Good Warm-Up

It was a Risen over thirty meters tall, with a snake's head and a rodent's body. Thin purple veins ran across its skin, and a long bloodstained tail — more like an unstoppable blade — stretched out behind it.

Its roar made the miasma thicken even more, almost plunging everything into complete darkness. A terrifying pressure fell over them, making everyone's hair stand on end.

"A Risen almost at its peak... if he made it this far..." Zibia muttered, and everyone turned pale with fear.

Niara let out a heavy breath. The enemies known simply as Risen could have power equivalent to that of a one or two-ring Spiritual Guardian.

Since everyone in the fourth row was still new, it was obvious the third row would only let the weaker types through. But if *this* thing made it past...

It meant the third row judged that the nine who had pushed ahead could handle it.

This Risen was probably a bit stronger than a one-ring Guardian, but not quite at the level of two yet. And judging by the fresh blood on its tail... those nine were now eight.

One of them had been killed — which created the opening that let the Risen break through to the weaker group.

In the end, the third row had messed up. And now a monstrous enemy had reached the most fragile group of novices.

As the thing walked, the ground trembled, and it crushed every weaker Risen in its path. Everyone tensed up — they had just barely stabilized the fight, only managing to beat the weaker enemies with a lot of care. If this one attacked them... the casualties would be massive. Maybe even a total wipeout.

"Arrogant bastards..." Niara muttered under her breath.

The three Summoners beside her flinched, and panic started to spread again through the formation. Seeing that, Darian sighed and said:

"Hahaha! Look, Niara, finally a good warm-up for us. Everyone, just stay where you are. We'll take care of it."

Niara gave a slight nod and smiled. The slug hid itself in her clothes, then she spread her wings and cracked her fists together. A moment later, she shot forward, taking flight.

Everyone's hearts tightened. That was a terrifying Risen — strong enough to kill even one of the elite novices.

*Buzz!*

The moving Risen spotted Niara in the sky. Dozens of purple lines lit up across its body. It opened its mouth and fired a beam of purple energy at her.

Everyone heard a deafening noise, like thunder tearing the sky apart. In an instant, Niara swerved to the side, dodging the attack.

The purple beam slammed into the wall of the nest. Everything shook violently. Several people were blown into the air by the shockwave. Everyone broke into a cold sweat — that attack would've killed any of them instantly.

Niara landed several meters ahead of the enemy. Even though she was strong in the air, she fought better on solid ground.

The Risen roared again and launched another long-range attack, but she kept dodging while closing in, giving him no chance to lock on.

The attacks were insanely fast and destructive. Normally, she'd have no chance of dodging them... but Darian could feel the Risen's karma and even predict its movements before they happened.

The two of them, working together, made a terrifying duo. Everyone watched that deadly dance, eyes wide with awe. In just a few moments, Niara was right in front of the Risen — and it struck back, swinging its tail like an unstoppable whip.

Niara leapt into the air, barely dodging the blow. Stepping lightly on the tail mid-jump, she spun around behind it.

Her small hops were insanely precise and efficient. She was dodging by a hair's breadth. It was a seriously dangerous fight, but her expression stayed calm, even indifferent, like she was doing it on purpose — putting on a show for the crowd.

The moment she landed on its back, her fists suddenly lit up, like they were on fire with red flames.

It was a D-rank martial art called *Divine Fist Art*.

Everyone knew that art. It wasn't seen as anything special, and barely anyone bothered to learn it — not because it was weak, but because it was too simple, too straightforward. But now... what they were seeing didn't look anything like that.

Those red 'flames' around her fists were glowing so fiercely that people had to squint. It was so intense that even the miasma pulled away from her.

How could that possibly be a low-rank martial art? Everyone asked themselves.

**BANG!**

The Risen's head exploded, and black blood sprayed everywhere.

"Big sis is strong as hell!"

After a moment of dead silence, everyone burst into shocked relief. They'd seen it clearly... that wasn't some blessing — it was just a martial art. How could it be that powerful?

A Risen that strong had been killed in one hit... If it had been a Spiritual Guardian using some freakish ability, sure, that'd make sense. But the slug hadn't even released its power yet. It didn't feel like they'd just taken down a monster — more like they'd stomped a rabbit. It was that quick, that easy.

In truth, the moment Darian sensed the karma inside the Risen, he realized its agility was garbage. Its power moved way too slowly through its body — obvious even to him.

Niara was insanely agile and could move freely, guided by his instructions on where the attacks would come from — all so she could land a one-hit kill.

And of course... Darian made sure to let her shine on purpose.

She flew gently through the air, eyes glowing with terrifying power and confidence. It fired everyone up, filling them with admiration for her.

When she landed in the center of the group, Darian calmly crawled out from her clothes.

Niara looked at everyone and spoke softly:

"Raw power isn't as scary as you think. In battle, the most important thing is your ability to observe. As long as you can figure out your opponent's fatal weakness, they're just cabbages waiting to be picked. Keep killing!"

"Yes, big sis!"

Everyone roared together and jumped right back into the fight.

That battle pumped their morale to a whole new level. They felt so full of energy, it was like if they didn't unleash it in combat, they'd explode from the inside out.

Niara, meanwhile, just stood there motionless again. But inside, she was happy — happy to realize not everyone hated her like they used to.

'Thank you, partner...' she murmured to herself. She could clearly tell he was doing all this for her. Darian could only sigh.

But there wasn't time for anything else.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and massive figures began approaching from the distance. Even Niara's expression changed the moment she saw it.

"!"

Everyone froze when they spotted dozens of towering figures closing in. Risen just as strong as the last one...

Now... over fifty of them were showing up at once. And everyone's expressions turned grim.

There was basically no way they were making it out of this.