At first, the situation improved quickly—most of the emerging mutated behemoths were eliminated.

  But just as everyone thought the crisis was over,

  the mutated behemoths appeared again!

  "......I need to trouble you once more."

  Terra issued another request.

  The Seven Sages had no choice but to travel across the world again to suppress the mutated behemoths.

  However, shortly after resolving this wave, the mutated behemoths returned—this time in greater numbers than the previous two......

  After that, the world fell into an eerie state. Mutated behemoths of unknown origin emerged one after another.

  The civilizations that had sprouted under the protection of the Seven Sages now teetered on the brink of collapse, facing sudden attacks from the mutated behemoths.

  Everyone in the Seven Sages, including Semiris, spent almost every day rushing around, eliminating Calamity Beasts in one place after another.

  But even with all their efforts, the Calamity Beasts kept multiplying. People had no choice but to consolidate their towns.

  Small, remote towns were gradually abandoned, and people flocked to larger, more defensible settlements.

  While this reduced losses to some extent, it only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. Faced with endless Calamity Beast attacks, people could only keep retreating......

  ......

  On this day, Hulim returned to the town after eliminating a mutated behemoth—or rather, they were no longer called mutated behemoths. They were now uniformly known as Calamity Beasts.

  They were like disasters to this world, so people distinguished them from ordinary behemoths and named them as such.

  In any case, after taking down a Calamity Beast, Hulim arrived back at the town.

  Currently, only Ogrum and Semiris were in the town.

  The others were still out dealing with Calamity Beasts.

  "Ah! It’s Winnie!"

  Seeing Hulim return, Semiris looked overjoyed.

  In such a tense time, Semiris was probably the only one who could still smile carefreely as always......

  "Yeah, I’m back, Semiris."

  After greeting her, Hulim turned to Ogrum.

  "Ogrum, you’re back the earliest this time."

  "It was close by."

  Ogrum replied slowly in his deep, rumbling voice.

  "And Semiris helped."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Right, right! Semiris helped a lot~!"

  So that’s why......

  Speed was Ogrum’s weakness, so he usually didn’t take on targets too far away. With Semiris’s help this time, his speed would definitely have improved drastically.

  It made sense that he’d finished so quickly.

  "Really? You’re amazing, Semiris. Great job~."

  "Hehe~!"

  Semiris smiled happily.

  Just then, Merkphis hurried over.

  "Thank goodness! Your Excellencies are here!"

  "?"

  Semiris tilted her head, looking at him.

  "Merkphis, why do you look so flustered?"

  "Lady Semiris, I’m flustered because something terrible has happened!"

  He then turned to Hulim and Ogrum.

  "Ladies Earth Sage and Water Sage! It’s an emergency!"

  "A Sixth-Rank Calamity Beast has appeared——!!!"

  "!!!?"

  ......

  Somewhere in the East.

  Hulim, Ogrum, and Semiris arrived in this land.

  "I can feel its aura. It’s not far."

  The three quickly moved toward the sensed direction.

  Before long, they saw a colossal figure.

  Behind it, the earth was in utter chaos. It was like a walking avatar of destruction, destroying everything in its path.

  Moreover, the powerful magic aura of a Rank S creature spread unreservedly across the land. Ordinary beings would faint instantly just being in its presence.

  "Sure enough, it’s Sixth-Rank. But its aura feels unstable—did it just advance recently......"

  Hulim observed the Calamity Beast carefully.

  Rank S foes were no easy match. At the very least, they needed to gather some information first.

  However, just as Hulim and the others were scouting the enemy, the creature seemed to notice their presence......

  "We’ve been discovered. No choice then......"

  Splash~......

  Streams of water swirled around Hulim, and the powerful magic aura of a Rank S being emanated from her.

  "Ogrum, I’ll leave the front to you."

  "Understood."

  Ogrum nodded and took a step forward.

  Boom——!

  A Rock Giant the size of a mountain rose from the ground.

  Compared to this Rock Giant, even the sizeable Rank S Calamity Beast looked like a doll that could be held in one’s hand.

  The towering Mountain Giant clearly stunned the Calamity Beast.

  It froze in place, craning its neck to stare at Ogrum, forgetting to move.

  "Semiris will join too~!"

  Seeing the two take a serious stance, Semiris also unleashed her power.

  The Rank S magic aura of the Fairy Queen spread through the air.

  In an instant, the land was shrouded by four Rank S magic auras, transforming into a magically distorted domain.

  The Rank S Calamity Beast finally came to its senses.

  "Roar——!"

  It let out a threatening roar and slowly backed away.

  Unlike lower-level Calamity Beasts, it showed signs of wanting to flee in the face of three powerful forces.

  Although all Calamity Beasts encountered so far had been extremely irrational, those that reached Rank S ultimately displayed more intelligence......

  But its massive body made escape an impossible hope.

  Typically, Rank S beings possessed high intelligence and the ability to take human form. Natural weaknesses like speed would be overcome after transforming, no longer restricted by their original bodies.

  However, while the Rank S Calamity Beast in front of them had some intelligence, it was clearly insufficient—preventing it from shapeshifting. Naturally, it couldn’t overcome the speed disadvantage of its original form.

  Hulim, Ogrum, and Semiris surrounded it directly.

  Realizing there was no way to escape, the Rank S Calamity Beast abandoned all thoughts of fleeing and fully unleashed the madness inherent to Calamity Beasts.

  "Roar——!!!"

  It spewed a beam of light from its mouth, slamming toward Ogrum.

  Boom!

  The attack hit Ogrum, shattering chunks of rock that rained down on the earth below.

  But Ogrum seemed to feel no pain. He raised his fist high,

  then slammed it down fiercely on the Calamity Beast.

  Boom——!

  With this punch, the Calamity Beast was slammed into the earth. Cracks spread outward for kilometers centered on it.

  "Roar!"

  Yet it wasn’t defeated by this single strike.

  In fact, it wasn’t even seriously injured.

  After all, the vitality of Rank S beings was fundamentally different from those below Rank S.

  Back then, it had taken the eight of them some time—and the cost of leveling an entire canyon—to take down that Forest Giant Wolf.

  Now, Hulim’s group had three people. While defeating it was inevitable, it would definitely take much longer than that......

  After fighting for a while,

  the Rank S Calamity Beast was covered in wounds.

  But the ferocity in its eyes never faded.

  In fact, it grew more fierce as the battle went on.

  "This guy is incredibly tenacious......"

  Hulim couldn’t help but wonder if it was originally a species specialized in vitality.

  Whoosh——!

  At that moment, two shooting stars streaked across the sky, approaching rapidly.

  "Oh, looks like this lord arrived just in time——!"