Chapter 56: Twelve Black Mountain Treants? Just One Strike

Twelve Black Mountain Treants? Just One Strike

*I won’t die here.*

*Not because of your pride.*

*Not because of your arrogance.*

Mike felt like crying.

A blade of sword energy shot forward like a rainbow.

Striking first and striking hard.

It cut toward the treants.

*BOOM!*

A beast-girl wielding a longsword charged into the ring of treants.

The Black Mountain Treants only split on the first cut.

Since they had already split, Liam felt safe letting his beast-girl engage.

After all, in front of his cousin—

He had to look tough.

*I need to prove myself,* Liam thought.

*Show Mike that I’m strong.*

*Show him that I can handle anything.*

*Even if it’s dangerous.*

*Even if I’m scared.*

*I won’t show weakness.*

But things didn’t go as planned.

After splitting, the treants hadn’t just increased in number.

Their attack range had also grown.

Liam’s beast-girl was overwhelmed in just a few exchanges.

Sent flying by a heavy blow.

If his beast-girl hadn’t been a higher level, that single hit might have been fatal.

And the situation wasn’t looking good.

The dozen or so treants formed a formation.

Trapping his beast-girl in the center.

"It’s over... all over..."

"Looks like even a dozen Black Mountain Treants are too much!"

"All because of..." Liam was about to say, *"All because of you! You didn’t know anything!"*

*"Now look at what you’ve done! The treants multiplied and now we’re all going to die!"*

*If only he had listened to me.*

*If only he had fought properly.*

*None of this would have happened.*

*It’s all his fault.*

*All of it.*

But before the words left his mouth, someone clamped a hand over it.

*Mike?*

*Brother, what are you doing—*

Mike glared at him fiercely.

Signaling him to shut up.

*That was close.*

*Brother, I never realized before how much you want to get yourself killed.*

*If I hadn’t been quick, you’d be dead by now, you know?*

*Brother!*

*You really have no idea how dangerous this is!*

*You’ll pick a fight with anyone!*

*We almost got wiped out because of you!*

*I need to keep you quiet.*

*Before you say something even stupider.*

*Before you get us all killed.*

Liam’s confusion slowly turned to shock.

Those dozen Black Mountain Treants were already terrifying enough.

Liam had fought them before.

He knew exactly how dangerous they were.

Even his beast-girl companion couldn’t deal with that many of them at once.

One or two might have been manageable.

A few more would have been troublesome.

But a dozen?

That was suicide.

If everyone present attacked together, Liam was certain they would still end up dead.

That was why he had already started thinking about retreating.

Then Selena stepped forward.

She didn’t say anything.

She simply raised one hand.

The movement was so casual that Liam almost thought he had misunderstood her intention.

"Wait..."

His voice died in his throat.

Selena’s fingers closed around the hilt of her blade.

The next instant—

Shing!

A flash of silver tore through the darkness.

Liam’s pupils contracted.

He didn’t even see the sword properly.

He only saw the light.

Then silence descended over the battlefield.

The dozen Black Mountain Treants froze where they stood.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then—

Thud.

One of them collapsed.

Another fell beside it.

Then another.

And another.

Within moments, the entire group of treants had crashed to the ground.

All twelve.

Every single one.

Killed by the same strike.

Liam stood completely still.

His mouth was slightly open.

He stared at the fallen monsters.

Then he looked at Selena.

Then back at the monsters.

His brain refused to accept what his eyes had just shown him.

"...What?"

The word came out weakly.

Someone beside him swallowed hard.

"She..."

Their voice trembled.

"She killed all of them."

"I know."

Liam didn’t even realize he had answered.

His eyes remained fixed on Selena.

"One strike."

He slowly shook his head.

"No..."

His voice became quieter.

"Not one by one."

He looked at the corpses again.

"She killed them all at the same time."

That realization hit him harder than the attack itself.

Those were boss-level monsters.

Not ordinary beasts.

Not creatures that could be casually swept aside.

A group of them had been enough to force everyone into a desperate situation.

Yet Selena had dealt with them as though they were nothing.

She didn’t even look tired.

There wasn’t a trace of strain on her beautiful face.

She simply lowered her blade.

Liam’s throat went dry.

"Who..."

He swallowed.

"Who exactly are you?"

Selena finally looked at him.

Her expression remained calm.

Liam immediately felt his back tighten.

That gaze alone was enough to make him understand the difference between them.

He had been worried about a dozen Black Mountain Treants.

She had killed them in one move.

The gap was absurd.

It wasn’t something he could measure.

It wasn’t something he could close through hard work or courage.

It was simply too large.

Liam slowly stepped backward.

His thoughts became a mess.

No.

This couldn’t be real.

There was no way someone could be this strong.

He had seen powerful cultivators before.

He had met talented young people.

He had even witnessed experts fighting monsters that ordinary people couldn’t hope to defeat.

But this?

This was different.

She hadn’t fought them.

She had erased them.

Liam’s eyes widened.

A strange memory suddenly surfaced.

A senior.

A mysterious senior who had appeared in the area before.

Someone whose strength had become the subject of countless rumors.

Someone people had described with a mixture of admiration and fear.

At the time, Liam hadn’t believed most of those stories.

Rumors always grew with every person who repeated them.

But now...

He looked at Selena again.

The beautiful beast-girl stood quietly beside Leon.

Suddenly, everything clicked.

Liam’s face changed.

"Wait."

He stared at her.

Then his eyes moved toward Leon.

Then back to Selena.

His breathing became faster.

"No way..."

His voice trembled.

Selena tilted her head slightly.

Liam pointed at her without even realizing what he was doing.

"Y-You... you’re that... that senior?!"senior!"