A dragon’s roar rang out from above.

Yuna looked up.

A relatively small flying dragon dove down from overhead, descending headfirst.

Standing atop the dragon’s head was none other than Noa.

When the dive reached close range, Noa leapt off, plunging downward. Using the momentum of her fall, she crashed heavily onto the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion, stomping its massive body straight into the ground.

The dragon that had carried her twisted midair, reverted back into human form, and immediately rushed toward Helena, pulling both Helena and Yuna into a safe zone.

Helena snapped out of her daze, shook her head, and when she saw that the person in front of her was Vivian—Noa’s teammate from earlier—she hurriedly asked,

“Where’s Noa? Is she okay?”

Vivian smiled and nodded. “She’s fine. She just saved you.”

“…Saved us…”

Helena’s gaze slipped past Vivian’s shoulder, toward the scene behind her.

Noa’s strike had kicked up thick clouds of dust across a radius of more than ten meters.

As the dust slowly settled, the familiar black silhouette came into view—Noa standing atop the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion’s head, lightning crackling violently in her hand as she condensed Chidori.

Helena’s eyes lit up.

“Noa!”

Yuna let out a relieved smile. “She finally made it.”

The Adult Dragon Division students who had previously been knocked down by the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion also noticed her.

“That’s her… the youngest student in the history of the Adult Dragon Division?”

“I’ve heard her name before. I thought she wouldn’t join us until adulthood.”

“But no matter how talented she is, there’s no way she can defeat that thing alone!”

“Exactly. That Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion is far stronger and more cunning than others of its kind. It’s a nightmare to deal with.”

“But at this point… we can’t help anymore. All we can do is place /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ our hopes on that kid.”

The discussion continued—doubt, worry, and faith all mixed together.

Only Tucker, gravely injured, remained silent.

He leaned against a tree root, clutching his aching chest. Several ribs were probably broken.

Listening to the others praise Noa, he stared at the girl and muttered under his breath,

“What’s there to brag about… she just jumped in to steal the credit.”

Yet even as the words left his mouth, he didn’t believe them himself.

He couldn’t deceive his own heart.

After repeating it a few times in his head, resentment and jealousy surged uncontrollably.

Blue lightning illuminated Noa’s calm, cold face.

She lowered her gaze, one foot pressing down on the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion’s head as she slowly raised Chidori in her hand.

“Die.”

From her father, Noa had inherited many outstanding traits—one of them being never wasting words on an enemy.

Chidori screamed.

She brought it down in a single strike.

Boom!

Lightning detonated on the spot.

But when the explosion’s smoke cleared, the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion had vanished.

“Noa, be careful! It can turn invisible—and it’s extremely fast!” Helena shouted.

This ability originated from creatures like chameleons that altered their skin to blend with the environment.

As a dangerous species with magical capabilities, the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion had elevated that trait into a far more lethal form of invisibility.

That was the origin of its name.

Noa furrowed her brow slightly and scanned her surroundings—but sensed nothing.

“It can not only turn invisible, but also actively suppress its killing intent and magical leakage… This doesn’t match the records at all,” she muttered.

All magic produces energy fluctuations.

Invisibility is no exception.

Under normal circumstances, even invisible creatures could still be detected by skilled mages.

But this Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion had completely erased its presence.

True disappearance.

Only a highly intelligent lifeform could achieve that.

Noa didn’t have the luxury to ponder why it had mutated.

She had to focus—deal with it first.

Suddenly, the air behind her screamed.

Noa sensed the disturbance instantly, but the attack was too fast.

Even knowing it came from behind, she couldn’t evade completely.

She raised her arm and blocked head-on.

The impact sent her flying several meters. She stabilized her stance, boots carving long skid marks into the ground, her arm throbbing painfully.

Yuna frowned.

Noa’s body wasn’t fully developed—her weight, bones, and muscle density were inferior to adult dragons.

She couldn’t endure many more hits like that.

“High attack, low defense,” Noa knew her weakness perfectly.

She shook out her aching arm.

“In that case… let’s try this.”

She slowly closed her eyes.

No guard stance.

No evasive posture.

She simply stood there.

The wind lifted her silver-and-black hair. Her expression remained cold and unafraid.

“What’s she doing…?”

“Did she give up?”

“Even if she has, she should call the instructors!”

“Noa! Wake up! Don’t just stand there!”

The students grew frantic.

At a life-or-death moment, she had abandoned all defense.

Yuna briefly thought Noa had given up—until a realization struck her, one she didn’t dare fully accept.

“Noa wouldn’t be…”

Helena, however, watched with quiet confidence.

“She worked incredibly hard to master this technique.”

Without warning, Noa moved.

Just one small step to the left.

Eyes still closed.

The instant she shifted, the spot where her right foot had just been was smashed by a massive blow, carving a deep crater into the ground.

Had it landed on her, she would have been severely injured.

“That was the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion’s attack!”

“She dodged it—with her eyes closed?!”

“That’s impossible…”

Against an invisible enemy whose strikes were near-instant, this was beyond comprehension.

Yet Noa dodged effortlessly.

Eyes closed.

“Ultra-Sense.”

Yuna recognized it. “Uncle Leon used it when he first sparred with my father…”

Even seeing it firsthand, she struggled to believe Noa had mastered Ultra-Sense.

Her father had once said that aside from Leon, no one in the past hundreds—perhaps thousands—of years had achieved it.

But with this ability, the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion’s invisibility was no longer an advantage.

The following exchanges proved it.

Noa evaded every attack using Ultra-Sense.

Realizing invisibility was ineffective, the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion revealed itself, facing her from thirty meters away.

Noa spread her hands, Chidori crackling again.

“Let’s end this. You ambush-only monster.”

She charged.

But the Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion didn’t evade.

Yuna’s heart sank. “Does it still have another trump card?”

At the last moment, the monster abruptly turned, maw opening toward Helena and Yuna.

“Damn it—its target is us!” Yuna cried.

A purple beam erupted from its mouth, tearing a trench through the ground as it shot straight toward them.

One hit would mean death.

At that instant, a violet blur flashed in.

Someone grabbed Helena and leapt away.

Vivian spread her dragon wings and carried the injured Yuna to safety as well.

The attack missed.

The Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion shifted again.

This time, its target was...

The dozens of heavily injured Adult Dragon Division students.

“It’s trying to use them as hostages!” Helena shouted. “Be careful, Noa!”

“I know.”

Noa kicked off the ground, becoming a black afterimage.

The monster unleashed continuous attacks toward the wounded, trying to force an opening.

But it failed.

Because Noa was faster.

She rescued the students one by one, weaving through the beams without a single hit grazing her clothes.

“How is she that fast?!”

“She’s protecting us and dodging at the same time!”

“That’s martial arts?! What kind of martial art allows that speed?!”

“I know—it’s...”

Nether Gate Godspeed.

The Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion stopped attacking.

There were no hostages left.

Noa stood at the center of the clearing, posture straight, dragon tail arched proudly.

Wind lifted her coat and hair.

Her silver-black bangs framed calm dragon eyes.

“This ends here,” she said.

She leapt skyward, arms raised, body arching back.

A blue crescent formed in her hands.

A-Rank Lightning Magic — Lightning Moon Thrust.

The crescent spiraled forward.

Boom!

Direct hit.

Noa landed smoothly, dispersing the residual lightning.

The smoke cleared.

The Phantom-Shadow Demon Lion emerged—its back torn open, bone and organs exposed.

But the wound was… healing.

“It regenerates…”

“What do we do now?!”

“Invisibility, regeneration—this is impossible!”

Helena panicked.

Yuna clenched her teeth.

“There is a method,” she said quietly. “Continuous, high-frequency attacks. Don’t give it time to heal.”

“But everyone’s injured… Noa can’t do that alone…”

She froze.

A letter from her father surfaced in her mind.

Noa is studying here.

“…Don’t tell me...”

Noa raised her right hand.

Dark clouds roiled.

Lightning gathered.

Blue slowly turned...

Purple.

The ground trembled.

The girl’s slender figure radiated overwhelming pressure.

Yuna stared in shock.

“She learned my father’s...”

Super S-Rank Lightning Magic — World-Annihilating Thunder Cataclysm.