Crunch, crunch, crunch!

  Dry leaves and blades of grass crackled under the feet of a dark-cloaked man. When he reached a clearing, he stopped walking and gazed at a gigantic tree whose branches touched the horizon afar.

  His gray hair ruffled as the breeze blew, and his brown eyes lingered on the humongous tree. On his shoulder, a flicker of orange flame floated in the air.

  “The World Tree... this takes me back. I feel nostalgic remembering it,” Iode said with a faint smile.

  “Awwn, the Elves were so hospitable, you keep remembering them. I also recall they were very friendly,” said Molgaron, the flickering flame.

  “That’s not what I’m talking about. The very first time I came here, about 980 years ago, you weren’t with me yet,” Iode replied.

  “They were still friendly, I’m sure they showered you with rainbows and flowers.”

  “Far from it. I had a four-inch hole in my stomach,” Iode said, glaring at him biliously.

  “They were hostile?”

  “Not particularly. They’re only hostile to those with ulterior motives. The Elf who attacked me was an exiled one, and it’s someone you know... Zenobios Bruggen.”

  “Him?!”

  “Yes. He’s originally from our world. You see, he was the lead researcher who created the Kaijus. Then he instigated a war between the races of the Kaimaji Continent, and afterward, he waged war against the world using those same Kaijus.”

  “However, he was stopped by my predecessor of my second heritage, Igor, and his allies—three thousand years before my encounter. Everyone thought he was dead, but…”

  “He used that as a gateway to arrive on Earth,” Molgaron finished the sentence.

  “Indeed. Only to return 980 years ago and almost wipe everyone out. Having the knowledge of human technology, magic, weapon cultivation, Kaijus, and secrets of the universe, combine them all, and you’ve got a disaster waiting to happen.

  None of us stood a chance, champion or not, monster or civilized. Our world was at the brink of death. I, in particular, suffered the worst fate under him. First off, I’m an anomaly: I champion two gods at the same time. Second, the predecessor of my second heritage was the one who foiled his plans.

  I was nothing short of amusement to his boredom. The fact that I had one of his former allies with me only made things worse,” Iode said bitterly.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Isn’t that right, Zalmore?”

  At his right shoulder, a blue phantom of a kobold appeared, arms crossed.

  “What do you want me to say, child?” Zalmore replied dryly.

  Iode smiled faintly. “It’s nothing short of a miracle that the population bounced back in such a short time. It—”

  He suddenly jolted.

  “Molgaron, remember that fluctuation we felt some weeks ago, the one I sent my clone to check out?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, it turns out the Elves weren’t the first to meet the Earthlings. The Stickmen were, and right now, they’re having confrontations.”

  “Want to interfere?” Zalmore asked.

  “No. There are two champions there. This will be a good chance for them to train and strengthen themselves. We’ll need every ounce of power in the future.”

  Iode resumed walking, striding toward the humongous tree.

  ...

  Meanwhile, in the woods, everyone froze mid-action as the giant canid creature raised its arm and swiped at them. They all scattered, narrowly avoiding the powerful strike that gouged the earth apart.

  “What bad timing... that’s definitely Rhodes, the Blue Beast we were looking for,” Raven said.

  “That’s Rhodes? She can transform?” Wolfton asked, stunned.

  “Yeah. One of the abilities of a Blue Beast is transformation when enraged,” Raven replied.

  “What are we going to do?” Wolfton asked anxiously.

  As Raven opened his mouth to reply, a familiar prompt appeared before him:

  Raven raised a brow at the quest. “By ‘last group standing’… does it mean knockout or death?”

  The rewards were enticing, but the penalty looked nasty. Still, he wasn’t planning to fail. If anything, unlocking Void Slash was motivation enough.

  Before he could think further, the giant beast—Rhodes—was already charging up an attack. Purple energy gathered inside her jaws, condensing into a brilliant sphere.

  Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind conjured beneath her chin, forcing her head upward just as she unleashed the blast.

  The beam shot skyward at light speed. A second later, its detonation echoed across the land, the shockwave rattling the earth and sky alike.

  Everyone stood frozen in awe at the sheer power of the beast. Had it not been redirected, they would have been vaporized.

  Helga was panting heavily, her eyes dim and exhausted, she had used most of her mana deflecting Rhodes’ attack.

  “Ah… Rhodes isn’t just an Awoken Mystic Beast anymore,” she gasped. “She’s evolved. We’re in serious trouble.”

  Not far from her, Raven stood wide-eyed.

  “She did that? She’s a Class C adventurer, what part of that was Class C? That magic was at least Novice Advanced level… Was she hiding her strength all this time?” he muttered, astonished.

  He was snapped from his thoughts when Jake leapt high, his body bursting with mana. In a single, explosive motion, he slammed his fist into Rhodes’ jaw.

  Raven gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on his sword.

  “I guess we deal with her first, then the weird Elves,” he said, preparing to move.

  But Tiana’s voice called out to him.

  “Raven! Please don’t hurt her, she’s not herself!”

  Raven smirked faintly. “Don’t worry, Tiana. We’re just gonna smack some sense back into her.”