CHAPTER 239: BAITED

The moment the ascendant-ranked beasts emerged from the swirling storm, the entire mountain trembled as though it feared their presence. Their massive forms blotted out what little light the sky offered, and the air around them crackled with killing intent so dense it almost suffocated those of weaker cultivation. The ground split beneath their steps, releasing a deep groan that echoed through the mountain range.

Lucas’s expression darkened. The beasts had been waiting...patient, coordinated, intelligent. They weren’t just attacking mindlessly; they had been assessing the group’s strength, testing their limits with the earlier waves. And now, with the weaker ones exhausted, they chose to strike.

The Empress’s face was stoic, her posture calm, but her aura did not flare. Instead, she turned to Lucas, her tone firm yet composed. "Handle them."

Lucas understood immediately. The order was simple. He turned to the two Divas...Seraphine and Aeloria...who were already stepping forward. The wind stirred their long hair as they took position beside him, their faces radiant with resolve.

"Stay back," Seraphine said over her shoulder to the girls, her voice sharp yet confident. "What comes next isn’t something your bodies can endure."

Aeloria added, her lips curving into a faint smile, "It’s been ages since I last stretched my limbs. Let’s see if these beasts still remember fear."

With a synchronized breath, the two Divas released their Qi. The ground responded instantly, vibrating under the surge of earth energy. Massive pillars of stone erupted around them, forming a barrier between the frontlines and the resting group. The very air became heavy with power as chunks of the frozen terrain began to float, swirling around them like fragments of a living storm.

Their synergy was flawless...Seraphine focused on molding the terrain, creating towering spears of solid rock, while Aeloria reinforced them, condensing each structure with a second layer of Qi until they gleamed with an almost metallic sheen. Together, they launched their attack.

A series of thunderous cracks split the air as enormous boulders shot forward like arrows, crashing into the charging beasts. The impact was devastating...two of the ascendant-ranked wolves were thrown backward, howling in pain, their white fur matted with blood.

Lira, Selene, Nyx, and Mirielle watched in stunned silence. The sheer force behind those attacks defied imagination. The beasts they had nearly died fighting earlier would have been obliterated in an instant by such power.

Selene whispered, barely able to tear her gaze away, "So this... this is the strength of the Ascendant Realm."

Lira swallowed hard, her green eyes wide. "They make it look effortless."

Nyx’s voice was soft but steady. "That’s the path we must walk... one day, I’ll wield power like that."

Mirielle nodded faintly, though awe and disbelief flickered in her expression. "They’re fighting monsters... and yet they’re the ones who look terrifying."

As the two Divas unleashed another volley of stone spears, Lucas finally moved. His figure blurred and vanished from his position, reappearing before one of the beasts in a shimmer of distorted space. The creature ...a towering ice gorilla whose eyes glowed silver...swung a massive fist down at him. Lucas raised his hand, and the air around him folded like a mirror shattering. The blow missed him entirely, redirected into the side of another beast that roared in pain.

But even as he fought, his mind was sharp, calculating. Something wasn’t right. The beasts weren’t fully committed to the fight either. Their movements were measured, their eyes fixed not on the Divas, nor on the Empress... but on him.

Each of the seven ascendant beasts moved in unison, forming a rough semicircle that gradually closed in on his position. Lucas’s gaze hardened as realization struck.

They weren’t just fighting...they were hunting him.

He flicked backward, landing near Seraphine. "They’re after me....he murmured to himself.

The thought struck Lucas like a bolt of lightning, slicing through the haze of battle and echoing in his mind with a clarity that made his pulse quicken. Perhaps she had tricked him. Perhaps that promise of a "test" had been nothing more than bait...a neat, calculated lie from a woman known for her cunning. The Empress of Lechia, with all her grace and poise, hadn’t brought him here to prove his worth. She had brought him here to serve as bait, to lure out whatever ancient forces stirred in this accursed mountain.

His teeth clenched as he narrowly sidestepped a clawed swipe from a beast whose body shimmered with crystalline ice. The air cracked around him as he teleported several meters away, reappearing beside one of the fallen wolves that still twitched weakly. His eyes flicked briefly to the Empress...she was standing, untouched by the chaos. The snowstorm bent around her like it feared to touch her, and even in the dim light of dusk, her golden eyes glowed faintly beneath her hood. She wasn’t worried. She wasn’t even moved by the carnage unfolding before her.

He felt anger rise, cold and sharp.

She had said she would test him. But now he realized what she meant might not have been a simple trial of strength. She had thrown him into the jaws of death, surrounded by ascendant-ranked beasts, and stood by to see what would happen. She was watching him closely...too closely. She wasn’t looking at the Divas. Not even at the beasts. Her gaze had been fixed on him since the moment they arrived at the foot of the mountain.

A growl tore through the air. Lucas spun around, meeting the eyes of a massive silver-furred lion beast whose mane flickered faintly with lightning. Its gaze locked on him, almost intelligent, and it didn’t hesitate...it lunged.

Lucas raised his hand, twisting the air before him into a sharp, rippling barrier of space distortion. The lion struck it headfirst and was flung back, its roar echoing through the frozen cliffs.

"Why are they all coming for you?" Lira’s voice shouted from behind him. She and the others were helping the Divas fend off the lower-ranked beasts, but she had noticed the obvious pattern.

Lucas didn’t answer. His jaw was tight, his eyes fixed on the Empress.

Seraphine and Aeloria, the two Divas, were powerful, but even they were beginning to struggle under the sheer number of enemies. They fought brilliantly...their earth element shaking the mountain itself...yet no matter how many beasts they crushed, more replaced them.

Aeloria turned sharply, shouting over the wind. "Empress! Should we retreat to higher ground?"

The Empress didn’t reply immediately. She just watched Lucas with that same measured calm, her expression unreadable. Then, finally, she spoke...her voice low, but it carried clearly through the storm.

"No. Let him continue."

Her words sent a chill through Lucas that no mountain cold could match.

Lira looked stunned. "What?" she blurted, turning to the Empress. "He’s surrounded! You want him to..."

"Silence," the Empress said softly, but the weight of her tone cut like a blade. "You’ll understand soon enough."

Lucas clenched his fists. His Qi surged violently, the air around him shimmering with unstable energy. The beasts hesitated briefly...even the ascendant ones...as if they felt something foreign emanating from him. He could feel his space energy trying to spiral out of control, responding to his emotions.

He forced himself to steady his breathing, but his thoughts wouldn’t stop spinning.

She lied. She used me. She brought me here not to test, but to expose me.

Every step, every word she had said before suddenly made sense...her remark about his "foreign soul," her calm admission that he was a time traveler, her fascination with his unknown energy. She had probably known that his presence would attract the attention of something ancient, something bound to this mountain.

"Xavier!" Nyx called out, her voice trembling as frost clung to her lashes. "You’re pushing your Qi too hard! Calm down!"

He didn’t answer. His eyes flicked to the Empress again... still watching, still unmoving.

So this was your plan all along, he thought bitterly.

The beasts began to circle him again, the snowstorm swirling harder around their glowing eyes. Their growls reverberated through the peaks, harmonizing into a low, bone-shaking hum that almost sounded like a chant. The Empress turned her gaze upward slightly, her expression tightening for the first time...but only just.

Lucas’s breathing grew heavier as the cold bit deeper into his bones. His instincts screamed that whatever was controlling the beasts had sensed his energy....the same foreign force that the Empress had recognized before.

And now, she was using it.

She wasn’t just testing his strength....She was using his existence to summon something ancient.

Something that even she might not fully understand.

Lucas’s jaw tightened as he glanced once more at the Empress...a figure of composed deceit amidst chaos, realization struck with final certainty. He wasn’t being tested....He had been baited.