Cassandra pressed her lips together and spoke in a flat voice, "Do not listen to her nonsense."
She turned to the others, her face calm but her eyes sharp. "We just need to hold on and make sure she doesn't escape. Ethan and Captain caesar already have the space path essence stone to teleport here, They might arrive any minute now."
Then she looked at Esdeath. "It's better if you surrender quietly. There is still time. All of us have strength close to Rank A. Ethan and Captain Caesar will be here soon. There is no point in resisting." Her voice echoed through the trees like a final warning.
Valeria stepped forward with a proud smile. "What are you even scared of? Just the few of us are more than enough for her. It'll be over in no time."
Her excitement was almost overflowing. Her heart was beating fast, her blood felt hot. Elves were usually calm and rarely lost their temper, but their pride was deep… and Esdeath had stepped on Valeria's pride once before. Valeria was burning to settle it.
Belta nodded quickly. "She's right. Wait here. Valeria and I will handle her."
She clenched her fists and shouted, "Beast transformation — Red Tiger!"
Her body began to change—thick red hair spread across her skin, her muscles expanded, and she grew until she was nearly six feet tall. Her eyes glowed like a predator ready to strike.
With a loud roar, she dashed toward Esdeath at incredible speed. Valeria didn't waste time either; she moved across the tree branches with light steps, getting closer but keeping just enough distance to shoot safely.
Swash!
Her bow shone as she released a wind elemental arrow. A violent gust burst out, snapping tree trunks and sending leaves flying straight toward Esdeath.
Before this, Esdeath could easily force the elements to obey her with her overlord essence stone… but that stone was only Rank C. Valeria and Belta were already Rank B. She couldn't overpower them with that anymore.
Even so, Esdeath still showed a confident smirk. She rushed to the side with quick and sharp movements.
But Belta, in her Red Tiger form, suddenly appeared right in front of her.
"Too slow," Belta growled and threw a heavy punch.
BAM!
Esdeath blocked, but the sheer force of the hit sent her flying almost twenty meters away.
Before touching the ground, Esdeath twisted her body in the air and landed smoothly on her feet. Instead of going for Belta again, her eyes locked onto Valeria.
Her muscles tensed, and she sprinted straight toward the elf archer. Belta roared and chased after her with ground-shaking steps.
"So she wants to take down the archer first?" Valeria thought, her heartbeat rising again. "Not a bad decision."
She jumped down from the tree and stepped back with steady breaths. Her lips lifted into a confident smirk as Esdeath closed in.
Valeria raised her mana bow, the wind swirling wildly around her fingers.
"Killer Move — Unlimited Wind Qi Arrows."
The air trembled as countless thin, sharp wind arrows formed around her, all pointing straight at Esdeath.
All the thin wind arrows shot toward Esdeath like a huge wave.
The distance between them was so short that dodging was almost impossible. Even Belta had to move at sideline so she wouldn't get hit herself.
But Esdeath didn't dodge at all.
She kept walking forward as the arrows struck her body one after another. Her skin looked soft and delicate, but her defense was terrifyingly high. The arrows could not pierce her at first, but they kept hitting the same spot again and again… until eventually a small hole was forcefully opened. Blood spilled out as the wind arrows finally pierced her skin.
At that same moment, her skill activated.
Before this, Echo of Restoration had limits.
She could only use it once or twice, and it always healed her whole body at once, Making her go back in condition where she never wounded in the first place.
But now, her limitations were gone.
As long as she had mana, she could use it freely.
And she had learned something new—she didn't need to heal her whole body anymore. She healed only the parts that were damaged, using far less mana.
To the others watching, it looked like her wound simply closed by itself… as if it was never there. While arrows were just disappearing after making contact with her body.
Esdeath kept moving forward without slowing down.
Valeria's calm expression shattered. Panic flashed in her eyes. She took a step back and pulled her arrowstring tight, aiming straight at Esdeath's head.
But Esdeath was already too close.
It was a fifty-fifty chance—either Valeria would shoot first… or Esdeath would reach her.
Then—
"What?"
Valeria and Belta gasped at the same time.
At the final instant, when Esdeath was only one step away from Valeria, she suddenly twisted her body and spun around—turning her full attention toward Belta instead.
The change was so sudden that Belta lost her rhythm.
"One," Esdeath counted in her mind.
"Killer Move — Condensed Punch!"
BAAAM!!!
Her fist sank deep into Belta's abdomen.
The sound was like a cannon blasting right beside their ears.
The power was overwhelming. Esdeath had created this move after seeing Ujjain's Golden Punch back in the Vanara tribe. She studied it, changed it, improved it—and made it far more destructive.
"Two… three…" she counted silently as she landed more punches.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Belta's large muscles twisted and bent from each impact like soft rubber. She coughed out a mouthful of blood, her body shaking.
"Four," Esdeath thought.
She swung her leg in a final, brutal kick—
BAM!
Belta's huge body flew across the forest like a broken doll, crashing almost a hundred meters away, right near Cassandra and the others.
"Belta!" Emma's voice cracked as she ran toward her in panic.
"Five. Now," Esdeath whispered to herself.
Woosh.
Esdeath vanished—
—and reappeared right beside Valeria, only one step away.
"Wha—" Valeria couldn't even finish the thought.
ZK-20, which had been resting on Esdeath's wrist in the shape of a harmless bracelet, twisted and expanded. Its layers unfolded like sharp petals—
And it became a long spear.
Screech—
The spear pierced straight through Valeria's stomach.
Then another skill triggered.
Valeria froze, her eyes wide and full of shock.
Esdeath didn't waste even a heartbeat.
She pulled ZK-20 back into a bracelet and slammed Valeria to the ground with ruthless force.
She pressed Valeria's head against the dirt, her right leg on her neck and her hand gripping her head..
Cassandra's emotionless mask finally cracked. Her eyes widened, and she shouted,
"No! Don't!"
But Esdeath didn't stop.
She tightened her grip with inhuman strength and pulled.
Valeria's eyes blinked. She gained consciousness for one brief moment—enough to see Esdeath's wide, crazed grin.
Then—
It was over.
Esdeath tore Valeria's head off cleanly and lifted it up like a trophy.
Blood gushed out like a fountain, splashing across Esdeath's face and soaking her clothes.
Violet and Sylvania collapsed to their knees, their hands shaking.
"She… she killed her…" they whispered in horror.
"Cunning ...Too cunning…" Cassandra muttered, her jaw clenched so hard her teeth might break.
Esdeath tossed Valeria's head aside and hugged herself, laughing wildly.
"Heheh… hahahaha…"
She looked completely unhinged, her eyes glowing with twisted excitement.
"Hahaha… how could I forget this feeling?" she said to herself. "The feeling of killing someone with my own hands? The itch inside me… it's fading now."
Then she looked at Cassandra and the rest, her smile sharp and mocking.
"If you are going to kill someone, Be prepared to get killed as well!"
Esdeath not only killed Valeria; she even devoured her soul and strengthened her own further. An elf's soul was definitely useful.
"I was right about you all along. You don't deserve to live!" Cassandra said, her face turning emotionless again.
Sylvania and Violet stood up, wiped their tears, and gritted their teeth. "You'll pay for this!" Violet said in anger.
Just then, the space cracked, and lightning surged. Out of thin air, Ethan appeared, having finally teleported to join the fight. He saw Belta in bad shape and then saw Valeria's beheaded corpse. His eyes immediately widened.
"Where is Captain Caesar?" Cassandra asked.
Ethan didn't lose his composure this time and answered, "Not far away. He is leading the army here. The dwarf army might also come!"
Cassandra nodded. "Everyone, do everything to kill her!" she commanded.
Ethan was the first to charge, his eyes flashing and his hair turning white. "This time I'm not puzzled. She is evil for sure!" he thought and directly charged his sword at her.
"Mountain Cutting Slash!" he roared.
A huge slash wave surged forth, but Esdeath didn't step back. She turned her ZK-20 into a sword and blocked the attack directly, making her take a few steps back.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They exchanged blow after blow.
Ethan's righteous aura enveloped the area, healing Belta's wounds and even strengthening her. But on the other hand, Esdeath felt great pressure, almost kneeling under the weight.
But she held on. They continued fighting, clashing in the air like two balls of light—one golden, the other red.
Soon, they landed on the ground again.
"Let's go help him!" Sylvania shouted and ran towards them.
Violet was quick to join the fight too. "Gravity Inverse!" she shouted, raising her hand.
At once, great pressure built up on Esdeath, as if she was being sucked by something. Her body immediately floated in the air and was pulled towards Violet.
"I'm water!" Sylvania roared.
Rumble!
The ground cracked, and a huge flow of water came out like a sword slash. It was fast, too fast. Sylvania wasn't playing around; she used one of her best offensive killer moves—the Great Tidal Slash.
The water slash literally half-beheaded Esdeath, and it didn't even stop. It reached the clouds, bursting them apart, and then rain started falling. The move actually made the rain happen.
But it could only behead Esdeath half; her head immediately regenerated. "Tch, it cost me so much of my mana!" Sylvania gritted her teeth.
Esdeath didn't say anything and manipulated her ZK-20 into a long, whip-like tendril. It reached far away, drawing an arc, and then directly beheaded Sylvania instead. Violet's eyes widened in shock. "What kind of weapon is this? It can actually change shapes!" she thought and retreated.
But the moment Sylvania was beheaded, her body turned into water, and she then reappeared a few steps away.
"Tch, annoying!" Esdeath immediately turned her attention towards Ethan instead.
Ethan was also ready to clash. He still had his other sword forms in his sleeves and many other killer moves. But before he could do it...
Rumble... Rumble... Rumble...
The ground rumbled. In the distance, it looked like some insects were coming, but when looked at closely, it was a small army. Caesar and Krona, the dwarf, were leading that army, a mix of humans and dwarfs.
Cassandra had a sigh of relief. "Finally!"
Caesar was at the very front. He got off his horse, flew in the air, and came closer to look at the situation of the fight. "Esdeath... I swear on my name, today is the day you'll die!" he said in a heavy voice.
He then raised his hand and said, "Attack!"
The army was not that good, most being just Rank E and D, around five thousand of them, with some of the rest being Rank C, but there were no Rank B or above level other than Krona.
From outside, the army looked weak, but the combined power of the army was something else. Esdeath might survive against a team of Cassandra, Emma, Belta, Violet, and Sylvania. But with the addition of Ethan, Caesar, and Krona, who were Rank A level awakened, and an army of six thousand soldiers, her chances of dying were certain.
The whole army raised their arrows. Some supporters boosted others' strength, while some were ready to shoot fireballs, lightning strikes, or earth spikes. But before they could...
An intense feeling of despair surged through them. An intense pressure surged forth on them. The weaker awakeneds turned into meat paste, while even many Rank C coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
Caesar's expression immediately changed as he looked at Esdeath, who had a vast amount of black, dense aura leaking from her body.
"Death aura?"