Yulian, or whatever your name is, your courage is appreciated," Valerius said, twirling his golden sword. "But playing with the Void within the academy grounds is a fatal mistake."

"Courage isn't about words, Valerius," Kenzo replied calmly, staring into his rival's eyes with a sharpness that matched the intensity of the dragon before him.

"Hans, Mia ... now!" Kenzo commanded over the secret comms.

Suddenly, from every side of the stream, tree roots modified by Mia erupted in sync, creating small cages that enclosed all the guards. At the same time, the foul-smelling mana residue from Hans’s rats exploded, choking the enemies with toxic smoke.

Only Kenzo and Valerius remained within the dimensional cage.

Valerius laughed. "You think this low-level trick can protect you?"

Kenzo didn't answer. Nihilus began to merge fully with Kenzo’s arm, the silhouette of the young dragon now sprouting sinister black horns.

"Let's see," Kenzo spun his Void dagger, "if your golden dragon will still shine when I swallow all of its aura."

The Forbidden Forest was no longer an exam arena. It had turned into a stage for a duel to the death. Kenzo knew that once he unleashed Nihilus in this form in front of so many sensors, all eyes in the Empire would be on him. But in his heart, he felt this was the only way to free the low-class beasts from their cages.

Valerius charged, his sword swings creating waves of heat that melted metal. Kenzo leaped, his feet finding purchase on the air as if on invisible platforms—a technique he had stolen from Falcon's observation data days ago.

The battle erupted. The clash between gold and pitch-black burned the river area. Every time their weapons collided, the ground beneath them cracked and blew upward from the weight of the Void gravity being exerted by Nihilus.

"You know why you’re weak?" Valerius asked between a barrage of attacks. "Because you always rely on the darkness! This golden mana comes from the Genesis Core, the center of the world's truth!"

"The truth of this world is built on the corpses of people like us!" Kenzo retorted. He parried Valerius's final blow, sending them both skidding apart. "If the center of your world is a heart, then today, I have come as the sickness that will stop it from beating!"

Valerius snorted, his eyes glowing with unbridled rage. His golden dragon roared, summoning a storm of golden energy that made the forest look as if it were burning under a second sun.

"Feel this power, Zero! Goldenthorn Execution: Sovereign Judgment!"

The golden dragon unleashed a concentrated beam that sliced through the river. Kenzo knew he couldn't dodge. He stood in the middle of the energy storm, closing his eyes.

"Integration 95%. Mode: Full Overload," Kenzo commanded.

Deep darkness swept over the surroundings, blacker than a starless night. Valerius's golden light was swallowed whole by the embrace of Nihilus, which now revealed its true Sub-Adult form—a shadow dragon with transparent wings that filled the small horizon.

All the spectators, both on the academy screens and those hiding in the distance, gaped in awe. The dragon in front of Kenzo had no face, only a vacuum.

"This," Kenzo whispered with a voice that seemed to rise from the depths of the earth, "is my answer."

Valerius staggered back. His arrogance crumbled instantly as Kenzo’s giant dragon loomed. He felt his own aura, the pride of his clan, slowly drained away by the magnetic pull of the Void dragon before him.

Seconds passed in agonizing slowness. At the peak of the energy surge, the Void dragon bit into the shadow of the golden dragon. A deafening boom echoed—not of metal, but of space itself being torn asunder.

The forest went silent. The golden glow vanished.

Valerius collapsed onto the wet ground, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His golden dragon had dissipated, turning into plumes of smoke. Before him, Kenzo stood, black armor still coating his arm, staring coldly at the hidden surveillance camera.

"Are you watching, Goldenthorn Gods?" Kenzo whispered, his voice so clear it was as if he were speaking directly into the ears of those in the academy tower.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the forest path. It wasn't just the observers. Imperial combat units in heavy steel armor, equipped with anti-dragon cannons, emerged from the mist.

The real siege was starting now. Yet, Kenzo simply smiled. The more they sent, the more food there would be for Nihilus.

"Get ready, Nihilus," Kenzo whispered as he picked up the badge from the trembling Valerius's pocket. "This exam has just given us some very delicious evolutionary material."