Varkas was the first to break the silence, his voice shaking despite his rugged demeanor.
"W-what in the fucking world was that monstrous roar?!"
His question hung in the air, but no one mocked his fear — because it was their own. Every chief, every elder, every warrior present had felt it. The aura had pressed against their bones, suffocating, merciless. Even at this distance, it was beyond imagination.
Chief Harren's knuckles whitened around the haft of his axe. Chief Malric spat on the ground, though the tremor in his jaw betrayed his fear. Even Robert, who stood steady as a rock, could not completely mask the tension in his shoulders.
Amelia's flames flickered unsteadily in her palms before vanishing altogether. Her obsidian eyes trembled faintly, her lips pressed thin as she struggled to keep her composure.
Then, Elder Eleice's voice cut through the panic. Calm. Cold. Unyielding.
"That was no ordinary beast," she said, her violet gaze fixed on the trembling treeline. "It is a Spirit Beast… one that has stepped into the Grandmaster Realm."
Gasps rippled through the group. Even the word Grandmaster carried a weight that made lesser warriors' knees threaten to buckle.
Eleice continued, her tone steady, but her words striking heavier than the roar itself.
"I cannot pinpoint its exact stage from here… but its aura is higher than mine. At least two stages above."
Silence fell.
The chiefs' faces drained of color. The elders stiffened, their spirit energy flickering with unease. For them, Elder Eleice was already a towering existence — a being they could hardly imagine opposing. But now she admitted that something in the forest stood not just above her… but far above her.
The thought sent a chill down every spine.
Amelia's voice broke the silence, soft yet trembling.
"And… it seems the beasts are not attacking us by will. They're running… running from something far greater. That roar…" Her hands clenched faintly. "It has awakened."
Her words struck harder than blades. A murmur of dread rippled through the chiefs and elders. If even the tide of monsters was fleeing in terror, what kind of existence lay at the heart of the forest?
Chief Harren swallowed hard, his usual bravado gone. Chief Varkas spat curses under his breath, and Chief Malric's expression twisted in open fear.
Then came the question no one wished to voice.
"What… what do we do if this continues?" one of the elders whispered hoarsely, his lips pale. "Our defenses will crumble… the village will be obliterated. And if… if that monstrosity decides to walk toward Stoneford itself—"
The words died, but the terror lingered in the silence that followed.
Finally, Chief Robert stepped forward, his face grave yet carrying the faint glimmer of desperation. He bowed his head toward Elder Eleice, his voice low, almost pleading.
"Esteemed Elder Eleice… there is none else we can turn to. If you will not act, then this may be the end of us all."
His words, though humble, carried a shameless weight. Everyone knew it. He was asking — no, expecting — a woman not of their village, not bound to their fate, to risk her life against a beast that even she admitted outclassed her.
Elder Eleice stood silently. Her violet eyes remained fixed on the trembling horizon, her flawless face betraying nothing. For a moment, it seemed she would not even answer.
Why should she? Why would she risk her life for Stoneford? She was Astralis Academy's elder, not their guardian. Their lives were not her responsibility.
And yet… her lips parted.
"I can stall it," she said at last, her tone calm, but edged with steel.
A ripple of relief, disbelief, and dread swept through the gathered chiefs and elders.
Eleice's gaze finally shifted, falling on Amelia for a brief instant. "You stay out of this. Do not step near the forest."
Amelia's lips parted, her protest dying in her throat as her chest tightened. But she could only nod.
Then—
Her figure blurred.
In a single breath, Elder Eleice vanished, her violet robes leaving only a ripple in the air where she once stood.
The chiefs and elders stood frozen, her words echoing in their minds.
She would stall it.
But for how long… and at what cost?
Present Moment....
The Earth Dragon reared its colossal head, its golden eyes burning like molten suns. Each breath it exhaled came as a furnace wind, bending the trees and scattering debris across the clearing. Its scales shimmered dark brown, harder than stone, catching the light like jagged armor forged by the earth itself.
Eleice's violet hair streamed behind her as she lifted a slender hand. Spirit energy surged, and in a glimmer of pale light, a crystal-blue sword materialized in her grip. The blade hummed faintly, resonating with her aura, its edge sharp enough to cut the very air.
Her eyes narrowed. Calm. Unyielding.
"Come," she whispered, her voice lost beneath the roar that followed.
ROOOOOOAR!!!
The Earth Dragon lunged, its massive tail sweeping sideways. The force tore through the ground, shattering trees like twigs, sending a storm of dust and stones hurtling into the air.
Eleice's figure blurred.
With a step that barely disturbed the grass beneath her feet, she vanished from the spot and reappeared meters away. The tail crashed down where she once stood, gouging a crater deep into the earth. The shockwave rattled the clearing, forcing even Leon — hidden far in the shadows — to brace himself against the sheer pressure.
Her crystal blade flickered, tracing arcs of light. With a fluid motion, she slashed across the dragon's tail as it passed, sparks flying where steel met scale. But instead of piercing, the blade only left a shallow scar against its armor.
The beast roared again, its fury shaking the air.
The ground cracked as the Earth Dragon charged, its colossal body moving with terrifying speed for something its size. It lowered its head, the twin horns gleaming with earthen energy as it gored toward her like a living avalanche.
Eleice's violet eyes flashed. She lifted her free hand, weaving spirit energy into a shimmering barrier of violet light. The horns struck it with thunderous force — the impact echoed like a landslide, the barrier rippling violently before shattering into shards of energy.
She spun aside at the last instant, her robes trailing through the blast of displaced wind. Her sword danced in reply, slicing across the dragon's eye ridge. The beast roared in pain, though its golden eye remained intact. Blood trickled down its face, but the wound was shallow — more insult than injury.
Leon's chest tightened from afar. She wasn't trying to kill it. She couldn't.
Every motion of hers was calculated — not to strike fatally, but to redirect, to slow, to stall.
The Earth Dragon's tail whipped again, tearing through the air like a battering ram. Eleice ducked low, her figure gliding with the grace of flowing water, her sword flashing to deflect just enough of its momentum to slide past. Still, the force of its passing sent vibrations up her arm, numbing her wrist.
A moment's delay, and she would have been obliterated.
The dragon's claws raked downward, splitting the soil in jagged trenches. Eleice flipped backward, her crystal blade carving sigils midair, releasing arcs of blue-violet energy that struck its claws and forced the beast to recoil with a bellow.
Dust and smoke filled the battlefield. Through it, her figure shone faintly, sword raised, eyes sharp, hair glowing like amethyst fire.
She breathed steadily, but her gaze betrayed the truth.
She wasn't pressing the attack. She wasn't looking for an opening to kill.
She was enduring.
Every dodge, every counter, every flick of her blade carried a single purpose: to keep the Earth Dragon's attention fixed on her, to buy time for those fleeing far behind.
The beast roared once more, furious at this small figure that dared resist it. The forest quaked, the ground split, and the storm of its aura spread like a crushing tide.
And Eleice stood alone before it — her crystal sword gleaming, her stance unbroken.
The Earth Dragon's roar deepened into a guttural bellow, shaking the trees to their roots. Its golden eyes flared, and suddenly its body ignited in a sinister glow.
A crimson aura burst outward — raw, violent, suffocating. The air thickened as though the very world recoiled from its fury. The ground cracked beneath its claws, soil and stone shattering under the weight of its unleashed rage.
Eleice's violet eyes flickered. Too late.
With a speed that belied its towering bulk, the beast swung its colossal claw forward. The air split with the force of its strike, a sonic boom tearing across the clearing.
She tried to slip aside, her body blurring with spirit energy — but the crimson aura clung to her like a net, slowing her steps by the smallest fraction.
And in that fraction… it struck.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The claw grazed her side, only a glancing blow — yet even that was enough. Enhanced by the Earth Dragon's frenzied aura, the strike carried the force of a collapsing mountain.
Her body jerked violently as the impact hurled her across the battlefield.
CRASH!
She smashed through a tree trunk, splinters exploding outward, before her back slammed into another with bone-jarring force. The sound echoed like thunder as bark cracked under her weight.
"—Khhhk!"
A strangled cry escaped her lips as a mouthful of blood burst forth, spraying crimson against the bark. Pain lanced through her ribs, her spine screaming in protest as she slid down the trunk, her crystal-blue sword barely keeping her upright.
For the first time, her flawless composure cracked.
Her chest heaved, her breath ragged. The delicate lines of her face tightened in agony, pale beneath the sunlight. The crimson stain on her lips stood in stark contrast to her violet beauty.
Leon's chest tightened as he watched Eleice crash against the tree, blood staining her lips. A sharp sting pierced his heart — raw, involuntary. His fists clenched so tightly that his nails bit into his palms.
Before he could even think, his body shifted forward, muscles coiling as though to launch himself into the fray.
But—
"Don't. Even. Think about it."
Veile's voice cracked like a whip inside his mind, sharp and commanding. The weight behind her words froze him mid-step.
"You may have speed — yes, even speed on par with that woman in this state — but speed alone doesn't save you when the gap is this vast. That thing…" Her voice dripped with disdain, though beneath it pulsed cold warning. "…would swat you out of existence before you even touched its hide."
Leon's jaw tightened, his obsidian eyes trembling. "But—!"
"No buts, stupid master! Do you think courage makes up for three realms of difference? Even that woman can barely stall it. You? You'd be crushed before you even blinked."
A/N:
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