The flames were actively healing all the damage I had inflicted during our earlier exchanges. That explained why the creature wasn't pressing its advantage immediately. It was using this moment to repair itself completely before resuming combat.

I could see the deep gashes I had carved into its legs and torso slowly sealing themselves shut under the regenerative fire. Within moments, I would be facing a fully healed opponent with dramatically enhanced capabilities.

There was no time to waste. This was dangerous territory, and with the lion's current empowered state, I needed to deploy my most powerful asset.

'Silent Predator.'

I activated my Transcendent-rank aspect immediately, feeling the familiar sensation as my presence began to fade from detection. My breathing became silent, my scent disappeared, and my visual profile shifted to near-invisibility. Even to a Transcendent-rank opponent, I would be extremely difficult to track.

The aspect would last for five minutes, enough time to either find a decisive opening or exhaust the lion's transformation. With my enhanced stealth capabilities active, I could potentially strike at the creature's blind spots while avoiding its most devastating fire-based attacks.

Seeing me suddenly vanish from sight, the Golden mane became visibly confused. Its blazing head swivelled back and forth, searching for any trace of my presence. The creature's senses were clearly struggling to detect me despite its Transcendent-rank capabilities.

Unfortunately, there was a crucial limitation of my aspect. The Silent Predator ability prevented me from attacking while maintaining invisibility - any aggressive action would immediately cancel the camouflage effect. This meant I couldn't simply strike while hidden and end the fight quickly.

Still, the aspect would be invaluable for surviving the next five minutes until the lion's transformation completed. I needed to use this time to avoid its attacks while waiting for the creature to exhaust its enhanced state.

ROAR! Flames burst!

The frustrated Golden mane began launching attacks in every direction, hoping to hit my invisible form through sheer area coverage. Jets of fire erupted from its mouth in sweeping arcs across the chamber.

I silently rolled behind a stone pillar as flames washed over where I had been standing moments before. The heat was so intense that even being near the fire's path made me feel its burn despite my power and high defence.

CRASH!

The lion's massive claws raked across the stone floor where it thought I might be hiding, sending sparks flying as they gouged deep trenches in the stonework.

I carefully climbed up the chamber wall, using handholds in the carved decorations to reach a higher vantage point. From above, I could observe the creature's increasingly desperate attacks while staying out of range.

The Golden mane jumped toward my previous position, breathing fire in a massive cone that illuminated the entire chamber. I pressed myself flat against the ceiling, feeling the heat wash over me but remaining undetected.

For the next several minutes, this deadly game of hide-and-seek continued. The lion would attack phantom targets, breathing fire and slashing at shadows while I moved silently through the chamber like a ghost. Every near miss reminded me how devastating those attacks would be if they connected.

Heavy breathing...

As the three-minute mark passed, I began to notice changes in the creature's behaviour. Its movements were becoming less coordinated, and the flames surrounding its body were flickering rather than burning with steady intensity.

There it is...the weakness i'm looking for.

The transformation was clearly beginning to fade. The Golden mane's massive frame started shrinking back toward its original size, and the regenerative fire that had been healing its wounds sputtered and died.

The lion was now exhausted and it was in a vulnerable state.

When the enhancement finally ended completely, the lion looked significantly weaker than it had even before the transformation began. The powerful ability had drained its reserves substantially, leaving it breathing heavily and moving with obvious fatigue.

This was is moment.

I deactivated Silent Predator and immediately launched myself from my elevated position, channelling every remaining enhancement into a decisive killing strike.

Drop! Dive! SLASH!

My sword, still enhanced with blood manipulation and backed by Transcendent-level power, descended toward the exhausted creature's neck with all I could muster.

SLICE! Spray!

This time, when my blade found its mark, there was no regenerative fire to seal the wound. Golden blood sprayed across the chamber as I severed the major arteries and nearly decapitated the massive predator.

I continued my attacks until I was satisfied.

The Golden mane crashed to the stone floor with a final, weak roar that quickly faded to silence. Its golden eyes dimmed as life left its powerful body.

Thud!

I stood over the fallen Transcendent-rank beast, breathing heavily but victorious. The chamber fell silent except for my own laboured breathing and the crackling of dying flames.

The ultimate trial was complete, and whatever reward awaited me was finally within reach.

It was by no means an easy fight, and I would have been in serious trouble without my Transcendent-rank Silent Predator aspect and Stone Armor Echo. The golden manes were known to be a powerful clan with rare-ranked bloodlines, to face such a powerful Transcendent-rank being and emerge victorious was genuinely satisfying.

When the lion died, however, nothing changed in the chamber. The creature's death seemed to mean nothing in terms of triggering whatever mechanism should indicate completion of the final trial. There was no magical response, no hidden doors opening, no reward materializing.

Just silence.

While waiting for something to happen, I approached the massive corpse and began extracting its blood using my Blood Control trait. Transcendent-rank Golden mane blood was incredibly valuable, both for enhancing my own abilities and as a delicacy for my feeding. The blood flowed into my storage containers with a faint luminescent quality that spoke to its potency.

After securing all the blood I could extract, I stored the lion's entire body in my spatial storage. A complete Transcendent-rank Golden mane corpse would sell for an enormous amount of points at the academy.

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