Queen Arlen moved with perfect control, intercepting each attack without waste.
She cleaved through illusions with pure soul might, her movents economical and brutal.
"You dare face a queen of a nation with such a half-hearted strikes?"
BOOM—
She crushed one of the generals into a crater with a soul-empowered slash. The other barely blocked the follow-up and staggered.
Ace stood at the edge of the battlefield, confused.
He tilted his head slightly, watching as Queen Arlen and Lily clashed with their opponents—both fighting brilliantly.
But sothing didn't sit right.
These are Legend Ranks? he thought.
Then why do they feel… weak?
Before the thought could settle, the final of the six generals charged at him.
Ace didn't flinch.
The general only made it a few steps before thick, thorned roots burst from the ground, coiling around his legs and locking him in place.
Ace blinked once. "...Seriously? That's pretty la for soone at Legend Rank."
The trapped general snarled and began to forcefully break free but just then, sothing shifted.
Ace's senses scread.
Everything stilled.
All six generals, their bodies trembled… then turned to ash, disintegrating into dust right before everyone's eyes.
Lily froze while Queen Arlen paused mid-step.
Ace's brows drew together.
"What…?"
From beyond the ranks of Tharz soldiers, a figure erged.
A man in radiant golden robes flew effortlessly into view, riding a cloud that shimred like spun sunlight.
He descended slowly, leisurely, as though ti itself bent to his pace.
Then he stepped down from the cloud.
And with each step, an impossible force radiated outward.
Every soldier—Falmuth or Tharz alike—collapsed to their knees.
So gasped for breath. Others dropped their weapons.
Not one could stand.
"I was bored," the man said, casually dusting his sleeves.
His face shimred—features rearranging themselves—and suddenly, where the golden figure had stood, there now appeared an old man, skin weathered like old paper, but eyes sharp as stars.
He took out a monocle, cleaned it with his sleeve, and clipped it to his eye.
"Hah… much better," he said, peering directly at Ace. "Now I can see your potential clearly. Tell —where's the beast?"
Ace's pupils shrank.
"…Headmaster Amon," he muttered.
The old man smiled, recognizing the na. "Ah, glad you rember."
Queen Arlen stepped forward, blade raised cautiously. "Who are you?"
Amon's smile widened. "Soone you definitely don't want to know."
His eyes glinted with sothing ancient and amused as they drifted over the three in front of him, Arlen, Lily, and Ace.
Lily didn't waste ti.
Without a word, she hurled her twin daggers, soul fire streaking behind them like cots.
The blades slamd into Amon's chest.
Tink.
They bounced off.
Amon didn't budge. He didn't even blink.
He looked down at the daggers, then up at Lily.
"…That tickled."
He chuckled.
Ace said nothing. His eyes didn't move from the old man.
His heart, however, beat faster.
It was just like in the 'llusion Abyss'. My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|LE1MPYR) thanks you for reading at the source.
That brief flicker, when Lily dagger got into contact with his body.
Ace had seen it.
Even if it lasted a nanosecond, his system caught it.
And fed him the truth.
This man wasn't human.
He had shapeshifted into a tiger-kin demon beast.
Lily's eyes twitched.
"Tickled?"
She burst forward, leaving a crater in the ground. Soul force blazed from her limbs, twin trails of gold and red lightning coiling around her fists.
This ti, no blades—just raw power.
"Lily—" Queen Arlen began.
But Lily was already there.
She twisted mid-air and brought her knee down with enough soul weight to collapse a hill.
Amon didn't move.
BOOM!
The impact shook the ground, but Lily's strike stopped a hair's breadth before contact, sothing unseen caught her leg mid-swing.
Her eyes widened.
Not because of the counter.
But because she couldn't move.
Her entire body froze in the air.
She tried to shift her weight, call her blades, even detonate a soul burst; nothing worked.
"You're lively," Amon said, still polishing his monocle with complete disinterest. "But wild dogs shouldn't bark too loud without permission."
With a flick of his finger, a pulse of golden soul force rippled outward—
WHAM.
Lily was sent flying, slamd into a rock outcrop hundreds of ters away. The ridge shattered on impact, dust exploding in a giant plu.
The ridge shattered on impact, dust exploding in a giant plu.
"LILY!" Ace shouted, eyes flashing red. But… he didn't move.
He didn't have to.
Because deep down… he knew.
That hit shouldn't have landed that easily.
And Lily wasn't the type to fall unless she let herself.
A mont passed. The dust began to thin.
He glanced toward the ridge.
Then—
Crack.
The rubble split apart. Lily staggered out—bloody, cracked armor, hair wild.
But she was laughing.
Not out of madness alone.
She was thrilled.
"That. Was. AWESO," she howled.
She looked like a beast that had finally found sothing worthy to sink its teeth into.
She pointed at Amon. "Again! Hit again!"
Amon gave a small sigh.
"You're not quite right in the head, are you?"
Lily's smile twitched.
Her pupils thinned, just slightly.
She tilted her head, cracking her knuckles one by one as gold soul threads coiled lazily from her fingers.
"Master says I'm charming, actually," she said sweetly.
Then, with a voice soft enough to chill bone:
"But I do tend to break people who question that."
Ace's expression didn't change, but his fingers flexed slightly behind his back.
Lily took one step forward, her presence flaring unnaturally.
"Master," she said, eyes never leaving Amon, "leave him to ."
Without waiting for a reply, she vanished.
Amon's monocle shimred as he blocked her strike with two fingers, just in ti to deflect the crackling soul blade aid for his throat.
The shockwave from the clash shattered the cliffside.
Lily didn't stop, she launched a flurry of strikes, each filled with manic precision, her aura unstable, dancing between brilliant gold and pure void.
Amon blocked, countered, even chuckled—but he didn't overpower her.
Not easily.
Arlen's brows drew together in disbelief.
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