Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

The holy light around Mia violently condensed. A singular, massive white wing erupted from the empty space directly behind her. Bound to that wing was a pure energy entity with a faceless visage, a radiant halo, and a crackling golden spear gripped tightly in its hands. It was an absolute, undeniable angel. Above Mia’s own head, a matching halo ignited into existence.

Caelus’s eyes flicked to the system window materializing in his vision.

[Name: Mia Midnight]

[Class: Angel of Light]

[Rank: Bronze I]

[Level: 1]

[Talent: Angel (Middle S-Rank)]

[Combat Score: 38.32]

"Caelus Kross, I am taking you down. You cannot escape from here. Only the dregs of society come around this block." A suffocating, ice-cold killing intent manifested around Mia. She locked her gaze onto Caelus with lethal certainty. "There is nowhere to run."

Mia stretched her arm forward. The angel perfectly mirrored her movement, violently flapping its single wing. The sheer force distorted the air itself, launching the angelic entity straight toward Caelus with the golden spear aimed flawlessly at his heart.

Caelus stared down the incoming spear of light and allowed a cold, mocking smile to spread across his face.

"You know, you aren’t the only one with a Fighting Spirit. Do not be so arrogant thinking you can easily take me down."

The exact moment his mocking words faded, a terrifying, earth-shattering dragon roar erupted out from his very soul.

BOOOM!

A pillar of blinding white light shot vertically into the sky, piercing straight through the thick clouds. Supreme holy power descended onto the mortal world. From the empty space behind Caelus, a colossal white dragon claw violently erupted. Stacked layers of glowing golden halos spun rapidly around its heavily scaled arm.

For a split second, all color vanished from the world, replaced entirely by an absolute holy radiance. The solid brick wall cornering Caelus instantly vaporized into fine dust. A terrifying divine authority crashed down upon the dead alley, heavily crushing the surrounding gravity.

The following instant, the massive dragon claw tore right through the air barrier, intercepting the angel’s lethal charge.

CLANG!

The golden spear crashed directly against the glowing white scales. High-pressure shockwaves blasted the thick asphalt apart beneath their feet.

But it did not stop at a single strike. The angel pulled its arm back and thrust forward again, its spear dissolving into a blinding blur of golden afterimages. Thrust after thrust rained down like a relentless meteor shower.

"You also have a Fighting Spirit? This power... is this holy power?" Mia’s face twisted in genuine disbelief and confusion.

But she wasn’t going to lose this battle. Her aura violently exploded as her Fighting Spirit’s intensity peaked.

Caelus merely widened his grin, his own aura exploding outward to perfectly match her intensity.

The divine dragon claw met every single strike head-on. It blurred into a violent flurry of devastating swipes, blocks, and heavy punches, parrying the golden spear with pinpoint precision and absolute brute strength.

BOOM! BANG! CLASH! BOOM!

Two pure holy powers ground fiercely against each other in a frantic, high-speed barrage. The sheer velocity of their exchange created rapid-fire sonic booms that shattered every single window on the block. The angel thrust its spear with relentless, blinding speed. The divine dragon claw retaliated with equally devastating, rapid-fire blows. The narrow alleyway completely transformed into a chaotic, swirling storm of flashing gold and white light, the rapid impacts shaking the entire alley block to its very foundation.

"You... what exactly are you? How are you perfectly matching my combat power?" Mia asked. Her voice remained chillingly calm, though her eyes were locked dead onto the fierce deadlock between them.

She didn’t know what this claw was, but it radiated a heavy, undeniable aura of divinity. She believed he had to be a hidden envoy of a god.

"My master was right. You are a threat that absolutely cannot be left alive. Your very existence endangers the world." Mia’s gaze turned absolute as her power began to dangerously surge once more.

Whrmm!

The angel’s phantom condensed even further, a second brilliant halo igniting directly above its head.

Boom!

The spear tore forward with terrifying intensity. Mia watched the strike with cold, absolute certainty. She had completely unleashed her angel’s raw power. There was no way Caelus could deflect her now.

"Miss Mia, I am entirely sure this is a matter we can just talk out. Do we really need to go at each other’s throats?" Caelus asked with a helpless smile. "Because if things dangerously escalate from here, I won’t be able to guarantee your life anymore."

Caelus’s expression turned frigid. He had only unleashed the dragon’s claw before, keeping his Fighting Spirit running on half its actual capacity. But there was absolutely no need to hold back anymore.

Boom!

His white hair fluttered violently as time itself seemed to slow to a crawl for a split second. A terrifying divine radiance erupted from the claw, and a ginormous, majestic phantom rapidly formed above Caelus. Its scales alone absolutely dwarfed the angel, who was now only as big as one of its massive talons.

"???" Mia’s stoic expression finally cracked wide open. "A Dragon?"

She immediately cast her appraisal skill directly on the creature. However, the exact instant her skill linked with his Fighting Spirit, her vision went completely dark. A pair of boundless, sun-like golden eyes snapped open in the endless void.

Mia’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Absolute fear gripped her heart the moment she met that terrifying gaze.

The following second, the mental vision crumbled, and she violently coughed up a thick mouthful of golden blood.

"You... what exactly are you?" Mia forcefully wiped her mouth, her voice regaining its icy edge. "How can a massive threat like you exist and completely go unnoticed by the Holy Church?"

She didn’t wait for an answer. "It does not matter. I will eliminate you myself."

Mia gritted her teeth hard. If her projected Fighting Spirit wasn’t enough, it was time to forcefully merge and unleash her true combat potential.

Whrmm!

The angel collapsed backward directly into Mia as a brilliant, resonating ring formed between them.

Boom!

Pure white wings violently sprouted from Mia’s back, and the massive golden spear utilized by the angel materialized right in her own grasp.

Seeing this, Caelus didn’t hesitate either. A ring of pure light formed between him and his immense Fighting Spirit as he initiated his own transformation.

Holy lines began intricately mapping across Caelus’s hand, crawling all the way up his neck to his forehead. His Chaos Perception eyes flared to life with a brilliant light. He jumped forward, fully unleashing the terrifying, unbridled might of his telekinesis.

Boom!

The ruined asphalt beneath him shattered into massive chunks as he rose into the air and shot straight toward Mia like a bullet.

"Holy Light." Mia’s voice glitched through the air. Spears of concentrated golden light manifested rapidly around her, cleanly vaporizing the incoming asphalt chunks. Her figure blurred, turning into a streak of pure, blinding light as she shot toward Caelus with immense speed.

Caelus smiled and immediately activated Projection Frame.

Boom!

Both their figures glitched through reality itself, completely closing the distance in an instant. Caelus’s body violently crackled with golden lightning as he initiated his Laser Talent and First Generation Spark Ignition simultaneously.

He didn’t draw his dagger. It had already lost its effectiveness in a high-tier battle of this caliber. He had just been using his bare hands this entire time.

And his hands were honestly the best weapon right now.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, his lightning-clad fist slammed directly into the tip of her holy spear.

Boom!

A massive shockwave violently rippled through the night sky. The clash only lasted for a split second before the sheer repulsive force repelled them both backward. But just as quickly, they stabilized mid-air and shot right back at each other.

If anyone was observing this fight from the ground, they would only see a pure golden meteor and a golden-black comet fiercely colliding over and over again in the night sky. Mia relied entirely on her wings for natural flight, while Caelus effortlessly manipulated gravity itself with his telekinesis.

"Holy Cannon!" Mia commanded sharply. A massive, intricate cannon formed from pure light in the air and fired a highly concentrated beam straight at Caelus.

Caelus violently twisted his body mid-air, deflecting the heavy, searing beam with a concentrated, lightning-infused kick. Using the generated momentum, he instantly locked onto his target and initiated his next devastating move.

[Skill Activated: Holy Disintegration]

A mythical, blinding light erupted from Caelus, carrying a terrifying power heavy enough to destroy a world. The very air around Mia seemed to freeze solid and then shatter as the Holy Disintegration shot straight for her chest.

"Urgh." Mia was immediately enveloped in the devastating, explosive blast.

As the smoke dispersed, Mia remained standing in the air. Her holy barrier was completely covered in thick spiderweb cracks. Golden blood dripped profusely from her deep wounds, and her combat attire was heavily tattered, leaving long tears along her pantyhose and sleeves.

However, she didn’t even glance at her ruined clothes. Her cold, emotionless eyes simply locked onto Caelus with renewed, absolute killing intent as she charged at him even more fiercely than before.

Their battle was no longer contained to the dead alley. The violent shockwaves had already pushed them out over the open, bustling streets.

"What the hell? Are players fighting?"

"Don’t they know fighting in public is strictly banned?"

"Someone call the Player’s Association or the Law Enforcement Bureau right now!"

Civilians panicked loudly below as the two figures rapidly clashed across the city skyline.

Just then, a vicious, blood-red light tore through the bright sky, aiming straight for Mia’s blind spot with immense, murderous intent.

Boom! Clank!

Mia noticed the lethal ambush at the last possible second and violently swung her spear backward, deflecting the strike with a heavy shower of sparks.

"No one harms Caelus~" A playful, melodic voice cut through the tense air. "Not when I am here."

"Miss Sylvia?" Mia’s cold expression finally twisted into an unnatural, deep frown.

"Sylvia?" Caelus was entirely speechless. "Weren’t you supposed to be back at the mansion?"

Hearing this, Sylvia froze completely for a fraction of a second before turning around with a bright, extremely cheerful smile. "Haha. I was just out to buy some fresh cooking ingredients. Since we have been ordering takeout so much lately, I decided to personally cook something for us tonight~"

"Is that so?" Caelus looked at her, his lips twitching slightly. It was glaringly obvious that she had been aggressively tailing him this entire time.

Ignoring their banter, Mia seized the opening. Her golden spear tore through the air, thrusting straight for Sylvia’s heart.

Sylvia just smiled coldly.

A massive torrent of crimson blood violently erupted from Sylvia’s shadow, instantly hardening into lethal spikes that shot directly at Mia. Forced to desperately defend against the sudden blood arts, Mia’s guard slipped for just a single, critical moment.

Caelus did not miss the opportunity.

He blinked right above her, his lightning-clad fist descending in a harsh, perfectly calculated blow straight to the back of Mia’s head.

Ding!

It sounded like a heavy hammer striking an anvil. Mia’s consciousness instantly scattered. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and her battered body went completely limp, collapsing directly into Caelus’s waiting embrace. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"What are you doing, Caelus?" Sylvia, seeing this, had her crimson eyes widen in fury. "Why are you hugging her?"

"Ugh... Here you go, take her." Caelus quickly shoved Mia into Sylvia’s hands like she was a highly toxic liability.

"Let’s go back to the mansion and securely tie her up."

"For what?" Sylvia was even more stunned, her mind clearly going to strange places. "Y-You cannot do that with other women! Only with me!"

"What?" Caelus appeared completely baffled by her response.

"Nothing." Sylvia forcefully dodged Caelus’s gaze, her face slightly flushed. She swiftly abducted the unconscious Mia and immediately left the area. Caelus grabbed onto her as he used his telekinesis to fly them rapidly back to his mansion.

This massive commotion... it would definitely be known by others very soon. But before they reached his doorstep, he desperately needed to get some solid answers out of Mia.