BOOOOOM!

Flames tore through the open entrance of the Tomb of Ayakashi and stormed through the entry corridor, making it impossible for anyone to leave.

Elena's eyes narrowed as she jumped back and avoided the spreading blaze.

'Am I stuck here?' She wondered inwardly.

She set up a defense around her body and turned the corner into a connected corridor, avoiding the flames that slammed into the wall behind her.

She had to run through several hundred meters of the corridor before she finally felt the heat on her heel weakening.

'Luckily, the force isn't continuously pushing, otherwise, this whole tomb would be burned to the ground.' She sighed in relief as she stopped and rested against the wall:

There was nothing wrong with destroying a tomb like this one, but the problem was that she was still inside it!

'Why does this shit have to happen right when I decide to leave?!' She complained to herself.

The fire may have weakened, but it wasn't dying down nearly enough. Its heat still corroded the entry corridor, and was slowly creeping into the connecting pathways as well.

'With my strength, it's still possible to escape, but what's the point? If the flames outside are powerful enough to charge so far inside before dying down, leaving will be far more disastrous than staying put.'

As she entertained her thoughts, her attention turned to the left, from which she heard several sets of footsteps approaching.

A group of men was revealed from the shadows.

When they noticed Elena, their brows raised in unison.

"Eh? Big brother, isn't that…?" The second foremost man said, nudging the man at their head.

The so-called "big brother" looked Elena up and down before pulling out a piece of parchment.

A grin spread on his face.

"You're right. That's her," he said suspiciously.

Elena's eyes narrowed.

'Enemies?'

"State your names and affiliations," She uttered, quietly summoning Yggdrasil's branch.

"Us?" The foremost man said, turning his head towards her strangely.

"Who we are doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is…"

He turned the parchment towards her.

"This is you, right?"

On it was a picture of two people together. Naturally, they were Damien and Elena.

"All you need to know is that someone wants your head, and there's no way for you to escape death! Brothers, get her!"

Elena clicked her tongue and jumped back as six bandit-like men leaped at her in unison.

She swung Yggdrasil's branch in a horizontal arc, infusing it with the concept of Transcended Death as she let the slash go.

Shiiiing!

The branch sliced through the air with the sharpness of a peak treasure, beheading all six men at once.

She turned back to their leader.

"Is this it?" She asked, boredom evident in her eyes.

"You…!" The man exclaimed, his face red in fury.

"How dare you kill my brothers?!"

He drew a large axe from his spatial ring and charged at Elena, swinging it powerfully.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

His every swing caused the air to quake and the earth to shatter. His gait was like a raging bull, untameable and unstoppable.

Elena dodged left and right, swerving her body with utter precision to avoid the impact of the blows. Yggdrasil's branch lightly vibrated in her hand as she quickly maneuvered it to redirect any force she couldn't dodge.

'I can kill him now, but there's no point in that.'

Whoosh!

She ducked down, avoiding a great sweeping slash of the axe as she placed her hands on the ground and kicked her lower body into the air.

Her legs went through the gap in the man's arms and wrapped around his neck.

WHIP!

BANG!

Elena snapped her body with a force that seemed impossible from her smaller frame and slammed the bandit leader's head into the ground, using the same momentum to straighten herself.

Slash! Slash!

Yggdrasil's branch went through the man's arms and legs, rendering him immobile.

"Nggh…!" He groaned in pain.

Elena ignored him and stabbed her branch into his chest, lightly pressing its tip against his heart just enough so he could feel the grip of death.

She smiled. It was a cold and unfeeling smile, not reflected in her eyes at all.

"Now then, why don't you tell me who sent you and I'll give you a painless death?"

"Hmph!" The man scoffed. "Do you think I'm cheap?! If you want to kill me, then do it! I dare you!"

"Oh? You say that like I'd regret killing you?"

"Of course! You cannot bear the hatred of our Lord!"

"And your Lord is…?"

"The Lord is— keuk…!"

Just as the words came out of his mouth, he choked, blood splattering on the ground around him as he coughed uncontrollably.

Elena raised her brow.

"Dead?"

She kicked the corpse to be sure, but the man was truly lifeless.

'Hmm, I guess the person behind them was prepared for their stupidity. The restriction activated so fast I couldn't even react.'

It was a shame that she couldn't get any real information out of him, but it was fine.

She swept his spatial ring off his hand and emptied its contents into her own, specifically taking out the parchment he showed her earlier.

The picture was truly a good one, almost like a professional painting of Damien and Elena while they were in Beast Emperor Star.

And along with it were a few words written on the page.

"These two evil practitioners committed serious crimes in the universe and enslaved countless innocents."

"Bounty: 150,000,000 in currency cards and a special God-rank treasure."

Elena's eyes widened as she read it.

The charges were one thing. If someone was going to use another's knife to kill them, they needed to make up at least this much.

However…

"Tch, we're only worth 150 million?! What kind of bullshit is that?!"

Elena tore up the bounty paper annoyedly and clenched her fist.

"Dammit, you sent bounty hunters and your own subordinates against us, but you're only offering such a measly reward?! Only trashes are going to come after us!"

She scoffed to herself and leaned her back against the wall again, brooding slightly as she went back to patiently waiting for the firestorm to calm.

In reality, the reward wasn't a small amount at all. Her entire fortune was only around 150,000,000 in currency cards.

However, what she held was the fortune of a level 399 master who wasn't yet at the extreme peak!

Nevertheless, it became clear that someone was targeting her and Damien.

Elena glanced at the strange needles in her spatial ring, trophies of her recent victory.

And she glanced at the detailed account nearby that clearly explained how to circumvent the realm's laws and definitively kill within.

Perhaps the first enemies she met were disappointing, but Elena slowly realized…

…the plot behind the scenes was far more dangerous than this group let on.

'Good. Let's see which bastards dare go against us.'

It had been around a day since she first encountered the firestorm, and nothing special happened aside from the first encounter.

Until finally, she saw the flames retreat.

Elena walked into the entry corridor and looked into the blue skies beyond.

'Damned world, I'm coming for you.'