Leo raced through the dense underbrush, his bluish and whitish fur a blur as he leapt over fallen logs and twisted between thick trunks.

  The Rank 1 Silverback Wolf was built for these woods: agile and quick, with an instinctive knowledge of every hidden path and dangerous hollow. Nerion clung tightly to his back, one hand buried in the coarse fur near Leo's shoulders, while Julieta pressed close behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist. The wolf's paws barely touched the mossy ground before pushing off again, carrying them toward the edge of the Radon Woods as they had originally planned.

  However, even Leo's speed was not enough.

  A series of crashes echoed behind them, growing louder and closer with every passing second.

  Kael was coming, and he was using his full Centurion strength to close the gap. The man was tired, his Natural Energy almost drained from the earlier fights, but his mission burned in him like a fire that refused to die out. When a Centurion exerted himself completely, he could reach bursts of speed around eight times the maximum sprint of a peak mortal athlete, nearly three hundred and fifty kilometres per hour.

  It was not sustainable for long, not even for someone like Kael, but in short, desperate surges, it turned him into a living projectile.

  Nerion glanced back and felt his stomach drop. Kael was already within fifty meters, his boots cratering the earth with each bound, Qi flaring faintly around his legs to propel him forward. Blood still seeped from the wound on his arm, but his eyes were locked on them with deadly focus.

  As Kael drew even closer, his claw-hand slashing the air just meters behind Leo's tail, Nerion acted quickly. He nudged Leo gently but firmly on the side of the neck. The Silverback Wolf understood immediately and twisted his head back mid-stride, jaws parting wide.

  A cone of Frost Breath

  The attack took Kael by surprise.

  He raised his good arm to shield his face, Qi forming a thin barrier just in time. Most of the frost shattered harmlessly against it, but some crystals slipped through and struck his already damaged arm, the one Manke had bitten earlier. The ice burrowed deeper into the wounded flesh, blackening it further and sending a sharp jolt of pain up his limb.

  Kael snarled in frustration, his pace faltering for a moment as he shook off the numbness.

  That brief delay was all they needed. Leo surged ahead, putting another hundred meters between them. Nerion allowed himself a small breath of relief.

  But Kael was not finished. As the distance widened slightly, his voice boomed through the trees, laced with cruel mockery. "Running away like cowardly rats! That concubine's bastard daughter, Julieta, your mother was nothing but House trash, opening her legs for whatever scraps she could get. And you, orphan filth? Your precious brother Elisha is already dead, torn apart by Macaques and left to rot like the dog he was!"

  The words hit Nerion like physical blows.

  It had to be a lie, but the insult to his family, to Julieta, to everything he held dear, ignited a fire in his chest. Rage boiled up, hot and uncontrollable. He had been ready to flee, to survive and escape, but now? The thought of this man hunting them forever, spitting venom on his brother's memory, it was too much.

  Nerion leaned close to Julieta's ear, his voice low and fierce over the wind. "We can't just run. He'll keep coming. We lure him, take him to a dangerous place, like Elisha would. I think... with him injured, we have a chance."

  Julieta’s eyes widened in fear, her grip tightening on him. "Nerion, he's a Centurion! We'll get killed!"

  "Please," he pleaded, his anger giving way to desperation for a moment. "Trust me. We end this here."

  She hesitated, biting her lip, but finally nodded. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

  Nerion turned his attention to Leo. "Leo, take us to the most dangerous place you know. The true overlords' nest."

  The Silverback Wolf let out a low grunt, a clear note of fright rumbling in his throat. His instincts screamed warning; that area was certain death for anything below Rank 8. But he sensed the burning resolve in Nerion's touch and, after a brief pause, veered sharply to the left. Leo began to slow his pace deliberately in places, making sharp turns that baited Kael to follow, luring him deeper into peril.

  Minutes passed in a tense chase. Kael closed the gap again and again, even as Nerion hurled rocks backwards, opening minor acupoints in his arms to infuse them with Qi for extra force. The stones cracked against Kael's fading barrier, chipping away at his energy, but the Centurion pressed on relentlessly.

  They drew close to the mountainside, the air growing thicker with ancient Natural Energy. The nest was near, a dark cave mouth pulsing faintly in the rock face, home to the woods' true overlords. But Kael reached them first. With a roar, he slashed outward with his claw-hand, severing a massive tree directly in their path. The trunk crashed down in a shower of splinters and leaves, blocking any forward escape.

  Leo skidded to a halt, growling low, trapped between the fallen tree and the sheer cliff. Kael landed heavily in front of them, his breath ragged but his cruel smile wide. "No more running, pups. The concubine's whelp and the orphan trash, Alara will reward me handsomely for your heads."

  Nerion slid off Leo's back and stepped forward, shielding Julieta and the wolf. He had already explained the plan in hurried whispers during the lure. "Now!" he yelled.

  He forced open two acupoints in his legs, Qi surging through them like a burning river. <Flash Walk>

  Julieta acted at the same moment, her hands glowing with faint wind mana as she chanted a quick spell.

  “Ουρανο? Αναπνο?!” (Ouranou Anapnoi - Breath of Heaven!)

  A burst of illusory gusts whipped around Kael, howling winds that distorted sounds and tugged at his balance, creating confusing echoes and pulling him slightly off-center. It was only a distraction, but it bought precious seconds. Kael snarled and forced his way through the winds, his claw descending.

  Nerion reached him first, palm pressing flat against Kael's chest.

  "Καλειδοσκ?πιο!" ( - Kaleidoscope).

  This was Nerion’s trump card. The spell he got from the Eyes of the World, a golden ring appeared surrounding Nerion’s eyes, multiple lines crossing the sclera in a beautiful runic pattern.

  The confusion spell erupted. Kael's vision shattered into a whirlwind of swirling colors and fractured images: the ground seemed to tilt into the sky, directions inverted, his own arms appearing in multiple places at once. It was a simple spell, the only one Nerion knew, but the unexpected nature of it made Kael stagger for a heartbeat.

  However, a Centurion's might was far too great.

  Kael shook his head violently, dispelling the illusion in an instant. His fist connected with Nerion's shoulder, sending the boy flying backwards like a discarded doll. Nerion crashed into the ground near Julieta and Leo, pain exploding through his body as backlash from the spell coursed through his acupoints, his veins burning, blood trickling from his mouth against a much stronger foe.

  But in that moment of horror, Kael noticed something had tumbled from Nerion's hand as he was sent flying: two small metal balls, shimmering with activated Qi. His very own Mana Bombs, pickpocketed during the chaos of the brief skirmish and accidentally sparked when Nerion was struck.

  Nerion had only meant to intimidate, to force Kael back with the threat...

  Kael's eyes widened in pure terror. His life flashed before him: missions, betrayals, the dream of the Brotherhood. He tried desperately to muster the last dregs of his Qi, a barrier flickering weakly around him.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  It was too late.

  BOOOOM!

  The explosion engulfed him completely, a roaring inferno of blue-white mana that cratered the ground and sent a shockwave rippling through the trees. Heat scorched the air, smoke billowing thick and acrid.

  Kael was hurled down the mountainside like a broken puppet, his body mangled beyond recognition: both arms and legs twisted into useless ruins, flesh charred and bleeding, Qi pathways shattered. He slammed into the rocks below with a sickening crunch, crippled and gasping, his mission ended in flames.

  Nerion stared at the smoking crater, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

  Bile rose in his throat, and he doubled over, retching onto the moss. The reality crashed over him. He had nearly killed a man, a Centurion no less. Julieta let out a piercing scream, her hands covering her mouth in horror, tears streaming down her face. Leo whimpered, ears flat against his head, pressing close to Nerion as if to offer comfort.

  But then, a faint groan rose from the base of the mountainside, weak and gurgling amid the settling smoke.

  Nerion's head snapped up.

  Down below, amid the jagged rocks, Kael stirred, barely. His body was a ruined husk: limbs twisted at unnatural angles, flesh charred and split open, blood pooling beneath him in dark rivulets. His chest hitched with shallow, ragged breaths, one eye swollen shut, the other glazed with pain and fading life, looking straight at Nerion with undisguised hatred. He was hanging by a thread, but alive.

  Nerion's stomach twisted again, this time with a different kind of nausea.

  Despite everything—the chase, the insults, the claw that had nearly ended them, he couldn't stomach the thought of leaving him to die slowly, alone in agony. Enemies or not, Kael was a person. "Wait," Nerion called out hoarsely, his voice cracking as he staggered to the edge of the drop. "Just... wait. I'll find help. Someone…"

  Kael tried to respond, his cracked lips curling in what might have been a curse or a sneer. But all that emerged was a wet, choking cough, blood and bile spewing from his mouth in a crimson spray. He collapsed back against the rocks, too broken even for words, his remaining strength ebbing away.

  Before Nerion could say more, the air grew heavy, thick with an oppressive weight that pressed down on their shoulders like an invisible storm.

  The ground trembled faintly under heavy footsteps, each one cracking stone and sending vibrations up through Leo's paws. A massive figure emerged from the treeline, striding forward with unhurried confidence.

  Rhys.

  He was a monster in every sense, two hundred and forty centimetres tall, his frame a fortress of muscle forged like tempered steel, every sinew bulging beneath greyish, coarse skin that gleamed like polished granite. A single, enormous horn protruded from the centre of his forehead, thirty centimetres long and thick as a man's forearm, curving slightly with a razor-sharp tip. Rhino Beastman. His Qi flared openly, unrestrained and overwhelming, a roaring torrent that warped the Natural Energy around him, trees bending away as if in submission, the air humming with raw, primal power.

  Unlike Lykos's controlled presence, this was a declaration of dominance, a Legate's might laid bare.

  Julieta gasped, stumbling back against Leo, who growled low but shrank slightly, tail tucking in instinctive fear. Nerion froze, heart pounding.

  Rhys stopped beside Kael's broken form, his massive boots crunching the gravel. He looked down with a sneer of disdain, his deep voice rumbling like distant thunder. "This is what you amount to, Kael? A proud Centurion, reduced to scrap by a couple of pups?"

  Kael's one good eye flickered with blind hatred, blood bubbling at his lips. "Kill... them," he rasped, voice a wet whisper. "Kill the... children..."

  Rhys's expression twisted in disgust, his horn casting a long shadow over the dying man. "You seriously expect to slaughter pups? Me, a proud warrior of the Rhodar Prairie?"

  Kael coughed again, forcing the words through gritted teeth. "The mission... the Leader will…"

  Rhys cut him off with a single, piercing glare, his Qi flaring sharper for a moment, silencing the air itself. "I know what's at stake, fool. But your mission failed the instant you let children cripple you."

  He extended one massive finger, almost casually, and pressed it against Kael's forehead. With a sickening , he ended it, Kael's skull giving way like fragile clay, his body going limp in an instant.

  Nerion flinched, Julieta whimpering behind him. Rhys straightened, wiping his hand on his tunic as if brushing off dirt. "Pathetic. You hid behind Alara's gold and sneaky blades, but in the end, you couldn't even handle pups without begging for cleanup. Pretend all you want about House politics, but if I kill them now? It's just a Rhodar spy crushing weaklings in neutral woods. Old Man Corina might rage, but would he march on Rhodar over this? We're already teetering on war's edge; if spilling pup blood guaranteed it, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But it doesn't. And the Millennium Stone Vein... now eludes us because of your failure. That's worth a real fight."

  He turned his gaze to Nerion and Julieta, his massive frame looming like a mountain. A low, booming laugh escaped him, echoing off the cliffs. "You kids did well, though, hahaha! Clever traps, luring him here, that explosion... I didn't like his slimy guts anyway, but we were allies. Orders are orders. Still, I'll give you one fair shot. Beastman honour demands it, don't say I bully the weak."

  Rhys cracked his knuckles, the sound like splitting boulders, his Qi condensing into a palpable pressure. "One attack. You face it head-on. Survive, and you walk away free. Die... Well, that's the way of the strong."

  "So, what will it be, pups?" Rhys asked, his voice a deep rumble that vibrated through the ground, his massive granite-like frame casting a long shadow over them.

  Julieta was scared senseless, her body trembling uncontrollably as she backed against Leo. She had heard tales of beastmen, fierce warriors from Rhodar, proud and unbreakable, but never imagined facing one, let alone one towering with intent to kill. "P-please," she begged, voice breaking into sobs, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Let us go... we didn't mean... please!" Leo pressed close to her, growling low but with ears flattened and tail tucked.

  Beasts were far more sensitive to raw power, and Rhys's overwhelming Qi crushed his instincts like a vice.

  Nerion knew, deep in his gut, that begging wouldn't save them. This was the end unless he acted. His first impulse was to join Julieta, to plead for mercy, but something in Rhys's booming presence, the unyielding honour in his eyes, told him otherwise. This had to be faced head-on.

  "It's okay," he whispered to Julieta, gently pushing her back toward Leo. "Stay with him." Then, stepping forward on shaking legs, he positioned himself: one hand raised upward, palm forward; the other lowered, also facing out. A defiant stance, small against the giant.

  Rhys threw his head back and laughed boisterously, the sound echoing off the mountains like rolling thunder. "Good kid! I like you already, much better than that dead garbage." He jerked a thumb at Kael's corpse. "Let's test your mettle, then. Here I go!"

  Qi surged into Rhys's right arm, muscles swelling like forged iron, veins glowing faintly under his coarse grey skin. He punched lightly, or what passed for light to a Legate, a casual swing that displaced the air with a whoosh. No visible fist, just an invisible wave of compressed Qi hurtling forward, fast as a cannon shot.

  Time seemed to freeze for Nerion. The golden ring around his irises pulsed, runic patterns crossing his sclera in intricate lines, the lingering gift of the Eyes of the World. Kaleidoscópio

  He saw it: the mighty wave rushing like a tidal force of pure destruction. Even before Rhys fully launched, Nerion moved.

  His arms traced a perfect circle, Qi channelling from his core to the acupoints in both limbs, twelve flaring in sequence, drawing Natural Energy in a swirling vortex alongside. His hands met in the centre, a very small but present rotating point of spiralling power forming between his palms. With a cry, he thrust forward.

  <Revolution of Qi!>

  BOOOOOOM!

  The clash was cataclysmic. Rhys's wave met Nerion's spiral counter in a blinding explosion of wind and energy, the air screaming as Natural Energy went wild, trees uprooting, dust whipping into a storm.

  Nerion was hurled backwards like a leaf in a hurricane, slamming into the mountainside. Rock cracked and shattered around him, a section of the cliff face crumbling in a cascade of boulders. Pain exploded in his arms, multiple fractures spiderwebbing the bones, limbs hanging uselessly and throbbing. Blood trickled from his mouth, vision blurring... but his chest rose. He lived. He had survived a Legate's attack, barely, but undeniably.

  Julieta rushed to him, elated tears mixing with her earlier ones, hugging him tightly despite his winces. "Nerion! You... you did it!" Leo bounded over, whimpering softly as he licked at Nerion's wounds, his rough tongue a strange comfort.

  Nerion managed a weak, ear-to-ear smile through the agony, pride swelling despite the ruin of his arms.

  Rhys stared, eyes wide for a heartbeat, then burst into surprised laughter. "Such a good pup! Talent like that, why weren't you born in Rhodar? Hah!"

  As he opened his mouth to tell them to skedaddle, a shift occurred. The broken mountainside revealed its secret: embedded in the cracked interior was a vein of pinkish rock, soft-looking yet shimmering with inner glitter, like captured stars in a cosmic swirl. Beautiful, mystical, as if a universe pulsed within.

  "That... no way," Rhys breathed, awe cracking his voice. "Searched for so long, and it appears when I've stopped looking... This... this is too big, too important." He turned to the children, his expression hardening with regret. Julieta noticed the shift in his eyes: predatory, resolute. "I'm sorry, children. I may have to break my promise. This time... no witnesses allowed. I'll make it painless."

  "No... You promised!" Julieta cried, clinging to Nerion.

  Rhys advanced inexorably, heart heavy but duty ironclad. He couldn't let sentiment dictate his actions in these circumstances.

  An immense pressure descended from higher up the mountain, crushing the world beneath it. The air trembled, trees bowing, ground fissuring under the sheer might.

  Not Qi, but something primal, ancient, a Saint-level aura that made Rhys's flare seem like a candle to a bonfire.

  He froze, horrified.

  "A Saint-level beast... Rank 8... This is the lair of a Rank 8!" Rhys whispered, glancing at the Vein.

  He couldn't fight that, not alone, not now. Survival first. Channelling his full Legate speed, he exploded into motion, several kilometres vanishing in a second, a sonic boom trailing him.

  But he didn't escape unscathed. From the misty mountaintop, clouds parted like curtains. A beam of pure, condensed energy lanced down, brilliant white, parting the fog. It struck Rhys mid-leap. He roared in pain, barrier shattering; the graze scorched his side, cracking granite skin and drawing blood, his bones exposed, inner organs boiling. Wounded but alive, he kept running, not daring to glance back.

  The mist fully cleared, revealing a humongous head, three meters in diameter, diamond-shaped and elegant. The serpent's scales shimmered with cloud-like patterns, ethereal and gorgeous, her eyes' intelligent slits glinting with ancient wisdom. She regarded the exposed Vein first, a spark of possession in her gaze.

  Then, she turned to the children and the pup...