The mountain forest became deathly silent.
The wind stopped.
The birds disappeared.
Even the insects no longer made a sound.
Selena stood before the three Legacy Candidates with a calm smile.
She looked no older than twenty.
Her white hair danced gently behind her.
Golden eyes…
Eyes that looked almost kind.
Yet the pressure pouring from her body was overwhelming.
Kai slowly wiped the blood from his mouth.
“So…”
“She’s on another level.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t underestimate her.”
McCall remained silent.
The System suddenly flashed crimson.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WARNING
Enemy Identified
Name: Selena
Title: The Eighth General
Threat Level:
EXTREME
Estimated Victory Chance:
0.7%
Recommended Action:
ESCAPE IMMEDIATELY
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
McCall swallowed.
“Less than one percent…”
Selena noticed the fear in his eyes.
“You don’t have to look so frightened.”
Her voice was gentle.
“I wasn’t ordered to kill you.”
She slowly extended her hand.
“Come with me.”
“I promise…”
“…you won’t suffer.”
Kai laughed.
“You actually expect him to believe that?”
Selena sighed.
“I was hoping this could be peaceful.”
Without warning…
She disappeared.
BOOM!
The ground exploded where she had been standing.
McCall barely reacted in time.
A golden fist stopped inches from his face.
He instinctively leaned backward.
The punch missed by a hair.
The shockwave alone sent him sliding several meters across the ground.
“She’s unbelievably fast!”
Ethan immediately charged.
He planted his left foot.
Spun.
A powerful volley shot toward Selena.
She caught the football with one hand.
One hand.
She smiled.
“Good technique.”
“But too much power.”
She squeezed.
CRACK.
The football burst apart.
Ethan froze.
“…She crushed it.”
Kai roared.
“Enough!”
Silver energy exploded around him.
Wolf’s Domain!
The forest instantly transformed.
Everything became covered in frost.
Dozens of silver wolves appeared around Selena.
Each charged simultaneously.
Selena quietly watched them approach.
Then…
She snapped her fingers.
Every illusion disappeared.
Wolf’s Domain…
Collapsed.
Kai stumbled backward.
“What…”
“Impossible…”
Selena smiled sadly.
“Your Legacy is still incomplete.”
McCall realized something.
“She isn’t attacking seriously.”
“She’s testing us.”
The First King’s voice echoed softly.
“Every opponent has a purpose.”
“Find it.”
McCall looked directly into Selena’s eyes.
“You don’t want to kill us.”
She blinked.
For the first time…
Her smile disappeared.
“…Interesting.”
McCall continued.
“If you wanted us dead…”
“We’d already be dead.”
Silence.
Even Kai and Ethan looked at him.
Selena slowly lowered her hands.
“You really are different.”
A communication crystal at Selena’s waist suddenly glowed.
Victor’s voice echoed from it.
“Report.”
Selena glanced toward the crystal.
“The Successors are weaker than expected.”
Victor’s tone became cold.
“Then eliminate the Wolf.”
Selena’s eyes narrowed.
“No.”
Victor fell silent.
“I said…”
“Eliminate him.”
Selena calmly removed the crystal.
“…I’m ending the transmission.”
She crushed it beneath her foot.
CRACK.
McCall’s eyes widened.
“She disobeyed Victor?”
Far away…
Inside Raven Headquarters…
Victor stared at the broken communication crystal.
His expression darkened.
“So…”
“You’ve chosen your side.”
The Crown Mask slowly stood.
“No.”
His voice remained calm.
“She hasn’t.”
“Not yet.”
Back in the forest…
Selena looked at the three boys.
“You have five minutes.”
Kai frowned.
“What?”
“I’m giving you five minutes to run.”
Ethan didn’t move.
“Why?”
Selena looked toward the distant mountains.
“Because…”
“…they’re coming.”
As if answering her words…
The earth trembled.
BOOM…
BOOM…
BOOM…
Heavy footsteps echoed through the forest.
Trees snapped.
Birds flew into the sky.
Something enormous was approaching.
The System immediately flashed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WORLD ALERT
High-Ranking Enemy Approaching
Identity:
Unknown
Threat Assessment:
CATASTROPHIC
Escape Probability:
14%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
McCall looked toward the mountains.
A gigantic shadow slowly emerged through the trees.
It stood nearly three meters tall.
Its body was covered in black armor.
A massive football rested on one shoulder like a boulder.
Every step left deep craters in the ground.
Kai’s face turned pale.
“…No way.”
Ethan whispered,
“Who is that?”
Selena’s calm expression became unusually serious.
“He wasn’t supposed to arrive yet.”
The giant finally stopped.
His deep crimson eyes settled on McCall.
Then…
He smiled.
“My little brother…”
McCall’s heart nearly stopped.
“…Brother?”
The giant laughed.
A sound that shook the entire valley.
“You don’t remember me.”
“But I remember you.”
He slowly placed the gigantic football onto the ground.
The earth cracked beneath its weight.
“My name…”
“…is Lucien.”
“And before the Heart chose you…”
“…it belonged to our bloodline.”
Silence.
McCall’s mind went blank.
“Our bloodline?”
The First King’s voice echoed urgently inside him.
“Impossible…”
“He should have died centuries ago…”
The golden symbol on McCall’s chest blazed with unbearable heat.
For the first time…
The First King sounded afraid.
And McCall realized the greatest threat he had ever faced…
Was someone who claimed to be family.