I had been healing parts of my body slowly. I didn’t want to raise suspicion about how fast my recovery truly was; it was better to keep at least one card hidden. My entire interior had already been fully restored, and I injected a strong amount of life mana into my leg, which visibly healed completely.

  I managed to rise halfway, but a heavy pressure crashed down on my entire body, forcing me back to the ground. The woman’s Jurisdiction seized me once again as its prisoner, mana in the shape of vines binding my entire body to the tree behind me.

  “Don’t even try it, little bunny.” She smiled in a deeply unsettling way. “You have a good affinity for life mana. I’ll be able to experiment far more than I expected.” Her laughter and abrupt movements destabilized her, causing her to fall to the ground. She didn’t care in the slightest and continued laughing.

  In the middle of her amusement, she suddenly fell silent. She couldn’t move at all. The mana level around us rose sharply, and a mist appeared—one I hadn’t noticed before. The mist bound her tightly in place. I watched her struggle against the strange fog, her movements turning into spasms. She was completely restrained.

  The same mist strangled the monsters she had been using as a chair. I searched for the source of the mana—someone had to be responsible for this. I moved my eyes from side to side and focused on my Personal World to track the culprit, but in the end, I found no one.

  I lifted my gaze once more, and from behind a tree, a figure emerged. I was very familiar with that red hair and those dark green eyes.

  I was just as shocked as the blue-haired woman. I hadn’t expected to see Tiani here.

  “Why do you look so surprised?” she asked calmly. “That monster… no, Glia warned me about a strange and problematic situation. She didn’t know the details.” Tiani looked at the woman on the ground, who was still struggling against her restraints. “I made the right choice coming here.” As she finished speaking, the volume of mana around us exploded upward, becoming suffocating.

  All the mist around us swirled violently toward the blue-haired woman. I could clearly see the mana entering every opening in her body. That couldn’t be good. After a few seconds, the woman’s body collapsed to the ground like a completely broken doll.

  “Is she dead?” I asked immediately, already healing my injuries as fast as I could. I wanted to be ready in case I had to fight again.

  “No. She’s just unconscious.” Tiani pulled a pair of restraints and a cube-like object from her storage bracelet. She locked the restraints onto the woman’s arms and legs, and I felt all the mana in her body vanish instantly. She tossed the cube toward the woman; it expanded, swallowed the blue-haired woman whole, then shrank back down to about the size of a watermelon.

  “Thank you. I would’ve died if you hadn’t come… or something even worse might’ve happened.” I let myself collapse to the ground. With that psychotic woman gone, I could finally breathe. I had been fighting for far too long—my body and cube were damaged, and I had earned a brief rest.

  Just thinking about all the possible outcomes sent chills through my body. To be honest, I would rather die than become that woman’s prisoner.

  “Tell me how you ended up in this situation.” Tiani said as she sat beside me. “You left to deal with Grade 4 monsters. How did you end up fighting an infamous Diamond rank?” She handed me a bottle of water, which I emptied in one gulp before beginning my explanation.

  “That’s everything. She appeared out of nowhere.” I sighed and clenched my fists, anger burning inside me. “Do you know anything about her? You called her infamous.”

  “Yes… she’s connected to the Withered Tree in a way. She’s not officially part of them, but they’ve been supporting each other. No one knows the purpose of that alliance. Even before that, she was already wanted across the continent. She massacred villages with her mental powers and caused numerous monster stampedes.” Tiani’s voice carried clear irritation.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “I never thought I’d find that lunatic here. At least now there’s one less plague roaming free.” Tiani smiled slowly. I was relieved I hadn’t rejected her help. If she hadn’t come, everything would’ve gone straight to hell—not just for me, but for the entire territory.

  “Hey, Tiani… how did you capture her so easily?” That part had stayed in my mind.

  “Easily?” She let out a small laugh. “It wasn’t easy. It’s true she doesn’t specialize in combat, but she’s far from weak. She’s been Diamond rank for over a decade. Many things had to line up for this to work—and you were a huge help.” I stared at her, eyes wide. Me?

  “You did a lot. Those mana explosions destabilized the ambient mana, turning it turbulent and chaotic. That made it much easier for me to hide my mana signature. You distracted her long enough for me to act slowly and silently. In other situations, I would’ve attacked head-on. I’m confident I could defeat her—but I’m equally sure I wouldn’t be able to capture her if she chose to flee.” Had she seen my Banner mana explosions?

  “How long have you been following us?” I hadn’t detected her at all.

  A triumphant smile appeared on her face. “My affinity is mist-type. I can camouflage myself physically and erase any trace of my presence—as long as I have enough time. You bought me that time.” She winked. “I even managed to evade your senses. Brendu told me about your ability, and I wasn’t sure I could hide from you.” She jumped to her feet.

  Her presence slowly vanished from my perception. I was staring directly at her eyes, yet I couldn’t feel her at all. I could sense the grass beneath her feet being pressed down, the air reacting to something—but not her. It was as if she had vanished from my Personal World.

  “Incredible,” I muttered. Pure admiration.

  “Don’t worry. I doubt you’ll encounter another person with such a high affinity for mist and space.” she said. “According to Brendu, you’re either very lucky or very unlucky. If you meet someone like this again, your future self should’ve already found a solution.” She offered me her hand, which I took without hesitation.

  “Yeah. My future self can deal with that. Right now, I just need some rest.” My cube was injured, and it had been a long time since I’d taken a proper break. “Let’s go back. The monsters should already be wiped out. I killed a large number on my way here.”

  We floated back toward Mancor. The path was filled with corpses, and I could clearly distinguish which monsters had fallen to my blades and which hadn’t. The others showed no blood—just lifeless bodies on the ground.

  “How did you kill them? Did you suffocate them with your affinity?” I asked, remembering what she had done to that woman.

  “Yes. It was simple. My magic also attacks the brain and cube once it enters the body. I couldn’t do it to Tiz because of her mental affinity and protective spells, but monsters were easy.”

  Understanding her ability more deeply made it terrifying. In a place where she could freely spread that mist, she could erase life in an instant. The remaining monsters were different—limbs torn apart, blood everywhere, entrails scattered across the land, and a thick stench of death in the air.

  The battlefield reflected everyone’s efforts. Mana of every affinity lingered everywhere, especially light, electricity, and water—the three affinities belonging to the Ruby ranks on the front line.

  Seeing fallen people broke my heart. I know death is common and monsters are its main cause, but it’s hard to lock those feelings away, especially when they died defending our territory.

  The casualties were fewer than expected. I wanted to believe it was thanks to my early intervention against the horde and the Grade 4 monsters—and to Tiani’s final push, where she annihilated nearly two thousand more on her way here. That was the only way I could ease the pain and force a small smile.

  It was painful to see the fields destroyed. Months of labor had been erased by the stampede. Still, the loss was mostly time. With monster cores and usable materials, the investment would be recovered—and even profit gained. What remained was rebuilding.

  A bitter taste lingered in my mouth. I steadied my mind with Thundersnow. My thoughts were drifting, and I needed to stay calm before returning.

  We searched the outskirts for stray monsters. It was Tiani’s suggestion, and I agreed—it helped release some of the tension. After clearing the nearby threats, we returned to the meeting site from before the stampede.

  From afar, we saw everyone already seated, likely discussing what had happened. This time, they noticed us immediately—their minds no longer clouded.

  We landed a few meters away, and the first person to run toward me was the princess. Brendu wrapped her arms tightly around my torso, then lifted her gaze and placed her hands on my shoulders.

  “Are you okay?” I couldn’t hide anything from her. Those eyes saw through everything.

  “Yes… but let me talk to my family first.” She nodded softly, took my hand, and the three of us walked toward our seats. My family needed to know the true origin of the stampede.