The scouting unit moved cautiously through the dense forest, their movements precise, their breaths controlled. The deeper they ventured, the more unnatural the atmosphere became.
The once-familiar sounds of wildlife had faded into an eerie silence, leaving only the whisper of the wind threading through the twisted branches above.
The knights exchanged uneasy glances. Something wasn't right.
A faint shimmer flickered through the air—distorted, almost like heat rising from scorched earth. But the ground was damp, covered in moss and tangled roots. The lead scout, a seasoned knight named Darius, slowed his pace, raising a clenched fist to signal the others to halt.
The mana here was thick. Suffocating.
Darius adjusted his grip on his sword, the metal humming softly in his hands as if reacting to the unseen energy in the air. The others noticed it too—subtle vibrations running through their weapons, an unsettling static charge prickling their skin.
Something ahead was radiating power.
A few more steps forward, and they saw the first sign.
A withered beast carcass lay sprawled across the ground, its body twisted unnaturally, as if it had been drained of life. Steam still rose from its flesh, its fur charred at the edges. But there was no fire. No signs of a struggle. Just… decay.
A younger knight swallowed hard. "What the hell happened to it?"
No one answered.
The forest seemed to pulse, a deep thrum in the air, a presence that made the very ground feel unsteady beneath their boots.
Then, as they pushed forward into a clearing, they found it.
At the very center, embedded in the ground like a forgotten relic, a strange artifact pulsed with an otherworldly glow.
Its surface was covered in ancient inscriptions, the markings shifting as if they were alive, weaving through the stone like flowing water. Raw mana bled from it, distorting the air, making it shimmer like a mirage. The knights could feel the energy clawing at them, pressing against their very souls.
The leader of the unit stepped closer, his instincts screaming at him to be careful.
"…By the gods," one of the knights breathed.
Darius hesitated, his gut twisting in warning. Artifacts weren't supposed to behave like this. Even the most powerful magical relics contained energy, but this—this felt uncontrolled. As if it were actively drawing mana from its surroundings.
One of the younger knights took an instinctive step forward.
The glow flared, just for a second. The knight staggered back, clutching his chest, his breathing ragged.
"Damn it! Don't get too close!" Darius barked, gripping his sword tighter. He exhaled, steadying himself, then reached for his magic communication crystal.
"Vice-Captain Gale, we've found something," he said, keeping his voice measured despite the unease gnawing at him. "There's an artifact buried in the ground here, radiating massive amounts of mana. We suspect this is what's drawing the monsters."
A tense silence followed.
Then, Gale's voice crackled through. "Understood. Do not touch it. Stand by while we handle the battlefield."
Darius clenched his jaw. He wasn't about to disobey orders, but every instinct told him this wasn't just some forgotten relic. The way the inscriptions shifted, the way the mana pulsed in rhythmic waves—it felt like a heartbeat.
A dormant power, waiting.
Waiting for something.
And for the first time in his years of service, Darius had the chilling thought that maybe…
It was waiting for them.
A violent pulse of mana exploded through the battlefield.
Belle's Aura Sense screamed in protest. It wasn't just a spike—it was a tidal wave, slamming into her with such intensity that her breath hitched. Pressure bore down on her, her lungs tightening as if the very air had thickened with raw energy.
Her vision blurred for a split second before she forced herself to focus.
Something terrible was happening.
She snapped her gaze toward the battlefield—and froze.
The monsters were changing.
Ogres that had once relied on brute force now moved with terrifying precision, their swings sharper, more calculated. Their bloodshot eyes gleamed with feral hunger, their muscles swelling as if their very bodies were mutating under the influence of the surging mana.
Even the lesser creatures, the ones the knights had been keeping at bay, suddenly erupted into madness. They howled, shrieking with an unnatural frenzy, their movements unnervingly fast, their bodies twitching as if possessed.
It was like something had unshackled them.
Belle's heart slammed against her chest. This wasn't normal. This wasn't just an increase in aggression—this was an unnatural awakening.
"Vice-Captain!" she called out, urgency bleeding into her voice.
Gale, who had been rallying his forces, turned sharply to face her, eyes narrowing.
"The mana—it's spiking even more! The monsters are losing control!"
For the first time, she saw it—uncertainty flickered across Gale's face. His sharp battlefield instincts were telling him something was horribly wrong.
His fingers clenched around his sword hilt. Damn it.
Gale ripped his communication crystal from his belt. "Scouting team—destroy the artifact! Now!"
Static crackled before the response came.
"Understood!"
Belle barely registered the reply. Her gaze was locked onto the battlefield.
The knights were falling back, their once-coordinated formation now fraying under the sheer onslaught. Screams and the clash of steel filled the air, mixing with the guttural roars of the rampaging creatures.
The battlefield was tipping toward disaster.
And at its center—Kai was struggling.
His breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving as sweat dripped down his brow. His katana, once burning with relentless fire, now flickered weaker, its glow unsteady.
Yet the monsters did not stop.
He had lost count of how many he had cut down. Five? Ten? Twenty? More? It didn't matter. They kept coming. Endless. Relentless. Merciless.
His arms ached. His muscles screamed.
His body was slowing down.
"Tch... how many more of these things are there?!" he snarled through gritted teeth.
The answer came in the form of a shadow looming over him.
An ogre—towering, eyes blazing with raw, bestial power—raised its massive club high.
Too fast. Too strong.
Kai tried to move, but his legs refused to cooperate.
His body felt like lead, his reflexes dulled by sheer exhaustion.
"Damn it—!"
The club swung down—CRACK!
A bolt of lightning split the air.
The ogre jerked violently, its massive frame convulsing as raw electricity seared through its flesh. The impact sent it flying backward, its body slamming into the ground with a thunderous crash.
Kai gasped, barely processing what had just happened.
Slowly, his dazed gaze lifted—and standing before him, bathed in the fading glow of crackling electricity, was Belle.
Her silver eyes shimmered with an ethereal light, her fingertips still humming with residual energy. The air around her crackled, faint sparks dancing along her arms before dissipating into the storm of battle.
She lowered her hand, her gaze locking onto him.
"Are you still breathing?" she asked, voice calm—but edged with something else.
Relief.
And beneath it—a cold, simmering fury at whatever had caused this nightmare to unfold.
The battlefield was falling apart.
Belle could see it—knights and adventurers struggling to hold their ground, their weapons growing heavy, their movements sluggish.
The monsters weren't just attacking anymore. They were relentless, as if an unseen force had unshackled their primal instincts, pushing them beyond their limits.
Belle exhaled slowly, rolling her shoulders.
She had wanted to avoid attention.
She had hoped she wouldn't need to show too much.
But at this rate…
If she held back any longer—they would all die.
And she wasn't about to let that happen.
The air trembled.
A pulse of raw energy radiated from her, a silent warning to everything around her. The very ground beneath her feet cracked slightly, responding to the power she was no longer suppressing.
Then—she moved.
BOOM.
The spot where she had been standing shattered, dust and debris kicking up as she vanished in an instant.
To everyone else—she simply disappeared.
The next thing they saw—CRACK!
An ogre jerked backward, its massive chest caving in as Belle's fist connected with devastating force. The impact was like a meteor strike, sending the towering beast hurtling through the air.
It didn't just fall. It collided with another ogre behind it, the sheer force of the impact causing both creatures' bones to shatter as they crashed into a pile of lesser monsters.
A hush fell over the battlefield.
The adventurers closest to the impact froze, their weapons still raised.
"What... the hell was that?" someone muttered.
But there was no time for shock.
The remaining monsters snarled in confusion, their primal instincts warring between attack and self-preservation.
Belle didn't stop.
She twisted mid-air, her silver eyes glowing faintly as her senses honed in on the next threat—
A hulking berserker ogre rushing toward her, its massive club raised high, intending to pulverize her into the dirt.
Belle's gaze flicked upward.
Instead of dodging—she caught the descending club with her bare hand.
BOOM!
The ground beneath her feet ruptured, cracks spiderwebbing outward from the sheer force behind the attack. A normal person—even a high-ranking adventurer—would have been crushed on the spot.
Belle didn't even flinch.
The ogre let out a deep snarling growl, eyes widening as it realized—its attack had done nothing.
Belle tightened her grip around the club, her fingers digging into the thick, splintering wood.
Then, with a single, fluid motion—she ripped it from the ogre's grasp and swung it right back at its owner.
CRACK!
The club slammed into the ogre's skull with enough force to send a shockwave through the battlefield. The monster's head snapped sideways, its massive body twisting unnaturally before it collapsed face-first into the dirt.
But Belle was already moving again.
A pack of armored boars charged from her left, their tusks gleaming as they surged forward in a frenzied stampede.
Belle pivoted on her heel, eyes sharp.
Then, just as they closed in—she leaped.
She landed on the back of the leading boar, balancing effortlessly before kicking off with explosive force. The impact sent the beast slamming into the ground, its momentum flipping over its own body, crashing into the others behind it.
Belle soared into the air, spinning mid-flight as she extended her fingers outward—lightning crackled at her fingertips.
CRACK—BOOM!
A bolt of lightning split the sky, slamming into the remaining boars below. The creatures convulsed violently, their bodies twitching before they collapsed into a smoking heap.
She landed gracefully, dust swirling around her boots.
The monsters were hesitating now.
Some instinctual part of them—deeper than rage, deeper than hunger—was screaming at them to flee.
But something stronger held them back.
Something else was driving them forward.
Belle's eyes narrowed.
This wasn't normal.
Something—or someone—was still pulling the strings.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a bloodcurdling roar.
She turned just in time to see the largest ogre yet emerging from the forest—a mountain of muscle, covered in thick, dark-red markings that pulsed faintly with mana.
This one was different.
It wasn't just strong—it was enhanced.
And it was coming straight for her.
Belle exhaled slowly, raising her hands.
Fine.
She would break it like the rest.
The monster lunged.
Belle moved.
This time—she wouldn't hold back.
She wasn't just fighting anymore.
She was dominating.
Kai was gasping for air, his arms aching from exhaustion. His grip on his katana felt weak—his body screaming at him to stop.
But his eyes were locked onto her.
Belle was destroying everything in her path.
Kai watched in disbelief as she vanished again, reappearing behind an ogre and tearing through its massive frame with nothing but her raw strength. The monster barely had time to register what had happened before its body collapsed lifelessly into the dirt.
He swallowed hard.
"…She's a monster," he muttered under his breath.
The battlefield was paralyzed.
Knights and adventurers who had been on the brink of despair now stood frozen, watching the impossible unfold before their eyes.
The fear that had once gripped them was replaced with something else.
Awe.
They had never seen anyone fight like this.
Belle landed effortlessly, her silver eyes shining faintly with power as she surveyed the battlefield. Dozens of monsters had already fallen, their lifeless bodies scattered across the war-torn field.
But there were still more.
And she was far from done.
Before another beast could even think about attacking—BOOM!
A shockwave of energy erupted around her, sending a wave of smaller monsters flying backward like ragdolls. The air itself crackled, the battlefield now centered around a single, undeniable fact—
She was the strongest one here.
A knight, barely able to process what he was seeing, whispered in stunned realization:
"…Is she even human?"
But before anyone could dwell on that thought, a sharp shout cut through the battlefield—
"Don't just stand there! Keep fighting!"
Gale's voice rang out, shattering the trance.
The knights and adventurers snapped back to reality, gripping their weapons tighter than before.
If someone like Belle was still fighting—if she refused to give up—then they sure as hell wouldn't either.
A renewed battle cry erupted across the battlefield as they rallied behind her overwhelming strength.
The momentum was shifting.
The tide of battle was finally turning in their favor.
Or so they thought.
Far from the main battlefield, the scout unit dispatched by Vice-Captain Gale had finally approached the artifact.
The strange, pulsing monolith stood at the center of a ruined clearing, its glowing inscriptions swirling erratically as if reacting to the carnage around it.
The air was thick with raw mana, suffocating, unnatural.
One of the knights wiped the sweat from his forehead, gripping his sword.
"This thing… it's dangerous," he muttered. "We should destroy it now."
The squad leader didn't hesitate.
"Do it."
The knights raised their weapons—but before a single strike could land—the artifact pulsed violently.
CRACK.
The ground beneath them shook violently, deep fissures spreading like veins across the earth.
The artifact split apart, its core glowing with an unbearable radiance.
And then—something else began to emerge.
Something far worse than anything they had faced so far.
The air itself twisted and warped, as if reality was being ripped apart at the seams.
From the shattered remains of the artifact, an enormous rift tore through the ground—black, jagged cracks pulsing with raw, unstable mana energy.
And then—it rose from the depths.
A towering monstrosity.
A creature unlike anything they had ever seen.
Its body was forged from obsidian-like stone, fused with pulsating veins of raw mana, each pulse making the ground beneath it tremble.
Its four arms flexed, the massive, clawed hands curling with unnatural precision.
Its crimson eyes—two burning voids of malevolence—locked onto the battlefield, radiating a pressure so immense that even the most seasoned knights felt their knees grow weak.
A sickening silence fell over the area.
The knights stared in horror, unable to speak, unable to move.
It was like looking at a god of destruction incarnate.
"…What in the gods' name is that?!" someone finally choked out.
The answer came too late.
The Mana-Titan moved.
And the battlefield collapsed into chaos.
BOOM!
With a single step, the monstrous being sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, shattering boulders and throwing debris into the air.
Then—it roared.
A deep, guttural sound that didn't just shake the battlefield—it shattered the very air itself.
CRACK!
A squad of knights had barely raised their shields before one of the Titan's four massive arms swung forward annihilating them.
The sheer impact obliterated their defensive formation, sending bodies flying like discarded dolls.
One of the surviving knights tried to retreat. The Titan extended one hand, mana condensing around its palm in an instant.
BOOM!
A wave of pure force erupted, flattening everything in its path. Knights, adventurers fighting nearby, monsters—none were spared.
There was no defense. There was no escape.
The battlefield, which had once been filled with cries of hope—had now fallen into utter despair.
The Mana-Titan wasn't just strong.
It was unstoppable.
End of Chapter 23