Fire Mage

As Edith turned to leave, she suddenly froze.

The corner of her lips curled upward.

'There it is. A gaze from the east. Someone's watching me.'

She flicked her eyes toward Targa and asked calmly,

"Is there a way to earn money quickly?"

Targa paused, thinking. Then he nodded.

"The Sacred Empire pays well for magical beast cores and carcasses, Ma'am. In the past, there were barely any high-tier beasts nearby. But ever since the Chaos Era began, they've been crawling all over. If you go about five kilometers north, you'll reach Dense Woods, infested with Magical Beasts. That's also where the Star Tombs Dungeon manifested."

'Perfect.' A cold glint sparked in her eyes.

"Got a decent sword?" she asked.

Targa didn't hesitate. He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a long blade.

"This is Bloodred, a Rare-ranked sword. It can even withstand a Master's aura, Ma'am."

"Oh?" Her smile widened. "That'll do. Give me your spatial ring. I'll return it."

Targa hesitated for a brief moment, then relented. He knew arguing with her would be useless.

Once Edith took the ring, she stored the sword inside and gave a satisfied nod.

"Stay low," she ordered the others. Then she slipped out of the building, vanishing into the gray haze of the slums.

"She's gone." Targa let out a deep sigh and clapped his hands. "Back to work, all of you."

Meanwhile, Edith walked a hundred meters through the narrow alleys and paused to gaze at the overcast sky.

Without warning, two black wings made of wicked, dancing flames unfurled from her back.

With a single beat of her wings, she shot into the sky. She twirled once midair, graceful and haunting, and then stretched her wings wide.

Some of the slum's residents happened to look up. When they saw her rise, they dropped to their knees and prayed.

Edith didn't notice. Her eyes were fixed on the far-off treeline, where the Star Tombs once emerged. With an effortless flap, she flew toward the woods like a shadow streaking across the clouds.

It didn't take long to reach the dense forest. She hovered above the canopy and closed her eyes.

Then she unleashed her wisdom power.

"A dozen Rank-4s… five Rank-5s… and one Silver Wolf. A Legendary Beast?"

She descended slowly, wings folding as she landed beside a quiet pond.

The air changed as she landed on the ground.

Insects fell silent. The wind paused mid-breath. Even the surface of the water stopped rippling, as if the world itself feared what had arrived.

Her jade eyes flickered in the gloom. The black flames on her wings hissed softly.

From the thickets, a Rank-4 Craghide Lizard lunged.

Six meters long, armored like a mobile fortress, it thundered forward with the force of a landslide. Its jagged tail smashed through underbrush, trees groaning under the impact.

Edith didn't even blink.

She lifted her hand and activated Hands of Wonder.

Invisible threads shimmered in the air, then spread out in a wide web.

Thousands of gossamer-like strands burst from her palm a moment later and blanketed the air.

The Lizard never even realized it was caught.

The threads wrapped around its limbs, spine, and skull as it leaped in midair.

Upon realizing it was caught by something invisible, it twisted and struggled, but it was already too late.

Edith calmly pulled her fingers together and grabbed something.

The threads jerked once.

Crack!

The lizard exploded in a shower of bloody stone and flesh.

Edith stepped forward and caught a green-tinted elemental crystal as it fell.

She moved deeper into the woods.

Another wave of beasts emerged: a Horned Bear, a Venomback Panther, and three Twin-Tusk Boars. Their eyes glowed with madness, altered by Chaos mutations. Stronger, faster, smarter.

Edith's left eye blinked once.

Eye of the Faceless activated.

'In twelve seconds, the boars will charge in a V-formation. The panther will vanish into the shadows and strike from above. The bear will rush head-on to draw attention.'

Time slowed in her mind as she activated the [Accelerated Thoughts] skill.

She then smiled faintly and drew Bloodred from the spatial ring. The blade gleamed with a red aura.

She took a step forward and moved fast.

In one step, she was already beside the leading boar. Her blade cut its neck clean through, sending a mist of blood into the air.

But she was already gone.

The Panther descended from above, claws glowing with venomous mist.

Edith raised a finger and pointed.

A ray of chaotic flame burst from her fingertip, searing the air, and punched a hole through the panther's skull.

Its body hit the ground behind her with a dull thud. She didn't even turn to look.

The Horned Bear roared, charging like a juggernaut.

She didn't dodge.

Just before impact, she vanished and then reappeared above it.

With casual precision, she placed her foot on its back and drove her blade into its neck.

The bear collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.

Edith stepped beside its body and flicked the sword. No blood. No wasted movement.

"All too slow," she muttered, turning her head left.

A pair of eyes hid behind a tree trunk, observing her quietly all this time.

"You've seen enough. Come out."

A black-cloaked figure emerged from behind a tree. He pulled down his hood.

A man in his thirties. Blond hair, amber eyes, a strong jaw, and broad shoulders. Around six feet tall. But hidden beneath an illusion, a tiny, unnatural horn protruded from his forehead.

Her Phantom Analysis skill had exposed it.

'Travis? No… Jagis. Vice-Captain of the Radiant Knights. Class: [Radiant Defender]. Subclass: [Fiend Warlock]?'

Her eyes narrowed.

'A [Veil Warden]… A Fake Origin Class…? Both classes are total opposites. Is this the effect of a Fake pathway?'

As she analyzed, Jagis stepped closer.

"My Prism Cloak should've been undetectable. Even Legend-ranked Mystics can't see through it. But you? Just a Rank-5?" His voice was calm, but laced with irritation.

When Edith took over the Slum, he was startled by her action and observed her quietly. After watching the battle, he confirmed that her rank was only around the Pseudo-Legendary realm.

'I don't need to drag this any longer. I thought someone from the three Empires might have taken action.'

Edith didn't answer.

Instead, an eerie eye pattern formed on her forehead. Dense, chaotic fire began to gather.

A second later, a fire ray shot from her third eye like a divine ray.

Jagis's instincts screamed when he sensed the dense, chaotic fire in the ray.

'No good! Legendary Spell!'

His skin crawled.

"Heaven Shield!" He shouted in panic.

A shimmering silver triangle shield formed before him, just in time to intercept the blast.

Clang—BOOM!

A deafening explosion shook the forest. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky as flames consumed the nearby trees.

The shockwave hurled Jagis backward, slamming him into a massive trunk.

The entire forest trembled.

Dozens of powerful figures turned their attention toward the scene from the Holy City.

Rhea and Runeth peered out the window in a distant Mermaid's Inn building.

"What's she doing?" Runeth muttered, startled. "Why cause this kind of chaos right before the meeting?"

Above the city, more than a dozen silhouettes shot into the sky, drawn to the spectacle.

Back in the woods, Jagis stood, smoke rising from his cloak. His skin was scorched black, but already, radiant light was knitting his flesh back together.

"That caught me off guard," he growled, drawing a broad sword from his back.

The blade crackled with a purplish aura.

"You've been hiding your strength, haven't you?"

Edith scoffed.

"Says the one hiding behind human skin."

His eyes narrowed.

"You knew?"

Edith's wings spread slightly. Black Flames danced behind her. Her jade eyes locked onto his true form, not the illusion, but the being beneath.

"I smell the Abyss on you," she said flatly. "Even cloaked, I saw you for what you are."

Jagis's face contorted.

At that moment, the auras of multiple Legend-ranked Mystics converged on the area, probing them quietly.

He hesitated.

'If I reveal my true self, they'll hunt me—even if I kill her. But if I don't… I'll die here.'

It was a situation where his death was inevitable.

"…Tch. There's no point in hiding anymore."

With a low growl, his body began to twist and transform.

Bones cracked. Muscles swelled.

His minute horn pulsed once, then grew rapidly, splitting into rigid prongs. His skin turned a dark, reddish-black hue, thick and leathery. His back hunched as his entire body enlarged until he towered at 2.5 meters tall. Fingernails curved into claws, thick and sharp as sickles. His jaw stretched into a grotesque grin, now baring two rows of serrated teeth.

But what sent a ripple of unease through Edith wasn't his size or aura.

It was his eyes.

Six of them now.

Two where human eyes should be.

Two sprouted on his cheeks.

And two more opened on his lower jawline, blinking independently with eerie intelligence.

The forest also started to change as strange, chaotic mana spread out from the demon's body.

As if his transformation awakened something primal, the surroundings began to mutate.

The trees turned darker, their trunks warping with unnatural bulges. Branches twisted and bent as if possessed. The leaves turned metallic green, then black, bled red at the tips. Roots surged from underground, snaking and twisting like massive serpents.

The once-still pond began to bubble and hiss. Its clear surface turned a sickly yellowish hue—acidic, poisonous.