Vrethkaar Forest was different from Varkaan Forest in more ways than just its size.That was the first thing Lein sensed the moment he crossed its boundary, before his eyes had the chance to confirm what his instincts had already perceived.The trees here were even larger than the Ironcrowns he had once believed had no equal. Their trunks could no longer be encircled by ten adults holding hands. Their heights pierced through the thin layer of clouds hanging low above the canopy, making their crowns invisible from below—not because they were hidden by mist, but because they stretched too far into the sky for the eye to follow. Even the roots breaking through the forest floor stood as tall as the walls of a two-story building, forming a natural labyrinth with no discernible end, no matter where one stood.Far less light reached the forest floor than in Varkaan. What little sunlight filtered through the canopy had passed through countless layers of leaves, tinting everything with a deep

Lein moved.Not by running, not by jumping, but by gliding, in a way that could only be described by someone so accustomed to speed that his body no longer needed to choose between earth and air because both belonged equally to him.The first Star Realm cultivator in the front line had only just opened his mouth when the hilt of the black sword slammed into his chest.BANG.Ribs shattered. His body was hurled backward, crashing into the three people behind him. All four fell together like a row of boards shoved from one side.No one had time to process that the battle had already begun.Lein did not stop.The momentum of his first charge flowed seamlessly into his next step, without pause, without slowing, without wasting a single breath. He struck not like a man consumed by anger, but like someone who had already fought a thousand battles and knew exactly where to hit to end everything with a single blow.One punch to the jawbone of the cultivator rushing in from the left.CRACK.The

Lein walked toward the three of them.His steps were neither hurried nor slow.The three of them shuddered in unison as the distance between them steadily closed.The first instinctively drew his knees closer to his chest, a reflex with no strategic value whatsoever—just a body trying to make itself smaller than it really was. The second lowered his head so deeply that the patch of ground before him suddenly seemed to be the most fascinating thing in all of Vrethkaar Forest. The third opened his mouth, and what came out was anything but coherent."Please don't hurt us, sir, please... we won't—we were only following orders, we had no choice, please—""Please," the first added, his voice no steadier. "We surrender. Please."Lein stopped in front of them.He looked at them without an expression that needed to be interpreted too deeply."Tell your Second Prince," he said in the same tone he had used in the underground chamber the previous night—not loud, not threatening, yet carrying some

The first Aurenveil moved.Not like a lion running. Not like a bird flying. Something in between, moving with a speed that gave the forest floor no time to respond each time its claws touched the ground, its half-unfurled wings driving its massive body forward far faster than its size should have allowed.Its mouth opened.Wide.Far too wide for any creature that should have existed. Its lower jaw dropped until it seemed the hinges of its own bones had surrendered to gravity, revealing rows of fangs whose sizes varied wildly. The foremost ones were as large as the body of a grown man, while those deeper inside were smaller but no less razor-sharp. Beyond them lay a wet, steaming darkness that reeked of blood left to stagnate for far too long.Large enough to swallow ten human bodies in a single bite.Lein tilted his body.Not by much. Nothing dramatic. Just enough to move the left side of his body out of the upper jaw's path, and in the same motion, his black sword swept horizontally.

The Auranveil that had slammed into the Ironcrown tree had already turned around and charged back.It was even angrier than before. Its head still throbbed from the impact, but its body had already processed the pain. All that remained now was rage, with only one target left for it—a lone man standing in the middle of the clearing who, by all rights, should no longer exist.Its foreclaws rose.Not one.Both.Two gigantic claws descended simultaneously from different heights, one from the left and one from the right, crossing in a pattern that sealed off every possible path of escape to either side.Lein raised his sword.White energy surged into the blade, this time not fed gradually but poured into it all at once, dense and concentrated until the black sword disappeared beneath the brilliant radiance engulfing it.Claws and blade met at the midpoint.For one second, nothing moved.Then—BOOM.It was not the sound of impact.It was an explosion.The energies colliding at that single p