NoveLight ™
The moment the starlight-haired woman appeared, the battlefield was instantly cleared.
With a few casual swings of her hand, eight radiant swords of light split the air, slicing through all the minor enemies in half.
The crimson beast had long since been reduced to a corpse after the first slash.
Unbelievable.
So this is the might of a combat power of 12 million!
“Hmm.”
Her gaze landed on him, and Yongyong’s entire body trembled instinctively, like a frog before a snake.
Ah.
So this is what it feels like for humans to quake under Dragon Fear.
Yongyong unwillingly experienced a sudden moment of empathy.
“Tw-twelve million combat power… can it really create such devastating strikes?”
The words slipped out of Yongyong before he realized it.
Ambition.
Of course, Yongyong harbored ambition. There was a reason he had been so fixated on enhancements.
“Hmm? Twelve million? Ah… You must mean the training room’s combat power rankings.”
“…Yes!”
Yongyong prided himself on remembering his own combat power down to the decimal point.
But standing before her, he felt like a frog trapped in a well.
“Hmm. Combat power from the training room is just a number… but if I were to measure it seriously, it’d probably be around 30 million.”
“Th-thirty million?!”
“….”
“Heeek!”
Beside him, Perfe let out a shrill cry.
‘Yeah, that’s the normal reaction.’
The fact that Maxien could casually speak about such astronomical numbers was the real anomaly.
“It’s quite effective. This body was strengthened by some kind of relic I obtained earlier. It seems like it can handle a fraction of my true power.”
Wait, what?!
This wasn’t even her true body?
“Handle”?
Even this body could barely withstand her real power?
And only a fraction of it?
What she showed just now…
Ah.
Yongyong decided to stop thinking about it.
Yes, she’s from another dimension. Let’s not compare myself to her and get depressed.
But Yongyong’s resolve crumbled almost immediately.
“You… are you really this weak?”
TING!
Please don’t say such cruel things with such pitiful eyes!
Yongyong was instantly defeated.
“Well… I suppose it’s impressive that you held your ground against a Quadra Numbering.”
Quadra? What? Did she mean the crimson beast?
It was certainly strong.
Quadra…
The name sounded impressive. Maybe, just maybe, it was an incredibly powerful creature…
“Though it’s the lowest-ranked among the Numbering. Still, it’s a Named entity.”
…Lowest-ranked?
Excuse me?
No, what kind of place do you people come from…?
Yongyong felt like he might achieve enlightenment soon.
Breathe. Calm down.
“…Do you think I could ever become like you, ma’am?”
“You should start by learning how to use your own body properly.”
“Huh? Do you mean I should study martial arts?”
With this incredible metallic body, it might actually be possible!
But that wasn’t what she meant.
“I see you’ve got Ether weapons equipped… and you have an Ether Core, don’t you? Yet you barely even use it.”
“!!”
Wait, does this mean Full Metal Wardragon can evolve further?!
“M-ma’am!! Please train me together with Lady Berdel!”
At that moment—
Ssshh—
“Heek!”
The overwhelming aura Maxien exuded made Yongyong’s scales shiver.
“Hmm. Are you prepared? If your determination is half-hearted, you’d better give up now.”
“!!”
Her frost-like aura made his knees weak.
But if it meant becoming stronger—
“…Yes! I can do it!”
Yongyong shouted with resolve.
But then—
“No thanks. Those without talent give up too quickly. Even with excellent equipment, that’s all you can manage… what a waste.”
TING!
As a dragon once called a prodigy, Yongyong had never been so utterly insulted in his life.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
“Please, ma’am! I’m—!”
“You’re what?”
“I’m Kalstein’s porter!”
“…Huh?”
Her indifferent attitude shifted as soon as the name was mentioned.
“Tell me more.”
“I need to get stronger to serve Sir Kalstein better!”
Did his sincerity reach her?
“…I’ll think about it. Be prepared.”
“Yes!”
He didn’t know what it meant, but he’d take it!
Yes, this is progress!
Ding!
These idiots!
If you want to die, do it alone.
Yongyong quickly closed the community chat to avoid any potential disasters.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem like she was aware of the live broadcast.
If she had seen it… it would’ve been catastrophic.
Yes, better delete the replay too.
“I’ll do my utmost to serve Sir Kalstein!”
“Hmm. I’ll remember that.”
Her final words sent a chill down his spine, but it seemed he had passed the test.
“But you….”
Maxien pointed at the small girl.
“Eek?!”
Perfe, who had been half-daydreaming in her usual state, suddenly jumped and hid behind Baron.
“….”
Baron, now directly in Maxien’s gaze, began to sweat nervously.
‘Her eyes… there’s something predatory about them.’
Like the gaze of a beast. The pressure was so intense it felt like his whole body was being shredded.
Quietly, Baron stepped aside, pushing Perfe forward.
“Heeek!”
The girl, on the verge of tears.
Maxien smiled faintly.
“You’re… quite peculiar. I’m intrigued.”
Trembling—
“Hmm. I definitely want to study you.”
Baron briefly regretted his decision.
Surely, she didn’t mean dissect or experiment on her, right?
Thankfully, it didn’t seem like that was her intent.
“First, you need to stop losing control during combat… hmm.”
Maxien’s sharp eyes scanned Perfe as if analyzing a specimen on a lab table.
Trembling—
“You belong to the Milo lineage, don’t you? Very few of them are this durable. And you have decent attack power too….”
Maxien murmured to herself.
Milo? Who’s that supposed to be?
No, wait, is every one of Kalstein’s allies this monstrous?
Kalstein’s presence was overwhelming, but this woman… she was something else. Raw, untamed power.
“Hmm. It’s nice to see so many usable children.”
Ah.
We pride ourselves on being the strongest in our worlds, yet to her, we’re merely usable.
Baron, with his combat power of 220,000, quietly swallowed his tears.
***
“Maxien again?”
Kalstein shook his head as he read through the report.
When Maxien first arrived in the World, she’d spouted cryptic comments, and now she seemed to be in a slightly elevated mood.
He usually ignored her occasional ramblings, but her decision to train Yongyong and Perfe alongside Berdel wasn’t necessarily bad news.
Especially when considering them.
“Relics… a skyship….”
The Sefirots were brimming with tantalizingly useful abilities and resources.
Thanks to the assistance of Selena and Keisha Winsler, there had been some significant breakthroughs in their research.
The Galactic Empire had developed a new type of possessed body, merging silver liquid and relics with these constructs after deploying them from their labs.
“Still, it seems Maxien’s holding up fine.”
Applying that same technology to his own body, however, would be reckless.
Tampering too much with a possessed body risked destabilizing the balance.
Kalstein knew this all too well, having already gone through two experimental bodies.
“Well, anyway.”
Thanks to the ongoing research, they could now proceed with their larger plan.
“The grand reopening of the World!”
They had already identified the main bases of the Sefirots and the monstrous factions.
Through some unknown method, those forces were reinforcing their armies by connecting dimensions, just like the Empire.
“Ha!”
What a treasure trove. Self-replenishing resources?
For the Galactic Empire, the silver liquid buried in the World was an irresistible resource. Add to that the carcasses of the monsters and the Sefirots themselves—pure gold.
The Empire was already mining the silver liquid, a resource akin to the Sefirot’s "Silver Blood," at an unparalleled speed.
Instead of recklessly pursuing the total annihilation of the enemy, what if they leisurely hunted the Sefirots, collected their corpses, and racked up karma?
And automated this entire process by opening up the World to users?
“Heh.”
It might seem overly ambitious, but the benefits were staggering. No, thinking about the potential utility of the community users, it could be a quadruple win.
At first, Kalstein had worried about how to handle the monsters and the Sefirots.
“Berdel’s possessed body experiment was just too successful.”
If they could summon the Galactic Empire’s heroes on demand?
They’d be ready for any emergency.
While the Empire’s heroes couldn’t be deployed indiscriminately, there was always the option to utilize the community users.
“Still, we’ll need to screen applicants carefully.”
A full-scale opening was premature. They would start by accepting applicants in stages, gradually expanding the roster.
After all, the World was a supremely dangerous battlefield. Accepting the wrong people could lead to a mass slaughter.
Srrk—
“Hmm. We’re getting a lot of interest. That’s good.”
For some reason, since Maxien saved Yongyong and the others, support applications for the World had surged.
Srrk, srrk—
Time to sift through the raw gems.
Kalstein meticulously reviewed the applications from users.
“Considering cases like Perfe, we can’t afford to take this lightly.”
Perfe, selected during the second recruitment phase, had barely made the cut. Her community activity was sparse, and she seemed somewhat incompetent—she was nearly rejected.
But the results defied expectations.
She was now ranked third in the actual rankings.
“Hmm. If we gather a few more users like Perfe, the plan will proceed smoothly.”
The goal was to filter out the gems from the rough.
“Let’s see, who do we have here…?”
Of course, anyone who included inappropriate photos—like certain orc anatomy—in their applications was permanently banned.
“...What the hell….”
Kalstein sighed.
Honestly, he figured as long as he avoided outright lunatics, the applicants should at least meet the bare minimum.