Chapter 185: Queen Among Beasts [ Bonus Chapter ]

Valeria moved without a sound. There was no flourish, no dramatic roar announcing her arrival, no buildup that warned her enemies of their impending doom.

One moment, she stood, surrounded by fire-manes and abyss-tainted predators, and the next, it felt as if the very world was tearing itself apart around her.

The ground exploded beneath her feet.

A thunderous boom shook the Lion’s domain as Valeria surged forward, propelled by a meticulously compressed burst of mana that didn’t leak, scatter, or waste itself on unnecessary spectacle.

The shockwave alone flattened nearby charred trees, splintering the brittle trunks into shrapnel that scattered outward. Yet this devastation was merely collateral damage, a byproduct of her movement rather than an intended consequence.

Her first strike landed before the Fourth Order lions could even react. One moment, a massive fire-aspected lion lunged, its jaws wide and flames spilling between its fangs, and the next, its body vanished completely.

There was no slash, no visible arc of the blade. Space itself seemed to fold for an instant, and then the beast erupted into a fine red mist that evaporated almost instantly in the abyssal heat. Only its head remained.

It fell heavily to the ground, rolling once before coming to rest, its eyes wide and the faint glow of its beast core pulsing weakly within the skull before stabilizing.

Valeria did not look back. She was already gone again. Another boom cracked through the air as she reappeared to the left, her broadsword a blur of crimson that passed through a second lion’s neck with such precision that the rest of its body didn’t even realize it had been severed.

The torso staggered two more steps forward before collapsing in on itself, its flesh disintegrating into mist from the internal mana shock.

The head dropped last, thudding into the scorched earth beside the others.

One by one, the Fourth Order beasts met the same fate. No bodies. No prolonged struggle. No wasted movements.

Each kill adhered to a brutal principle: total annihilation of the body, preservation of the head.

Among high-level warriors, this wasn’t mercy or cruelty, it was efficiency. The beast core resided within the skull, fused close to the brain and protected by the densest bone and mana structures in the creature’s anatomy.

Destroying the body while leaving the head intact maximized resource recovery while eliminating any chance of regeneration.

Valeria executed this principle flawlessly.

She moved like a force of nature, her form flickering in and out of existence as she traversed distances that should have taken seconds, all in the span of a heartbeat.

Her broadsword didn’t swing wildly; it struck in tight, devastating arcs, each movement calculated down to the smallest degree. She didn’t overextend, didn’t chase, and didn’t allow herself to be surrounded for longer than necessary.

Every step shifted her position. Every strike claimed a life. Fire roared, darkness surged, claws slashed, jaws snapped, yet none of it reached her. Flames curved away from her path as if repelled by an unseen force. Shadow-infused beasts found their attacks collapsing inward, their mana destabilizing the moment it touched hers.

It wasn’t sheer power; it was flawless control. Within moments, the circle of Fourth Order lions began to thin out, panic rippling through the pride as their coordinated assault descended into chaos. Beasts turned and tried to flee, only to be erased mid-motion. Others lunged desperately, driven by instinct rather than command, and met the same fate.

Heads piled on the scorched ground, their faintly glowing cores casting an eerie, pulsating light across the battlefield.

Behind Valeria, Gregor and the others stood frozen, no one moved or spoke. They watched as if witnessing a natural disaster manifest in human form.

Brutus’s grin had long since vanished; his jaw hung slightly open as he stared at the battlefield, struggling to keep pace with Valeria’s movements.

Calista’s fingers twitched unconsciously; her assassin instincts screamed both admiration and terror at the efficiency on display. Leona tightened her grip on her shield, painfully aware of just how vast the gap was between a High-Level Knight and someone like Valeria.

Gregor was the first to force himself to breathe.

“What… the hell…” he muttered hoarsely. “She’s not even…”

“Trying,” Vanthrice finished calmly.

Gregor snapped his head toward her.

“Explain.”

Vanthrice didn’t look away from the battlefield; her eyes tracked Valeria’s every movement with analytical precision rather than awe.

“You’re witnessing the difference between rank and mastery,” she said. “And that’s why the power system doesn’t end where you think it does.”

Gregor frowned. “She’s a Five-Star High-Level Knight. Those are Fifth Order beasts, same tier.”

Vanthrice shook her head slowly. “You’re still thinking in flat terms.”

Finally turning to him with sharp focus, she continued: “There are twelve ranks for warriors divided into two realms.”

Gregor raised an eyebrow. “Two realms?”

“The Mortal Realm,” Vanthrice explained, “and the Ascendant Realm.”

She gestured toward Valeria, who was now engaging multiple lions simultaneously without losing rhythm. “The Mortal Realm encompasses 1-Star Beginner Knights up to 5-Star High-Level Knights, it’s governed by accumulation, mana pools expand, bodies strengthen, techniques improve through repetition.”

Her voice lowered slightly. “6-Star Grandmaster Knight is where things change.”

Gregor felt his heart skip a beat.

“Breaking into Six-Star isn’t about absorbing more mana,” Vanthrice continued. “A warrior can remain a 5-Star High-Level Knight for decades if they cultivate blindly. To step into 6-Star requires crossing into the Ascendant Realm.”

She paused deliberately. “Enlightenment,” she said. “Not power.”

Gregor clenched his fists, feeling the tension rise. “You’re saying… understanding?”

“Understanding everything,” Vanthrice replied. “Your strength, your techniques, your limits, your identity as a warrior. And most importantly… your Law.”

Gregor blinked in confusion. “Law?”

Vanthrice waved the question away dismissively. “You’re not ready for that explanation. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Gregor bristled at her words. “We’re both Four-Star Master Knights.”

She looked at him flatly. “Yes, and you are still weak.”

Her words hit harder than any insult could.

Gregor opened his mouth to retort but hesitated.

Because he was watching Valeria again.

While Vanthrice spoke, Valeria had engaged two Fifth Order lions.

These were no ordinary beasts; each radiated enough power to dominate an entire inner-region territory, their presence warping the air around them as flames and darkness coiled around their massive frames.

Their roars shook the ground, and their claws carved deep trenches through scorched stone as they attacked in tandem, one from the front and the other from above.

Valeria met them head-on.

Instead of unleashing overwhelming attacks or flooding the battlefield with mana, she adjusted her approach. Her mana output dropped significantly.

Her movements became increasingly precise. She narrowly evaded a flaming claw, redirecting its force with the flat of her blade and using the beast’s own momentum to pivot into the second lion’s strike.

Her shoulder absorbed the impact as her sword thrust forward in a short, brutal motion. The beast let out a scream as its internal mana destabilized.

“She’s not overpowering them,” Vanthrice observed quietly. “She’s outclassing them.”

Gregor’s eyes widened in realization.

“Look closely,” Vanthrice continued. “She uses just enough mana to achieve her desired outcome, no more, no less. Every drop serves a purpose. Each strike is precisely aimed to collapse internal structures, disrupt mana flow, and prevent recovery.”

She gestured subtly. “These beasts rely on brute strength; she relies on precision. They expend mana recklessly while she spends it wisely.”

Understanding flickered in Gregor’s eyes.

“She’s been at Five-Star for five years,” Vanthrice explained. “Not because she can’t break through but because she’s preparing to do it perfectly.”

On the battlefield, events unfolded rapidly. In less than twenty seconds of direct engagement, Valeria had analyzed their patterns, assessed their output, and identified their limits.

Her final moves were decisive. She stepped inside the arc of a flaming bite, twisted her body, and brought her blade down in a diagonal cut that cleaved one Fifth Order lion cleanly in half from shoulder to hip; its body collapsed into mist as its mana core ruptured violently.

The second beast attempted to retreat, but Valeria was relentless. She appeared above it as if gravity bent around her descent and drove her sword straight down through its skull. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, cracking the scorched ground in a spiderweb pattern.

Two massive heads crashed into the earth, and silence enveloped the scene. Gregor and the others stood frozen in disbelief.

Before anyone could utter a word, the atmosphere shifted dramatically.

ROARRRR! BOOOM!

A roar unlike anything they had ever heard reverberated through the Lion’s domain. It was more than just sound; it was a force that pressed against them. Trees were uprooted in an instant, entire sections of forest tossed aside as if struck by an unseen hand. Mana surged violently, and an intense heat spiked to unbearable levels as an overwhelming presence descended upon the battlefield.

The color drained from Gregor and the others’ faces.

Only Valeria remained composed. She lifted her gaze deeper into the territory, her eyes narrowing with focus.

A slow breath escaped her lips.

“It’s here.”

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