Leaves flew. Dust swirled. The very forest shook with the stampede.
Behind Ryan stretched a monstrous procession, so many beasts that their collective growls formed a single deafening rumble.
Ryan dared a quick backward glance and barked a laugh.
"I look like I'm leading a parade."
He darted between two stone boulders and vaulted over a fallen tree.
A boar snapped at his heel.
A wolf bit at empty air.
Ryan's speed was too high, his steps flickering like ghostly mirages.
He maintained just enough distance. Never too far, never too close.
Maintaining Perfect aggro control.
Branches whipped past Ryan's face as he pushed Phantom Step harder, drawing every beast deeper and deeper into the forest's winding heart.
Behind him, the chaos only grew.
More wolves.
More armored beasts.
More angry kings.
Every monster that spotted him immediately roared and joined the frenzy.
Each new addition made the forest quake even louder.
Ryan felt their killing intent like heat on his back, but it only made his blood sing hotter.
He wanted this.
He engineered this, the perfect EXP storm.
His palm brushed the Heaven-Splitting Finishing Skill icon in his mind.
Three charges.
One chance.
One massive detonation.
Forest of Death trembled beneath the weight of the beast tide, branches snapping like bones under the stampede. Ryan sprinted at the front of that nightmare river, shadows flickering under his feet, the wind howling at his heels.
Every time he risked a glance back, the sight nearly made even him suck in a cold breath.
A carpet of moving bodies.
Thousands of them.
Wolves with sparks dancing in their fur.
Rhinos with steel hides.
Boars with tusks like curved swords.
And lumbering among them, massive third-tier beasts, their very steps shaking the ground.
It was a sight that would turn any normal warrior pale.
Ryan only grinned wider.
"Perfect. Come chase me, you Timo-hating beasts."
A memory popped into his head, his past life's games.
League of Legends. Timo, the king of taunts… hated by all.
And right now?
The entire Forest of Death saw him as Timo incarnate.
The thought almost made him laugh, almost, if not for the claws swiping inches from his throat.
Even with Phantom Step exploding under his feet, Ryan wasn't invincible.
A fanged shadow lunged from above, and he tilted just enough, claws grazing his shoulder.
Another beast leaped from the flank, its horn sliced a shallow cut across his ribs.
Blood trickled.
If not for countless agility pills coursing through his veins, he would have been swallowed long ago.
But he held on.
Step after step after step.
Once, he twisted around a tree trunk so fast he scraped bark off with his elbow. If his footwork slipped for even a heartbeat, he would be buried beneath fur and fangs.
By the time he reached the clearing, sweat glued his robes to his back.
"It's enough."
His boots skidded to a halt on an open patch of ground where moonlight spilled like silver paint.
The monster tide thundered toward him.
Ryan inhaled.
Straightened his back.
Raised his chin.
And stood proudly like an unshakable monument as thousands of beasts lunged down upon him in a single wave of death.
He stood there like a man welcoming a feast. "Come."
Ten meters.
Five.
Three.
The air shook.
Trees bent from the pressure.
Beasts collided in their rush, snapping at each other in their frenzy to reach him first.
Ryan smiled, sharp and ecstatic.
He bent his knees and jumped.
"Now."
His right arm locked. His elbow coiled like a falling mountain.
"Broken Mountain!"
BOOOOOOOOM !!!
The sky flashed white.
Heat exploded outward like a volcanic shockwave.
The earth opened in a jagged crater, stones flung like shrapnel, soil lifted into a towering cloud. Flames licked the air as the finishing move's raw power tore the clearing apart.
Beasts were flung like toys, fur, blood, and bones scattering mid-air.
The roars of monsters transformed into death cries.
System prompts cascaded through Ryan's mind like a waterfall,
Ding! Killed Wind Wolf – 50 EXP!
Ding! Killed Second-Tier Wolf King – 10,000 EXP!
Ding! Killed Ironhide Rhino – 3,000 EXP!
.
.
.
Ding! Killed Silver Horn Rhino – 30,000 EXP!
It sounded like a thousand bells ringing at once.
Ding! 500 Kills, Bonus Pills Rewarded!
Ding! 1000 Kills, Bonus Pills Rewarded!
Ding! 2000 Kills, Bonus Pills Rewarded!
Experience surged. Light burst beneath his feet.
Ding! You leveled up. Current level: Level 20 (Upper Elite realm)
Ding! You leveled up. Current level: 21 (1-star Upper Elite)
.
.
.
Ding! You leveled up. Current level: 25. (5-star Upper Elite)
Strength roared through his meridians, and muscles tightened with explosive power. He clenched a fist and felt raw force pulse outward like waves.
He could crush boulders with a tap.
He could shatter bones with a flick.
He could kill Li Meiran with two fingers now, no, one.
Hell, even Li Mingtian and that decrepit Seventh Elder?
They weren't even obstacles anymore.
They were nothing more than stones lying on the road, waiting to be crushed under his foot.
Ryan popped open the mountain of attribute pills he earned, hundreds of them, and swallowed them in batches. Warmth surged. His skin tingled. His body vibrated like a coiled spring ready to erupt.
He flicked a hand at a nearby tree for fun.
Just a flick.
BOOM !!!
A tree thicker than a man's torso snapped clean in half, crashing down with a thunderous thud.
Ryan stared at his hand, genuinely stunned.
"I'm a monster."
His grin spread widely.
At that right moment, a sliver of cold light flashed, disturbing his mood.
The Wind Wolf King, one of the few who escaped the first blast, shot toward him like a thunderbolt, jaws aimed at his neck, taking an opportunity when he wasn't alert.
In the past, Ryan would've needed Phantom Step to evade.
Now?
He just lifted a hand.
Five fingers clamped on the wolf's skull and squeezed.
POP.
Blood sprayed, and the corpse flew backward.
The beast that once terrified him died from a single casual flick.
Ryan exhaled slowly, letting the thrill seep in.
His gaze swept over the surviving monsters limping at the edge of the clearing.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Your turn."
*
He jumped again.
"Rely on the Landslide!"
His elbow slammed down.
BOOM!!!
A second crater erupted, swallowing beasts into dust and gore.
The air turned metallic with the scent of blood.
Charred flesh and shattered bones covered the earth.
Smoke curled in the moonlight.
The scene resembled a battlefield from hell.
And Ryan stood at its center, breathing in the aftermath like it was fresh mountain air- a king born from slaughter.