Chapter 346: Graphorn The Graphorn roared in pain and fury, its regeneration already working to seal the wound Lola had inflicted. But the archmage wasn’t giving it time to recover. She began her assault, demonstrating the overwhelming power gap between peak archmage and grandmaster-rank beast. Multiple fireballs manifested simultaneously around her position, forming a coordinated barrage that showcased her mastery over the fire element. "This is the advantage of peak archmage rank," Lola called out as the attacks launched toward the Graphorn. "The ability to channel multiple complex techniques simultaneously without losing precision or power in any of them." The Graphorn attempted to dodge, its considerable speed allowing it to avoid several of the incoming attacks. But Lola had predicted its movement, positioning each elemental strike to cover every possible escape route. The fireballs caught its legs, humped back, and detonated against its face. The beast bellowed in agony as the combined assault tore through its natural defences. It’s impressive that regeneration struggled to keep pace with the sheer volume of damage being inflicted simultaneously across multiple areas of its body. The Graphorn channelled more mana through its horns, attempting to mount a counterattack. Purple energy gathered at the horn tips, building toward what was clearly a devastating technique capable of matching Lola’s barrage. The Graphorn launched multiple energy bolts simultaneously while charging forward, combining ranged attacks with its devastating physical assault in a coordinated technique that demonstrated true grandmaster-level combat sophistication. Lola responded by creating a wall of flames between herself and the incoming attacks. But this wasn’t a simple barrier—the firewall moved, flowing forward like a living wave that consumed the energy bolts before they could reach her. The purple mana dissolved into the flames, absorbed and neutralised by the superior power behind Lola’s magic. The Graphorn charged directly into the wall of fire, either too enraged to care or believing its natural defences would protect it from the heat...That proved to be a catastrophic miscalculation. Lola’s flames intensified dramatically the moment the beast made contact, transforming from white to an almost blue colour. The Graphorn’s agonised roar shook the entire forest as it realised its mistake too late. "This is the critical lesson," Lola said, her voice carrying no satisfaction at the creature’s suffering. "Grandmaster-rank opponents require overwhelming force applied with precision. Half-measures just waste energy and give them opportunities to adapt or counterattack." She clenched her fist, and the flames surrounding the Graphorn compressed inward like a closing vice. The beast thrashed desperately, its massive strength allowing it to break free momentarily, but Lola simply conjured more fire to replace what it had disrupted. The Graphorn’s regeneration was working frantically, trying to repair the extensive thermal damage, but the continuous application of extreme heat prevented any meaningful recovery. Its hide was blackening and cracking, the wounds spreading faster than its vitality could compensate. Noah watched with a mixture of awe and concern at the brutal power of Lola’s combat style. She wasn’t toying with the beast or dragging out the fight for too long—she was dismantling a grandmaster-rank threat through superior power and use of her specialised element. Lola created another massive fireball, this one easily five feet in diameter and radiating heat that made the crystalline formations around them begin melting. "The finishing technique requires concentrating maximum power into a single decisive strike. Watch how I compress the fire energy to its absolute limit before release." The fireball compressed down to barely three feet in diameter, but its colour shifted to an almost invisible ultraviolet that suggested temperatures beyond what most materials could withstand. The sheer concentration of power made the air itself ignite in small pockets around the compressed sphere. She launched the attack directly at the Graphorn’s centre mass. The beast tried desperately to dodge or defend, but its injuries had slowed its movements just enough to make evasion impossible. The compressed fireball struck true, detonating with such force that the shockwave knocked Noah backwards despite his considerable distance from the impact point. When the flames finally cleared, the Graphorn lay motionless on the scorched earth, its body covered in severe burns that even grandmaster regeneration couldn’t overcome quickly enough. The beast was still breathing, but barely, its consciousness fading as its body focused all available resources on simply staying alive. Lola approached the fallen creature calmly, her expression showing respect rather than triumph. "It fought well and demonstrated why grandmaster-rank beasts command such fear and respect. But ultimately, the gap between grandmaster and peak archmage is similar to the gap between master and grandmaster." She looked back at Noah, her demonstration complete. "When you eventually reach sufficient strength to face opponents at this level, remember what you witnessed here. Despite being much stronger than the Graphorn, I didn’t rely on my raw power alone. Once you start relying solely on your strength for everything, you will stop using your brain to create proper strategies and tactics. This approach will only come back to bite you when you inevitably face something much more powerful than yourself." "I’ve seen countless talented demons fall because they became too confident in their attributes and forgot that intelligence and adaptability often matter more than pure power. The moment you stop thinking critically about combat is the moment you’ve already lost to someone smarter." Noah nodded seriously, absorbing the valuable lesson about maintaining tactical thinking regardless of power levels. But after a moment, his expression changed to something more playful. "That’s very profound wisdom from someone who just spent five minutes setting a giant magical beast on fire while casually narrating the entire process like it was a cooking demonstration," Noah teased with a grin. " Lola rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress her smile at his irreverent summary of her carefully considered combat demonstration. "I was using fire to counter its regeneration capabilities! That’s completely different from just hitting things with bigger explosions. I could’ve killed it with one of my more powerful techniques, but that would’ve taken a toll on my mana reserves, which I found counter-productive." "Of course, of course," Noah agreed with obviously exaggerated seriousness. "The fact that every single one of your ’strategic decisions’ involved setting something on fire with progressively hotter flames is purely coincidental. Very subtle. The Graphorn probably never saw it coming." "You’re impossible," Lola laughed, shaking her head at his teasing. "I try to provide valuable combat instruction, and this is the gratitude I receive?" "I’m very grateful," Noah assured her with a warm smile. "Though I’m starting to think your advice essentially boils down to ’when in doubt, add more fire until the problem stops moving.’ Which, to be fair, does seem remarkably effective based on the smouldering crater behind you." With the Graphorn’s smoking corpse left behind, Noah and Lola continued deeper into the increasingly mystical forest. The formations grew larger and more elaborate, while streams of pure liquid mana carved glowing pathways through the landscape. They had been walking for perhaps twenty minutes when they both simultaneously sensed two more powerful auras ahead. The signatures marked them clearly as grandmaster rank, similar in intensity to the Graphorn they had just defeated. But these presences weren’t moving aggressively or patrolling territory—they were stationary and... occupied. Noah and Lola rounded a massive crystal outcropping and froze at the scene before them. Two magnificent creatures, appearing to be some kind of evolved wolves with silver and gold fur, respectively, were engaged in what could only be described as extremely intimate behaviour. The wolves were clearly a mated pair, and they had chosen this secluded grove for private activities. An awkward silence stretched for several painful seconds as both parties processed the unexpected encounter. "Oh," Lola said weakly, her usual confidence completely absent as her face flushed with embarrassment. "We should... we didn’t mean to... this is very inappropriate timing on our part." Noah felt his own face heating up as he tried to look literally anywhere except at the scene before them. "We’re just passing through! Very sorry for the intrusion! We’ll just... go around... somewhere else..." He began backing away slowly, gesturing for Lola to do the same. But the damage was already done. Both celestial wolves had separated and were now staring at the two humans with expressions that somehow managed to convey mortification, fury, and murderous intent simultaneously. Their embarrassment at being caught in such a vulnerable moment was rapidly transforming into aggressive hostility. The silver wolf growled low in its throat, the sound carrying enough magical resonance to make the air vibrate. The gold wolf’s hackles rose as its aura flared with barely contained rage. Being discovered in such an intimate situation had clearly humiliated them both beyond any possibility of peaceful resolution. "We really don’t want to fight," Lola said quickly, raising her hands in a placating gesture. "This was an honest mistake. We’re just travellers trying to reach the World Tree. If you’ll let us pass peacefully, we’ll pretend this encounter never happened." Noah nodded vigorously in agreement. "Absolutely. Complete discretion guaranteed. We saw nothing worth remembering or mentioning to anyone ever." But the wolves were clearly too embarrassed and angry to accept any diplomatic solution. Their auras intensified as they prepared to attack, apparently deciding that eliminating the witnesses to their private moment was preferable to letting them leave with such compromising knowledge. "I think they’re too mortified to let us just walk away," Noah observed with resignation as both wolves began circling into attack positions. "Nothing quite like catching a grandmaster-rank couple in the act to guarantee a fight you specifically wanted to avoid." Lola sighed deeply, her expression showing genuine regret at the situation. "This is possibly the most awkward way I’ve ever been forced into combat. Can we at least agree to make this quick and try not to cause them more humiliation than absolutely necessary?" The celestial wolves attacked simultaneously, their coordinated assault demonstrating both their combat prowess and their intimate familiarity with each other’s fighting styles.