The Grandmaster Low rank beast moved with speed that belied its massive size, closing the distance between forest line and battlefield in three explosive bounds. Each step shook the earth, flames trailing behind its form like a comet leaving fire in its wake.

Raze's katana came up in guard position, his body automatically settling into stance as the creature bore down on him. Bephe positioned himself at his master's flank, the prehistoric predator recognizing genuine threat when he saw it.

The Grandmaster struck without preamble, massive paw swiping toward Raze with force that would pulverize stone. He triggered Void Step, displacing five meters left. The claw passed through empty space, but the displaced air created a pressure wave that still nearly knocked him off balance.

Fast. Dangerously fast for something that size.

The beast pivoted smoothly, its draconic tail whipping around in a follow-up attack that forced Raze to Void Step again. He reappeared on the creature's opposite flank, katana already moving toward exposed ribs.

His blade struck scales and bounced off with a metallic ring, mana-enhanced edge failing to penetrate the natural armor. The Grandmaster's hide was reinforced beyond what Expert or even Master rank beasts possessed.

The creature's head snapped toward him, jaws opening to reveal fangs wreathed in flame. Fire erupted from its throat in a concentrated stream that would incinerate anything it touched.

Raze displaced through Void Step, appearing behind the beast. His katana sought the gap between armor plates at the base of its skull, the weak point that should exist on any creature with vertebrae.

The Grandmaster twisted with serpentine grace, flames from its mane creating barrier that forced Raze to abort the strike and displace again. This thing wasn't just strong and fast. It was intelligent, adapting to his tactics almost as quickly as he could execute them.

Bephe charged, prehistoric jaws aiming for the Grandmaster's hind leg. The lion-dragon hybrid's tail caught him mid-leap, the impact sending Bephe tumbling across the battlefield with force that would have killed lesser creatures. The prehistoric predator rolled to his feet, clearly stunned but not seriously injured.

Raze used the distraction to close distance again, Scarlet Leap carrying him forward in an explosive burst. His katana struck toward the creature's eye, a softer target that might penetrate where scales wouldn't yield.

The Grandmaster's head shifted at the last instant, katana scraping across orbital bone instead of puncturing the eye itself. Close, but not close enough.

A massive paw caught him before he could displace, claws raking across his chest with force that shredded his shirt and drew blood despite his enhanced durability. The impact threw him backward, body hitting the ground hard enough to drive the air from his lungs.

He rolled immediately, instinct screaming that staying down was death. Flame washed over the spot he'd just vacated, superheated air making his skin prickle even meters away.

Raze came to his feet, hand pressed briefly against the claw wounds. They weren't deep, more scratches than genuine injury, but they hurt and they bled. First real damage he'd taken since the horde assault began.

His poker face never shifted, expression remaining neutral despite the pain and despite the tactical assessment screaming that this was going to be significantly harder than anticipated.

The Grandmaster circled him slowly, intelligent eyes tracking his every movement. It had learned from their initial exchanges, understood now that Raze's spatial displacement made direct attacks difficult. So it was adapting, using area attacks and rapid combinations that gave him fewer opportunities to counter.

Bephe charged again from the creature's blind side, attempting to distract or create opening. The Grandmaster's response was immediate, tail whipping around to catch the prehistoric predator across the ribs. The impact sent Bephe crashing into a pile of horde corpses, the young creature clearly outmatched by something at full Grandmaster rank.

Raze triggered Void Step, appearing directly above the Grandmaster while it was focused on Bephe. His katana plunged downward toward the creature's spine, full strength behind the strike.

The blade bit into scales, penetrating slightly before stopping against bone. Not deep enough. The Grandmaster's natural armor was too thick, his weapon's enhancement not sufficient to punch through completely.

The creature reared, throwing him off before he could pull his katana free. Raze released the weapon rather than be carried upward, triggering Void Step to displace back to ground level. He landed in crouch, weaponless, facing a Grandmaster Low rank beast that still had his primary means of offense embedded in its back.

The Grandmaster spun, flames erupting around its body in an expanding sphere that forced Raze to displace again. When he reappeared, the creature was already moving, jaws snapping toward his new position with prescient accuracy.

He ducked under the bite, rolled forward between the beast's legs, came up on the other side reaching for his katana's hilt. His hand closed around the grip and he yanked, pulling the blade free from scales and flesh. Blood followed, but not enough to suggest serious injury to the creature.

The Grandmaster's flames intensified, heat becoming oppressive enough that Raze felt his skin beginning to redden from proximity alone. The air itself was becoming a weapon, temperature rising to levels that would cook him alive if this continued.

He needed a different approach. Direct assault wasn't working. The creature was too fast, too durable, too intelligent. It was learning his patterns faster than he could adapt new ones.

Raze focused, drawing on his bloodline in ways he'd only practiced briefly. His eyes locked onto the Grandmaster, and Sovereign's Gaze activated.

The effect was immediate and jarring for the beast. Bloodline dominion projected through his gaze as tangible pressure, the weight of an awakened Empyrean Sovereign bearing down on the creature's consciousness. The Grandmaster's flames flickered, its confident posture wavering as primal instinct screamed at it to submit to superior authority.

It was Grandmaster Low rank, far stronger in cultivation, but bloodline pressure operated on different hierarchy. For a brief moment, the creature's bestial mind recognized him as apex predator, something that transcended simple power measurements.

The intimidation lasted only seconds before the Grandmaster's intelligence reasserted control, shaking off the compulsion through sheer will. But those seconds were enough.

Raze closed the distance in an explosive sprint, Scarlet Leap carrying him forward. His katana swept toward the creature's throat, the beast still recovering from the pressure and unable to dodge as effectively as before.

The blade bit deep into softer tissue beneath the jaw, opening wound that sprayed blood across the scorched earth. Not fatal, not through Grandmaster durability, but genuinely damaging for the first time.

The Grandmaster roared, fury overriding tactical thinking. It lunged at Raze with reckless aggression, abandoning the careful tactics it had been employing. Good. Angry opponents made mistakes.

Raze activated Sovereign's Gaze again, projecting bloodline dominion in a concentrated pulse. The beast's charge faltered mid-stride, primal instinct warring with conscious intent. The hesitation was minuscule, a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

His katana found the creature's eye this time, blade punching through the softer tissue into the socket. He twisted and pulled free before the Grandmaster could retaliate, displaced through Void Step to avoid the retaliatory sweep of claws.

The creature was half-blind now, blood streaming from its ruined eye. Its movements became more erratic, compensating for lost depth perception while flames erupted around it in increasingly desperate displays.

Bephe rejoined the fight, the prehistoric predator having recovered enough to charge again. The Grandmaster tried to track both threats but its wounded eye made coordination difficult. It focused on Bephe as the more immediate danger, tail sweeping toward the charging creature.

Raze used Sovereign's Gaze again, projecting pressure specifically at the moment the Grandmaster committed to attacking Bephe. The beast's focus wavered, the attack losing precision as bloodline dominion disrupted its concentration.

Bephe's jaws found purchase on the creature's already wounded hind leg, prehistoric strength clamping down hard enough to shatter bone. The Grandmaster's roar was pain rather than fury this time, the injury genuinely crippling its mobility.

Raze pressed the advantage, Void Step carrying him to the beast's wounded side. His katana struck again and again, finding gaps in armor that the creature's compromised state couldn't defend properly. Blood flowed from dozens of wounds, accumulating damage that was wearing it down.

The Grandmaster tried to create distance, limping backward while flames erupted in a desperate defensive barrier. But Raze activated Sovereign's Gaze once more, pressure making the creature's flames flicker and weaken as its concentration broke.

He walked through the diminished inferno, his enhanced durability letting him endure heat that would have killed normal cultivators. His katana found the creature's throat again, opening the previous wound deeper.

The Grandmaster collapsed to its front knees, rear leg too damaged to support its weight properly. It tried to rise but Bephe's jaws clamped onto its other front leg, prehistoric fury determined to bring the larger predator down.

Raze circled to the creature's exposed back, climbing onto its shoulders while it was pinned. His eyes focused on the base of its skull, his perception activating to see through scales and flesh to the vulnerable spine beneath. He saw through the gap in armor, seeing the precise angle needed to penetrate.

His katana plunged down with every ounce of strength he had, blade punching through the gap into the space where the spine met the brain stem.

The Grandmaster's roar cut off mid-sound. Its legs buckled completely, massive body collapsing as the strike severed neural connections. It crashed to the ground, flames extinguishing as the mana sustaining them dispersed.

Raze rode the falling body down, maintaining his grip on his katana until he was certain the creature was dead. Only when its remaining eye glazed over completely did he extract his blade and step off the corpse.

Silence fell across the battlefield.

Raze stood on the dead Grandmaster, breathing controlled despite the extended fight, katana dripping blood that wasn't his own. Bephe limped toward him, the prehistoric predator clearly battered but alive.

From the defensive line, his kingdom members were frozen in shock.

"He killed it," someone whispered. "Master Low rank against Grandmaster Low, and he actually killed it."

Helena's professional assessment came through despite her awe. "Not just killed. Systematically dismantled once he figured out its patterns. That wasn't luck. That was something else entirely."

Darius shook his head slowly. "The way he kept making it hesitate, like something about him was affecting it beyond just combat skill. I've never seen anything like that."

Behind Fedora, two delegates were having a quiet conversation that she could just barely hear.

"You think any of the other Kings could have done that?"

"Done what? Solo a Grandmaster Low rank beast? Are you joking? Gareth Valorian is Master Mid and I'd still bet against him in that fight."

"So what does that make Raze then?"

A pause. "Probably the strongest King despite being ranked second. Cultivation rank clearly doesn't tell the whole story with him."

Fedora said nothing, but her Precognition had been showing her throughout the entire fight that Raze would survive. What it hadn't shown her was how completely he would dominate once he understood his opponent. She looked at him standing on that Grandmaster corpse, white hair catching the light, and wondered again what had changed about him since that day in Clearwater when the Sovereign rank assassin had killed him.

Because the person standing on that battlefield wasn't quite the same one who'd died. Something fundamental had shifted. Something that made Master Low rank feel like a technicality rather than a limitation.

Raze's katana flicked once, blood spattering off the blade. He sheathed it smoothly and walked toward his kingdom, Bephe following despite his injuries.

Then every bracelet in the kingdom blazed with golden light simultaneously.

[Objective Complete: Beast Horde Defense]

[Primary Objective: Prevent beasts from penetrating kingdom interior - SUCCESS]

[Secondary Objective: Minimize casualties among kingdom members - SUCCESS - Zero extractions recorded]

[Tertiary Objective: Eliminate as many beasts as possible - SUCCESS - 247 beasts eliminated, 1 Elite threat eliminated]

[Performance Rating: EXCEPTIONAL]

[Calculating rewards…]

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