Chapter 355: The Teardrop Ripens [2] The two-tailed fox conjured blades of silver moonlight that shot toward the bear and turtle, attempting to slow their advance while she accelerated her own approach. The jade turtle created walls of solidified earth that erupted from the ground to block the cat and parrot’s paths, forcing them to waste precious moments navigating obstacles. The ethereal cat phased through the barriers but found itself targeted by the bear’s devastating earth-element attacks that cratered the ground and sent shockwaves through the clearing. The massive bear simply charged forward with overwhelming physical force, its body wreathed in protective earth armor that deflected incoming attacks while its momentum carried it toward the prize. The rainbow parrot took to the air, using its aerial advantage to avoid ground-based obstacles while raining energy bolts down on all four competitors indiscriminately. The chaos was breathtaking in its complexity and violence. Each grandmaster beast was simultaneously attacking, defending, and racing toward the fruit, their long years of combat experience allowing them to process multiple threats while maintaining focus on their ultimate objective. Massive explosions rocked the clearing as their techniques collided, creating secondary effects that threatened everything nearby. Trees shattered under stray attacks. Crystal formations exploded into deadly shrapnel. The ground itself buckled and reformed as earth manipulation warred against spatial distortions. Noah and Lola remained in their positions for the moment, watching the initial chaos while calculating the optimal moment to make their own move. Rushing in immediately would simply add them to the targets everyone else was already attacking. Better to wait for the perfect opening when the five beasts had fully committed to their assault patterns. "Wait for the opening," Lola said quietly, her spiritual sight tracking the complex interplay of attacks and counterattacks. "They’re going to create opportunities through their mutual interference. That’s when we move." Noah nodded, his own perception working overtime to process the battle unfolding before them. The enhanced comprehension speed allowed him to track individual techniques and predict likely outcomes with clarity that would have been impossible without the consumables. The teardrop fruit hung in the tree above the chaos, glowing with concentrated power that represented the culmination of the World Tree’s decades-long cultivation cycle. Whoever claimed it would gain advantages that could shift the balance of power throughout the entire region. Lola’s spiritual sight tracked the chaotic battle with perfect clarity, her eyes tracking the movements and attacks of the grandmasters before her. She waited patiently, watching for the precise moment when the five grandmaster beasts would create the opening she needed through their mutual interference to deal the biggest damage at once. The opportunity came when the two-tailed fox launched a devastating lunar technique at the bear while simultaneously dodging an earth spike from the turtle. Both the fox and bear were momentarily committed to their actions, their defensive postures compromised by offensive focus. "Now," Lola whispered, and moved from her place. Her speed with the triple enhancement was staggering, covering the distance to the inner conflict zone in a blur that left afterimages in her wake. Rather than targeting a single opponent, she conjured two massive streams of fire that split and tracked toward both the fox and bear simultaneously. The fox’s eyes widened in shock as she detected the incoming attack too late to properly defend. She attempted to raise a moonlight barrier, but Lola’s fire was operating at peak grandmaster levels, amplified by the smoothie’s hundred percent attribute boost. The flames punched through the hasty defence and engulfed the two-tailed creature with devastating force. The bear fared no better. Its earth armour provided some protection, but Lola’s concentrated fire was hot enough to liquify stone. The protective armour cracked and shattered under the thermal assault, allowing flames to reach the flesh beneath and inflict severe burns across the massive beast’s body. Both creatures screamed in agony as Lola’s assault inflicted catastrophic damage in the span of seconds. The fox’s silver fur was scorched black in multiple places, her tails singed and smoking. The bear’s entire left side showed severe thermal damage, the smell of burning flesh filling the area. The two-tailed fox, heavily injured and barely maintaining consciousness, screamed out a warning to the others. "A peak grandmaster! This demon was hiding her true strength the entire time!" The revelation sent shockwaves through the master-rank combatants. The other grandmaster beasts didn’t need the fox’s declaration to recognize what had just occurred. Lola’s displayed power was unmistakably at peak grandmaster rank, a tier that the most powerful entities in the entire forest wanted to achieve. She had been concealing capabilities that placed her among the absolute apex predators. Rather than deterring the remaining three beasts, the revelation seemed to drive them with even greater desperation. The jade turtle, ethereal cat, and rainbow parrot all recognized that if they didn’t claim the teardrop immediately, this overwhelming demon would take it for herself. Their only chance lay in reaching the fruit before she could eliminate them all. The bear attempted to rise despite its severe injuries, but Lola sent another concentrated fire blast that knocked it unconscious and left it smoking on the scorched earth. The two-tailed fox tried to crawl away from the conflict, her earlier arrogance completely shattered by the reality of facing someone operating on a fundamentally higher level. Two of the five guardians were effectively eliminated, their combat capabilities reduced to nothing by Lola’s devastating opening assault. Three remained active in the fight: the turtle with its incredible defensive capabilities, the cat with its ethereal phasing abilities, and the parrot with its aerial advantage. A knowing smile formed on Lola’s face as she darted directly toward the World Tree, closing the distance with explosive speed that left the three remaining beasts scrambling to intercept. She launched attacks at all of them simultaneously, forcing defensive responses that slowed their own approach to the prize. The turtle raised massive earth barriers to block her fire streams. The cat phased into its translucent state to avoid direct hits. The parrot took to higher altitude, raining energy bolts downward while maintaining safe distance from her devastating flames.