Ever since Hill left Egisia Academy, she flew day and night, hooves drumming across the sky, toward the North Abyss Continent, just to see the boss she dreams of—Yumigawa Sumeragi.

Following Yumigawa Sumeragi’s aura into Cerol City, capital of the Basiloth Empire, Hill arrived wrung dry, wings heavy like rain-soaked silk. From Egisia Academy to Basiloth was nearly a third of the world, and even after healing pushed her strength to Divine Novice, nonstop flight gnawed at her bones.

Near Cerol City, his aura blazed like a beacon. Joy rose in her chest like dawn over ice. She prepared to rush in, but battle exploded inside the city—three fronts, three storms.

To play it safe, Hill slipped into her petite loli form and folded her presence away, a dragon hiding its thunder. Her true body was too vast—too easy to spot. She slid into the high air above the fighting, quiet as moonlight. At first, seeing Yumigawa pressed hard by a burly man, she ached to dive in. But the man’s power sat beyond her horizon. If she went, she’d only be a weight around their ankles. So she swallowed the urge, and with childlike stubbornness she racked her brain for any way to get them out alive.

Then it clicked. Before she left Egisia Academy, Xinuo had told her, “You carry a token that can return you to the Dragon Realm in an instant. I think it’ll be useful soon.”

Right! I’ve got the Dragon God token Dad gave me. If I can get everyone back to the boss, I can take them straight to the Dragon Realm!

At that thought, her cute brows finally unknotted. Maybe Master saw this coming and sent me to find the boss on purpose. Of course he did!

Her respect for Xinuo rose like incense smoke. Hill unfurled her domain and braided it into the landscape, silver silk over stone, so she could hide better. She waited for the right beat to signal Yugami Rexiao, Lingsaki, and Tianyu Lixue and Lanxia.

…

Wilsar’s offense grew fiercer, a storm sharpening its teeth. Even with Shattered Light’s power triggered to a mere one percent, I couldn’t counter. I could only defend and get driven back, step by step. I wanted to avenge the hacked hair, but I was out of strength. In the Law Realm, you can’t outpace opponents with borrowed power; their rules crush your tricks.

My hair now was even shorter than Lixue’s. Cut clean by Wilsar’s katana, it sat neat as a slate edge—annoying, but tolerable.

“Destruction: Invisible Sword.”

I pulled a breath of distance and rammed all my sword aura together, forging a giant blade with no clear shape. I brought it down on Wilsar like a mountain falling.

Wilsar blurred his katana and whipped a sword wind that howled like a winter river. It scattered my giant blade with a single sweep. I had no choice—I condensed sword aura as I swung, flinging ‘Sword Qi Dance’ to lattice his wind, buying a heartbeat to slip aside.

I dodged the wind—and ran straight into Wilsar, now split into several streaks of sword light. Out of the tiger’s jaws, into the wolf’s den. No time to down a Holy Healing Fruit. I yelled for every sword in my Sword Domain to strike Wilsar. Once Shattered Light’s power triggers, a domain condensed to a point springs back to its full field.

Disappointingly, it barely slowed him. My body faltered. Shattered Light’s gold faded, a sunset bleeding away. Time was running out.

No escape. No shelter. So I bet everything. I burned my last strength and swung Shattered Light at my fastest pace.

“Reverse Sword: Killer’s Shadow!”

Clang!!

Blade met blade, a crisp bell in a temple, and behind the music lay life and death.

Shattered Light was tougher than Wilsar’s katana by a mile, the iron of a vow against the edge of ambition. It absorbed most of the force. Rebound flung me ten meters, but that distance was enough—I threw back a Holy Healing Fruit and let its light melt through my limbs.

Exhale—alive again. But I only had one Holy Healing Fruit left and no spare elixirs. If I burn out again and still can’t find a way to break off, I’m done. I hate this cornered feeling.

“You managed to chip my beloved blade.” Wilsar eyed the nick, calm as winter stone. “Material-wise, an Origin Artifact is worlds apart.”

“Let’s end the warm-up here.”

He stitched the katana whole with the Law’s power, then looked at me. “Honestly, I don’t want to snatch your Origin Artifact by force. Same offer—hand it over, and I’ll let you all walk away. Good deal, isn’t it?”

“…I refuse.”

If I handed over Shattered Light, even a crate of Supreme Divine Spirit Medicine couldn’t pull me back from that cliff. For a Sword Wielder, the sword in hand is the soul’s most precious thing. You don’t surrender your soul.

“Pity.” Wilsar’s gaze sharpened like frost. “Turned me down again and again. Then I’ll stop holding back. Take care.”

His katana rose, fell—clean as a guillotine.

“Rend the Sky.”

I heard a brittle crack, like ice underfoot. The air around us fractured like glass, a web of wounds opening in the space itself.

The pressure hit like an ocean. My breath jammed in my throat. I slammed a wall of sword aura up around me, and the weight eased a fraction.

But the cracks spread, and the pressure swelled. My “wall” broke like bean curd, soft and useless before a hammer.

“Extreme Sword: Flash Blade!”

I snapped behind Wilsar, the safest place in a storm’s eye, and slashed. As expected, he blocked it without blinking.

Before he recovered his katana, I condensed a sword of aura in my left hand and drove it forward.

“Sky Sword: Moonbreaker!”

Before the tip reached him, a strange, vast power unraveled my blade. It fell to raw energy and drifted apart. Wilsar’s fist slammed in. I dodged by a hair, but the gust alone raked my insides. My gut flipped. Blood rose; I spat it red.

He rushed again. I ignored the burning pain. I hurled the swords of my Sword Domain forward, wheeling around him like a flock.

“Absolute Sword Array: Piercing Heart!”

I didn’t expect it to stop him. I only prayed it would buy me enough time to swallow my last Holy Healing Fruit.

“How many elixirs do you have left?”

He broke the array in a breath and sighed, like a teacher watching a prodigal. “From the start till now, you’ve thrown away so many Supreme Divine Spirit Medicines. It hurts to watch. Used properly, they’d create far more value.”

“Nothing to cry over. Elixirs? I’ve got plenty.”

In truth, I had nothing left. The bluff was a paper screen.

“That’s why people want to overturn the Mizumi Clan.” Wilsar’s tone didn’t rise, but the words cut like sleet. “Others kill each other for a scrap of resources. The Mizumi Clan monopolizes the Central Continent, then wastes it for convenience.”

He stopped suddenly, speaking as if the fight were a lecture hall. “Frankly, the Mizumi Clan isn’t fit to be this world’s hegemon. What do you think, Yumigawa Sumeragi?”

“…What are you really trying to say?”

Strangely, I didn’t snap back. The anger hung, but the words held.

“A world hegemon matters because it radiates its supreme status and strength, leading and driving the world’s growth.” His voice was steady, a law recited. “The Mizumi Clan? Let’s ignore the monopoly for a moment. For centuries, you’ve ignored everything beyond your borders, and barred any outsider from setting a single foot on the Central Continent.

“In imperial terms, your clan is a decadent emperor—concerned with pleasure, not the realm. Not fit to be a hegemon. Worse, you not only refuse to lead, you suppress everyone else’s rise.”

He shook his head and sighed, as if closing a book. “Enough. Words won’t change this. I’m tired of practicing against children. Farewell.”

The rule-forged sword wind slammed toward me, a storm of commandments. Stronger than all his attacks combined. Dodging was impossible; the space around me was sealed tight as a tomb.

Jaw clenched, I rammed sword aura into Shattered Light and braided in the Primordial Source. I fired the strongest strike I’ve ever made.

“Sky Sword: Radiance!”

…

“Cough… cough…”

I didn’t know how far I’d been flung. My thoughts thinned like smoke. My body felt crushed to gravel. I couldn’t move.

A white-haired old man stepped out of a nearby shadow, spear in hand, armor heavy as a tomb door. His face twisted with mania as he charged.

“Ahaha! Killing you will do. Let those sisters taste the grief of losing blood!”

…Pfft!!

Before his spear fell, a loli voice cracked from above—“Don’t you dare hurt the boss!”—sweet as a bell, sharp as lightning. Then the old man and his spear got punched straight into the ground by a cute silver-haired loli.

“…Hill?” I forced the word out.

“Boss, hold on! I’ll send you all to the Dragon Realm now!”

“All of us?”

At some point, Yugami Rexiao, Lingsaki, and Lixue and Lanxia had gathered around me, eyes wet with worry, refusal burning in their faces.

“Silver World!”

Seeing Wilsar closing in, Hill pushed her domain to its limit. In a blink, heaven and earth turned pure silver, beautiful and blinding. The glare was so sharp Wilsar raised a hand to shield his eyes.

Hill whipped out a token carved with the two characters for “Dragon God.” “Plane Transfer—Dragon Realm!”

A gentle light wrapped us like warm snow, and my consciousness finally let go.