“At last! I’ve been waiting for this for so long…” the unknown warrior wearing full plate armor said, short of breath, as if they were salivating inside the helmet.

Astrid changed her glacial glare for a puzzled look. “Do I know you?”

“Never met. But I know all about you,” the warrior replied, making Astrid snicker. “Yes, yes. I bet you’ve heard that line a million times by now, but I mean it,” the stranger continued. “I’ve been a big fan of yours long before you got notoriety. So what if I’m just here to challenge you as everyone else? Or what? Now that you’re at the top, you no longer fight puny non-rankers, like the other ‘Astrid’ said?”

“We’re not in the top rankings anymore,” Astrid said, looking at her surroundings.

“Ah, sorry. I haven’t caught up on the news yet,” the warrior said, panting with anticipation. “I came here from a faraway land as quickly as possible, and couldn’t think of anything more than to meet you.”

The collapsed buildings, the rain pouring over burning houses, the craters and ruined pavement looked like straight out of a war zone.

Astrid had seen her fair share of ruined environments before, but never inside a city. At least not in The Novus.

She sighed. “If you came to Londorus only to challenge me, congratulations, your little skirmish caught my attention. But why do it here, in the middle of the city? Your rank won’t raise a single position if you beat me, and you’re only making new enemies out of this.”

As the warrior strolled towards her, they let out a quiet laugh. “You wouldn’t have taken me seriously if I didn’t create some ruckus first, and you’re assuming I’m out in public regularly. Fu-fu-fu. But most importantly, I’m not here to become famous by beating you. I’m just here to learn from you.”

“Pardon me?”

Once the warrior stood in front of Astrid, the height difference became enormous. Astrid’s gaze pointed directly to their breastplate, whose convex shape could easily protect a pair of breasts.

“Yes, I’m here to learn from you.” The warrior stretched out their hand. “I can only learn up to a certain point by just watching your Battle Streams. So I really need this.”

Astrid observed that big hand covered by a red gauntlet and chuckled. “You’re kidding me.”

“I’m dead serious. I want nothing more in this world than to spar with you. I’ll improve ten times—No. A hundred times faster this way.” The warrior paused while maintaining her stretched-out hand toward Astrid. “Could you at least give me a friendly handshake? Come on. What are you so afraid of?”

Astrid half-smiled and complied. “It’s nice to make your acquaintance, then.”

“Couldn’t say it better…” 

Both Users shook hands as the gravity around them increased. Then, a fire aura encircled them, evaporating every single raindrop falling over them. Astrid’s calm expression got replaced by a shocked frown, which made the warrior sneer.

“Did you think I was just a pushover?!” The warrior laughed out loud as their grip tightened.

Astrid’s right knee kissed the ground as she finally succumbed to the heavy aura. The very own earth shook in a 300-feet radius, crumbling every remaining wall or still-standing structure inside the zone.

It was only a matter of time until they heard the sound of bones getting crushed.

“Come on, Comet! Show me what you got! The ride to get here was really windy, and I hate flying, so make it worth it!”

“W-what’s this? Y-you-re-not… b-being… repressed…” Astrid said as the mana pressure forcibly pushed her head down.

“That’s right! The Safe Zone’s restrictions are not affecting me! But you’re not going to cry foul, are you?! That’d only stain the precious image I have of you!”

“I don’t care, and I won’t,” Astrid said, before looking up, showing that her eyes had an electric silver glow. “And as a matter of fact, this is perfect! Consider this my handicap!”

The warrior felt it right away. As if a sudden gust of wind had pushed the flames she had just ignited, burning her face.

Astrid’s grip suddenly tripled in strength and kept increasing. The Warrior groaned as they applied all of their force to counteract it.

“Fire Boost, Valor!” the warrior cried, enhancing their strength. An overwhelming red aura emanated around their body.

But it did not matter.

Astrid slowly rose as her hair floated above her nape. A wicked grin adorned her face. “If you wanted to see who's dick is bigger, you got it!” She then giggled like a child. “I’m metaphorically speaking by the way. Tee-hee.”

Astrid finally closed her fist, breaking the enemy’s hand. A second of silence followed as their battle auras disappeared, letting the rain pour over them again.

The Warrior backtracked, watching what seemed to be a folded glove replacing her right hand.

Astrid had seen that scene before.

Either they retreat, or attack with everything they got in a last attempt to… But her train of thought got interrupted by the warrior’s maniacal laughter.

“HAHAHA! I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T LET ME DOWN!”

“That’s new,” Astrid muttered, as she saw the warrior get into a known stance.

Wait a minute…

After the enemy separated her legs and bent her knees, they formed a fist with her left hand, as if they were charging a punch. 

But no… That couldn’t be ‘it’, right?

“Fire Style!” the Warrior proclaimed, exerting a dense, red aura.

It definitely is!

Following her instincts, Astrid performed the same stance in a heartbeat. A battle stance that she had developed during her time in The Novus.

“You know what?! I won’t even get upset that you’re copying my moves, since people do it all the time!”

“THAT’S RIGHT! There’s nothing more beautiful in all The Novus than your fighting style! So, come on, love, help me reach perfection!”

Astrid clenched her teeth and began charging mana too. “Gah! Bloody arsehole! Fire Style!”

The ground cracked, and the surroundings got filled with tiny blue ascending sparkles. As their power increased, everything got obscured for a second, before a blinding light bathed the battleground.

“EAT THIS! METEOR PUNCH!”

“Meteora Ferrum!”

Any User level 30 and below would have evaporated if they had stopped to see the show. Users close to level 50 would get fatal burns, no matter what kind of armor they were equipping. Only Users 80 and up could live to tell the tale with a few scratches after being knocked down by the shock wave.

In the aftermath of this interchange, the area got leveled, except for the very ground they were standing on, which turned into a concave-shaped, 20-inches deep hole.

Every fallen brick disintegrated. The resulting light could be seen from anywhere in the city, catching the attention of Tamara, Astrid’s right hand who was atop her Flying Mount, and some members of the Titan Hunters guild, currently fighting the two-headed dragon.

Astrid’s ears still buzzed moments after she recovered her sight. A true sign that Londorus’ Safe Zone works as intended. But why is this stranger…?

She let her frown show her concern one last time before correcting her posture and stride toward the enemy. The Warrior was found kneeling, 100 feet away. Their left arm dripped blood, looking useless.

“Splendid. Truly splendid,” the warrior said, panting. “I did everything right. It was a true replica of your signature move, executed perfectly. But I clearly lacked strength.” They chuckled, as Astrid maintained a blank expression. The Warrior then stood up and tilted their head left and right, cracking her neck. “Oh, well. I won’t hold back next time.”

Astrid observed their both hands, suddenly forming fists. “Healed already?” she muttered, as a grin slowly formed on her lips. “Sure, why not? What’s your name stranger?”

“Ah. I finally picked your interest, eh? Well, unfortunately, I can’t tell you. I’m nameless. But you can call me ‘The Embodiment of Progress Itself’.”

Astrid pursed her lips while imagining the smugness inside the warrior’s helmet.

My hunch was right, Tamara. Despite the threat that dragon poses, I knew there was something disgustingly strong around this area.

Astrid used her ‘Eye of the Sage’ Active Skill to read the enemy’s status, and checked an increase in their strength. That rampaging dragon it’s a menace, yes, but something tells me that if I don’t take down this wanker, we’ll all bloody regret it…

***

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By 1:15 pm, all of Londorus’ population knew about the dragon terrorizing the city.

Some could see it from their still unaffected homes, or hear its rumbling roar echoing through the streets.

Video recordings of it flooded the Navinet, and Users from all over The Novus promptly named the disaster by many ways: 

‘The Unsuspected Raid’. 

‘The Surprise-Mothaf***** Boss Raid’.

And ‘The Nuke-Dragon Event’.

The few Londorus residents that ventured their way to get a better shot of the monster, ended up vaporized by its death beam, no matter if they were trying to film it from four blocks away.

Although members of the Titan Hunters guild were better equipped, they did not have a better chance of surviving either.

The rampaging dragon held its position as soon as it received the first wave of attacks. Mages capable of firing long-distance spells while riding nimble Mounts, served as a distraction so that the first hunter squad got close unnoticed.

These experienced hunters with maxed Agility status, jumped over rooftops and reached the humongous monster rapidly so they could target its weak spots.

Although not every Novus monster was biologically the same, the Titan Hunters guild had learned to go for the limbs to immobilize it, for the glands and its tail to get rid of its main weapons, and to inflict it with poison or dark-type paralyzing spells to slow it down.

Unfortunately, it did not matter if they were wielding epic-grade, anti-oversized-monster weapons, they could not pierce its scales.

“I’m getting tired of you! Wind Style, Levinal Cut!” one hunter cast, targeting the dragon’s long neck. 

A fountain of blood covered her from helmet to boots. 

“As expected from our resident try-hard!” one of her guild partners cheered. “Way to go, Rita!”

“This is freaking bullshit!” the aforementioned hunter cried, watching the deep wound close up at an alarming pace. She then switched communication channels and reported to her Guild Master: “Ben, this freaking thing has an Enhanced healing factor!”

“Enhanced?” a male voice replied through Party Chat. “Is that the word you’d use, Rita?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! Would you like to swap places and see it yourself?!”

“Okay. Noted. Anything else?”

Before she could speak, Rita watched one of its fellow guilders fall from atop the dragon’s head. “What’s he doing?” she muttered, expecting her partner to make a flip and land safely at the last second, but the body continued in a freefall, all the way to the destroyed street below.

Then, a purple mist covered the entire dragon’s body rapidly.

“POISON!” Rita yelled through Party Chat, alerting the rest of her squad. She then coughed violently as she retreated. “This freaking blows! What the hell is our Poison Resistance doing, huh?!”

Once she jumped over the nearest building, a sudden itch invaded her entire body. “Wait,” she muttered, falling to her knees. “This is not poison…”

She eagerly got rid of her helmet, pauldrons, and breastplate as she started laughing. “He… hehe-he… Ha! Um… Guild Master?”

“What? If it isn’t poison, what is it?”

“I’m afraid that…” Rita grabbed her blade and pointed it against her belly. “T-This tickles! He-hee… HAHAHA! Long live the queen of shadows, asshole!”

A mile away from there, sitting in a back alley, Benjamin Woods, leader of the Titan Hunters guild saw Rita’s status change to offline. He scribbled on an electronic tablet right away.

“I’ll add the ability to cast ‘Mental Corruption’ to the list,” he muttered, as he closely listened to the Mage squad’s transmission.

“Ben! This is not my imagination! The spells bounce back! I repeat, everything we’re throwing at the damn thing bounces back!”

“Magic Immunity, eh? Ah, this brings me memories,” Benjamin said, while adding it to the list. “When was the last time we encountered an enemy that could one-shot us like this?”

“Here comes a big one!” the mage cried, and a deafening sound, accompanied by a quake could be heard and felt at the distance.

“What happened?” Benjamin asked aloud.

“Another fire breath… Although it looks more like a white beam of death,” a girl standing by his side replied, wearing a headset that covered her gaze and ears.

“Another?” The man whistled. “High Mana Capacity, then.”

“It seems so,” the girl whispered. “Let me see if I can measure the distance this time.” She moved her thumb over a remote control on her right hand, and a black drone observing the battlefield from atop the sky started scanning. “The Deathly Ray of Doom leaves a… 870 yards path of destruction. Woah.”

“Really?” The man shook his head. “Fantastic. Fan-fucking-tastic.” He then gritted his teeth while watching a large system screen in front of him, showing the status and position of all of his guilders. “How can a monster of this size know what camping is?”

A male guilder made its way towards him and saluted. “Ben, I mean, sir! I brought Ms. Tamara Morin, from the Shooting Stars guild.”

“Who?” Benjamin narrowed his eyes at him.

The young guilder frowned back. “Um… She alleges to be their Second in Command, sir.” He then pointed towards the petite girl reluctantly approaching them.

A taller, more confident and ‘leader-looking’ black-haired girl pushed Tamara forward.

“Oh, my goodness, there he is…” Tamara said to Helen through private Voice chat, in a distressed tone of ‘telepathic’ voice. “H-He looks pissed.”

“Relax. You’ll do it fine.”

“B-But what if he doesn’t listen?! I’m going to hyperventilate at any moment, I swear!”

“Oh, for the love of—Are you listening to yourself?! Would your rather take that stupid dragon head on than to fulfill your new guilding duties?”

“If that means NOT talking to this man, then yes! You should have seen the last time he and Astrid argued! The poor bar had to be remodeled from the ground up!”

“They paid the damages in full, of course, and later got wasted together among the rubble. Ha! It was so fu--”

“WHEN DID THAT HAPPENED?!”

“You passed out and missed all the fun. Anyway! You should be glad that I’m here, covering your ass!” Helen spanked her guild partner, forcing her to step forward. “Literally. He-he. Come on, go. He’s waiting.”

Tamara bit her lower lip before smiling. “G-Good afternoon, Mr. Benjamin. I’m Tamara Morin. I’m here in representation of Astrid Brad--.”

“About time any of you showed up!” Benjamin shouted, making Tamara squeal. “Where is she?! Where is the Golden Comet?!”

“S-Sorry! But she’s currently battling an equally dangerous enemy.”

Benjamin quietly glanced at her female guilder beside him, who started manipulating her flying drone.

“I see multiple explosions in the distance, near Lancesmith Bridge,” she informed.

“Fine.” Benjamin sighed, running a large hand through his brunette hair. He was the tallest person in that alley. He looked in his late twenties, with a strong yet slim physique. Although his circle beard made his mouth look severe, he gave Tamara a sympathetic look.

“I heard the news... A portion of your guild quitted, right? It’s a relief to see that although you are not in the best of conditions, you’re willing to help. Tell Astrid Bradford later that I appreciate it, okay? How many men did you bring?”

“Thank you, sir,” Tamara replied, calming herself. “Londorus is also our home, so Shooting Stars will always be here to protect it.” She then pursed her lips. “I’ve brought 25 guilders with me.”

The man stood silent for a bit, giving her an apologetic stare. Tamara knew what he was thinking: ‘Shooting Stars has really fallen from grace.’

“All right, let me give you a summary of what we’re dealing with,” Benjamin said, enlarging a System Window so they could see a map of the area. “What once was a rampaging monster, it’s now keeping its distance from us. Like a bloody camper, sniping everything in sight.”

“Excuse me, what do you mean by sniping?” Helen asked, as an explosion and a tremor occurred.

“Another Death Beam,” the girl on look out informed.

Benjamin stared at Helen, annoyed. “No matter from where we attack it, that thing fires a quick, devastating, long-ranged beam at us. And, if we get too close, it creates some sort of black hole that kills you instantly. As a matter of fact, everything the dragon does it’s a One-hit KO. It’s long-ranged breath, its tail swing, its magic.”

“Well,” Helen exhaled. “It’s a Superior Summon. I expect no less from it.”

Benjamin’s face turned red immediately. “Listen, sweetheart, we eat monsters like this for breakfast every week. It’s only a matte of—”

“Why are your guilders dying like flies, then?” Helen asked defiantly with a nasty smirk on her face.

Benjamin directed his glare towards Tamara. “Who the hell is this woman? Does she speak for you?”

“NO! Absolutely NOT!” Tamara cried, raising her palms. “She’ll remain quiet for the rest of our meeting.” She then turned towards Helen. “Isn’t that right?”

“You got it, boss!” Helen sneered, hid her hands inside her jacket and leaned over the wall behind her.

Benjamin loudly exhaled before continuing. “Listen, Tamara Morin. There’s no time. Help my guild prepare an all-out attack, all right? So tell your guilders to be ready in--”

“S-She’s not wrong, though…” Tamara whispered, making the man raise his eyebrows. “I mean… your major mistake may be that you’re treating it as any other raid boss.”

“Way to go, Tammie!” Helen cheered through their Private Chat.

Benjamin looked upset, and was about to express it with great ire, but Tamara quickly added with a broken voice:

“A-As I was saying, you’re trying to overpower something that is not following the rules! Unlike us, that thing is not being debuffed by the Safe Zone. So, no matter how many legendary weapons you may have, no matter how many men we throw at the thing, we won’t be able to outclass it. We should approach it in the same way we used to, back then, when bosses were way out of our league!” She then paused, acting feeble again. “But by the look on your face, you already knew that…”

“Let me guess, first day as a Sub-Commander?”

“Y-Yes…”

Benjamin chuckled. “To be fair, Tamara Morin, I realized that we were greatly outmatched just before you showed up. Well? Any idea on how we should deal with this menace?”

“I have some ideas… yes…” She cleared her throat first. “How many Priests do you have?”

Benjamin gave her a funny look before replying. “Still active? Three.”

“Warlocks and witches?”

“Five.”

“Flying Mounts—Wait, let me correct that. Your fastest Flying Mounts?”

“Four. Epic tier,” Benjamin quickly replied, as his mind started working. “It’s easier to dodge in the sky… eh. Is that what you’re thinking?”

“As a starting point, yes…”

“All right, Tamara. Tell me more.”