Vara was the living embodiment of the balance between a noble’s grace and an apex predator’s ferocity.

Standing at 180 centimeters, her physique was lean yet dense—a body sculpted specifically for explosive speed and extreme flexibility. Her golden-brown skin, bronzed by years of training under the sun, was adorned with thin black stripes winding from her shoulders to her wrists: the natural birthmarks of the White Tiger Tribe.

Her long silver hair was tied in a high ponytail, revealing a strong neck and a pair of tiger ears that twitched occasionally to the frequencies of the battlefield. She wore no heavy armor—only a black leather vest reinforced at vital points and loose combat trousers that cinched at the waist, allowing for absolute freedom of movement. Most striking, however, were the fingerless leather gloves that wrapped her arms up to the elbows.

Vara carried no sword. She carried no axe. To a White Tiger, metal weapons were merely dead weight that slowed them down.

Three massive Mana Demons—double the size of a human—let out a collective roar. They raised arms bristling with jagged spines, ready to crush the small figure before them. Yet, Vara remained motionless. Her sharp amber eyes showed not a flicker of fear; there was only a chilling, deathly stillness. It was as if she weren’t in the middle of a raging war, but simply observing prey already marked for death.

A split second before the first claw touched her head, Vara took a sharp, shallow breath.

The application of "spells" by Warbeasts and Humans followed diametrically opposed principles. While humans had to chant externally and use their will to draw miracles from the outside body, Warbeast "miracles" were created internally. Every surge of blood and twitch of muscle triggered the mana within them to react according to instructions etched into their Mana Constellation. The spell was formed inside the body before being unleashed.

For comparison, when humans like Artur or Nevare used a Lightning Armor spell to accelerate their reflexes, they had to trigger the mana in the atmosphere to create electricity before cloaking themselves in it. For a Warbeast, they manipulated their own internal mana to generate electricity first, only then connecting it to the mana in the air.

Wung...

The Mana Constellation within Vara’s body pulsed in perfect circulation. Her Flow of the Primal did not seep out as hot steam like the other warriors. Instead, Vara possessed extraordinary microscopic control over her energy. The mana was compressed to a molecular level and funneled with surgical precision to her fingertips.

From beneath her leather gloves, a terrifying manifestation of mana emerged: Astral Claws.

Ten blades of transparent light, each thirty centimeters long, protruded from her fingertips. These blades did not vibrate wildly; they appeared so solid and serene they looked like diamond crystals honed to an atomic edge. This was a high-tier technique mastered only by a select elite—transmuting mana into a physical object with sharpness surpassing any legendary weapon.

Vara moved.

To the onlookers, Vara seemed to vanish, reappearing at a different point instantly. She performed a single, graceful rotation—a lethal dance move known as The Predator’s Waltz.

Srat! Srat! Srat!

The sound wasn’t loud. It was merely a soft friction, like a knife slicing through silk. But the impact was horrific. The three demons that had attacked her froze mid-motion. A second later, their heads slid from their necks, followed by their bodies splitting diagonally. Vara’s claws had passed through their obsidian armor and dense bone without a hint of resistance, leaving cuts so smooth that the blood only began to spray moments after the strike had landed.

Vara landed on one knee, her arms extended to her sides, letting the droplets of black demon blood slide off her transparent blades. She wasn’t winded. Her internal mana acted as a perfect cooling system, keeping her core temperature stable despite the high-kinetic movement.

Vara’s eyes narrowed, sensing the vibrations of hundreds of Mana Demons relentlessly filling the gap in the broken vanguard. She knew this battle had only just begun, even though half the day had passed since dawn. The demon horde would not stop until they were all dead or the Warbeasts were wiped out.

The three Level 4 Core mana demons she had just finished were merely an appetizer for the far stronger breeds of Mana Demons. Vara triggered the mana in her body again; her Flow of the Primal roared to life like an engine newly ignited.

A fresh group of demons began to surround her, this time with a more cautious posture. These were Level 5 Core Demons, capable of utilizing a Domain. In a massive battle like this, the demons didn’t care for their comrades. Overlapping Domains that accidentally claimed the lives of their own kind were a common sight.

Vara even saw two Level 5 Domains collide and shatter each other. However, the deployment was not in vain, for it was the key to triggering their Second Mana God Form.

Now, before Vara, two demons had transformed into those very states. Vara prepared to release her own Mana God Form, but a third Level 5 demon gave her no opening. Seeing Vara pressed, several other Warbeasts lunged in to assist. By clearing the interference, Vara gained the space to open her Domain and push her 2nd Mana God Form to the surface.

Unlike humans who borrowed the forms of ancient gods, Warbeasts viewed the God Form as a projection of their own highest potential. The stronger the individual, the more terrifying the manifestation. In that instant, Vara transformed: [2nd Mana God Form: Lady of the Jungle].

Vara’s heart hammered with a violent rhythm, as if four hearts were beating in unison within her chest. Her muscle tissues thickened and strengthened without losing a shred of elasticity. The surrounding mana grew turbulent, and Vara’s speed, which was already like the wind, doubled. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The two Mana Demons roared. From their maws, they spewed a vortex of dark mana that made the skin crawl. Within seconds, two massive bolts of black mana shot forward, tearing through the air.

But Vara was the manifestation of efficiency. She wasted no energy on unnecessary movements. Every step she took was a threat of a counter-attack; every blink of her eye was a mapping of the enemy’s weaknesses.

As the black mana orbs lunged toward her, Vara didn’t dodge wide. She simply twisted her body slightly, letting the projectiles pass mere millimeters from her shoulder, and then she surged forward. Her footsteps were nearly silent on the blood-slicked earth. She slipped under the reach of a Mana Demon that appeared suddenly, then with a quick snap, she slammed her foot into the ground to rocket forward, ignoring the first enemy’s strike.

In a heartbeat, she was in front of the nearest Level 5 demon. The demon was busy gathering mana in its mouth again, but before it could snap its jaws shut, Vara arrived. With a single, precise claw strike, Vara pierced the demon’s chest and shattered the Mana Core inside.

Krak!

The mana core splintered into fragments. Vara immediately withdrew her hand and spun in the air, shattering the Mana Demon’s head with a kick coated in Mana Hardening. No matter how strong a Mana Demon was, once their core was destroyed, their body became so fragile that the slightest impact could pulverize it.

Before her feet touched the ground, the second Mana Demon attacked with savage claws as hot as magma. Vara could smell the scent of her own hair burned even though the claws hadn’t touched her yet. She reinforced her palms with mana, gripping the demon’s wrists tight and pulling with all her might. Because she was still mid-air without a foothold, instead Vara’s body was pulled toward her opponent.

However, that was exactly what she wanted. With incredible agility, Vara orbited the demon’s body in the air until she reached its back, then landed a crushing blow that sent the Mana Demon reeling.

The Level 5 demon roared in fury and lunged again. Vara only offered a thin smirk before beginning her next dance of death.

Vara’s fighting style was the antithesis of wild savagery. She fought with mathematics and instinct. She knew exactly how many milligrams of mana were required to slice through every inch of flesh, and she would not use a single drop more. To her, combat was the art of elimination.

In short order, Vara stood tall once more. Her silver hair fluttered in the valley wind, which carried the copper scent of blood. She swept the battlefield with her sharp amber gaze, searching for enemy leaders or greater threats. Beneath her feet, the corpse of a Level 5 Mana Demon lay lifeless with a gaping hole in its chest. Even though this demon had felt stronger than the ones before, not a single speck of blood stained her golden skin or her silver hair.

This was the White Tiger. This was Vara. A warrior who had mastered the Flow of the Primal to the stage where her body was no longer a vessel for mana, but a precision instrument of death.

Vara straightened her back, letting her claws extend a few centimeters further as her mana sensory detection caught something anomalous.

There had been three Level 5 Mana Demons earlier, but she had only killed two. Where was the third? As she recalled, she had allowed other Warbeasts to hold that third demon back while she finished the two that had opened their Domains.

Suddenly, the air around Vara turned cold. Amidst a pile of recently fallen Warbeast corpses, a pool of purple mana began to churn violently. The Level 5 Core Mana Demon she was looking for was crawling there, gorging itself on the remains of the hearts and brains of the fallen Warbeasts and demons alike.

Vara’s eyes narrowed. Her intuition screamed at her to kill this demon immediately. But she was too late.

The process was grotesque. The demon’s body bloated, its skin erupting in bursts of hot steam, and a dark violet core crystal emerged in its chest.

A Level 6 Core Mana Demon.