Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Caelus stood on top of the walls of Town 304. Right next to him were the Golden Knight Prime and Sylvia.

[Name: Prime]

[Status: Retainer]

[Race: Knight]

[Rank: Lesser Knight II]

[Level: 21 (Capped)]

[Combat Score: 120.6]

[Origin Skills: Excalibur Umbra (Legendary)]

[Regeneration Cost: 90 Mana]

Prime had already leveled up to Lesser Knight II status.

He was incredibly strong now.

Every player in Town 304 stared at Caelus and his group with a mix of emotions: some with disdain, some with concern, and some with nervous excitement.

Caelus stood with his arms crossed on top of the wall, his long black cardigan fluttering heavily in the wind.

"Who gave you the permission to initiate the gamble?" Caelus asked politely. "Friend, do you not know this matter is something you should discuss with every other town leader?"

"Why would I do that?" Sebastian snorted loudly. "All the town leaders that you haven’t claimed until now, they now belong to me. Including Kaiser, who once reached the Mana-Punk Era with you."

"The Domain is mine!" Sebastian stretched both of his hands out, several complex magical circles violently flaring up around him. "The merged region is just the beginning. When we connect to those in different kingdoms, I will show everyone what true power looks like."

"I will make an absolute empire out of the domain. With players that follow my every command, with one wave of my hand, armies will be unleashed upon everyone. I will then overtake the entire world and build my own kingdom."

"Those who stand in my way have no reason to live," Sebastian exclaimed as he thrust his hand out toward Caelus.

[Magic Activated: Jirasad] 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Brrzt!

Several magic circles instantly formed around Caelus, and from them, destructive black lightning shot out.

Boom!

However, just before it could even reach Caelus, a blinding golden light erupted from the area.

[Origin Skill initiated: Excalibur Umbra]

The golden light was absolute, shooting high into the sky before it violently changed trajectory and shot directly toward Sebastian.

[Spell Initiated: Iris (Anti-Magic)]

The Excalibur Umbra shooting toward Sebastian was immediately neutralized, dispersing into harmless golden motes.

"Oh?" Caelus was genuinely surprised by this.

An Excalibur Umbra at a combat score of 120 was stopped cold?

This was insane.

[Name: Sebastian Harvick]

[Talent: Mage (Upper A-Rank)]

[Class: Mage]

[Rank: Iron II]

[Level: 21]

[Combat Score: 130]

"Interesting." Caelus smiled upon seeing this.

"The thing you just used. Was that Anti-Magic? A spell that can negate anything that works on mana?" Caelus eyed him in a new light.

This man might be overwhelmingly arrogant, but he actually had the skills to back it up!

"Precisely." Sebastian let out an arrogant, mocking laugh.

"You cannot win against me, Player 555. I am a true Mage. Mages are feared across the Azure Origin Planet and the Domain alike."

"Now die!" Sebastian became even more aggressive. He drew a magic staff that seemed to have merged with a longsword. He pointed it directly at Caelus as he initiated an even more powerful, devastating magic spell.

[Spell initiated: Refla]

Several highly complex magical circles covered Caelus, Prime, and Sylvia in an instant. Immediately, a terrifying, white-hot flame burst forth from them.

The world briefly flashed black and white as a massive mushroom cloud erupted from the exact spot Caelus was standing.

"This spell completely ignores any shield or defense. It is an extremely potent Mage class skill! You will not survive, Player 555!"

The smoke slowly cleared; however, Caelus was nowhere to be seen.

"They’re gone." One of the players spoke in awe.

However, just as Sebastian’s smile twisted into a look of absolute victory, he froze stiff.

"You think killing us is that easy?" Caelus smiled coldly. "Keep dreaming."

Caelus was standing right next to Sebastian, closer than a shadow.

"You-" Just as he was about to continue speaking, Caelus’s eyes flashed with a dangerous red light as he froze in place.

Caelus slowly, effortlessly lifted him up into the sky by his throat.

"Y-You... let go," Sebastian choked out in absolute terror, his arrogance completely shattered.

However, Caelus just smiled coldly. He raised his free hand up and casually flicked Sebastian’s forehead.

Boom!

[Talent activated: First Generation Spark Ignition]

His head directly exploded in a shower of gore.

His figure glitched violently as his headless corpse began to fall heavily to the ground.

[Ding!]

[You have eliminated the Town Leader of 304.]

[Your town population has increased.]

[Population: 52,934 -> 103,534]

It was initially 52,904, but during this short time, an additional 30 NPCs had successfully joined his town.

Caelus casually used Extraction on the falling corpse.

[Ding!]

[Extraction failed!]

"Tsk." Caelus clicked his tongue as he turned his attention to the players, who were all staring at him with pure, unfiltered terror.

"Starting now, you all are members of my town." Caelus stood there calmly with his hands in his pockets as he swept his commanding gaze toward the others.

"If you do so much as show disloyalty, then I will personally take out your cabins myself," Caelus said with a bright, terrifying smile. "Then, the only way you can ever level up would be by grinding dungeons, and even dungeons have a hard limit to them."

"We understand!" All the players shivered collectively. Those who had looked at him with mockery just moments before were now trembling uncontrollably.

One move. He only took a single move to utterly destroy Sebastian, a player who was considered functionally invincible!

Player 555’s might... it was not something even a royal could hope to match!

"Anyways. Go hunt beasts. The gamble... we need to win it."

With that said, Caelus and Sylvia disappeared. It was time to aggressively hunt down beasts and reach the Ascension Quest for the Bronze Rank.

Before they set off, they used their Ascension Tokens.

[Combat Score: 1.12 -> 36.12]

25 from the mod, 3 from Body Enhancement, 1 from Lightning Domain, 3 from Frost Monarch, and +3 after reaching Iron III. In total, it reached 36.

"Let’s use this opportunity to use the Mythical EXP Card we got from completing the Ascension Quest. I have been saving it for today," Caelus spoke to Sylvia, who readily nodded at him.

Soon, he used the card and charged into the endless expanse with Sylvia. His goal was crystal clear: reaching Bronze before he left. As for the gambling quest, by the time they were done grinding, they would already be the undisputed victors.

Caelus and Sylvia were like unleashed, rabid beasts. If they saw a monster, they attacked it. It did not matter whether they were Tyrant, Elite, Common, or even Lords; they all fell.

[You have eliminated a Red-Scaled Lizard (Common)]

[You have received +52 Iron EXP, 10 Origin Credits]

[You have eliminated a Red-Scaled Lizard (Common)]

[You have received +52 Iron EXP, 10 Origin Credits]

[You have eliminated a Red-Scaled Lizard (Common)]

[You have received +52 Iron EXP, 10 Origin Credits]

[You have eliminated a Red-Scaled Lizard (Common)]

[You have received +52 Iron EXP, 10 Origin Credits]

[You have eliminated a Red-Scaled Lizard (Common)]

[You have received +52 Iron EXP, 10 Origin Credits]

A Mythical card gave a massive 80% increase in EXP.

He was getting 52 EXP from each normal kill. With all the constant extractions, he also gained new talents and even traits.

[Talent: Thermal Vision (E-Rank)]

[Talent: Camouflage (D-Rank)]

At the same time, while Caelus was mindlessly grinding, he was rapidly catching glimpses into his Fighting Spirit. His Aura and Mental Power were constantly clashing with each other internally, trying to synthesize and create something entirely new.

However, that was not his immediate priority.

[Ding!]

[You have reached the limit of Iron III!]

[Level: 21 (Capped)]

[Ding! Your Aura and Mental Power are clashing against each other.]

[You are tapping into your Fighting Spirit.]

A profound change was slowly taking place within Caelus’s body. His figure glitched continuously as a distinct, terrifying shape began to take physical form around him.

[You have awakened the SS-Rank Fighting Spirit: Ancient Dragon God]

[Domain will now close.]