BOOOOM!!!
The shockwave rattled the forest canopy as Carl and his group stuck their landings on various high branches. They peered down through the gaps in the scaled leaves, their eyes widening as they processed the scene below.
"Jesus Christ, this isn't a battle, it's a one-sided bloodbath." Mitsuki exclaimed in horror, her grip tightening on her sword hilt. As a warrior, she knew the difference between a duel and an execution. This was the latter.
The group of ten watched in pure horror, mesmerized by the white-haired beauty in the clearing. She moved with a liquid grace that defied the laws of momentum, slashing and annihilating monsters with her bare hands. It was a dance of death; all the while, none of the beasts could even get ten meters from her.
"She... She isn't going all out." Daniel muttered, his Archer Gaze catching the subtleties the others missed. Her breathing was even; her muscles weren't even tense.
As if to prove his point, the lady threw a backflip to dodge a sweeping claw. Without her hands touching the ground, she defied gravity, landing softly on her feet. With a casual wave of her hand, the atmospheric pressure shifted. A blade of condensed wind shot towards the humanoid creatures, slicing through their natural armor and cutting them all into halves with surgical precision.
Daniel blinked, shifting his gaze to the destroyed throne. The massive Boss monster was kneeling on the ground, cauterized stumps where its hands used to be.
"My God! She is powerful." He muttered to himself.
The lady moved her silver gaze—cold and devoid of empathy—onto the ten Lava Hounds rushing towards her. They were Lv70 monsters, leaking magma and bloodlust.
"All of you are hindrance."
She closed her eyes, centering her spirit energy, and snapped them open. The air temperature skyrocketed.
"Fire style! Phoenix Tide!!"
She slammed her palms together, opened her mouth, and blew. But it wasn't a simple fireball. A veritable ocean of liquid flame shot out like a tide, expanding exponentially to cover hundreds of miles in seconds. The forest floor was instantly vaporized, burning everything before them into ashes.
".....?!!!"
The ten hiding in the forest were horrified. The spirit energy needed for such an attack—an AOE spell that covered one-third of the clearing—should have drained a high-level mage dry.
"But still... She isn't tired." Connor added, sweat forming on his brow. As a mage, he understood the math of energy consumption. The lady before them was a statistical anomaly.
"Something isn't right, she moves like an Assassin, strike like a knight, Dodged like a warrior, and even use skills like a mage... Is she an All-class?" Ken asked, his voice trembling. In their world, everyone was bound by their class. To be an All-class was a myth, a violation of the system, and only few has it.
The lady stood amidst the burning inferno, the flames licking at her white uniform but not burning it.
"I can't believe there is someone as strong as you here."
"...?!"
Everyone watched as the smoke cleared. The Boss stood tall, its regenerative abilities kicking into overdrive. Its two hands had grown back, the scales hardening into a darker shade.
"You are just a kid!!" It yelled at her, its voice a gravelly roar of wounded pride.
The lady merely tilted her head to the side, unimpressed. She raised one arm towards the sky.
CRACK!
Arcs of blue and purple electricity manifested from thin air, dancing around her hand, crackling with intense, violent energy.
"Lightning?! What the hell are you?!!" The Boss yelled, pointing its massive broadsword at her in genuine fear.
"You used fire, water, soul defense and now, lightning!! I don't know what abomination you are, but you'll die today!!"
The Lady narrowed her eyes, her face unreadable. She didn't offer an explanation. She only offered a sentence.
"Lightning grave."
"What?!"
BOOOOM!
Four massive lightning bolts slammed into the ground around the Boss. Before it could move, the bolts connected, forming a box of pure plasma—a coffin of light around him.
"Die."
With her emotionless words, the lightning exploded inward. The sound was deafening, a thunderclap that shook the students' bones. When the light faded, the Boss was gone—shattered into ashes.
"What the hell?!!"
Grace, Carl, and their teammates froze on their tree branches, stunned into silence. They were staring at a lady who had single-handedly took down more than a hundred monsters, all Lv50 above, and a regenerating Boss, without breaking a sweat.
Suddenly, the lady turned. Her silver eyes locked onto the exact branch where Carl was crouching.
"Aren't you guys tired of hiding?" She placed one finger on her lips, a cruel smirk touching her face.
"Wood style, forest tentacles!"
BOOOOM!!
The trees they were standing on betrayed them.
"This?!"
Carl and his group turned around, seeing the branches they stood on mutate. They grew into thick, thrashing tentacles and shot towards them with incredible speed.
"What the hell?!!"
Before the group could dodge or activate a defensive skill, the tentacles caught the whole team of ten. With a violent yank, they were dragged out of the forest canopy and slammed onto the open ground, stopped just 50 meters from her.
"Hmm... Dragon empire students, I thought I was the only one who got pulled in here?" She moved her gaze around the place, analyzing their uniforms.
"Well, I never leave my enemies alive."
"Hey!!! We aren't your enemy!!!" Carl yelled at her, struggling futilely against the wood that bound him like a python.
"You spy on me. And to me... That makes you my enemy." She looked up at Carl, her eyes narrowing slightly.
'Why does this person look familiar?!'
The thought flashed through both their minds, a sense of déjà vu that rippled through time. But the lady shook her head, dismissing the feeling. She slammed both her palms together.
"Fire style!! Phoenix Tide!!"
She opened her mouth again, gathering the energy, and released. She intended to incinerate them where they stood.
"Fuck! Are we going to die here?!!" Philip yelled in horror, staring at the flames building in her throat.
"My hands are sealed, I can't use any skill!" Grace exclaimed in horror, pulling at the roots binding her wrists.
"Fire style!! Phoenix Tide!!"
"Huh?"
Everyone was stunned. A second voice had chanted the same spell.
Another wave of fire, a hundred times stronger and denser than the lady's, appeared from the side. It smashed into her flames, the collision creating a shockwave of heat, instantly pushing her attack back.
"This?"
The lady leaped backward, landing lightly on her feet, successfully dodging the backlash of the fire. She looked up as the smoke cleared, seeing a blue-haired lady standing before her, her hand still extended.
The moment the ten saw the lady before them, the tension left their bodies.
"Big sister!!"
"Lady Mirabella."
They all exclaimed, hope returning to their eyes.
"She isn't the only one here."
WHOOSH!
A wave of black energy swept past. The wood tentacles holding the students instantly shattered into sawdust, freeing the ten. They turned around, seeing Hitachi, Zoginoi, Elizabeth, and Cupcake walking towards them out of the forest shadows.
"....?!"
The white-haired lady froze. Her composure cracked.
"You?" The lady frowned, and held her head, a sharp pain spiking through her mind as she stared at Mirabella.
"Huh?" Mirabella was also dumbfounded, the face before her unlocking a vault of memories she hadn't expected to open here.
"Jessica?!!" She muttered in disbelief.