Teacher by day, Farmer by passion

Queen Arlen moved with perfect control, intercepting each attack without waste.

She cleaved through illusions with pure soul might, her movements 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 something 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 lame for someone at Legend Rank."

The trapped general snarled and began to forcefully break free but just then, something shifted.

Ace's senses screamed.

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 emerged.

A man in radiant golden robes flew effortlessly into view, riding a cloud that shimmered like spun sunlight.

He descended slowly, leisurely, as though time 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.

Some gasped for breath. Others dropped their weapons.

Not one could stand.

"I was bored," the man said, casually dusting his sleeves.

His face shimmered—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 me—where's the beast?"

Ace's pupils shrank.

"…Headmaster Amon," he muttered.

The old man smiled, recognizing the name. "Ah, glad you remember."

Queen Arlen stepped forward, blade raised cautiously. "Who are you?"

Amon's smile widened. "Someone you definitely don't want to know."

His eyes glinted with something ancient and amused as they drifted over the three in front of him, Arlen, Lily, and Ace.

Lily didn't waste time.

Without a word, she hurled her twin daggers, soul fire streaking behind them like comets.

The blades slammed 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'.

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 time, 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, something 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, slammed into a rock outcrop hundreds of meters away. The ridge shattered on impact, dust exploding in a giant plume.

The ridge shattered on impact, dust exploding in a giant plume.

"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 moment 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. AWESOME," she howled.

She looked like a beast that had finally found something worthy to sink its teeth into.

She pointed at Amon. "Again! Hit me 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 me."

Without waiting for a reply, she vanished.

Amon's monocle shimmered as he blocked her strike with two fingers, just in time to deflect the crackling soul blade aimed 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.