Ding!

[Challenge Domain Completed.]

[You have obtained the following rewards:]

[1. +10 Levels]

[2. Value Changer Card (???, ???)]

[3. 5x Skill Evolution Cards]

A brilliant golden light shone on Caelus as he descended back into the ruined command tower, casually dragging the completely vaporized corpse, or rather, the remaining charred bones, of the Horned Man in his hand.

Ding!

[Level: 1 -> 11]

His combat score remained steady at 1.09, perfectly scaled to the Silver I rank.

Likewise, his Chaos Faction shot up to Level 7. That was the hidden reward for systematically hunting down and permanently purging every single Null Player from all corners of Fortis City. But he only got 3 levels by himself, the other 2 must’ve come from Sylvia since they share the rookie god title.

"Honestly, this Ender’s Origin class skill is just a vastly superior version of my Spirit Tether," Caelus muttered to himself.

Unlike Spirit Tether, his Origin Lock could scale infinitely. Once he eventually broke into the true Gold rank, the chaining area of effect should naturally double from 30 meters to 60.

"Y-You... You are Caelus Kross, right?" City Lord Leon coughed up blood, eyeing Caelus with pure disbelief.

"That would be me," Caelus replied, still casually hovering a few inches off the floor.

"H-How?" Leon asked, his voice trembling. "You awakened on the exact same day as Mia. You joined the exact same server as her."

"How can you possibly possess Gold-rank destructive power in a matter of weeks?!"

"It just happens. What can I say? Must be the vitamins," Caelus replied with a perfectly straight face. "Anyway, have you contacted the trauma team yet?"

"Yeah... they should be here soon," Leon stammered, still shivering.

This was genuinely Caelus Kross. The exact same kid who almost died to a random Silver rank attack a week ago was now casually vaporizing Gold rank Null Players like it was a minor inconvenience.

"Why did that horned freak even break into this specific tower?" Caelus asked curiously, looking around the ruined room. "Is there some sort of hidden treasure inside here?"

"It is just the central barrier rune," Mia replied weakly as she tried to stand up.

"But that horned man possessed a terrifying talent to forcibly merge things. He said he wanted to merge a highly concentrated, lethal toxin directly into the city’s barrier array to gas the entire population."

"Oh. So it’s like that," Caelus nodded.

That made the dead guy’s leftover ashes even more useful.

He swiftly used his talent on the charred bones.

EXTRACTION!

Ding!

[Extraction Successful!]

[You have obtained the Talent: Merge (Upper A-Rank)]

[Merge (Upper A-Rank): Allows the user to flawlessly merge two compatible items or concepts into one. Limit: Three times a day. Cooldown: 24 Hours.]

Ding!

[Your ’Endless Extraction’ talent wishes to consume and assimilate the talent: ’Merge’.]

’Oh? Be my guest,’ Caelus replied mentally.

Ding!

[Assimilation Complete.]

[Starting now, you can freely merge your own Talents to optimize your status window. Unexpected results might come out of it. Even powers you originally didn’t have.]

Caelus smiled brightly. He could finally merge his bloated list of talents. His status screen was getting way too cluttered to read during combat.

"Thank you for saving us, Caelus," Mia said softly. She suddenly tried to bow, but her legs instantly gave out from her severe injuries. She began falling face-first toward the floor.

Caelus moved instinctively and caught her in his arms just in time.

"Are you alright?" Caelus and City Lord Leon asked in unison.

"Y-Yes," Mia nodded, blushing slightly despite the intense pain.

While Mia was still awkwardly cradled in his arms, the ethereal voice of the Angel echoed in his mind again.

"Thank you for saving my disciple. Please check your status window for your reward."

Ding!

[You have obtained the Trait: Holy Cleanse (Mythical, 3-Star)]

[Details: Cleanse any debuff from your team using your CA. If you have no energy left, you can pray to the Guardian Angels and they will do it for you... probably.]

Caelus stared at the system prompt and sighed heavily.

’I fought a Gold rank terrorist for this? I already have Temporal Reset.’

But on the other hand, the massive pile of loot from completing the Challenge Domain more than made up for the lackluster Angelic trait.

Just then, the distinct sound of high heels clicking against the ruined floor echoed through the room. The person exhibiting the terrifying aura of a Silver II expert was approaching.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Caelus turned around and instantly froze.

It was Sylvia. She was walking slowly toward him, radiating a chilling killing intent. A perfectly thin, polite smile was plastered on her face.

"What are you guys doing?" Sylvia asked sweetly.

"Um."

Caelus swiftly let go of Mia.

THUD.

Mia fell flat on the floor with a painful grunt.

"It is not what you think it is," Caelus replied helplessly, raising his hands in surrender.

Why did Sylvia always find him in completely out-of-context, awkward situations with Mia? Now she was definitely going to think he was some shameless brute who used emergency situations to grope the City Lord’s daughter while her father was bleeding out right next to them.

"Is that so?" Sylvia nodded, her smile never wavering as she arrived next to Caelus.

Without a moment of hesitation, she reached out and pinched his side viciously.

Caelus winced, smiling wryly.

Then, just as quickly, she pinched him a second time for good measure.

’This homewrecking woman. I need to assassinate her immediately,’ Sylvia thought, staring literal daggers at the miserable Mia groaning on the floor.

While keeping her sweet smile, Sylvia began aggressively dusting off the exact spot on Caelus’s jacket where Mia had been resting, treating it like highly contagious dirt.

"Ugh..." City Lord Leon finally succumbed to his injuries and heavily collapsed to the floor, passing out.

However, before Caelus or Sylvia could react, several armored aerial medical vehicles swooped in through the shattered windows. A heavily armed trauma team rushed out.

"Please keep a safe distance from the injured!" one of the medics shouted, actively shooing Caelus and Sylvia away to secure the VIPs.

Sylvia grabbed Caelus’s hand tightly and dragged him into the hallway.

"Why were you holding onto that woman?" Sylvia demanded, her red eyes wide and brimming with dramatic betrayal.

"Do you not like me anymore? Do you want to feel another girl’s warmth now? Is that it? Am I too cold to hold because I’m a vampire?!" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What are you even saying? You are very warm. This has nothing to with being cold!!" Caelus said, utterly speechless at her rapid-fire accusations.

Sighing, he simply pulled the overly dramatic Sylvia into a tight embrace.

"I was just catching her so she didn’t faceplant into the concrete. She was too injured to stand. And her master, an actual Angel, was directly in my head giving me a reward. I was distracted reading the system prompt," Caelus explained softly.

He rested his chin on her head. "I only want you in my arms like this."

"If I see you hugging another girl again... I-I will actually kill them," Sylvia muttered, her fangs lightly grazing his collarbone in agitation.

"Murder is generally frowned upon, Sylvia. It will only make you feel worse. Remember the time from the Space League incident?" Caelus joked with a wry smile.

"I do not care. I do not want other women touching what is mine," Sylvia said, her expression turning deadly serious.

She looked up at him critically. "You need to start wearing a mask and a heavy hat before going out in public again. Those horny women will absolutely pounce on you if they see your face. I am never leaving your side again."

"Whenever I leave for five minutes, you miraculously end up with another woman in your arms!"

However, before Sylvia could continue her jealous rambling, Caelus tilted her chin up and kissed her deeply.

Sylvia instantly melted against him. She completely stopped speaking, her arms wrapping around his neck as she eagerly returned the kiss.

Once she finally pulled back, a heavy, adorable blush covered her cheeks.

"Doing these sorts of things in a public hallway... You are so shameless," Sylvia whispered, hiding her face in his chest.

"No one is going to see us here. They are too busy saving the City Lord," Caelus smiled. "Are you happy now?"

"Not yet," Sylvia grumbled softly. "But I will be happy if you give me a vial of your blood so I can freeze it into a popsicle."

"Fine," Caelus sighed speechlessly.

She had been asking for a ’Caelus Blood Popsicle’ since day one. To appease his highly dangerous, overly attached vampire girlfriend, he could only give in to her bizarre culinary demands.