Inside the Hyperdomain Test Site.
The purple-haired woman stared in silence at the hyperdomain apparatus before her, feeling the flow and pulse of hyperdomain energy.
The Riftlanders' army was still assembling. In the short term, no one should have been able to reach this place.
Those Riftlanders were useless more often than not—but at least they were somewhat useful. Even if not by much.
But most of the time, accidents happened more often than plans.
For example—
Right now.
"…That shortcut really is fast."
Bai Ling stood at the gate of the hyperdomain test site, taking in the vast expanse before him: the hyperdomain rift in the sky that continuously spewed energy, and the purple-haired woman at the center—standing like a thunderbolt in the very heart of it all.
"Did we come too soon? Didn't even give you time to prepare a proper welcome."
His tone carried a hint of teasing when he saw her again—yet the Command Seal on the back of his hand was already changing, quietly, subtly.
It still hadn't fully recovered, but controlling her for a single instant?
That would absolutely be possible.
"You… what are you, exactly?"
With the memory of being forcibly controlled still fresh, Nephis didn't allow Bai Ling to come any closer this time. Her eyes—like a viper's—locked onto him from dozens of meters away. The core in her hand flashed with a blood-red glow.
She hadn't finished her masterpiece yet. Using it now would be a waste.
With that in mind, she casually tossed the thing back into the corrosion behind her, never letting the distance between them close.
"…Me? Just an Originium Arts tester who wants the environment here to improve. If things stay this awful, how am I supposed to test Originium Arts?"
He spoke nonsense with a straight face, but he could already feel it—here, at the point closest to the rift, that faint "connection" had reached its peak.
[Summoned · Drac]
A streak of gray was born into the world—then flames bloomed into crimson.
A girl in a black dress appeared, a longsword in hand. Jet-black horns rose from her head; her face carried a stern authority even in stillness. Behind her, a black dragon tail split into four forked strands.
But what truly drew the eye wasn't any of that—
It was the sword.
Her eyes were closed, as if acclimating to the surroundings.
The instant Bai Ling got a clear look at her, words failed him.
At the same time, the horned eagle-like mark on the back of his hand began to change.
Not into a "normal" dragon face, but into the side profile of a dragon's skull, slowly revealing itself.
[Command Seal Uses: 3/3]
[Recovery Time: /]
In the next heartbeat, the girl opened her eyes.
Those gray irises held an indifferent gaze—not contempt, not hatred, but something closer to equal regard for everything, as if all things were weighed the same.
A terrifying pressure erupted instantly.
Nephis's eyes widened. She retreated explosively.
The girl swept her gaze around, then turned toward the person with whom her connection was strongest.
"…Where is this?"
Talulah remembered she had been fleeing.
After killing Koschei, she could still hear that man's strange, lingering whispers—words that seemed intent on rotting her from within.
She'd finally found a place to rest.
And then she opened her eyes and was here.
And this didn't look like a dream.
"This is another world, Talulah."
"Another world?"
She still hadn't fully processed it—when, in the next instant, a horrifying surge of energy flared behind her.
Sensing immediately that something was wrong, Nephis attacked without hesitation.
But in front of a Drac with both terrifying potential and terrifying strength, that attack didn't amount to much.
Talulah lifted her sword.
Scorching firelight burst outward, crushing the strike and burning it apart as if it never deserved to exist.
"…Not Originium Arts… but it resembles Originium Arts?"
After a single contact, Talulah made her judgment. But since the other party had already moved first, she would respond.
The next moment—
Her figure vanished from where she stood.
The air warped with heat, as if the world itself had begun to burn.
Bai Ling reflexively grabbed Eyldera's hand and pulled her back.
When Nephis finally realized where the attack might come from, the ground had already flushed red.
A colossal slash detonated outward, tearing the earth open—nearly splitting the entire test site in two—its trailing flames scattering for dozens of meters before fading.
After doing all that with effortless ease, Talulah's figure reappeared. She stared at Nephis with cool, detached eyes.
One simple exchange was enough.
The situation was obvious.
Just then, several figures finally arrived at the scene.
Nephis's expression turned ugly. The core she'd thrown into the corrosion quietly flowed back into her hand.
Perhaps because her opponent didn't seem particularly impressive, Talulah even had the leisure to survey her surroundings.
Then she saw someone—
A figure with two horns, gripping a sword with both hands, whose silhouette was uncomfortably similar to someone she once knew.
Talulah froze for a fraction of a second.
Then she shook her head.
The face didn't match. And that dragon was far too weak.
But… there really was something similar.
Deal with what's in front first. Ask questions later. Maybe there'll be something to gain.
Noticing that the mysterious swordswoman seemed to be looking her way, Chen Qianyu felt a flicker of confusion—but she tightened her grip on her weapons anyway.
Something about this newcomer felt off.
But Bai Ling and Eyldera were here, and the newcomer had struck at Nephis—
So she shouldn't be an enemy.
Better to focus on how to deal with Nephis first.
"Hmph."
With a cold snort, Nephis gently tossed down the corrosion core—and her figure shifted, slipping away and disappearing.
In the next instant, the enormous energy pouring from the hyperdomain rift began to condense, assembling like flesh being built from scratch.
In only a few seconds, a blood-red statue formed—accompanied by multiple tentacles that swept across the entire battlefield.
"Strong angelic signature detected! It's a giant angel!"
The detector Perica carried blared its warning.
Talulah frowned slightly and tightened her grip on her sword.
Compared to these tentacles' performative "sweeping"—
Her sweep was the real thing.
Heat enough to melt steel poured from her strange black-steel blade. Wherever the edge passed, terrifying thermal pressure lingered.
There were almost no techniques.
No fancy forms.
Only overwhelming energy—and unmatched physical power.
And because of that style, this hastily-born giant angel was like a raw recruit—utterly incapable of resistance.
Every tentacle melted beneath Talulah's blade, smooth as slicing tofu.
For reasons she couldn't name, Talulah felt an instinctive disgust toward this thing.
After all the tentacles were severed, the angel's rushed construction finally exposed its core—drawing everyone's eyes, inviting them to destroy it.
Watching from the side, Nephis smiled.
Yes.
That's it.
Even if it wasn't finished—
it was already enough to become a terrifying calamity, a threat to all of No. 4 Valley.
....
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