The forest city I built for myself was a breathtaking sight to behold at night. The lanterns we bought from the humans illuminated the surroundings, and we were typically more active at night, so the city was bustling with activity! Hunters were returning with giant monster corpses in tow, some Wujia were cooking around a campfire, our children were dashing through the trees, and my beautiful daughters were bathing in the nearby river.

I could see everything from my tree at the center, and I could hardly contain my excitement. Ah, such tender skin glistening in the moonlight—beautiful. Maybe I should invite one of them to my room later... I thought to myself, but this private moment was interrupted by one of the guards. 

"Chieftain! We are under attack!" I would have been angry if she barged in for something trivial, but I found myself hooked by her words instead. 

"Who would dare—" Before I could even complete my sentence, the trees suddenly erupted into flames. It was a sight so heart-wrenching I was at a loss for words. How could it be? We employed the services of powerful barrier mages, who essentially turned our trees into makeshift fortresses. They couldn't be cut by physical means or burned down by any spell less than the A-tier.

"Infernal Flare," I muttered, unable to believe my words. Quickly collecting myself, I turned to the guard and ordered, "Find that Sage! Now!"

"Your word is my command!" She declared and saluted before leaving as quickly as she came, but the Sage wasn't even the beginning of our problems. 

"ROOOAAAARRR!!!" A wild howl could be heard from the forest floor. I looked down to see a Berserker going on a rampage. He must have had a higher level to start with, as my daughters couldn't keep up with him. To the left, I could see Paladins slaughtering my people, and to the right, some Dragon Riders were squaring off against my best warriors. There was chaos everywhere I looked, and it filled me with rage. 

Don't fuck with me! I thought as I jumped down from the center tree. The Berserker was just about to cleave one of my daughters in half, but I quickly pushed her out of the way, weaved, and impaled him through the chest in one flowing motion. As I watched the light in his eyes fade, I thought about my next objective, weighing the options with a heavy heart. I wanted to help my people, but the warriors could add their strengths to mine, so prioritizing them would be the best way to restore order. However, before I could set my plan into motion, a clapping sound caught my attention.

"Bravo! Bravo!" A voice called out from the darkness. From the sound of it, it was a female voice. She was probably quite young, but it was a voice that exuded a sense of confidence, or was it pride? I couldn't tell in the heat of the moment. "You instantly killed a level 100 Berserker in his [Berserk] state!" And that's when I noticed it.

"What's this?!" Glowing rings of light appeared around groups of Wujia, which then proceeded to capture them all securely. Warriors, citizens, it didn't make a difference. None could escape from them. "Release them this instant!" I bellowed, but she casually continued her monologue as she approached me with faint footsteps,

"They're probably only five monsters in the whole world who could pull off such a feat." The light from the fire slowly illuminated her figure, starting from the rapiers she held in each hand. 

"Oh, no..." I muttered under my breath. Once I saw her choice of weapons, I knew all hope of victory was lost. They had cleverly led me into their trap, and now, all that was left was despair.

"Five monsters... aside from me, if it were one-on-one," She said with a confident smile as her face came into the light. In a word, she was beautiful, even in the light armor she chose to wear. Her long black hair and purple eyes were one of a kind, and her noble bearing communicated her background and status quite plainly. She wore a confident, almost carefree smile, but there was a hint of wickedness in her eyes, so faint anyone would miss it if they weren't paying attention. I'm in trouble, I thought to myself as I sized her up.

"I've waited for this day expectantly!" She said, beaming with excitement. "No one else would stand a chance against you. That's how unreasonably powerful you are. It's no wonder why they call you the Spear Demoness."

"You seem to be well-informed," I said with a displeased look.

"Yes, yes, I know all about your exploits..." Just then, a middle-aged Sage walked up to her and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me!" The Sage walked away with an exasperated look on his face, but I couldn't afford to keep track of such details. As she said, I could easily kill all the other classes here. She was the real threat and the only one I had to be wary of. 

"We were sent here to look for the girl. I just wanted us to have some fun as they found her, but it seems like she's nowhere to be found. Any ideas?" Ah, so that's who they're working for. I think I have a solid grasp of the situation now.

"I'd rather die than give her back to that tyrant!"At this, her carefree airs vanished, and a deeply hurt expression surfaced.

"You would call my Goddess, beloved Lady, and reason for living a tyrant? I can't forgive you for that." She moved quicker than I could even follow with my eyes, lunging straight for my heart, but I managed to parry her thrust with the handle of my spear. Whether it was by experience, instinct, or both, I didn't know, but I was grateful. That was dangerous, I thought to myself, but I wasn't out of the woods yet. Relentless attack after relentless attack followed, but I managed to dodge or deflect everything she threw at me. 

"You're even better than I expected," she spoke with a burning fire in her eyes, as if she was enjoying every moment of the fight. "And I wasn't holding anything back. I'd love to see how long you'll last," she said with a delighted look on her face as she resumed her barrage of attacks. Each thrust carried so much weight that I feared my spear wouldn't be able to defend me from a direct attack. This was why I chose to dodge or deflect everything I could, but I was starting to lose steam. She closed in for a thrust to the chest, which I deflected, leaving myself open long enough for her to slash across my face with the rapier in her other hand.

"AAARRGHH!!" I cried out in agony worse than anything I'd ever felt before. It was like all my cells, bones, muscles, and organs collapsed in on themselves several times in that one moment, a pain I couldn't even describe in words that left me rolling on the forest floor for minutes on end.

"You'd make a great sparring partner, so I held back for that last strike. However, it seems like my [Damage Amplification] is more powerful than I thought." She let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Anyway, it serves our purposes. Where is the girl?"

"I'll never... betray... my... daughter..." I managed in spite of the pain.

"Then, you leave me no choice..." I knew what they were planning to do, but I had other plans in mind. People like her were prone to let down their guard at times like these, so I took advantage of the situation and employed one of my favorite tricks: a smoke screen so thick it would render all tracking efforts futile, the ultimate getaway skill I developed from the combination of several ninja techniques.

As she turned to call her allies, I silently clasped my hands and whispered, "[World of Mist]."She tried to move, but it was already too late for them to do anything. As the thick mist enveloped the surroundings, I slipped away, thinking to myself, I'll definitely find a way to rescue my daughters, but for now, I must warn Daphne! That terrible thing is after Kathryn!

"A Noble Duelist..." I suddenly felt cold as the words escaped my lips. Master, when are you going to make your move? That was all I could think of that night as I fled the scene.