Raga's POV -

  The tension in the air thickened, a near-palpable force pressing against my chest as I watched Lucius, his voice trembling as he called out to Lady Sia. The desperation in his tone resonated with the trepidation creeping into my bones, aligning perfectly with the unease that had been festering within me ever since we entered this stretch of the forest.

  Lady Sia, however, remained unshaken. As if danger itself feared her.

  She came to an abrupt halt, her sharp gaze scanning the secluded path at the outer rim of the forest. When I voiced my concerns—concerns that my subordinates echoed—she dismissed them with a wave of her hand, her confidence unwavering. This nd, though not home to creatures capable of overwhelming us one by one, was infamous for ambushes. The dense foliage and twisting terrain made surprise attacks inevitable.

  Then, it happened.

  A creeping, suffocating chill slithered up my spine, a sensation that intensified until, in a heartbeat, it was gone.

  Lady Sia moved first.

  She whirled to her right, her motion fluid and practiced. Her right hand seized her longsword, Rare Death, while her left shot out protectively toward Lucius. He muttered something—too quiet to catch—but my instincts had already sharpened.

  I was ready.

  In the instant the attack struck, I called upon my Crimson Ultima. The gleaming bde materialized in my grip, my armor fring to life as I moved in sync with Sia.

  Then the dark arcs came.

  Dozens of them.

  They cut through the air like ravenous beasts, twisting and shrieking with condensed mana. They were fast. Too fast. I barely had time to angle my sword before the first set crashed against my defense, the force rattling my bones. I gritted my teeth and reinforced my footing, diverting the energy with a powerful parry.

  To my left, Rey was a blur of motion.

  His twin daggers fshed like streaks of silver lightning, cutting through the barrage with a precision that bordered on artistry. He hurled them like boomerangs, their edges catching the arcs mid-air. The sheer calcution of it was mesmerizing. He wasn’t just blocking—he was redirecting, deflecting them away with perfectly timed rotations. Some arcs dissipated entirely, others veered off-course, carving deep gouges into the surrounding terrain.

  June, though cking formal combat training, moved with graceful agility. Her petite frame twisted and shifted, narrowly slipping through the incoming attacks. Healers were always prime targets, yet she remained untouched—a thorn in the enemy’s side.

  And Lady Sia—

  She unleashed hell.

  With a surge of power, her mana fred, forming a colossal spell that dwarfed the dark arcs in both size and density. It was five times rger, thicker, an overwhelming force meant to crush the incoming attack. The air trembled with raw energy as her spell expanded, but the demands of the battlefield pulled her in too many directions. Protecting Lucius. Defending us. Countering the unseen enemy.

  A fraction of a second’s dey.

  It was enough.

  The explosion erupted at point-bnk range.

  The shockwave tore through the air, sending Lady Sia hurtling backward. The force flung her through the dense thicket, trees snapping like brittle twigs under the sheer impact.

  The bst struck us like a hammer.

  I braced against it, gritting my teeth as the pressure smmed into me, my armor absorbing most of the shock. Still, the world blurred for a moment, my vision darkening at the edges.

  I didn't hesitate.

  I checked Lady Sia’s mana signature—intact. She had been caught off guard, but she was alive. That was enough for now.

  Lucius, however, was not my concern. He was her responsibility. Mine was my squad.

  The enemy's initial attack had failed to cause major damage. Lady Sia had intercepted much of the assault, shielding June and me with a protective mana arc before her rger spell had detonated. The fact that we were still standing was a testament to her strength.

  But then—

  The shift.

  A massive mana surge fred. Unnatural. Familiar.

  Dawn.

  She had found the enemy.

  A bzing inferno erupted from her position, a fireball of colossal size roaring to life. In the next instant, she fractured it, breaking it apart into dozens of smaller meteor-like projectiles. Each one hurtled toward the enemy’s location in rapid succession.

  Impact.

  The forest lit up.

  Explosions bloomed across the battlefield like fiery blossoms, smoke billowing in thick, suffocating waves. The heat was staggering, distorting the air, twisting the very fabric of the battlefield.

  But then—

  A shadow moved.

  Fast. Too fast.

  The enemy was still alive.

  Through the inferno, a shape darted. A flicker of movement, evading the firestorm with an agility that defied logic. It was unnatural. Terrifying. Every time Dawn’s fmes struck, it was a fraction of a second too te. A nightmare that refused to burn.

  And then—

  June moved.

  She knew how dangerous this was. Her right arm shot skyward, mana crackling at her fingertips. Her strongest spell.

  Her voice rang out, steady, commanding—

  “Mana Zone: Herme—”

  A flicker.

  A blur.

  And suddenly, the beast was twenty meters away.

  I sucked in a breath—too fast!

  A hulking spirit bear loomed before us.

  No, not just a bear. Something more.

  It stood upright, its towering form imposing, monstrous. Its bear-like upper body was thick with muscle, but its legs—its legs were different. Sinewy, unnatural, built for speed. They moved with a twitchy, almost disjointed motion, as if the creature were perpetually shifting between realities.

  And then—

  The sound.

  A grotesque, grating noise as the creature twisted its bone-like cws. A sharp, deliberate motion, over and over again. The sound of cracking joints, splintering marrow—

  A sound that should not exist.

  A sound that should not be coming from something still alive.

  The battlefield had fallen into silence.

  A single moment. A pause before the bloodshed.

  The spirit bear exhaled, its breath curling in the cold air.

  And then—

  It moved.

  With a thunderous impact, the ghost bear smmed its colossal limbs into the ground, the sheer force sending cracks spiderwebbing through the earth. A mana-infused roar erupted from its throat— an unnatural, resonant force that shattered the air itself. The impact was instantaneous.

  June’s spell cut off mid-cast.

  The raw pressure threw both Rey and June off their feet, their bodies hitting the ground with bruising force. The surrounding mana bent under the weight of the ghost bear’s dominance, warping the battlefield itself.

  A+ ranked.

  We were facing a ghost bear—one of the most feared mana beasts of the northern ranges. An apex predator that thrived in the frozen wilds, known not just for its brutal power, but for its intelligence. It hunted humans actively, a rare trait among mana beasts, and it hunted alone. Its rarity kept it from being cssified as S rank, but that was a meaningless distinction to us now.

  Because we were going to die if we didn’t move.

  The bear swiped at the air, its cws brimming with dark mana. From each movement, massive arcs of sshing energy erupted, shrieking toward us.

  No hesitation.

  I channeled my mana, letting it surge from my core into the tip of my longsword, extending its reach with condensed energy. I met the first ssh head-on.

  Impact.

  The moment our forces collided, I felt my stance buckle. The sheer pressure threatened to overwhelm me, shoving me back despite my reinforced footing. Every muscle in my body strained against the force, my bones rattling from the collision.

  Then—

  A burst of fire.

  Dawn had maneuvered to my left, her palm outstretched. Condensed fireballs shot forward, streaking through the air like miniature meteors. The fmes struck the ghost bear in rapid succession, each impact exploding against its thick hide.

  At first, I dared to think it was working.

  But the bear didn’t even flinch.

  It didn’t dodge. Didn’t react. It simply stood there, allowing the fmes to scorch its fur as if mocking us. As if it knew they were too weak to do real damage.

  A chill ran through me.

  Dawn appeared beside me, her voice sharp with urgency.

  "That monster is toying with us! We have to retreat!"

  She was right.

  Without Lady Sia, we stood no chance.

  The ghost bear wasn’t just strong. It was calcuting.

  Its attacks weren’t random—they were precise, controlled. It was actively targeting June, unleashing mana pressure to disrupt the delicate flow of her recovery process. It understood how vital she was to our survival.

  Rey, having regained his footing, had stationed himself beside June, reinforcing her with his mana shields. But the bear noticed. It felt his interference. And it adjusted.

  It was thinking.

  That realization sent a bolt of dread through me.

  "Fall back! Use the Crimson F—"

  I never finished the command.

  Because the ghost bear vanished.

  A blur. A flicker. And then—

  It was right in front of me.

  Its massive arm swung toward me, a blur of muscle and death.

  Instinct took over.

  I barely managed to shift my longsword, angling it to shield my left side. But the impact was monstrous.

  The blow lifted me off my feet.

  I was airborne before I even realized what had happened. The world spun—sky, ground, sky, ground—my vision spiraling as I hurtled backward. The force was unreal. My chest ached, my armor groaning under the pressure. I fought to stabilize my descent, twisting mid-air—

  But then—

  Something wrapped around my leg.

  A sudden whip-like pull. A force yanking me toward Rey’s position.

  June.

  Her quick thinking had saved me. Again.

  A breath of relief barely passed my lips before panic smmed into me.

  "No! Look out!"

  The bear was already moving.

  It dropped onto all fours, its massive body a blur of motion, tearing through the battlefield with terrifying speed. It wasn’t running—it was hunting.

  And its target was June.

  A surge of dark arcs exploded forward, spiraling toward her in a barrage of lethal precision.

  Rey reacted instantly.

  In one fluid motion, he threw himself between June and the incoming onsught. His twin daggers fshed—too small to block all of them.

  He realized it in an instant.

  And so—he adapted.

  Without hesitation, he scooped June into his arms and bolted.

  A streak of motion, navigating the battlefield with inhuman speed.

  The arcs crashed into the ground behind them, exploding in bursts of raw energy, tearing through the earth where they had been mere seconds before.

  But Rey didn’t stop.

  Didn’t hesitate.

  Because the ghost bear was still coming.

  And we were running out of time.

  ***

  For a fleeting moment, they thought Rey would make it.

  Dawn and Ragnar had committed to holding the ghost bear back while he escaped with June. The pn was sound. The beast was powerful, but Rey was fast—his agility should have guaranteed his survival.

  Then the ghost bear vanished.

  It didn’t blink out of existence. It didn’t retreat. It simply ceased to be.

  Dawn’s fire spell had struck true, yet instead of reeling back, the beast disappeared. The air where it had been felt heavier, distorted—as if mana itself had warped around its form.

  "Mirage Stance," Ragnar realized with dread.

  The others noticed too, but realization came a second too te.

  The bear reappeared directly in front of Rey.

  It had locked onto him and June from the very start.

  Before anyone could shout a warning, the beast’s cws sshed forward. A wave of mana-infused force ripped through the air, a brutal arc of destruction that hurtled toward them.

  Ragnar moved.

  With everything he had, he threw his longsword, aiming to intercept the attack. The bde spun, carving through the air like a javelin—

  But he was too te.

  The sshing wave collided with Rey’s twin daggers.

  For a brief moment, he held firm. For a brief moment, he resisted.

  Then his defenses colpsed.

  The attack split him into three equal pieces.

  The impact was instant. His body, once whole, became fragments of a person that had fought to survive. His blood spttered across the battlefield, staining the icy terrain in an eerie crimson pattern.

  June screamed.

  Her legs buckled as she colpsed to her knees, hands trembling, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Tears blurred her vision, distorting the scene into a haze of red and shifting shadows. The weight of it—the helplessness, the horror—crushed her lungs, leaving her unable to even cry out his name.

  Rey had died for her. Rey had thrown her to safety, and in return, he had been torn apart.

  Dawn didn’t move. She couldn't.

  Her mind repyed the moment on loop—his face in that st second, the instinctive push to save June, the way his body was there one moment and gone the next. She should have done something. She should have helped. But she had frozen. And now he was gone.

  Ragnar’s roar shattered the silence.

  It was raw. A guttural explosion of grief and fury.

  His cry tore through the battlefield, a thunderous echo of loss. He took a staggering step forward, muscles coiled, fists clenched—ready to charge at the beast in blind rage.

  But then—

  The ghost bear moved again.

  It towered over them, unfazed, unfeeling. Its gleaming eyes locked onto June and Dawn. The air around it darkened as tendrils of mana coiled toward its jagged maw.

  It was calcuting its next move.

  June was defenseless. She knelt on the bloodstained ground, lost in grief, oblivious to her impending death.

  Dawn saw the attack coming—yet still, she didn't move.

  The beast chose its target.

  A small, glowing white sphere coalesced beneath its massive jaw, pulsating with condensed mana. The air grew frigid, breath visible in the sudden chill. The moment stretched unbearably, and then—

  The beam fired.

  A pure nce of Ice Mana tore through the battlefield, moving faster than the sshing arcs from before.

  June realized too te.

  Her breath hitched—she wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

  Fmes erupted before her.

  Ragnar materialized in front of her, sword abze.

  His burning bde crashed into the beam mid-flight, splitting it apart. The ice dispersed, fragments of frozen energy shattering into the air. A counterattack followed.

  Fmes surged.

  With a single upward ssh, Ragnar unleashed a fming arc—a raw, violent force that carved through the battlefield in a near-straight line.

  The ghost bear twitched, reacting immediately.

  But it wasn’t fast enough.

  Before it could fully evade—before it could even process the attack—

  Lady Sia struck.

  A blur of bck armor. A streak of lightning-quick motion.

  Sia’s shoulder smashed into the beast with terrifying force. The sheer impact sent a deep shockwave rippling outward. The bear didn’t sense her coming. It took the hit head-on.

  Then, Ragnar’s fmes reached it.

  The beast ignited.

  Fire raged along its face, searing its flesh. It howled—a terrible, inhuman sound that rumbled through the battlefield, filled with both rage and pain.

  Sia took a step back, eyes sharp, assessing the damage. The moment she moved, her gaze locked onto Ragnar.

  He was burning.

  Not just his sword—his entire body.

  June’s breath caught in her throat.

  Sia recognized this form. She had heard of it before, spoken of it in passing with Ragnar during their first discussions.

  But it had been June—June, with her careful warnings, who had told her what to expect if Ragnar ever transformed.

  And now, that warning was reality.

  The battlefield shifted once more.

  But this time, the fmes did not belong to the ghost bear.

  This time, they belonged to Ragnar.

  "Mana Zone: The burning Swordman"

  Raga was no elemental mage like his wife, Dawn. But he didn't need to be. His strength came from Crimson Ultima, a special-ranked weapon capable of summoning fmes that bent to his will. The moment he activated it, his entire body was engulfed in fire, his sword burning like a beacon of destruction.

  With the beast momentarily distracted by Sia, Raga seized his chance. The heat around him intensified as he propelled himself forward with an explosive burst of fmes, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. The ghost bear reacted instantly, channeling the raw mana within its core. A thick barrier of ice erupted over its ice-white fur, an impenetrable curtain of frost meant to smother the fmes before they could reach its flesh. The temperature in the clearing plummeted, the air so cold it stung like a bde against bare skin.

  Raga's fiery strike met the icy wall with a deafening hiss, steam and embers exploding outward. The ghost bear's defenses held. The fmes that had once danced freely around Raga flickered and dimmed, struggling against the sheer cold radiating from the beast.

  Sia, ever the opportunist, used the moment to close in. Her bde whistled through the air, aiming for the beast’s fnk. The ghost bear twisted, bringing up its mana-reinforced cw to intercept. Metal cshed against raw power, a shockwave tearing through the battlefield as the two titans met head-on. Sparks erupted from the impact, and for the first time, the bear’s muscles tensed—not in arrogance, but in acknowledgment.

  It could not overpower her.

  They exchanged blows in rapid succession, each strike precise, each counter vicious. The bear's movements were calcuted, its cws slicing the air with lethal intent. Sia met every attack with expert precision, her body flowing like silk as she shifted between offense and defense.

  Then, the beast lunged—its maw snapping toward her injured arm, sensing a weakness.

  Sia anticipated it. Pivoting on her heel, she twisted just in time, avoiding the bite by mere inches. With the beast’s head now within reach, she struck. Using the momentum of her dodge, she smmed her reinforced headgear into the side of its skull with bone-crunching force. The impact sent a ripple through the beast’s massive frame, stunning it for a brief moment. Wasting no time, she followed up with a devastating punch to the same spot.

  A sickening crack filled the air.

  The ghost bear roared in agony, staggering backward.

  But its fury only grew. With a snarl, it reared up on its hind legs, its towering form eclipsing the battlefield. Sia’s grip tightened on her weapon, prepared for the next exchange—only for Raga to reappear in a fsh of fire.

  He swung his bzing sword with all his might.

  The bde bit deep into the beast’s body. Fmes surged from the wound, igniting its thick fur. The ghost bear howled in pain, thrashing violently. But instead of retreating, it retaliated.

  With a monstrous swipe, it struck Raga with terrifying force.

  The impact was devastating.

  Raga’s headgear was torn from his skull, his armor rupturing in a spray of shattered metal and blood. The sheer force of the blow sent him hurtling across the battlefield, his body colliding with the ground in a brutal crash. Blood pooled beneath him, his breath ragged, but even through the haze of pain, his grip on Crimson Ultima remained unbroken. His fmes flickered, but they did not die.

  The ghost bear, still seething with pain, reached down and ripped the sword from its flesh. With a vengeful growl, it tossed the weapon aside, as if discarding mere scrap metal.

  But Sia was already moving.

  She intercepted the beast’s next strike, her bde locking against its cw in a contest of sheer strength. The ground beneath them cracked from the force, neither side giving an inch.

  June, seeing Raga’s battered form, rushed to his side. Her trembling hands glowed with healing magic as she worked frantically to seal his worst wounds. Dawn, her composure regained, stood nearby, her fiery gaze locked onto the beast.

  She would not allow it to recover.

  The sky above crackled with raw power as Dawn unleashed a barrage of spells. Bzing projectiles rained down like meteors, each one detonating upon impact. The ghost bear roared as explosions rocked its massive form, forcing it onto the defensive. But even as its wounds reopened, the beast refused to fall.

  Then, the air around it shimmered.

  Dawn's breath caught in her throat.

  "It's using Mirage Stance!"

  In an instant, the battlefield became a chaotic illusion. The ghost bear's form split into a dozen identical figures, each one moving with eerie synchronicity. Their glowing eyes flickered through the mist, making it impossible to tell which was real.

  Dawn’s mind raced. Fire magic alone wouldn’t be enough to pinpoint the true beast. She needed something more—

  Sia's voice cut through the confusion.

  "Watch the ground!"

  Dawn's eyes widened.

  The ghost bear was heavy. Even if it could mask its presence, the real one would still leave disturbances—subtle shifts in the dirt, crushed grass, dispced debris.

  Sia’s sharp gaze scanned the battlefield, dissecting every movement, searching for the one illusion that didn't quite match.

  Then, she found it.

  "THERE!" She pointed, her voice carrying above the chaos. Her finger aimed at an unassuming patch of dirt near an ancient tree, where a faint indentation had formed—a footprint that didn't fade like the others.

  Dawn didn't hesitate.

  She unleashed a firestorm upon the location.

  The impact was immediate. The moment her spell struck, the illusions wavered, flickering out like candle fmes. A bestial screech filled the air as the real ghost bear was forcibly revealed, its form convulsing under the searing heat.

  Its deception had failed.

  It was now exposed.

  Sia took a deep breath, mana surging through her veins as she raised her bde. The ghost bear, though wounded, was not defeated yet. With a snarl, it charged straight at her, its rage blinding.

  But Sia did not move.

  Her stance was firm. Her mind was clear.

  The true battle was about to begin.