A Drac.
A born sovereign—one of the apex races that stand at the very top of the world. Bai Ling didn't know whether Talos-II had Dracs at all, but one thing was beyond doubt:
Talulah's strength—born from the union of Drac blood and true-dragon lineage—was the kind of terrifying that defied imagination.
Back in Chernobog, a single slash had melted an entire city block; even her blade had struggled to endure the heat of that power. And her physique wasn't merely "Drac-tier" either—she carried the brutal might of a Vouivre as well.
She stood there without moving, calm and indifferent, simply waiting for the monster before her to finish revealing its true form.
The world's colors shifted.
Blood-red became the dominant palette of reality itself. From the sky, a viscous crimson fluid began to trickle down, wrapping the entire Hyperdomain Proving Grounds—and slowly spreading outward.
At the heart of that scarlet world, a pure-white figure condensed into being: two legs, six arms, a humanoid face, vaguely similar to Nephis. Its body was segmented, jointless, lifeless—no breath, no pulse—only a blood-red core embedded in its chest.
The moment it appeared, the pressure from the Hyperdomain Rift intensified again, imposed equally on everyone present.
Time, terrain—everything favored the enemy.
"…Administrator—watch out!"
Perica's voice was tight with urgency.
"An angel—on the same level as that three-pillar angel from before, maybe even beyond it. A giant-class entity!"
As she spoke, the gray-haired girl stepped forward, unhurried, placing herself in front of everyone. She held her long sword reversed in her hand, its tip dragging near the ground.
These three look kind of… hopelessly clueless. Better protect them a bit.
That was her honest assessment.
The instant she settled her stance, countless spears silently manifested in the sky. A pair of enormous wings spread behind the angel—eerily flawless, perfectly symmetrical.
It ascended with elegant, measured steps, gazing down at the earth—
and then, like a falling star, it plunged.
The spears and its body alike came crashing down together.
Talulah raised her sword in silence and closed her eyes. A faint crimson sheen crept across the edge.
"—Hah…"
A thin white mist spilled from her lips.
And time itself seemed to thicken, as if the world had suddenly slowed.
The spears—carrying the weight of heaven's authority—were already upon her, vicious and unstoppable, the angel's killing move following right behind them.
Everything was within just a few meters of her black dress.
She opened her eyes.
Within those draconic pupils, gold seemed to flow—emotionless, utterly primal in its cold indifference.
The reversed blade finally lifted.
The next second—
Scorching heat swept the world.
Her sword tip flashed, and a blinding radiance detonated outward, swallowing the entire Proving Grounds.
Far away in the Hub Zone, Qin Jiangchi was anxiously coordinating support for the Ore Vein Source Area. She'd just stepped outside the hub center, trying to relieve her overloaded mind—
when she turned her head and saw, above the Hyperdomain Proving Grounds, a second sun rising once more.
She'd wanted to relax.
Instead, she felt her brain simply… stop working.
Back at the Proving Grounds—
When the light faded, Talulah was still standing exactly where she'd been.
As a Drac, she disdained taking even a single step back before an opponent like this.
And what she'd just done wasn't like her earlier "testing" slash that merely countered an attack.
After killing Koschei, she should have been exhausted—body and mind alike.
But the moment she arrived here, every physical issue, every mental strain… seemed to have been wiped clean.
Her condition was better than it had ever been.
As if she'd been reborn.
No strange whispers. No insidious doctrine urging her to "accept" anything.
Right now, she felt like she could do anything.
After enduring Talulah's horrifying strike, the angel's body began to re-form. Its core replaced its eyes, locking onto Talulah with a dead, unwavering stare. Its frame—made from hyperdomain energy and some unknown mineral—now carried visible damage.
Most common attacks meant nothing to an angel that could freely rebuild itself.
But that strike just now was different.
Talulah's blade carried a rule—something like destruction itself.
In front of her, the angel's regeneration was worthless.
Above them, the Hyperdomain Rift slowly expanded, while the angel stood upright, perfectly composed.
A normal person would spiral into fear and weakness faced with a sight like this—
but if an angel could feel emotion, then the one sinking into negative feelings might have been the angel.
Still, this angel was far from simple.
A subtle, rotating sound drifted through the air. When everyone looked up, they saw blood-red fluid seeping from the Hyperdomain Rift.
Energy from another world poured into this one, gathering, stitching itself onto the angel's body.
A flicker of fire appeared in its hand—something that made Talulah feel a faint, unsettling familiarity.
The flame sharpened.
And then a massive sword took shape.
"A sword… and fire? A crude imitation—something that only looks the part."
Talulah reached that conclusion effortlessly, without a hint of concern.
But Perica—watching from the back the entire time—caught the real problem.
This angel…
was learning.
On Talos-II, the reason the civilization ring could temporarily defeat angels—aside from the Administrator's brilliance—was simple:
Angels were dead things.
They were weapons.
They did not learn.
They did not adapt.
But this one was different.
It was copying. Imitating.
Talulah's terrifying power surfaced in its hand—distorted, weaker by far, full of flaws… but unmistakably the same idea.
It had even abandoned its spears, choosing instead to grip a sword.
And then it lunged forward, hacking down.
Perhaps genuinely intrigued, Talulah didn't seem inclined to end this farce. She raised her sword lightly to meet it—
then, as if remembering something, she turned her head toward the others who still couldn't even enter the battle.
Her gaze lingered—especially on Chen Qianyu.
"…That dragon over there. Watch my movements carefully."
Though she didn't know what connection that little dragon might have to her younger sister—same mother, different father—
anything involving her sister mattered to Talulah.
No matter how many years had passed, it was still the same.
How is she doing…?
With that thought—
Talulah's pace subtly accelerated.
Steel rang with crisp, clean clashes.
Chen Qianyu stared at the fight, her face full of disbelief—and something else.
A strange sensation.
She was certain she'd never met this person before… and yet, the aura on her felt familiar.
But no matter how she searched her memory, she couldn't place whose presence it resembled.
At the same time, Bai Ling saw it—
information related to Talulah.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it