The light was not blinding; instead, it was soft and dense, like flowing mist slowly seeping out from beneath the rubble.
Right after, the pile of rubble exploded outward with a loud bang. From the swirling dust, a slender figure stepped out.
A pair of curved horns grew from her head, and dark-gold patterns spread from her neck to her limbs, winding across her skin.
At this moment, she had completely shed her previous plainness, a sharp aura swirling around her as if she had finally cast off her shackles.
She tilted her head slightly, her lips curling into a cold smirk as she walked steadily toward the ogre and the frenzy bear.
This time, she no longer dodged or retreated, facing the two Transcendent beasts head-on.
The ogre raised its massive wooden club high, slamming it down with immense force. She didn't dodge or evade; instead, she met it with a direct punch, striking the exact center of the club and instantly snapping the hard, heavy wood in half.
She grabbed the broken wooden handle, using the momentum to leap into the air and kick the ogre squarely in the face.
The ogre's massive body crashed backward onto the ground. She landed right on its chest, her fists wrapped in pinkish-purple mana as she delivered a barrage of punches. Each blow was packed with immense power, forcefully shattering the ogre's breastbone.
Enraged by the sight, the frenzy bear charged at her from the side at full speed. It was no longer simply swiping with its paws; its entire massive body was hurtling forward like a runaway mountain.
Its bristling fur stood on end, covered in a layer of dull yellow magic shield that would deflect ordinary physical attacks on contact.
Opening its massive maw, a dark-red scorching mana condensed deep in the frenzy bear's throat, and it spewed a high-temperature, smoke-billowing breath straight at her.
She leaped into the air, twisting her body with fluid grace to perfectly dodge the scorching breath, and slammed her fist onto the bridge of the frenzy bear's nose.
A sharp crack of fracturing bone echoed as the frenzy bear's nasal bone shattered. Blood spurted out, and the excruciating pain made it let out an agonizing screech, cutting off its breath attack as scalding, lava-like fluid dripped from the corners of its mouth onto the ground.
She landed steadily on her feet. The frenzy bear's massive paw followed immediately, slamming heavily into the ground and sending shards of stone flying everywhere. She leaped aside to dodge, the sharp claws grazing past her shoulder.
Seizing the brief window where the frenzy bear's momentum was spent and it had yet to recover, she leaped onto its arm, quickly climbing up the thick limb.
The frenzy bear thrashed its limbs wildly to shake her off, but she held her ground firmly and punched its eyeball with all her might. The eye burst instantly. The extreme pain caused the frenzy bear to roar deafeningly, its remaining paw flailing blindly.
Using the momentum to leap into the air, she landed on the frenzy bear's head and hammered down repeatedly, forcefully crushing its skull. After a few violent convulsions, the monster's massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as the last of its life faded away.
The fallen ogre, enduring its injuries, struggled to its feet and tried to turn and flee.
She quickly caught up, leaping onto its back and slamming her crossed fists heavily against its cervical vertebrae. With a dull crack of bone, the ogre's head slumped limply, and its body collapsed forward, completely dead.
She stood atop the ogre's corpse, drenched in the monster's blood, her aura chilling and terrifying.
Behind her, the civilians stared blankly at this scene, completely dumbfounded and unable to speak for a long time.
She raised her head and looked deep into the forest. Just as she was about to take a step forward, a deafening boom suddenly erupted.
A massive dark shadow flew out from the depths of the forest, drawing an arc through the air before crashing heavily into the monster horde.
The ground shook violently as two Shadowmane Wolves that failed to dodge in time were crushed to death on the spot, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
As the dust slowly settled, everyone could clearly see the fallen object—it was the head of the Gargantuan Magic Ape!
The severed neck was jagged and uneven, clearly torn off by sheer, brutal force. Fresh blood dripped continuously from the wound, and the ape's eyes were wide open with dilated pupils, its face frozen in a gruesome expression of death.
The noisy monster tide instantly fell into a dead silence. Only a moment later, the monsters began to flee in wild panic.
Though they could not perceive the entity deep in the forest, they instinctively felt an overwhelming terror and scrambled to escape in all directions.
The overwhelming monster tide retreated like a receding ocean wave, but it was already too late.
From the depths of the forest, countless golden light blades intertwined, forming a terrifying storm of wind and blades that spiraled outward.
This was no single attack, but a localized tornado composed of a myriad of light blades. Wherever it passed, swaths of trees were cleanly sliced through.
Once the fleeing monsters were caught in it, their bodies were instantly minced into countless fragments. Blood and flesh sprayed into the air, leaving a dense network of deep and shallow trenches carved into the ground.
The monsters fled frantically, doing everything they could to survive. Some crashed into tree trunks in their panic, while others trampled over the corpses of their companions, running desperately just for a sliver of hope to escape.
But the storm advanced far faster than the monsters could run. In the blink of an eye, those lagging behind were completely shredded, leaving nothing behind.
Watching the approaching golden storm, the civilians on the wall shrieked in terror, their bodies freezing up and collapsing to the ground in sheer fright.
The head of the Gargantuan Magic Ape lay quietly on the ground, its wide-open eyes seemingly staring directly at this storm of destruction.
Only the gray-robed woman with horns on her head showed no intention of retreating. She stood quietly atop the monster corpses, looking up at the golden tornado that swept through everything.
Her fingertips trembled slightly, and a long-suppressed thrill and excitement surged within her heart. She narrowed her eyes slightly, her smirk widening. She had waited for this moment for far too long.
The golden storm that swept through heaven and earth suddenly came to a halt right before the gates of Calais Town.
The countless light blades slowly dissipated, and from the billowing dust, a white-robed figure holding the reins of a Chocobo stepped out.
In his hand, he held an oddly shaped staff, its head flickering with a fine halo of golden magic.
The white-robed man's head was mostly concealed by his hood, his features hidden in the shadows and impossible to make out.
Standing atop the mountain of monster corpses, she locked eyes with the distant white-robed man across the scarred battlefield and the crisscrossing trenches.
Looking at this shocking scene, none of the town's civilians knew the identity of the white-robed traveler, nor did they know who this gray-robed woman who had saved their entire town really was.
The only thing they knew for certain was that the rampaging monster tide had been annihilated. They had survived.
Bai Xuan stopped at the entrance of Calais Town.
The stone wall before him was already in ruins. Its surface was scarred with deep grooves gouged by monster claws and indented by repeated heavy impacts, with most of its corners collapsed into piles of rubble at the base.
The town gate was completely destroyed. One of the wooden doors had shattered into several pieces, lying flat in the mud, while only a small fragment of the other remained, hanging precariously from a rusted hinge.
The open ground at the entrance was strewn with corpses, with the bodies of humans and monsters piled haphazardly together. The blood had long dried, turning into a dark, dull stain that had soaked deep into the soil.
Bai Xuan casually slung the reins over the Chocobo's neck, letting it follow behind him of its own accord as he slowly walked through the piles of corpses.
Rate on N.U.
