Chapter 388: Overwhelming

Amanda had heard about Special Grades for years, both from the other Nightwalkers at the base and from her father, who had once fought as part of a team that managed to defeat one.

His experience had taught her that a Special Grade was not merely a powerful monster. It was a walking nightmare, the kind of existence that could break a person’s mind before it ever had the chance to crush their body. There was no reliable way to predict how strong, intelligent, or unpredictable such an opponent might be. When facing a Special Grade, a Nightwalker had to be prepared for the worst because assuming anything less could mean death.

Back then, with her growth limited and no apparent way to break through the ceiling of her potential, Amanda had believed she would only ever watch others confront the greatest threats humanity had ever faced.

But now, thanks to a certain deity, she was standing on the battlefield herself, exchanging blows with one.

Doom!

Their attacks collided once again, the force of the impact sending Amanda staggering several steps backward.

She steadied herself and kept her eyes fixed on the monster as it advanced. It was fast, aggressive, and surprisingly cautious. Rather than charging recklessly simply because Amanda appeared weaker, it observed her movements and adjusted accordingly.

Amanda crouched and snatched up a loose rock before hurling it straight at the monster.

The creature tilted its head slightly.

It did not even flinch.

Its eyes remained locked on her, never losing focus for even a moment.

Amanda’s lips curled into a faint smirk.

She lunged forward.

The monster had expected the projectile to create an opening, but Amanda had used it for an entirely different purpose. She closed the distance herself, meeting the creature at an unexpected point of contact.

"You are a fiery one," the monster muttered as it blocked her straight kick. Its claws immediately lashed toward her in retaliation.

Amanda smirked.

She activated the delayed effect.

Dhak!

"Ghak!"

The monster recoiled violently.

Its feet scraped against the ground as it struggled to regain its balance. The first impact had barely seemed worth noticing, but the delayed force that erupted from the same strike was entirely different.

It had only just managed to steady itself when another pair of impacts erupted.

Doom! Doom!

Both strikes landed on precisely the same spot.

Cracks spread across the monster’s outer shell, branching outward from the point of impact.

Veronica’s eyes widened slightly before she muttered, "She can trigger the delayed effect more than once from a single strike. That’s amazing."

Kyle nodded, his gaze following every movement.

"And she can manipulate the strength of the aftershocks as well. A pure showcase of sorcery." His eyes narrowed. "Though this is nowhere near enough."

His words had barely left his mouth when the monster suddenly crouched.

Then it launched itself upward.

Its lean body shot into the sky with such force that the ground beneath it cracked.

Amanda’s expression changed as she looked up.

The monster did not attack.

Instead, its body suddenly convulsed.

Amanda’s eyes narrowed.

Then came a sound like wet stone grinding against itself.

Crack.

A fissure split down the monster’s torso. And then another.

Its body began to divide.

Amanda’s expression hardened as flesh and chitinous armor peeled apart, not like something being torn open, but as though the creature had been designed to separate from the beginning. Its limbs stretched unnaturally before splitting into multiple forms.

One became two.

Two became four.

Four became eight.

Within seconds, the single Special Grade standing before her had become a mass of identical creatures, each carrying the same grotesque frame, the same hooked claws, and the same cold, predatory eyes.

Amanda’s breathing slowed.

"Clones?"

She barely finished the word.

Every monster crouched at once.

Her instincts screamed and eyes widened.

They lunged.

The battlefield erupted.

Eight bodies tore across the ground simultaneously, their movements perfectly synchronized. Amanda immediately stepped backward, but the creatures did not attack from the same angle. They spread apart as they advanced, cutting off every obvious escape route.

One came from the front.

Two from her left.

Three from the right.

The remaining two leaped over the others, descending from above with their claws extended.

Amanda’s eyes flicked from one to another.

Too many.

She ducked beneath the first claw.

A second monster was already there.

She twisted violently, its claws grazing her shoulder as she drove her palm into its chest.

BAM!

The creature was thrown backward.

Amanda immediately activated her delayed effect.

Dhak!

The impact should have been enough to create an opening.

Instead, another monster crashed into her from the side.

"Gh!"

She flew several meters, rolled across the ground, and barely managed to plant one hand against the earth before another claw descended toward her head.

Amanda’s pupils contracted.

She rolled.

BOOM!

The ground exploded where her head had been.

She sprang to her feet, but there was no time to breathe.

Another clone was already in front of her followed by two more.

Amanda blocked one strike with her forearm and slipped beneath another, but a third claw tore across her side.

Blood splashed onto the ground.

She staggered.

The monsters did not stop.

They came from everywhere.

Each one of them insisted on not letting her predict what part of her would be attacked now.

And while two attacked the third waited for her to evade before striking at the position she was forced into.

Amanda’s face tightened.

They weren’t simply moving together. These fuckers were coordinating.

Her delayed strikes had given her control over the rhythm of the battle before, but now that rhythm belonged to them.

She punched one clone in the throat.

Dhak!

The delayed force detonated a moment later, snapping its head backward.

Amanda turned toward the next one.

It was already there.

Its claws descended.

She crossed her arms.

BOOM!

Her feet carved two trenches into the earth as she was driven backward.

Before she could recover, three more clones lunged simultaneously.

Amanda’s eyes widened but then she clenched her teeth.

"Fine."

Power surged through her body.

Amanda planted her foot and threw herself forward instead of retreating.

She slipped between the first two monsters by a fraction, twisted around the third, and slammed her knee into its abdomen.

Dhak!

The delayed effect triggered.

The clone bent forward.

Amanda smiled.

Then her smile vanished.

The monster’s body did not collapse.

Instead, the clone caught her leg.

Amanda’s eyes widened.

It had deliberately taken the hit.

Its fingers tightened around her ankle.

Behind it, the remaining clones were already closing in.

For the first time since the battle began, Amanda felt something cold settle in her chest.

They were reading her by now.

The next instant, the clone holding her leg swung her bodily into the path of the others.

CRASH!

Amanda’s body slammed into the ground.

Before she could rise, eight shadows fell over her.

Every clone had surrounded her.

Every single one was staring down at her.

And then, as if sharing the same thought, they raised their claws together.

Amanda’s breath caught.

There was no longer one Special Grade standing before her.

There were eight.

And all eight wanted her dead.

Just then,

DHAK.

CRACK.

Something snapped with a violent impact, and all eight figures vanished.

Amanda slowly raised her head. The eight monsters were no longer standing. Their bodies had been flattened against the earth, pressed so deeply into the ground that cracks had spread outward from them like a web. It was as though an unimaginable weight had descended upon them all at once, crushing them before they could even react.

Her eyes shifted toward Kyle.

She knew immediately that he had done it.

And strangely, the first thing she felt was not annoyance or disappointment, but relief.

Her shoulders finally loosened, and she lowered her head again, remaining where she sat.

Veronica let out a quiet sigh before saying, "Go talk to her. I’ll check whether the authorities were alerted."

Kyle nodded and walked toward Amanda.

She was still sitting on the ground with her knees drawn close to her chest, her gaze fixed on the dirt between her feet. When he reached her, Kyle extended a hand.

Amanda didn’t even look at it.

She simply remained there, her fingers loosely clasped around her knees. The frustration and sadness on her face were impossible to miss.

Kyle exhaled softly. Rather than forcing her to get up, he first absorbed the monsters’ bodies, clearing the area around them. Then he sat down beside her.

"What is it?" he asked. "Were you expecting everything to go smoothly and to walk out victorious on your first attempt?"

Amanda’s lips trembled slightly. She swallowed the lump in her throat and barely managed to suppress a sniffle.

"I... could have at least done better." Her voice was quiet. "But in the end, all I did was disappoint you."

"Who decided that?"

Kyle calmly told her.

"You were a second-grade Nightwalker until two weeks ago. Now you’ve reached the point where you can actually injure a special grade and force it to reveal its magical abilities. You pushed it far enough that it had to abandon its initial approach and show you what it was truly capable of. You broke its pride, Amanda. I consider that a considerable achievement."

Amanda lowered her eyes, but some of the heaviness in her expression began to fade.

Even so, she murmured, "I need to grow stronger soon. I need to become strong enough to fight things like that properly."

"You will, Amanda."

Kyle slipped an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her closer, resting his head against hers.

For a moment, Amanda remained still.

Then, little by little, the tension left her body. She leaned against him as well, a faint smile finally appearing on her face.

She might not have won the battle but surely she was getting rewarded.