The cold points of light hovering throughout the hall simultaneously locked onto Rover and everyone.

The moment the Unnamed Explorer’s mechanical voice rang out, the air seemed squeezed by an invisible hand. The spirits spinning around the massive spacesuit immediately let out shrieks, but they didn’t lunge down to attack. They only flew around it, forming a pale gray whirlwind, like a layer of chaotic energy feeding the existence hovering in mid-air.

Rilia was the first to react.

[Frost Battle Domain] erupted beneath her feet. Frost spread across the entire floor, freezing the shattered metal fragments, coating the destroyed cubes in a white layer of cold. Cold aura rose up, forming sharp ice columns aimed toward the Unnamed Explorer.

Selina launched forward at the same moment.

A sharp sword flash cut through the air. Her speed was extraordinary, so fast that Sunako only saw a dark silhouette blur past. Elith stood at the rear, both hands lightly rising. Dozens of spider silk strands shot outward, forming a web between the ceiling, floor, and shattered cubes, locking down the entire space beneath the astronaut.

But the Unnamed Explorer only tilted its head slightly.

The light dots around the hall suddenly moved.

Not light.

They were drones.

Small objects like mechanical stars camouflaged within the cold light simultaneously awakened. Their metal shells opened, revealing small weapon barrels inside. They moved without fixed trajectories, sometimes spreading like a torn galaxy, sometimes converging into a circle, sometimes suddenly vanishing from sight then reappearing directly behind everyone.

Beep!

One drone flashed.

A blue energy stream shot downward.

Selina tilted her body to dodge, but that beam didn’t fly straight. It changed direction mid-air, as if pulled sideways by an invisible force, sweeping across her shoulder. Blood sprayed. Selina frowned but didn’t stop, the sword in her hand slashing back upward in one stroke.

BOOM!

One drone was cut apart.

But three others immediately appeared behind her.

Rilia raised her hand.

Frost launched upward like spears, piercing through two drones. The remaining one slipped through the gap between two ice columns and fired a beam of light straight toward her chest. Rilia raised an ice shield before her body.

Crack!

The ice shield shattered.

Rilia’s body was knocked back several steps. A burn mark appeared on her shoulder. Her expression turned colder. Not from pain, but because she recognized that the last attack had deliberately avoided a lethal position.

Rover noticed it too.

He stepped forward, darkness beneath his feet spreading wide. [Shadow] became multiple black arms reaching upward, trying to seize the Unnamed Explorer hovering in the hall. But the equipment on the back of the spacesuit suddenly blazed with blue light. It tilted sideways at a speed completely at odds with the weight of the armor, the massive body gliding through mid-air like a silver-white meteorite.

The shadow hands missed.

Immediately after, the Unnamed Explorer appeared above Rover.

One heavy arm raised.

No weapon.

Just a simple strike.

But when that fist came down, the surrounding air was immediately compressed inward. Rover raised his hand, darkness condensing into a shield before his body.

BOOM!

The punch landed.

The shadow shield shattered.

Rover was knocked backward. His feet skidded across the metal floor, leaving two deep grooves. A sharp pain in his chest. Blood rose in his throat. But the injury wasn’t severe enough to lose his fighting ability.

Far too strong.

Unreasonably strong.

Even unable to use [Mirror], Rover was no weak Survivor. Physique, skills, [Shadow], [Devour], all of it was sufficient to crush most monsters of similar tier. But before the Unnamed Explorer, he felt as if he were facing a completely different combat system.

The opponent’s strikes were too unpredictable.

Drones attacked from every angle.

The back-mounted propulsion system let it continuously reposition in mid-air.

The surrounding spirits disrupted perception.

And the star-like light dots hovering throughout the hall weren’t only decorative.

One of those points of light suddenly fell.

It pulled a long streak of light, like a miniaturized shooting star, driving straight toward Elith.

Elith immediately used silk to pull her body backward. But that star exploded in mid-air, creating a blue shockwave ring that shattered most of the spider silk around her. Elith was sent flying into a shattered cube, a small trail of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

Sunako panicked and wanted to run over to help, but Nanoe pulled her back.

"Don’t leave your position." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Nanoe’s voice was still calm.

But her gaze had become extremely sharp.

She looked at the Unnamed Explorer, looked at the drones, looked at the movement trajectories of the small stars, looked at the positions where each attack had landed. In just a few dozen seconds, Nanoe had noticed something strange.

It was overwhelming them.

Completely overwhelming them.

If the Unnamed Explorer truly wanted to kill, Selina should have had her heart pierced on the first drone direction change. Rilia should have had the beam pierce her neck instead of her shoulder. The punch just now on Rover could have aimed straight for his head, but in the end struck the chest area where the shadow protection was thickest.

Elith was knocked away, but the shockwave was only enough to lightly injure her.

Sunako was completely ignored.

Nanoe looked up at the red point of light behind the black visor of the spacesuit.

Not unable to kill.

But unwilling to kill.

Or not permitted to kill.

"Rover." Nanoe spoke up.

Rover had just steadied himself. Hearing her voice he immediately glanced over.

Nanoe spoke very quickly, but every word was clear: "It’s holding back. The attacks are very strong, but always avoid lethal positions. This isn’t true annihilation mode, at least not immediate annihilation of us."

Rover frowned.

Just as he was about to respond, the Unnamed Explorer raised its hand again.

The drones flying around the hall simultaneously separated, forming a massive ring of light overhead. Each light point connected to the others through thin energy lines, then formed a pattern resembling a miniaturized starry sky.

The space above the hall darkened.

A massive metal ring gradually materialized in the darkness.

It resembled a satellite.

Not a fully real object, but an energy projection summoned from the spacesuit’s system. The metal solar panels extended on both sides. The central core glowed blue-white. Countless strange characters rotated around the satellite body like a command sequence being activated.

Sunako looked up at it, her voice nearly choking.

"That thing... it won’t fall down, will it?"

No one answered her.

Because the massive satellite had already begun descending.

Not free-falling.

It locked onto the entire area where Rover stood, then pressed downward with terrifying pressure. The air grew so heavy that surrounding metal fragments were crushed against the floor. Rilia’s frost developed cracks. Elith’s spider silk was pulled taut then snapped strand by strand.

Rover took a deep breath.

Darkness erupted beneath his feet.

Massive black arms reached upward, supporting the satellite pressing down. But the pressure was too great. The darkness was continuously crushed, then Rover forcibly reformed it. His feet sank into the metal floor, every muscle in his body tensing rigid.

Selina lunged forward, her sword striking up at the satellite’s core.

Rilia fired dozens of ice spikes at the same point.

Elith used spider silk to deflect its descent direction.

But all of it only slowed the satellite slightly.

Nanoe watched the scene. Her eyes gradually deepened.

If this continued, everyone would be severely injured.

Not killed.

But enough to lose fighting ability.

The Unnamed Explorer was still testing them.

Or more precisely, whatever was controlling this spacesuit was using overwhelming power to push them to their limits.

Nanoe breathed out very softly.

The brown hair at her back began to rise.

Sunako stood right beside her and immediately sensed the surrounding temperature change. Not Rilia’s cold aura. Not the cold light from the drones. This was a searing heat, full of vitality but also carrying a danger that made people unconsciously want to step back.

"Nanoe...?"

Sunako had barely called her name when her voice caught.

Because Nanoe’s body was changing.

The usually gentle eyes gradually shifted to a radiant red-gold. A thin flame appeared around her body, not burning her clothes, not spreading outward, only enveloping her like a living cloak. From behind Nanoe, a pair of demonic wings slowly opened, formed from red fire and gold veining as bright as flowing lava.

On her forehead, a flame divine mark appeared.

The gentle aura vanished by half.

What remained was alluring, sharp, and dangerous enough to make even the air grow taut.

This wasn’t the usual Nanoe.

This was her second form.

Flamebound Succubus.

The flames in the hall immediately reflected on Nanoe’s face, making her smile both bewitching and cold.

She raised her head to look at the satellite pressing down, then raised one hand.

Flames in her palm spun in circles.

Not exploding immediately.

Only quietly condensing.

But every drone around the hall seemed to simultaneously recognize a new source of danger. The light points locking onto Rover immediately redirected, a portion aiming straight at Nanoe.

Rover also sensed the change.

He gritted his teeth to hold up the satellite, but his gaze still glanced toward Nanoe.

Nanoe smiled at him.

No longer the purely gentle expression from before.

That smile was beautiful to the point of being dangerous.

"Don’t worry."

Her voice rang out amid the sound of metal being compressed and energy howling.

"This time, let me try a little."

The flame in Nanoe’s hand blazed.

The Flamebound Succubus wings behind her fully spread open.

Red-gold light covered the entire hall, directly confronting the cold starry sky summoned by the Unnamed Explorer.