Without hesitation, Kai made his move.He didn’t swing his halberd and he didn’t step forward or even change his posture in any obvious way. To anyone watching, it looked like he had barely done anything at all. But inside that stillness, his control was already moving, precise and sharp, reaching back to something he had set up earlier in the fight.The energy.The one he had planted inside the man with the axe when his halberd struck before.He triggered it.At first, nothing seemed to happen.The axe was still coming and the strike was still deadly.The man’s face still carried that same confidence and that same belief that Kai had made a mistake by turning away from him.But then, it hit, it was not outside but inside.The man’s body froze mid-motion, like something had grabbed him from within and crushed him. His eyes widened instantly, the confidence in them shattering in one breath as he felt the energy explode through his insides.It wasn’t loud but it was violent.The force t

Abigail and Emily were already at their limit.From the moment the fight started, they hadn’t tried to overpower him. That would’ve been stupid. Instead, they moved, dodged, provoked, and kept dragging him around like he was some angry dog chasing shadows. It worked for a while. He got irritated, lost rhythm, and that gave them space to survive.But that kind of fighting always came with a price.Qi.Every step, every dodge, every sudden burst of speed chipped away at it, and now… they were empty. Not completely drained, but close enough that it showed. Their breathing was heavier, their reactions just a bit slower, and their bodies weren’t moving as cleanly as before.And the man chasing them noticed, well of course he did.He suddenly stopped right in front of them, cutting off their path like a wall they couldn’t go around. His face was no longer calm. It was twisted, annoyed, like he had been holding back his anger for too long.He let out a sharp breath through his nose.“You two

Kai reached Trouble just as the fight was about to tilt the wrong way.The massive beast had already forced Trouble back twice, its size and strength finally starting to show clearly. Each swing of its claws carried weight, each movement more controlled than before, and even its breathing had stabilized like it had figured out Trouble’s rhythm.Trouble, on the other hand, was still fighting, but it wasn’t clean anymore. Its movements had become rough, its body marked with cuts and bruises, and even though it kept jumping back in and its body healing, it was clear it was reaching its limit.Kai didn’t wait.The moment he stepped in, his halberd was already out.He didn’t go for anything fancy.There was no buildup and no warning.He struck.The first hit landed across the beast’s side, the blade cutting through its scales just enough to leave a long mark. The beast reacted instantly, turning toward him with a low roar, its focus shifting from Trouble to this new threat.Good.That was

Without hesitation, Kai dashed forward.His body moved like a streak, fast enough to close the gap in seconds, but just as he pushed his speed higher, something hit him suddenly. A sharp pain pierced through his eyes, not heavy, but deep enough to make him slow for a fraction of a second.His brows tightened.“Damn…”The golden glow in his eyes flickered slightly.He was reaching his limit.That vision, that clarity that let him see everything at once, it wasn’t something he could hold forever, and now it was starting to strain him. The longer he used it, the more it pushed back, and if he lost it at the wrong time, he would lose his advantage.And right now, he couldn’t afford that.So he didn’t slow down, if anything, he pushed harder.He needed to finish this fast.Meanwhile, the last man had already moved.He closed in on Emily quickly, his expression dark, his breathing uneven but filled with intent. The moment he got close enough, Abigail didn’t hesitate and dashed towards Emily

(A Week Later)Kai slowly opened his eyes, but the moment he did, he immediately wished he hadn’t. His entire body felt… wrong, not exactly painful, but heavy and stiff like someone had taken him apart piece by piece, then put him back together without checking if things still worked properly. Even blinking felt like effort, and when he tried to move his fingers, they responded a second later like they were debating whether they should even listen to him.“What kind of nonsense is this…” he muttered weakly, his voice dry as he stared at the ceiling.He tried to sit up, slowly pushing his body forward, but the moment he did, his arms trembled badly and his back tightened in protest. It felt like his body had gone on strike while he was unconscious and was now punishing him for waking it up. He paused halfway, breathing out slowly as he leaned against the bed.“Did I fight a war or get buried alive…” he added under his breath, clearly not impressed with his current condition.Then he h