The old man stared at the livestream.
His whole body wouldn't stop trembling.
"It's… Raven Shaw?!"
"How is it her?!"
"Why is she still alive… and why is she still so young?!"
In his memories—back when he was still in his prime, when he led the Eastern Isles army onto that continent—
he had seen this woman with his own eyes.
Time had chewed him down into an old husk.
So why…
Why hadn't time left even a single scratch on her?
Who… or what… was Raven Shaw?
The more he thought, the more his breathing collapsed.
Shock. Terror. Cold dread.
One thought after another spread through his mind like poison.
Eastern Isles — A Basement That Shouldn't Exist
In a certain city in the Eastern Isles, a restaurant had already closed for the night.
But beneath it…
a basement corridor sank deeper underground.
The deeper you went, the dimmer it became.
BZZZT…
A broken bulb flickered, throwing stuttering light across the hallway.
And what made it truly horrifying—
were the bloodstains.
On the walls.
On the floor.
Everywhere.
Follow those streaks far enough and you'd reach a room where—
in weak, trembling light—
the walls were lined with bizarre tools.
Hooks. Saws. Needles. Things meant to peel, pry, and split.
Every single one of them carried a truth you couldn't deny:
They weren't decorations.
They had been used.
"hehe… hehehe… hehehehehe…"
A laugh crawled out of the darkness—sick, obsessed, hungry.
On a projection screen, the livestream played.
A man in a purple suit stared at Raven Shaw and Adrian Vale like they were a feast.
His eyes were glazed with worship.
He licked the corner of his mouth—where a thin smear of blood still hadn't dried.
"Raven Shaw… Adrian Vale…" he whispered, voice shaking with desire.
"Ah… I want to… I want to eat you…"
"Not one left… not one… not a single drop…"
"Guhhehehehe… HAHAHAHAHA!"
The bulb flickered again.
And for a moment—
the grin in the dark looked like something that wasn't human at all.
Back to the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone — The "Cupping" Begins
Raven Shaw stood on top of the Devourer Beast's head.
A pair of cold, indifferent eyes looked down from above, like she was already staring at a corpse.
And in that moment—
countless viewers swore they heard invisible BGM:
a piercing, triumphant suona wailing somewhere far away.
The "cupping jar" gleamed under the dim sky.
The chat exploded.
"DID YOU HEAR THAT?! WHO PLAYED THE BGM?!"
"WHO HIRED A BAND—THIS IS WAY TOO PERFECT!"
"Suona starts, white cloth drops, nobody loves anybody anymore."
"Devourer Beast: …why do I feel like I'm attending my own funeral?"
ROOOAR—!
Sensing danger, the Devourer Beast thrashed harder.
The ground trembled like it was about to crack open.
CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!
Through sheer force, the combat saber pinning its palm finally began to loosen.
The blade… started to lift.
But Raven Shaw didn't even blink.
She stood perfectly steady on the monster's head—
as if she were standing on normal earth, not a rampaging B+ nightmare.
Then, under the stunned gaze of the entire world—
she slammed the "cupping jar" down onto the beast's crown.
"…Set."
A soft murmur—almost like a ritual.
DING!
A crisp chime rang out.
The jar's mechanism lit up with a blue glow.
Then—
ZZZT—!
Inside the glass dome, a needle shot out.
A thin, silver spike.
And beneath it—
the Devourer Beast's hide, the kind bullets couldn't pierce…
was punctured like paper.
A pinprick of blood appeared.
Not red.
Black.
The jar began to hum.
WHIRRR—WHIRRR—WHIRRR!
The blue light intensified.
The small dials at the base spun faster.
And then—
the jar started to draw.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
It sucked black blood out of the Devourer Beast like a pump draining poison.
ROOOAR—!!
The Devourer Beast screamed—finally, truly screamed.
The Beast Tries to Break Free
CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!
The combat saber was almost out.
Another second, and it would rip free.
But Raven Shaw moved.
A short hop forward—
CRACK!
Her foot came down like a judge's gavel.
She stomped the blade straight back into the earth.
The monster's hope snapped.
ROOOAR—!!!
Pain.
Humiliation.
Despair.
It lashed out with its other arm—swinging for Raven Shaw's head.
Raven Shaw dipped her body and slipped past it.
Then—
a kick.
A clean, brutal upward arc.
BAM!
CRUNCH!
A sound that made teeth itch.
The Devourer Beast's jawline jolted.
Something shattered.
Teeth—maybe bone—maybe both.
Raven Shaw didn't stop.
She seized the hook on its crown again—
and drove a knee up.
Once.
Twice.
Each impact landing like a hammer on steel.
The beast's roaring faded into broken, choking noises.
Its bloodshot eyes started to lose focus.
Like someone was turning the lights off from the inside.
And all the while—
WHIRRR—WHIRRR—WHIRRR…
HISSS—HISSS—HISSS…
the cupping jar kept running.
Draining.
Draining.
Draining.
Black blood sprayed out of the jar's outlet.
The once-golden mechanism was stained pitch-dark.
The Finale — Seals, Steps, and a Perfect Turn
At some point during the beating, Raven Shaw's hand reached back.
The combat saber's hilt was within arm's reach.
She yanked it free without even looking.
SHING—!
The instant the beast lost the blade pinning it, it stumbled backward—off balance, swaying like a drunk.
Still… even like that, its body instinctively leaned back toward Raven Shaw.
Like it couldn't help itself.
Like it had already been trained to fear her.
Raven Shaw stepped forward.
The beast fully straightened—towering over her, a mountain of flesh and hatred.
And yet everyone watching knew the truth:
In front of Raven Shaw…
that "mountain" was the weaker one.
She exhaled slowly.
Then her hands moved.
Two fingers.
A twist.
A fold.
A series of strange hand signs—calm, precise, merciless.
Then she pressed them onto the beast's body one by one.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Each palm strike sounded like it hit iron.
And with every strike—
a glowing blue symbol appeared in midair.
One after another.
Floating.
Stacking.
Layering.
Like runes being written onto the monster's existence itself.
Her speed wasn't frantic.
But it wasn't slow either.
Just… inevitable.
When the last seal was placed—
Raven Shaw didn't even look back.
She turned away as if the beast was already dead.
Above her, the combat saber she'd flicked upward earlier finally fell in a straight drop—
aimed right at her.
A normal person would be skewered.
Raven Shaw didn't even lift her head.
Her right hand rose casually—
and caught the blade by instinct, like it belonged there.
She spun it once.
A clean, effortless flourish.
Then—
click.
She sheathed it.
Smooth.
Natural.
Perfect.
Like the entire battle had been choreographed by her from the beginning.
Then It Happened
PFFFT—!!
A fountain of thick, black blood erupted from behind the Devourer Beast.
Raven Shaw didn't react.
She kept walking forward—left foot over right, right foot over left—
a stride that looked almost… mesmerizing.
Elegant.
A little dangerous.
Not a speck of dust on her.
Not a single wrinkle out of place.
Like she hadn't fought at all.
Like that entire B+ nightmare…
hadn't even counted as warm-up.
Then—
BOOOOM!!
The Devourer Beast collapsed.
The impact shook the ground and finally snapped the world out of its trance.
The Nation Explodes
The chat didn't just spam.
It detonated.
"HOLY—HOLY—HOLY—HOLY—!!!"
"RAVEN SHAW!! SHE'S TOO DAMN COOL!!"
"Real women don't look back at explosions!!"
"RAVEN SHAW—GOAT!!"
"This is her true combat mode…?"
"I'M DECIDED—FROM TODAY ON, RAVEN SHAW IS MY ETERNAL FAITH!!"
Even Sienna Blake, in the studio, completely forgot her "goddess" image.
She whispered, dazed:
"…So… so handsome…"
And she wasn't wrong.
In battle, Raven Shaw didn't look like the teasing, casual "big sister" at all.
She was ice.
A CEO of death.
Every movement—
every dodge—
every step—
was elegant and controlled, like the world itself moved according to her will.
Dragon Nation's High Command
Even Dragon Nation's top brass were shaken.
They knew Raven Shaw wasn't simple.
But watching it with their own eyes—
still made their scalps tighten.
An old leader's voice broke the silence.
"…Raven Shaw."
"Who is she, really?"
That question was everyone's question.
Dragon Nation had searched every database.
Everything they found was fragments.
And those rare "eccentric circles" who seemed to know something?
They avoided the topic like it was a curse.
Even when the old leader personally asked—
all he ever got back was one answer:
"Not simple."
He exhaled, then stopped forcing it.
Whatever her past was…
she was fighting for Dragon Nation now.
That was enough.
Will of Blue Star Announcement
And right when the world was still shaking—
the Will of Blue Star boomed again:
[Congratulations! Dragon NationcompetitorRaven Shaw has slain a B+ beast!]
[Points awarded: 12,000!]
[Points Challenge Event bonus applied! Total gained: 24,000!]
[Points Leaderboard updated!]
#1: Dragon Nation — 32,100
#2: Eastern Isles — 4,600
#3: Miracle Nation — 4,200
#4: Northern Bear Nation — 3,600
#5: Yangdai Nation — 2,400
(…others omitted)
One kill.
One perfect walk-away.
And Dragon Nation's score rocketed into the stratosphere.
The entire planet went silent for half a heartbeat—
then erupted again, louder than before.
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