Finally, its durability dropped and reached its final limit.

Lucien slashed through its snout

Crack!

Boom!

The sword shattered.

By now, the bear had almost turned into a hedgehog from the arrows lodged all over its body. Its struggles had grown weaker and weaker...

But it still wasn’t dead.

Lucien, still on top of the bear, grabbed a piece of the broken sword and began stabbing it into the creature’s body.

It pierced through like a hot knife through butter.

Each strike tore through skin and ripped apart muscle but that wasn’t all.

Lucien gripped the hilt of the remaining blade and drove it in.

Around him, fragments of the shattered sword were already embedded in the bear’s body, though not deeply. After stabbing the hilt in, he clenched his fist and began hammering the shards further inside.

Deeper... and deeper...

Until only the hilt remained visible.

Bang!

Bang!

Lucien struck with all his strength, forcing it straight into the bear’s head.

Then he jumped down.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

"ROAAARR—!"

The bear let out one final roar before collapsing to the ground.

Boom!

Dust rose into the air as the ground trembled and sank beneath its massive weight.

After nearly twenty minutes, the battle was finally over. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Lucien took deep breaths, his body trembling slightly as he struggled to remain standing.

Seeing this, Jeff and Daemon rushed forward to support him.

At the same time, they kept their eyes on the direction the arrows had come from deep within the forest.

What if the attackers turned on Lucien now that he was weakened?

No.

They couldn’t allow that.

They moved not only to help him but to protect him.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed.

Four figures emerged from different directions.

They gathered around the bear and crouched, checking its condition.

Only after confirming it was dead did they stand.

Their appearance was different from Lucien and the others. Their hair was long, and their clothing consisted of tight-fitted robes and worn trousers with tears in several places. Each carried a large bow and a quiver of arrows on their back.

"Archers..." Jeff muttered.

"Hello," one of them stepped forward and spoke.

Lucien, Jeff, and Daemon watched them cautiously.

"Who are you?" Lucien asked, his eyes sharp with vigilance.

In this world, even something like a chameleon mutating into a human form didn’t seem impossible.

It sounded insane...

But this was an insane world.

"Oh, my apologies," the man said.

"I’m Vanin, the leader of this small archer group. We came from a nearby city on our master’s orders to hunt elite zombies."

The man, about the same height as Lucien, stepped forward. The group consisted of two males and two females.

Instantly, Lucien and the others tensed.

They came to hunt elite zombies?

How did that city discover this?

Was it by chance... or were they observing them?

Either possibility was terrifying.

Vanin seemed to notice their thoughts and quickly explained:

"Our master sensed a zombie about to evolve into a One-Star being, so she sent us to clear out the elite zombies to make it easier for her to deal with it. We didn’t know there were other humans here."

"You’re from that city, I presume?" Vanin asked.

Lucien and the others exchanged glances.

She could sense a zombie about to evolve?

That alone was terrifying.

The distance between the cities... the dangers of the forest... the presence of One-Star beasts...

It all pointed to one thing

Power.

Was it a unique ability?

Or something all One-Star Awakeners could do?

And more importantly...

Was she stronger than Lucien?

Lucien had already checked their stats:

---

Host: Vanin

Rank: Beginner-Level Awakener

Strength: 28

Stamina: 40

Speed: 41

---

Host: ???

Rank: Beginner-Level Awakener

Strength: 23

Stamina: 38

Speed: 39

---

The others had similar stats.

Their strength was low...

But their speed and stamina were impressive.

It explained why they were archers, fighters who avoided direct combat.

Lucien was stunned.

From this alone, he could almost confirm it

Their leader was likely a One-Star Awakener.

"I assume the evolving zombie and the elite zombies were taken care of by you?" Vanin asked, sensing the pressure radiating from Lucien. It felt similar to the one he experienced from his own leader.

"Right," Lucien nodded.

"In that case... for the sake of future cooperation, I invite you all to our city," Lucien added.

The archers smiled in response.

Lucien felt he had stumbled upon another truth of this world, a new city...

And it seemed they weren’t the only ones with a One-Star Awakener.

Even more

This other city appeared more advanced.

Their arrows could pierce a One-Star beast.

That alone was terrifying.

Lucien was gently lowered to the ground as the archers began retrieving their arrows from the bear’s body.

Then, one of the female archers approached Lucien and knelt beside him.

Jeff and Daemon tensed instinctively

But they held back.

Acting now could create unnecessary tension.

Besides...

Even injured, Lucien was still a One-Star Awakener.

No matter how fast she was

He would still be faster.

"May I treat your wounds?" the female archer asked softly, her voice gentle, her eyes bright like stars.

"...Yeah," Lucien replied.

She nodded pulling out a small pouch from her side.

She brought out a few liquids, soft cotton, and some bandages, then began treating him.

Lucien stretched out his arms, and not only Jeff and Daemon but even the other archers changed their expressions.

Lucien’s skin was almost torn apart, and his palm was in terrible condition. While hammering the sword shards into the beast, he had cut himself—his palm was covered in deep cuts.

"This... will be alright," she paused slightly, then smiled at him.

Lucien groaned in response as she started working.

She cleaned the wounds with a bluish liquid. A cool sensation spread across his arm, and slowly, the pain subsided. Then she carefully removed the tiny sword fragments embedded in his flesh before finally wrapping his arm with bandages.

It wasn’t easy, Lucien’s arms were nearly unusable but after a few minutes, she finished.

"You should be alright now," she said.

"Yeah..." Lucien replied.

He glanced at her face, then briefly at her figure before swallowing lightly and turning his head away.

From that angle, his gaze almost drifted downward, her cleavage was exposed to him.

Of course, the female archer noticed, but she only smiled and stood up.

With everything done, they prepared to leave.

The archers offered to help carry the beast back, while Daemon supported Lucien as they began walking.

Jeff took the lead and joined the archers. The five of them approached the Savin Bear’s body.

Jeff stood at the front, while the four archers positioned themselves beside each limb. On cue, the five of them lifted the two-ton creature.

Their feet instantly sank a few inches into the ground as immense pressure bore down on them.

Lucien offered to help, but they reminded him of his injuries. So, he held back.

And just like that, they began their return to the city

Not only with the corpse of a One-Star beast...

But with their first interaction with another city.

A win-win.