The System Sent Me to Breed an All-Female Amazon Tribe-Chapter 216: This [Imaginary Barrier] of Mine

These so-called "demon generals" I hadexpected to be as powerful as the Queen all turned out to be a complete fluke.

The Children as a whole were way weaker than the Eldest Born; cannon fodder, really.

The real threat had always been the Eldest herself, still watching from afar.

But something occurred next that shifted everything—

As Clay continued her relentless assault on the Second Born, she swept its legs out from under it with a low, spinning kick that sent the towering figure crashing backward onto the torn earth.

In the same fluid motion, she leaped forward, wrapping her powerful thighs around its head like a vice.

With a violent twist of her hips and a surge of raw strength, she cracked its neck in a sickening, audible snap that echoed across the battlefield.

The Second Born’s body went rigid for a single, frozen heartbeat—its grey limbs locking up unnaturally—before it slumped lifelessly to the ground.

Its form began to dissolve almost immediately: wet clay collapsing inward on itself, bubbling and steaming as it melted back into the scorched, pitted soil.

Clay’s small frame tensed, and what remained of her shattered club raised in a ready grip, her violet hair still whipping from the breeze and the momentum of the kill.

She landed lightly on her feet, already turning her head to pivot, to face the next enemy when—

[Clay, watch out!!]

I immediately sent the urgent warning through the telepathic link, pouring as much force and clarity into it as I could.

Thankfully, she responded instantly, her instincts kicking in without hesitation.

She tilted her head sharply to the left just as a blinding lance of golden light erupted from the "dead" Second Born’s face.

You see, that Second Born... had played dead.

It did so perfectly, without any twitch or flicker of life to betray the ruse until the very last second.

...As I had suspected, they were clever, far more cunning than the mindless, swarming Lesser Children that mindlessly charged but melted under attack.

This one had waited for the perfect opening, biding its time with chilling patience against a powerful opponent.

And while Clay’s attention had shifted for that split second, it wasted no time.

The golden glow, posing to be eyes, that had been smoldering in its featureless face suddenly concentrated into a single, searing point right between where a mouth should have been.

And I realized in an instant what was coming: it intended to unleash a full-powered blast at point-blank range.

But Clay jerked her head aside at the last possible moment.

The golden beam whipped past her, close enough to lash her violet hair aside in a violent flutter, the sheer force of it carrying a threatening, almost tangible malice.

The near-miss sent a shockwave rippling outward, and Roselyn—watching from her own fight—screamed at me through the link and aloud.

"Benjamin, brace yourself!!"

But she didn’t need to say it. I had already knew the incoming threat.

BAAAMMM!!

The golden blast detonated just a few short meters away from the mouth of the forest.

It slammed directly into [Imaginary Barrier] and stopped dead, like an invisible wall had materialized out of thin air to swallow the attack whole.

The beam crumpled against nothing, flaring brilliantly for a heartbeat before dissipating into harmless sparks that fizzled out against the unseen shield.

Only faint bits of residual wave and a heavy, rushing breeze managed to slip through—rustling my hair, tugging at my clothes, and carrying the rough scent of scorched ozone and molten earth.

Behind the barrier, the ground where the blast had struck was clinically burned: a deep, smoking crater gouged into the soil, wide and jagged enough to bury a small house if you filled it with dirt.

So strong.

If a single strike like that had met Clay’s cute head, it would have been history; vaporized and erased in an instant.

The raw power behind it made my stomach twist a bit.

Ah, but I see now... I see the shape of it clearly: This [Imaginary Barrier] of mine only allows through what I consciously permit.

It keeps out what I designate as threats, but it doesn’t automatically block secondary effects like shockwaves, heat bleed, or concussive force unless I specifically classify them as dangerous too.

And I hadn’t factored in those residual waves and pressure as "threats," so the barrier had let them pass while stopping the core blast only.

Hmmm. That means there are loopholes, dangerous ones, in the ability.

A smart enemy could exploit those gaps, finding ways to attack me indirectly even through this supposedly absolute defense.

I guess it’s something to keep in mind for later.

But wow—just from blocking that one attack, I felt my magic reserves drain noticeably.

It wasn’t a massive loss, but it hit like a sudden, hollow pang in my core.

Magic depletion feels a lot like getting hungry in an instant: your body suddenly registers an emptiness, a faint weakness spreading through your limbs, your thoughts turning sluggish for a moment as everything recalibrates.

You can understand why I fainted after creating Vaelora’s physical form, even though I hadn’t even lost thirty percent of my total magic pool back then.

The sheer intensity of the draw can overwhelm you faster than the actual percentage suggests.

[Amazing, Benjamin! I didn’t know you had an ability like {Stronghold} this whole time. And it completely severed that space between the attack and the forest; nothing got through except a little wind!] [Rose]

[I told you! Now trust me and face those creeps already. Focus on them... I’ve got the perimeter locked down.] [Ben]

[Roger that! But you know, these guys are really hard to hurt. Clay snapped that one’s neck clean in half, but nothing seemed to happen until just now. It just... kept going like it didn’t feel it.] [Rose]

Ah, yeah, I had noticed that too.

I think one big question was already forming in my mind: why did they even have bones in the first place?

It wasn’t necessary.

With their somewhat liquid, clay-like bodies, they could simply maintain the rough shape of a person through sheer cohesion.

There was no need for rigid internal structure.

So maybe these other lesser titans that seemed so formless at first weren’t truly so: they were just not yet able to keep their humanoid shapes stable for long periods.

Did that mean if left alone long enough, they would learn andadapt?

Evolve into something more like these Borns?

Hold up, if that happened... more of these general-types could emerge from the successful "learners."

Mega yikes.

These things were actually apocalyptic-level dangerous.

Not just threats to a forest or a battlefield, they could become existential if allowed to spread and grow unchecked.

They had to be exterminated quickly, before any of them had the chance to mature further.

For now, though, I had a plan taking shape.

[Roselyn, I don’t think the current formation is effective anymore.] [Ben]