Chapter 358: Slaughtering the Master Rank Beasts [1] Lola responded to the coordinated assault with overwhelming firepower that literally reshaped the battlefield. She conjured massive columns of flame that reached toward the sky, each one hot enough to turn stone to lava. The turtle’s earth constructs melted before they could reach her position. The cat’s physical strikes were deflected by barriers of superheated air that scorched fur on contact. The parrot’s energy bolts dissolved into the maelstrom surrounding her form. "You’re all remarkably persistent for creatures facing inevitable death," Lola observed calmly despite the chaos surrounding her. "I admire the dedication, but this outcome was determined the moment I revealed my true power." She compressed her flames into three separate spheres, each one calibrated specifically for the opponent it would target. The technique demonstrated precise control that separated peak practitioners from those with merely overwhelming power. The first sphere shot toward the turtle and detonated against its earth armour with force that cracked through multiple defensive layers, finally reaching flesh and inflicting severe burns. The second tracked the cat’s phasing movements and exploded exactly when the creature materialised for an attack, catching it solid and vulnerable. The third curved upward to strike the parrot mid-flight, singeing feathers and disrupting the aerial bombardment. All three beasts screamed in pain as Lola’s coordinated assault inflicted significant damage simultaneously, demonstrating why peak grandmaster practitioners were considered nearly unstoppable by anything below their rank. The battle was approaching its conclusion, with the three defenders clearly losing ground despite their desperate coordination.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ With the lizard now dead, still bleeding out on the scorched earth, Noah finally had some breathing room to focus on his actual objective. He stepped carefully over the creature’s corpse, moving toward the glowing teardrop fruit that hung tantalizingly close above him. Unfortunately, as if all the forces in the world were conspiring against him, multiple master-rank beasts suddenly emerged from the outer perimeter and formed a threatening circle around his position. The creatures had been watching from safe distances, waiting for exactly this moment when he appeared vulnerable after an exhausting battle. Noah frowned deeply, frustration flashing across his features as he recognized what was happening. Now that he had killed the grandmaster lizard and was visibly breathing heavier from exertion, these opportunistic bastards thought they could swoop in and claim the prize for themselves. They had done nothing but watch from safety while he risked his life, and now they wanted to steal the fruits of his labour. The audacity of it ignited something cold and furious in Noah’s chest. He suddenly laughed, the sound carrying dark amusement rather than any sort of humor. Noah began by withdrawing the same three enhancement items he had consumed earlier—luxury fruit smoothie, mystical herbal tea, and instant coffee. The master-rank beasts watched with growing confusion as Noah unsealed each container and downed the contents in quick succession. The effects took hold immediately; his flagging energy was completely rejuvenated while his attributes surged back to their enhanced peaks. His temporary fatigue evaporated as if it had never existed, replaced by fresh power that made his aura flare with intensity. Noah looked at their shocked faces with cold satisfaction, recognising the exact moment when they realised their catastrophic miscalculation. These creatures had assumed he was at the limits of his capabilities, vulnerable and exhausted. Instead, he had simply refreshed all his enhancements and was now operating at full strength against opponents who were fundamentally weaker than the grandmaster lizard he had just eliminated. "You dug your own graves," Noah said quietly, his voice filled with certainty about what would happen to them. Then he moved, taking immediate action against the master-rank beasts who had foolishly thought they could challenge him. Noah moved with speed that the master-rank beasts simply couldn’t track. His enhanced attributes placed him in a category that transcended what creatures at their level could fight or respond to effectively. His first target was a crystalline stag that had positioned itself slightly ahead of the others, apparently believing its mineral-hardened hide would provide adequate protection. Noah conjured a wind blade with casual precision and launched it at the creature’s legs before it could even process the danger. The compressed air construct carved through the stag’s supposedly impenetrable crystal armor like it was made of soft clay rather than hardened mineral. Both front legs were severed cleanly at the joints, sending the creature crashing forward onto the ground with a scream of shock and agony. Before any of the other beasts could react to save their fallen companion, Noah appeared directly beside the crippled stag. His aura-enhanced strength channelled through his leg as he delivered a devastating stomp to the creature’s skull, the impact creating a sickening crunch that echoed across the clearing. [You have killed a Tier 4 Crystal Stag!] The other master-rank beasts barely had time to process what had just occurred. One moment, their companion had been standing with them, and the next, it was a corpse with its head crushed into the scorched earth. The speed and brutality of the execution sent waves of primal terror through the surviving predators. They immediately realised their tactical error. Maintaining distance meant nothing against an opponent who could move faster than they could perceive and kill with single attacks. Their only hope lay in grouping together for mutual protection, using numbers to compensate for individual weakness. The beasts began converging toward a central point, attempting to form a defensive cluster where they could watch each other’s backs and respond collectively to threats. But Noah had anticipated this exact response and was already moving to prevent their coordination. A massive dire wolf with fur that crackled with electricity was still several meters from joining the defensive formation when Noah intercepted it. The creature tried to generate a lightning discharge as a defence, but Noah’s wind manipulation simply dispersed the electrical energy before it could concentrate properly. His hand closed around the dire wolf’s throat with crushing force amplified by his aura enhancement. The beast’s eyes went wide with shock as it realized the strength behind that grip vastly exceeded what any adept-rank practitioner should possess.