Chapter 81: Your Name?
The dark green-haired girl tightened her fist and punched the ground again.
Cracks spread outward from her fist, racing across the surface like fractures in glass.
The ground beneath the hidden base collapsed inward, stone and soil falling into the void below.
The structure crumbled. People screamed. Many died instantly, crushed under the weight of the falling ceiling.
The girl did not watch. She turned and walked toward a nearby tree, leaning against its trunk.
Her arms crossed. Her eyes were fixed on the hole she had made.
She would wait. Let the ants crawl out. Then she would slaughter them all at once.
Footsteps echoed from below. Many footsteps. Her eyes shone.
The air changed as a heavy presence was rising from the underground, it’s a [Diamond].
She did not hesitate as she activated the State of Resonant.
She knew when to be stubborn and when to take initiative.
Unknown energy radiated from her body, invisible but immense.
The forest around her seemed to lean away, as if the trees themselves were giving her space.
The first person who was a [Gold] ranker emerged from the hole.
As soon as he saw her. His face went pale as his knees buckled. He fell to the ground, forced down by something he could not see or understand.
More [Gold] rankers climbed out.
One by one, they were forced to kneel. Their weapons fell from their hands. Their courage evaporated.
The girl did not move. They were not worth her effort.
But she would not let them off.
A wind beam fell from above and struck a [Gold] ranker.
He collapsed instantly, dead before he hit the ground.
The deer with green diamond antlers stepped out from between the trees, its eyes glowing.
A flame ball followed, hitting two more [Gold] rankers. Their bodies burned.
The remaining [Gold] rankers looked around, their faces twisted with terror.
They were surrounded. Not by one or two beasts. By hundreds.
Hundreds of wild creatures emerged from the forest.
Wolves stepped out from behind the trees, their eyes gleaming in the dim light.
Bears rose onto their hind legs, roaring into the darkening sky. Lions padded forward, their manes bristling, their claws scraping against the wet soil.
Eagles circled above, their shadows passing over the clearing like drifting clouds.
Creatures with scales and creatures with fur, creatures with claws and creatures with fangs.
They came from every direction, filling the spaces between the trees, pressing against the edges of the clearing.
The lowest among them was [Perfect Silver]. The strongest was [Imperfect Diamond].
The Platinum rankers who had just climbed out of the hole froze. Their hands went to their weapons, but they did not draw.
They could not move. The beasts surrounded them, a wall of fangs and fur and fury.
A lightning eagle, [Perfect Platinum], dove from the sky. Its talons caught one of the [Platinum] rankers and lifted him into the air.
He screamed as the eagle tore him apart. His body fell to the ground in pieces.
The beasts howled. They roared. Their voices shook the forest, echoing through the trees, rattling the leaves still wet from the rain.
The [Gold] rankers on their knees began to weep. The [Platinum] rankers could not even do that.
The girl watched without moving, a smile on her face.
"Since you want to capture beasts so desperately, then die in the wilderness. Only the strong have the right to say anything. The moment you chose this path... YOUR. END. WAS. ME."
The beasts launched themselves at the people.
It did not matter if they were [Gold] or [Platinum].
They were overwhelmed. A bear swatted a [Gold] ranker aside, his body crashing into a tree with a sickening crack.
Wolves dragged another down, their teeth tearing through his armor as if it were paper.
A lion pinned a [Platinum] ranker to the ground and crushed his skull with a single bite.
Some were bitten to death. Others died from innate abilities, torn apart by wind, burned by fire, or crushed by stone.
The ground turned red. Blood pooled between the roots of the trees. The smell of iron filled the air.
Finally, the girl moved.
She pushed herself off the tree and walked forward.
Her feet stepped onto the blood-soaked soil.
She did not look down. The beasts parted as she approached, creating a path through the chaos.
Wolves lowered their heads. Lions stepped aside. The eagle circled higher, giving her space.
Her path was stained with human blood and lined with dead bodies.
But, she did not care. Her eyes were cold, unwavering. She walked through the slaughter as if it were nothing more than a walk through a garden.
She reached the hole and stepped down into the underground.
The tunnel was dark, lit only by the faint glow of the barrier above.
The walls were cracked, the floor littered with debris from the collapse.
Bodies lay scattered in the corridor, crushed by falling stone. She stepped over them without pause.
She could sense the [Diamond] ranker inside. He was not coming out.
His aura was steady, unharmed. She walked through the winding corridors, following the pulse of his mana, until she stopped before a door.
It was metal, thick, reinforced. It had been built to withstand attacks from rankers far stronger than her.
She placed her palm against its surface and felt it hum with protective energy.
...
Inside the room, the old man was sweating.
He could sense the immense amount of mana above the ground.
He could sense his subordinates dying, one by one.
Although his subordinates have a special hiding technique and can’t be sensed, he was different; he could sense them without any problem.
After all, he gave them this technique.
He sat in his chair, his hands gripping the armrests, his knuckles white. The screens around him showed nothing but static. The cameras had been destroyed in the collapse.
-STEP
He heard a footstep, making his heart beat faster.
-STEP
The footsteps were slowly approaching.
The sound echoed through the corridor, growing louder with each passing second.
The old man stood up. His legs trembled. He looked at the door.
-BANG
The door, made of high-grade metal, bent unnaturally. The reinforced frame groaned under the pressure. Dust fell from the ceiling.
-BANG
The handle broke. The door flew backward and crashed into the wall. The sound was deafening.
-BOOM
The old man was extremely nervous. Even at full power, he doubted he could break that door.
And she had done it with two hits.
He regretted everything. Messing with this girl. Entering this business. His entire life. He regretted it all.
But he could not wait for death.
The girl stepped inside.
A fire salamander lunged at her from the corner of the room. A small snake darted from behind the desk.
They moved fast, faster than any [Gold] ranker should be able to react.
The girl’s eyes shone gold for a brief moment, and she said,
"Halt."
The snake and salamander froze instantly, mid-lunge, their bodies trembled in fear.
Invisible multicoloured chains came into existence, connecting the old man to the two creatures.
The chains pulsed with light, each colour representing a different strand of the contract.
The girl reached out and touched the chains.
The old man wanted to attack. He wanted to summon his mana, activate his skills, do something.
But he could not move. His danger senses screamed at him.
If he did anything careless, he would be dead before he knew it. His own instincts were holding him hostage.
Under his fearful gaze, the multicoloured chains began to disintegrate. The colours faded. The links crumbled.
The girl was forcefully breaking the mana contract.
"ARGHHHHH"
The old man screamed in pain. The backlash tore through his body. His mana went wild, surging and collapsing in waves.
He fell to his knees, clutching his chest, gasping for breath.
Only now did the girl look at him.
She studied his face for a moment. She said nothing.
She turned around and started walking away.
The old man’s body sagged with relief as he saw the girl leaving.
Then he saw the salamander and the snake turn toward him.
Their bodies were no longer frozen. Their eyes were no longer empty.
They remembered who had bound them. They remembered who had forced them to fight.
...
Painful screams echoed behind the girl.
She did not turn back. The old man was already weak. The backlash had destroyed his ability to use mana or skills.
He was a sitting duck, waiting to be devoured.
The screams continued as she walked through the corridor, stepping over bodies, moving past debris, and climbing back up toward the surface.
Suddenly, the girl’s eyes widened as her steps paused.
She stood still at the edge of the broken underground, one foot on the blood-soaked soil, one foot still on the stone below.
She turned her head toward the dark tunnel behind her and asked,
"Who are you?"
She could not see anyone. She could not smell anyone.
But her enhanced intuition told her someone was watching.
A lazy step echoed from the darkness.
Followed by another.
A silver-haired boy with violet eyes walked out, a smile on his face.
His clothes were damp. His left hand was stained with blood. But regardless of his injury, his eyes were calm, had no trace of worry.
"You know,"
Cael smiled as he asked,
"I became your big fan. Can you please tell me... your name?"