This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange-Chapter 535: Breakthrough

Kain got his answer within days of them setting off for their destination.

Bodies frozen in expressions of horror lay across the floor of the cavern they had just ventured into.

Their once-vibrant forms were now barely recognizable, already well into decay. Black patches of contamination crawled across their bodies like an invasive plague, sparing only their faces—which were frozen into expressions of pain and horror of their final moments.

The group stood in silence. Even without confirming their identities, they already knew.

Jax. Ryn. Valentina.

'That brings the list of the dead up to 6…only a 50% survival rate.'

Zareth took a trembling step forward, his expression hard, but his clenched jaw and trembling fists betrayed the depth of his grief. Now that Kain thought about it, the Starchaser Ryn and Zareth seemed to be the closest. Ryn had even been one of the individuals Zareth had called to enter the Obari tribe when looking for a cure.

Lina let out a shuddering breath, her fingers curling so tightly into her sleeves that her knuckles turned white. Jamie—Kain was now sure of his name after getting along a few more days—stood rigid, staring down at the bodies like he was trying to will them back to life. No one spoke for a long time.

Kain wasn't particularly close with the three of them, but even he felt the weight of their deaths pressing down on him.

They had all entered this relic together. The idea that they were steadily being chipped away—one by one—made his stomach churn. How much longer could they last? Would all of the remaining team members make it out?

However, amidst all this bad news, there was one bright spot—Kain was finally ready to advance again.

It was an unexpected development. Given how far he'd been from reaching the limit of his current rank at the start of this mission, he had never once thought he would return home as a five-star beast-tamer. Yet here he was, standing at the edge of that very breakthrough.

The time alone wasn't enough to explain his fast progress. The sheer amount of Source energy Pangea had absorbed since entering this cursed place had accelerated his growth more than he'd ever anticipated. Even if he had been using the Planetarium plus the resources of the Order and as the rank 1 of Dark Moon for all of these months—it probably wouldn't even be as good as a single core fragment.

Now, for the first time, his cultivation would actually surpass Serena's.

He glanced at her. She didn't look surprised—if anything, there was a knowing glint in her gaze, like she had expected this outcome long before he had.

Kain exhaled and turned back to the group. "Thanks, guys…" he muttered, a bit embarrassed to be delaying their march forward just for his breakthrough.

"No worries," Zareth reassured him. "If you become stronger, that helps us all out. Yeah, we'd all like to leave as soon as possible, but leaving alive is more important."

Kain hesitated for a moment before nodding, finally allowing himself to put his anxious and guilty thoughts aside.

He moved to a far-off corner of the cavern and sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor. The others instinctively shifted into defensive positions around him, their weary forms straightening as they prepared to guard him. After all, in this relic, being vulnerable—which he would definitely be while breaking through—was a death sentence.

Kain closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. His previous breakthrough had taken quite a while, and he was prepared for this one to last weeks.

He just hoped they had that kind of time.

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Kain's consciousness plunged inward, his awareness narrowing to the swirling expanse of his star space. The four existing stars glowed brilliantly—blue, green, brown, and red—like true celestial bodies orbiting Pangea.

Kain didn't delay. He guided the energy into the center of his star space, compressing it as he had countless times before. The process should have been straightforward, but the moment he began forming the star, something unexpected happened.

A pulse of violet-tinged power—Source energy—surged from Pangea and into the forming star.

The effect was immediate.

Where the process should have been slow and deliberate, the energy now moved with terrifying speed, condensing and spinning the nascent star faster, harder, than Kain had intended.

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'Too fast!'

The forming star shuddered, its edges fraying under the centrifugal force. Cracks of unstable energy spiderwebbed through it, threatening to tear it apart—or worse, detonate violently within his star space—crippling, or even killing, Kain.

Kain's breath hitched. He tried to slow it, to rein it in, but the Source energy resisted, its momentum relentless.

*ALERT: External interference detected. Pangea's Source energy has exceeded the safe threshold for the host's advancement. Immediate intervention is required.*

Kain felt an invisible force wrap around his star space, slowing the chaotic rotation before it could spiral into disaster.

A stabilizing pressure settled over the forming star, preventing it from shattering under its own speed. At the same time, the excess Source energy was siphoned away, and redirected back into the depths of Pangea's core.

*Error corrected. Proceed.*

Kain exhaled, bracing himself as he reclaimed control. Though still spinning at a rapid pace, the fifth star was now within manageable limits.

He carefully adjusted the rotation, gradually reducing its momentum until it settled into a steady orbit among the others. The moment the final adjustment clicked into place, a powerful wave of energy rippled through his body.

A surge of strength, unlike anything he had felt before.

Kain almost let out a groan as a warm rush of power spread through his limbs.

Every fibre of his being felt stronger, more refined. His connection to his contracts also deepened, and he could feel each of them responding to his breakthrough.

When Kain had first advanced to 4-stars, his contracts had immediately advanced to green-grade—the limit of what his strength allowed.

However, once they reached the peak of their current grade, they were once again shackled by Kain's limitations.

Thankfully, all of them weren't ready to advance and just waiting for Kain this time. Only Aegis and Bea, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from their speed of advancing, conveyed that they could probably attempt a breakthrough within the next few days.

Meanwhile, Queen and Vauleth were still a bit away from advancing.

Now that Kain thought about it, Bea and Aegis had been the two to experience the greatest change in the last relic he entered and mutated or acquired additional skills due to the influence of Abyssal energy.

He exhaled and opened his eyes, expecting to meet the thrilled gazes of his comrades. But instead, he found himself surrounded by dozens of abominations.