Chapter 8: The Earth Bear

Sara was still in a bit of a daze, struggling to process what had just happened.

She blinked a few times, and only when she felt someone pinch her cheek did she snap out of it.

Her face turned slightly red as she tried to pull away in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, the scar-faced man was still questioning reality.

‘What just happened? He’d been sent flying—by some brat?’

No matter how unbelievable it seemed, the cold gleam of the blade before him and the searing pain in his abdomen left no room for denial.

Everything screaming at him was real.

Shock quickly gave way to rage.

His expression twisted into something even more ferocious and insane than before.

He was “Blade of Brutality,” a merciless killer whose name struck fear across the entire empire—yet he had just been humiliated by a snot-nosed kid?

He couldn’t accept it.

He refused to accept it.

That boy had to die—he’d kill him in the most agonizing way imaginable!

But despite his fury, he didn’t act recklessly.

No matter how much anger surged through him, he hadn’t lost his reason.

The pain stabbing through his gut and the fight earlier made one thing painfully clear: even if he had been careless, that kid’s strength couldn’t be ignored.

Advanced level… No.

If he hadn’t used some kind of magical artifact, then he must’ve already reached Transcendent level.

Otherwise, there was no explanation for why he couldn’t wrench his weapon free from the boy’s grasp, even with all his strength.

But even so, the scar-faced man preferred the first explanation.

A youngster with advanced-level skills was already shocking, but still within the realm of possibility.

A Transcendent-level fighter that young? Now that was pure nonsense.

The current record-holder for youngest to reach Transcendent level was Matt—one of the empire’s six newly appointed elite mages.

He was hailed as the youngest ace mage in the empire’s history.

And even Matt, that unparalleled genius, was already thirty.

But this boy? He didn’t even look twenty.

‘He must’ve used a magical artifact. That has to be it.’

“Blade of Brutality” held onto that belief tightly.

He stared at Li Xian—who, in his mind, was still flirting shamelessly with the blushing, doe-eyed Sara—and the fire in his eyes began to smolder rather than burn.

A venomous gleam replaced the fury.

Like a viper coiled in the grass, he waited for the perfect opportunity.

Until he could figure out the nature of that artifact—how it worked, how long it lasted, how many times it could be used—he wouldn’t strike again.

That was the discipline of a lone assassin.

***

But just as he was silently biding his time, another disturbance came from deep within the forest.

This time, it was different.

No longer the scattered, muddled sound of distant footsteps—it was a single, heavy thud, repeated over and over.

Each impact sent vibrations through the ground.

Something huge was coming this way, fast.

Li Xian finally tore his eyes away from the flustered girl he’d been admiring for far too long and turned toward the sound.

The scar-faced man also looked in that direction, still leaning weakly against the cracked tree trunk behind him.

Under Li Xian’s gaze, the source of the sound emerged from the depths of the woods—a massive bear, several meters tall, barreling straight toward them.

Its body was enormous and intimidating beyond reason.

“The Earth Bear?!”

Li Xian wasn’t quite sure who—or what—the massive creature in front of him was, but both Sara and the scar-faced man recognized it instantly.

There was no doubt about it—this was an Overlord-class magical beast: the Earth Bear.

The Earth Bear was colossal in size, possessed overwhelming strength, and was far from slow.

Even among other Overlord-class beasts, it ranked as one of the most troublesome to deal with.

At least, that’s what the scar-faced man—known as the “Savage Blade”—believed.

He knew full well that if he had to face this monster, he would be walking into certain death.

Though he himself was an Overlord-level warrior, there were levels even within that tier.

He was on the weaker end of the spectrum.

If he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have lost to Sara’s father years ago, a defeat that left a scar on his face and a humiliation he could never erase.

So when he saw the Earth Bear standing before him now, he panicked.

His first instinct was to run.

But then he noticed something strange—the giant creature didn’t seem to view them as enemies.

Li Xian picked up on it too.

Despite the Earth Bear’s thunderous presence and intimidating movements, its expression didn’t show aggression.

It looked terrified, like it had seen something that scared the soul out of it.

It wasn’t charging them—it was running away.

Li Xian narrowed his eyes.

Something was definitely going on deeper in the forest.

And that piqued his curiosity.

Now, he was more eager than ever to press on through the woods. But before that…

***

Without warning, Li Xian suddenly raised his right hand, catching Sara off guard.

She followed his gaze and gasped.

Just moments ago, the scar-faced man had been slumped weakly against a tree, looking like he was barely clinging to life.

But now, his entire body was wrapped in a sinister aura of dark purple battle energy as he rushed toward them at full speed.

If his earlier strike had been an attempt to kill Li Xian with a single, sudden blow, this time he was going all in.

He had poured every ounce of strength he had into this final attack, hoping to take advantage of Li Xian’s distraction with the Earth Bear.

“Feral Rift Slash!”

This was the Savage Blade’s signature move—the technique that had earned him his fearsome reputation.

He had used it to kill countless powerful foes, including several Overlord-class enemies who were stronger than him.

It had never failed before.

And he had no reason to believe this time would be any different.