At the peak of the highest mountain, the long-delayed battle was finally about to begin.
Lady Golden Eagle wanted to feel the power of the anomaly—King Raven.
They were both ready, and Galea instantly dashed forward at insane speed. With her sharp fan, she attacked King Raven relentlessly.
But Galea was immediately shocked by King Raven's unbelievable speed. Every time she tried to hit him, she missed, and he'd instantly shift—either to the side or behind her.
Galea glanced back.
"Your speed makes no sense… show me more!"
This time, Galea attacked from multiple directions at once. First, she struck with her leg, and knowing King Raven would dodge, she immediately followed up with her torpedo move—attacking all possible directions he could escape to.
And yes, her attack connected.
But her movement was instantly stopped—King Raven caught it with just one hand.
"Good prediction."
King Raven threw her upward, then jumped and kicked her down, slamming Galea into the ground.
"Eugh… so you're getting serious now~" Galea smiled, her gaze sharpening.
Galea stood up and slowly walked toward King Raven with her Golden Eagle stare. Then she whistled, and finally, her Golden Eagle arrived.
"Golden… let's hunt," Galea said softly.
The Golden Eagle let out a sharp cry and circled above King Raven, ready to strike.
Galea and the Golden Eagle attacked him together.
But King Raven didn't even try to dodge—he wanted to show her something.
The Golden Eagle struck King Raven's neck with its talons, leaving a pretty serious wound. At the same time, Galea slashed his chest hard enough to draw blood.
"You didn't dodge, huh? So you want to show your endurance," Galea said, looking at the blood on her fan.
King Raven instantly healed himself, his body returning to perfect condition—same with his neck.
"Sorry… no matter how much you injure me, I can just heal it," King Raven said coldly.
Galea shook her head, then laughed softly while staring at him.
"You really are an absurd anomaly."
Then Galea and her Golden Eagle went all out, attacking King Raven nonstop. Every movement was fast and precise, striking every part of his body and chasing him whenever he tried to evade.
And just as the Golden Eagle tried to push King Raven off the edge of the mountain—
Suddenly…
Noctis appeared and attacked the Golden Eagle's eye with his claws.
"KRAAAKKHH!! That's not fair—two against one!" Noctis shouted.
King Raven looked at him.
"Haha… you didn't have to interfere, Noctis. I could handle them myself."
"I'm annoyed watching you, Master Nic! You've been defending too much! JUST ATTACK AND SHOW HER WHO THE REAL MASTER IS!! KRAAAKKHH!!" Noctis shouted in front of him.
Nic smiled.
"Looks like my crow is fired up… fine, King Raven won't hold back anymore."
Galea grinned.
"THERE IT IS! GOOD! COME AT ME AND SHOW YOUR POWER, KING RAVEN!!!"
King Raven slowly stepped forward, his red eyes radiating intimidation… Galea's Golden Eagle immediately sensed the danger and charged at him from the front.
But King Raven simply deflected it—
and the eagle looked like it got hit by something as solid as concrete.
Galea, instead of being scared, looked even more excited. She rushed forward and attacked King Raven.
But no matter how strong Galea was, in front of an anomaly, she still looked ordinary.
King Raven immediately countered her with martial arts combos.
Just as Galea was about to strike his face—
King Raven hit her stomach first.
She instantly coughed blood, her breath knocked out, clutching her stomach as her body bent forward.
Then, in a split second—
DUAGH!!!
An uppercut smashed into Galea's chin, snapping her head upward.
"KEUGHH!!"
Before she could recover, King Raven followed up with a finishing blow—
BRAKK!!
A spinning kick slammed into Galea's head, sending her crashing to the ground unconscious.
Nic immediately returned to his normal form.
"...Crap, I overdid it."
He quickly healed her, knowing her body—especially her head—must've taken serious damage.
After waking up, Galea stood and realized Nic had healed her.
"THAT WAS INSANE!!!!"
Nic stayed silent.
Galea said she was incredibly excited—the pain she felt was something she had never experienced before.
"You know… that was crazy… I felt so happy experiencing that kind of pain… a different kind of insane pain," she said while holding her cheeks.
Nic tilted his head.
"Are you—"
Galea immediately covered his mouth.
"I'll just agree with whatever you were about to say. The point is, I'm satisfied. You're way too insane to be just a normal human. You really are my favorite anomaly… and you don't even hesitate to beat up a woman~"
"Well, good if you're happy. Our deal is done… now let's destroy the caste system," Nic said.
Galea nodded.
Before leaving, Nic had already healed Galea's Golden Eagle, and they both left together with their birds.
---
4 days later.
At Frostveil Sanctum, a secret underground place in Northern—the "second Northern" where elites gathered and hid their secrets from the outside world.
Inside a room, a man named Viktor Dragunov was reading the latest news—none of the predator factions had returned since Bjorn reported they were heading to the highest peak to fight Galea.
Viktor smiled.
"So those trash factions got wiped out by Lady Golden Eagle?"
There was a knock on the door. Viktor allowed them in.
It was his assistant, dragging Bjorn—who had clearly lost his mind.
"Sir Viktor, we're in danger. Please look at this hidden CCTV footage from the disposal area," the assistant said.
Viktor watched as Death Raven easily broke Bjorn mentally and forced him to reveal their location.
Viktor instantly got angry, destroyed the recording, and dragged Bjorn outside.
All the elites there were curious about what Viktor was doing.
Sergei—the mastermind behind the predator factions—approached him.
"Is Viktor dealing with it?" he asked.
Viktor looked at him coldly.
"We're in trouble. Prepare yourselves."
Sergei went silent and immediately informed the others. They were confused—what kind of trouble could make Viktor react like that?
He was also confused why the predator factions hadn't returned… there were even rumors they were all dead.
Meanwhile, inside Viktor's private room—where no one else was allowed—
He tortured Bjorn until he couldn't even speak anymore, then made a call.
"Hey, call Quinny back immediately. Tell Leon there's an urgent military assignment."
The person on the other end agreed and contacted Quinny.
---
Meanwhile, Quinny was in the Western region, assigned by Leon to keep watching over Leona so past incidents wouldn't happen again.
She was currently at the Unity Western HQ, watching its members dancing.
She clapped her hands.
"Nice… too bad Leona isn't here with you guys."
At that moment, Quinny stepped out because someone called her.
Outside, one of Leona's bodyguards informed her that Leon was calling.
Quinny immediately headed to Sportonia City to meet him.
Inside his office, Quinny walked in and asked why she was summoned.
Leon looked troubled.
"So… I got news that you've been called for a military mission in Northern."
"A military mission? For what?" Quinny asked.
"I don't know either. They seem desperate—they really want you there… sigh, even though Leona still needs you. I'm worried she might get kidnapped again," Leon said.
"Don't worry, Sir Leon. Leona should be safe now—her circle is much bigger," Quinny replied.
In the end, Leon reluctantly allowed her to go, but told her to come back immediately once she was done.
Quinny boarded a plane to Northern.
Inside the plane, she went into the restroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She removed her black eye covering—revealing red and purple eyes.
"A military matter… that's very strange. Seems like something is making them scared… or maybe their time to play around is finally over…" Quinny smiled, then covered her eyes again.
To ordinary people, Quinny looked like just a normal maid.
But in reality, her combat ability was on par with the military—and her speed was extraordinary.
She was trained by Northern's military… yet she didn't seem to truly side with them.
To be continued...