CHAPTER 154: EX 154. MONSTER!!!!

"Impossible..." Sakura’s voice trembled as the World Tree fell, but she didn’t move.

The explosion of pressure that came with its collapse froze her limbs in place. She was still trying to process the absurdity of what she had just witnessed. The World Tree, her World Tree, was falling.

Around her, soldiers screamed. Panic rippled through the ranks as the massive trunk broke free from the sky itself, descending with the force of a mountain. A tree that size didn’t just fall, it annihilated. Its shadow swallowed the entire clearing.

Rebecca tensed, aura flaring to act,

Snap!

The sharp sound cracked through the air, cutting through the chaos like a divine command.

In an instant, the tree disintegrated, leaf, bark, and root all crumbling into motes of shimmering golden light. Dust scattered harmlessly into the wind.

Crisis... averted.

But Sakura wasn’t focused on the miracle. She barely even registered Arbiter George’s casual flick of power. Her eyes were locked on the figure standing at the heart of it all.

Leon Kael.

He hadn’t moved from the position he struck from, his feet’s were planted, shoulder turned, arm outstretched and sword still half-lowered, as if frozen mid-swing. The air around him shimmered with heat. Steam hissed from his blade like a breath held too long.

Sakura’s hands curled into trembling fists.

’How?’

The World Tree’s natural defense suppressed anyone with intent to harm it, its divine presence applying pressure beyond logic. Even if Leon somehow resisted that, the sheer thickness should’ve stopped him from making it halfway through.

Her mind reeled, racing through theories.

’A regular fire-based skill wouldn’t have done this. Even an S-rank flame-type shouldn’t have done this.’

But what Leon used... wasn’t ordinary.

She didn’t know it, but Leon had channeled dragon flames, one of the most destructive forces in the known universe, fire birthed in the hearts of ancient apex beasts. It wasn’t just strong; it consumed. A gift no trial taker should’ve had access to.

Still, Sakura couldn’t be blamed for not knowing. Not even a Supreme Heir like her had access to every truth buried in the Trial World. There were levels of power hidden away, and Leon Kael had slept his way into one of them.

She drew in a breath, calming her pulse.

’This isn’t over.’

’No, far from it. Her smirk returned, cold and sharp.’

’Let him gloat, Let him revel in his flashy display.’

Because the World Tree had one final rule. A secret only she knew.

Backlash.

The World Tree reflected force. A thousand times over. Whatever damage someone inflicted upon it, that same devastation was sent back, not instantly, but with absolute certainty. No one had ever noticed, because the tree only activated this effect when someone dared cut it down, rather than defend it.

Leon had done just that.

Sakura’s eyes glittered with triumph.

"That’s your doing," she thought. "Now you’ll die for your arrogance."

But then... she looked at him again.

And her breath caught.

He hadn’t moved. He was still standing and still breathing.

The wind pulled at his hair, but his frame stood strong, barely scorched, not even trembling. There was no blood. No collapse. No scream. No signs of receiving a backlash.

That couldn’t be right.

Her lips parted. Her throat locked up. And then, for the first time since awakening her Supreme Talent... Sakura felt fear.

A raw, primal fear.

She stumbled backward, tripping over her own feet and landing hard in the dirt, eyes wide and trembling. Her breath hitched as she screamed in a voice that didn’t even sound like hers anymore:

"MONSTER!!!"

Leon didn’t look her way.

He just sheathed his blade.

And that single motion made her flinch harder than the tree’s fall ever had.

****

The moment Leon’s blade kissed the bark of the World Tree, the world buckled.

A wave of unseen force slammed into his chest, but only for an instant.

That flame.

It was his.

The same crimson-draconic blaze he’d unleashed just heartbeats earlier now surged toward him with malicious intent, channeled back by the tree itself.

Sakura’s plan.

Leon’s jaw tensed.

’So that’s what she was aiming for,’ he thought, feeling the heat wrap around his body, testing his limits. A reflection-based defense... the World Tree returns all attacks back to the source.

His fingers curled tighter around the hilt.

’How much do you underestimate me?’

After all, this was his flame, Draconic Flame, forged through bloodshed and obsession. A power he’d mastered to near-perfection. The reflected fire didn’t burn him. It belonged to him. It recognized him.

Using the tree’s own reflection against him was like letting a fish drown in water.

Leon’s expression didn’t flinch. Instead, he channeled the returning, savage, amplified and wild flame, back into his core. He welcomed the chaos and absorbed it.

And then,

He poured it all back into his sword in a seamless loop. A feedback loop. One the tree or Sakura hadn’t anticipated.

If the tree multiplied his original flame by a thousand?

Good. That only made the cut cleaner.

With a roar, Leon moved.

The sword ignited in furious red, coated now with both his original force intent and the tree’s amplification. It wasn’t a slash. It was an execution.

Steel screamed, flame howled and bark shattered like brittle glass.

And in the next breath, Leon stood behind the tree, blade lowered, back turned. Not a flicker of wasted movement.

Silence.

Then,

A deep, cracking groan rolled across the battlefield as the World Tree, taller than fortresses, older than myths, trembled.

Sakura turned, her eyes wide. Her mouth opened, a whisper escaping.

"Impossible..."

But the tree didn’t stop. The trunk split open, seared in a perfect line through the root.

And it began to fall.

And all across the field, soldiers panicked.

Shouts erupted. Chaos spread like wildfire. A tree of that size would flatten squads, even platoons, with no resistance. Screams of "Move!" and "Get back!" filled the air as hundreds scrambled to escape the shadow of the collapsing giant.

Rebecca stepped forward, aura already rising.

But before she could act

Snap!

The sharp crack of fingers cut through the noise like lightning.

In an instant, the falling titan halted midair.

And then, like ash on the wind, the entire tree dissolved into countless motes of warm, golden light. They floated skyward, dancing like fireflies as the threat vanished.

Standing calmly on a raised platform, Arbiter George lowered his hand.

Crisis avoided.

Around the shattered stump of the tree, the scorched air pulsed with power, thick with the scent of burning bark and something far more ancient, dragon flame. The kind of heat that didn’t just burn flesh but reached into the soul and dared it to flinch.

Leon exhaled once, calm in the middle of chaos. The feedback loop had worked perfectly. But that much power couldn’t just vanish. His sword still buzzed with raw, unstable energy, the excess dragon flame amplified a thousandfold by the tree’s reflection. It screamed for release, snarling against the edge of control.

’Too much, I need to redirect it, Now.’

Leon didn’t hesitate.

With precision born of instinct and mastery, he drew it inward, every volatile ember, every lingering trace of that fire, and poured it into one thing: Dragon Might.

The shift was instant.

The air around him trembled. A deep, guttural pressure rippled outward, unseen but suffocating, like an apex predator announcing its dominion. Dragon Might wasn’t a physical attack. It was a declaration. A force that stripped away pride and courage, clawing straight at the will of anyone it touched.

And its full force crashed straight into Sakura.

Already shaken by the display, her eyes locked with Leon’s as the invisible pressure slammed into her. Her breath caught, body locking up. A sharp cry tore from her throat as her knees buckled. She hit the ground hard, palms scraping against the dirt. Her chest heaved, eyes wide with raw disbelief.

"MONSTER!!"