Sae adjusted Lucas more securely on his back. Before the beast could react, he activated his power.

The blast echoed like thunder.

In an instant, a red streak sliced through the air as Sae shot away violently, creating distance. The ground cracked beneath his feet, stones being hurled aside by the force of the impulse.

But when he looked back, Sae's blood ran cold.

The beast was coming.

It charged straight at him, the colossal hammer resting on its shoulder, each step making the ground tremble as if the volcano itself were awakening. There was no haste in the creature's movements—only certainty.

That was when Sae understood.

No matter how far they ran,

it would not stop.

Sae planted his feet, spun around, and pressed Lucas against an uneven rock.

"Lucas… can you hide your presence for a while?"

Lucas frowned, sensing something wrong even before hearing the answer.

"What are you thinking of doing?"

Sae straightened slowly. The fear was still there—of course it was—but now it was mixed with something harder, firmer.

Determination.

"The inevitable."

"What?" Lucas raised his voice for the first time. "You're not thinking of facing that thing, are you?!"

Sae let out a tense, almost broken smile, forcing calm.

"Stay here."

He turned his face slightly.

"I'll be right back."

Lucas' eyes widened.

"Sae, that's a high-level beast!"

His voice was sharp, urgent.

"Even I… even at full strength, I'd struggle to defeat something like that!"

Sae fell silent for a second.

Then he spoke, without turning around:

"You said there's only one path forward now, didn't you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sae dashed off.

He leapt across jagged rocks, moving away until he reached a safe distance from where Lucas was hidden. His chest rose and fell too fast, but he didn't stop.

He activated his power.

BOOOOM!

The sound exploded through the volcano. Red lightning spread across Sae's body like living roots—pulsing, burning—before dissipating into the air.

The beast reacted instantly.

The massive monster turned its body, the hammer sliding off its shoulder as hollow eyes locked onto Sae. A deep roar echoed as the creature completely changed its course.

It was coming for him.

Lucas tried to shout. Tried to warn him. But the sound died in his throat.

It was already too late.

Damn it…

Lucas' fingers dug into the stone.

Hang in there, Sae.

His gaze hardened.

Just stay alive… I'll be there soon.

Sae watched the monster advance toward him.

Each step was heavier than the last, the ground shaking as if the mountain itself were awakening. He could hear the impacts before even seeing the creature clearly—a brutal warning that this was not something to be faced head-on.

He drew his sword, fingers gripping the hilt with excessive force as his mind worked desperately.

"An Illusory Giant…" he thought, trying to organize the little information he had. "The records are almost nonexistent… maybe because the academy uses them for exa—"

The thought was cut short.

The giant simply… vanished.

Sae stopped instinctively, his heart nearly bursting out of his chest.

"Wait— where did it go…?"

The air grew heavy.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the monster appeared right in front of him.

The colossal hammer was already raised, descending along a trajectory impossible to follow. The speed was absurd—utterly incompatible with something that size.

Sae reacted on pure instinct.

He activated his power at the last possible moment, forcing his body out of the collision path.

BOOOOM!

The roar of his ability was almost drowned out by the hammer smashing into the ground. The earth exploded, a deep crater forming as rocks and molten debris were launched in every direction.

Sae rolled across the ground and barely managed to get back on his feet. He had escaped… by mere centimeters.

His grip tightened even more around the sword, now reversed, the blade running close to his forearm—a desperate defensive stance.

The giant tilted its head slightly.

And smiled.

Not a human smile—but something twisted, cruel, as if it were enjoying itself.

In the next instant, the barrage began.

The hammer came down again.

And again.

And again.

Each strike came from a different angle, at insane speed. Sae activated his power repeatedly, evading by razor-thin margins, always at the limit. One mistake, half a second too late, and he would be crushed.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The ground shattered with every impact.

There was no room to breathe. No time to think.

With a knot in his stomach, Sae realized the truth.

This wasn't a serious attack.

The beast was playing with him.

Whenever Sae tried to find an opening to strike, the giant swung the hammer with absurd ease, crushing any attempt before it could even form. The size difference made everything worse—even if he landed a hit, the damage would be negligible.

Every dodge drained his concentration, his stamina, his time.

And the monster remained untouched.

Inevitable.

Relentless.

And completely in control.

From afar, Lucas watched silently, eyes tracking every movement.

Each time Sae escaped the colossal hammer by mere centimeters, what had once been suspicion slowly turned into certainty.

He's incredible.

The thought surfaced naturally.

Even knowing the beast was playing around, the way Sae moved was abnormal. There was no panic. No wasted motion. Every dodge was calculated, precise, executed at the exact right moment. Sae wasn't fleeing blindly—he was observing, analyzing, reacting.

Lucas narrowed his eyes.

That posture… that focus…

Sae never took his eyes off the beast. He adjusted distance carefully, positioned his body deliberately, as if every step had been practiced hundreds of times. That wasn't pure instinct—it was discipline.

A memory resurfaced.

In the forest, whenever Lucas incapacitated a beast, Sae appeared at the perfect angle, at the perfect time. The strike was clean, decisive. Never late. Never rushed. He had only failed against the dwarf giant because he had overestimated its speed—otherwise, it would have ended in an instant.

Solid swordsmanship.

Well-trained body.

Absurd spatial awareness.

Lucas leaned his head lightly against the rock, breathing deeply, trying to stay focused despite the growing pain.

Sae Anaragui…

If only you understood your own Gift…

The thought ended on its own.

Because Lucas already knew.

With the foundation Sae possessed—technique, control, discipline—that unstable power wasn't a weakness.

It was simply misunderstood.

And that made everything even more frustrating.

If he mastered it…

He wouldn't just be strong.

He'd be one of the greatest geniuses the academy had ever seen.

What Lucas had sensed quickly became undeniable.

Sae was no longer just surviving.

Little by little, he began to read the beast.

His eyes followed every subtle movement—the shift of the shoulders, the tilt of the torso, the way weight transferred before each swing. With every attack, Sae dodged more precisely, conserving motion, cutting angles, anticipating trajectories.

At first, the beast toyed with him.

Wide swings. Exaggerated motions. Careless strikes.

But then… something changed.

The giant began to miss.

A step half a beat late.

A blow hitting the ground where Sae no longer stood.

A silence between attacks that lasted just a fraction too long.

The beast noticed.

The air grew heavier. The mocking grin vanished. The next attacks came shorter, sharper, more deliberate. There was no waste anymore—only brute force guided by intent.

Sae felt the pressure increase instantly.

The ground shook with every impact, and the hammer seemed to grow heavier with each swing. Still, Sae didn't panic. On the contrary—he was calmer than ever.

He knew that rhythm now.

With every dodge, he felt the slight delay in the beast's movements.

With every missed strike, he sensed the accumulated strain in those massive arms.

Then it happened.

Sae leapt backward once more.

The hammer descended.

Too slow.

The impact opened a crater in front of him—but Sae was already moving forward. His eyes locked onto the beast's hand, still extended, vulnerable for a fraction of a second—a fraction that would never come again.

His body reacted before his mind.

In a single instinctive motion, Sae lunged with everything he had. The blade cut through the air in a clean, brutal, precise arc.

SPLASH.

The sound was grotesque.

The beast's hand was severed from its arm in a spray of boiling blood, spinning through the air before crashing heavily onto the scorched ground.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop.

And Sae, panting, remained standing.

He hadn't just survived.

Had he… turned the tide?

Crack.

The sound echoed sharply.

Sae felt the impact tear through his entire body as the hammer—still attached to the hand he had just severed—slammed into him from the side. It was too fast. Too violent.

Pain exploded.

The force crushed his spine as if something inside him had given way all at once. A monstrous shock tore through his back, chest, and ribs.

Something broke. There was no doubt.

Sae's body was launched into the air.

He spun uncontrollably, his surroundings blurring into fire, stone, and ash, until he slammed into an uneven rock with a brutal crash.

BOOM.

The stone gave way.

The impact carved a crater, and Sae's body sank into it before falling motionless to the ground.

For a moment… silence.

Then, the heavy sound of breathing.

Hunf.

Hunf.

Hunf.

Blood ran down Sae's forehead, hot, mixing with sweat and dust. Other wounds bled beneath his armor—hidden, yet unmistakable from the violent tremors wracking his body.

Every breath was a conscious effort. His chest burned. His spine screamed. Pain spread like fire through muscles, bones, and nerves.

He tried to move.

His body didn't respond.

Sae had been slammed to the ground…

by a single blow.

With immense effort, Sae forced himself up. His legs trembled so badly he thought they would give out. Every movement sent agony tearing through his spine, as if the impact were still lodged inside him.

When he finally raised his head, his heart sank.

The beast was walking toward him.

The colossal hammer dragged along the ground, carving deep grooves into the volcanic rock, its heavy sound echoing like a warning.

And then Sae saw it.

The hand.

The hand he had severed… was intact.

No marks. No wounds. As if it had never been touched.

Sae clenched his teeth.

Even as pain ripped through his body, he forced himself back into a defensive stance. The sword trembled slightly in his hand—not from fear, but from the absurd effort of simply staying upright.

His breathing was uneven, broken.

"An illusory beast…" he murmured, his voice faltering.

"You truly live up to your name."

The giant kept advancing, indifferent.