While Liya waited in the endless whiteness for her teleportation to complete, she thought about what awaited her at her destination.

Especially the orc she was going to fight.

In the Alliance, some things said to be exclusive to B-ranks power-wise were actually a matter of mastering Laws or having domains. Liya could thus ignore anyone's innate soul defense and protect an enormous area with her domain. That put her way above most C-ranks.

It was still not enough to put her on the same level as B-ranks, though.

Some things were exclusive to B-ranks. When one got to B-rank, they underwent a fundamental change. They almost completely stopped caring about their physical bodies, which became mostly vessels for their actual existence, their soul. Paradoxically, that let them control their bodies much better. Their expanded mind also let them control their mastered Laws more easily, turning them into enormous war assets.

And that was just the immediate change after ranking up. Treading the Path to A-rank made them even more potent. From mastering a single Law from a set of Laws—for instance, the Law of Heat from the Laws of Fire—they started mastering all others until the entire set was theirs.

So, Liya hadn't wanted to fight Uk'Gaar. She saw through the Triarchs' ploy easily because it would be too much of a coincidence for things to happen like that without someone directing it.

Yet, she was going anyway.

The three B-ranks who controlled the fate of all drow were refusing to talk to her, so she couldn't explain that they were severely underestimating the former Orc Rising Star.

Uk'Gaar was a walking catastrophe. Scheming against him was impossible. Not because he couldn't be fooled but because he had such certainty on his Path and unshakable resolve that it was temporary. He knew who he was and where he was supposed to be, so he always noticed he was being steered somewhere and destroyed everything around him in revenge.

Whatever the Triarchy and the orcs had agreed upon, it wouldn't work.

Unless someone stopped Uk'Gaar, that entire world might get destroyed just so he could vent his anger.

They had told Liya that she was now free, but in fact, she had become an irrelevant non-entity. Her words were ignored, they didn't share anything with her, and she could only detach herself from them in this specific situation by letting her charge die. It was absurd, a travesty.

And the worst part was that she knew they wouldn't see it that way. They didn't understand respecting one's individuality, so they didn't understand respect. Instead, they mistook it for obedience.

That's how she found herself teleporting to Planet Seventeen to attack Uk'Gaar, a B-rank, against her wishes.

She had spared with the Orc Rising Star at C-rank and always won, but not by as huge a margin as the casual observer might believe. It would be like Shen fighting his squad. He could humiliate them, but that could change quickly if the troops evolved just a little. At their levels, a single step forward pushed them up great heights.

Since she last fought Uk'Gaar, Liya had stepped up the ladder of power twice, from C+ to C+++. Uk'Gaar, however, had jumped into an entirely different ladder of greater dimensions.

She had never heard of a C-rank defeating a B-rank, except in the stories of geniuses that only appeared in the Alliance once every hundred Standard years. Statistically, that meant there were even more geniuses scattered around that she had never heard about. Yet, she knew her limits.

Liya had not been as strong as Shen when she was at D-rank. Not even close. Oh, she could do more damage and kill more people, but she had never revealed to him how she would never have dared to fight a C-rank.

From what she understood of him, she knew he believed to have won out of a ruse or luck. He intellectually understood that his knowledge and techniques were part of his power, but he didn't feel it. He thought he had been lucky. It was actually a little disrespectful to her after everything she had done to hone him into a spearman who would know what to do to kill a C-rank.

But she got it. He was young and immature. It was beyond him how having the right tool and using it at the right time to defeat a foe was the very definition of superior might.

Raw power was just another tool. It was the most visible and the one he was the most used to. One of the things she wanted him to understand with this deployment was how if someone weaker than him defeated him, it would not be a ruse. It would be their merit. Even if it were a consequence of his bad-decision making, they could only take advantage of it if they made a good decision that could exploit that. No one would accomplish it in Planet Seventeen, she was sure. It should enlighten him.

Good decision-making was the invisible instrument that defined battles and wars the most, and that was Shen's greatest strength.

He didn't always make good decisions—far from that!—and wasn't a force of nature like Uk'Gaar, but he always found a way to make the best out of a bad situation. Being a first-class talent helped, but what impressed her the most was that he never took a solution out of his ass. Everything was based on his knowledge, even how he had developed a domain at D-rank. That wasn't unheard of, but rare enough that she only knew that because she had been responsible for training other elite drow in the past and had been told about it in the unlikely event it happened. It never had before him.

Liya lacked that spark of individuality.

That was the final factor that saw her going to Planet Seventeen. All her life, if her superiors said something was impossible, it was impossible. There was no questioning anything, no reason to waste her time on a path she knew would take her nowhere. All her indoctrination told her that fighting a B-rank would be suicide. Even if she ended up winning, it would only reveal that she was a strong idiot—but an idiot all the same.

But she was now free—which included being free to do things others would consider stupid.

The Triarchs had demeaned Shen for using his freedom in dumb and ineffective ways. Liya agreed with them. However, the most significant change brought about by her new freedom was that she let herself see things differently. The drow way wasn't perfect, and going against it whenever it sucked was okay, not treason.

Would other drow believe her to be an idiot, albeit strong, if she won? Yes.

But what would such a victory tell her about herself?

It would bring self-validation. A sense of accomplishment. She would believe she was worth more. That she wasn't just another drow as the Triarchs had said.

And Liya needed that with all her being, for it was in the individuality of spear crafting that she found true freedom and meaning.

Now, she would find the answer to whether it had to do more with spear crafting or the individuality she found when doing it.

Shen was arrogant, but was it really arrogance when it was deserved, or just confidence? Could she feel confident in her power, too? Or was that really wrong? The drow way let them survive, but after seeing what some humans subjected themselves to just to survive...

What if living was more than the perpetuation of the species?

She was being ungrateful. Her indoctrination and even common sense told her so. She wouldn't have been born if her people hadn't done whatever was needed to survive. She wouldn't have known how to grow stronger. She wouldn't have reached this point in her life.

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Yet, after being told she was free, she had explored that feeling and reached a terrifying conclusion: she didn't care for merely existing, even if it made her sound like a dick.

Reaching B-rank as a drow was like growing from childhood into adulthood on Earth. Liya was grateful for her roots but craved more. Needed more.

Freedom was a scary thing, indeed.

For now, she didn't mind the drow way. She had traveled the multiverse at C-rank and recalled how small she had felt. It made sense to protect C-ranks and below, doing everything possible to keep them from harm. The indoctrination helped them survive. Only after they had survived long enough and had enough power to defend themselves could they be set free.

It was also like how a few humans kept caring for wild animals even in the chaotic times after the Alliance arrived on Earth. They protect the injured or orphaned young ones, keeping them in cages and teaching them how to survive in the wild until they were ready. Only then were they released. Maybe some would resent captivity after they tasted freedom, but Liya didn't.

The ones still being taken care of wouldn't understand the things a freed animal did—Liya had been there—but the one who had been released didn't care.

She only wondered whether the Triarchs realized they were caged animals, too. Caring for others they might be, but they were controlled by the wisdom and will of their predecessors as much as C-ranks and below were controlled by the Triarchy. And when they died, their controlled, rigid thinking would be added to the same pool of wisdom that would guide the next ones.

Liya was sure now: that was the main reason the drow had never produced an A-rank. Some races were intrinsically collectivist and didn't have that issue, but the drow weren't. If they were, they wouldn't need to be indoctrinated. If she were part of a hive mind, she wouldn't think of doing anything but being part of it. That's how such races worked.

Copying them had saved the drow but also limited them.

Of course, that couldn't be all; otherwise, the B-ranks who had left would have ranked up by now. That any B-rank had been allowed to go might be a lie, but Liya didn't think so. She believed there was something else at play. Something even more important than how much the Dreamer's existence had weighed on all drow.

But as the world warped and the teleportation concluded, she removed all those considerations from her mind. Any useless emotion disappeared.

Only sharp focus remained.

She arrived at Planet Seventeen outside the D-Rank Area to not make a show. Speaking of shows, two B-ranks were fighting in space, a drow and a thunderlord. Most C-ranks couldn't sense them that far, but she could. They were barely outside that world's system-demarked boundaries.

She ignored that fight, hid, and swiftly arrived mid-air so far above the D-Rank Area that the system didn't consider it trespassing. That's how C-ranks could observe what was going on below.

The echo plate she always wore let her know the location of every other drow in the world, but she didn't allow it to display hers. As Maiden, she had the B-rank plate that came with that function.

The first thing she heard when she got there was one of her students, who also stood above the D-Rank Area, being socially inept. Now that she thought about it, she had never trained anyone that genuinely shone in social settings. Was that a trait of elites, or had they just sent her people that matched her personality?

Was she an idiot? Certainly not. She could navigate parties and politics like no other drow...

...thought she didn't enjoy it and avoided it as much as possible...

She cut that thought, too. Something to think about when she had the time—if ever.

Not long after, Uk'Gaar suddenly appeared in that world. She couldn't detect how, not without her domain, but she felt the B-rank at the same time the system gave out the warning.

The orc teleported, appeared before Shen, and started acting dumb. Liya had interacted with Uk'Gaar and knew the orc wasn't that obnoxious. He was putting on a show.

She also knew he would start killing soon enough.

She prepared to act.

Right then, other orcs made a move. They teleported all around the two C-rank drow near her and started attacking. There were thirty-three C-ranks and even over two hundred D-ranks. The D-ranks wouldn't matter at all in such a battle, so they were obviously sent there to die.

Not that the C-ranks were willing to go without a fight. They attacked brutally.

Liya swung her spear twice.

Once to save her fellow C-ranks, who had been too focused on their lust and were caught off-guard. If she and they lived, she would send them back to indoctrination... Or would she? She would decide later.

She filled that swing with mastered Darkness. It was invisible and strong, and she further made it harder for anyone to understand what happened by making it release a bright red light. It deflected all incoming attacks from the pathetically weak C-ranks.

Their weakness was telling. Orc culture was miserable, and the worst part was how they suppressed each other's growth to prevent competition. These orcs were obviously from a weak High Chieftain lineage because only a weak B-rank would fear a C-rank growing too strong. Liya would be surprised if any of those orcs had a single C+ stat. Their equipment was also only C- at best, though that might be because their actual property had been taken from them when they were sent as sacrifices.

That first swing also let her locate the four strongest orcs, who would require her to make an appearance to kill—and she avoided them.

Her second swing was also as stealthy as she could make it, but this time, they were filled with both Darkness and Annihilation. It erased every orc except those four from existence. Not even atoms remained.

Her former student and his horny companion could fight for their lives for once. That ought to make them stop thinking about nonsense.

Unfortunately, while she had been stealthy enough, she felt Uk'Gaar's mana approach to investigate it. He tried to make his probe unnoticed by covering Shen with his mana simultaneously, but Liya knew better.

"Use your strongest power for all-out diversion, now!" she ordered the two C-ranks. Then, "All C-ranks in the world, come now!"

The C-ranks were needed because while her command would fool Uk'Gaar, it didn't hide her from the B-rank thunderlord. She felt their mana for an instant, then it was gone. That let the B-rank drow land a grievous attack, but the enemy got the intel.

As ordered, the two C-ranks used their best attack. They were used to fighting together because they used the same wide-area explosion. One used Fire, the other Ice, and neither interfered with the other. It resulted in a violet light that covered the world and shook everything.

Liya used the chance to disappear unnoticed while a few hundred C-ranks from everywhere, from both sides of the pre-war, rose to the skies, started coming here, and intercepted each other.

Battles erupted everywhere, but they would stop as soon as she acted—which would happen soon.

Infiltrating the D-Rank Area without being noticed by the system wasn't easy. Although Uk'Gaar had already violated it, he would still receive a notification if she, a C-rank, did the same. The system was completely impartial.

Cutting the system off entirely would be much easier, but Uk'Gaar would notice it too. She took a while to accomplish it, but she did right on time to replace Shen's squad with illusions. The orc always fell for it in their spars, and unless ranking up made him much, much smarter, he wouldn't notice the trick before she struck.

He had covered his surroundings with mana, but like with the illusions, her Darkness hid her well.

She got right beside him.

Then, she attacked.

Her stealthiest attack wasn't her strongest, but she was sure Uk'Gaar would notice anything else before it touched him. Seven thick spears of pure Darkness materialized around him, already moving at peak speed. They all pierced the orc. Yet, a B-rank treasure in his body activated and teleported him away at once.

Liya's indoctrination told her to let a random B-rank enemy go at this point. She didn't need to fight beyond her rank. However, Uk'Gaar had to pay the price for his earlier transgressions against her. The drow had ended up somewhat glad for bringing Shen in, but the orc had had no good intentions when he ditched the boy.

The last time she got an update, the Cultivator Association demanded the drow to give up on both Shen and the antidron.

Uk'Gaar had to pay for that.

Liya started with psychological warfare, whispering the orc's words against him to the entire world, "Found you." Knowing Uk'Gaar, that would affect him more than one might guess.

Then, Liya released her domain, instantly finding her foe.

The orc's B-rank treasure hadn't teleported him away from the world. It had tried to, but two B-rank artifacts had prevented it—one belonged to the drow, and the other, to the orcs. They only let him get to the other side of the globe.

Liya hadn't known there would be such artifacts there but had expected it. She refused to believe the Triarchy would set up a battle for her against a B-rank without guaranteeing the enemy couldn't escape. It would be just a waste of everyone's time, even worse than the punishment they would get for bringing a B-rank item to a C-rank planet.

That wasn't all of Uk'Gaar's issues. For an entire Standard hour, the system would refuse to teleport him. He had violated the pre-war and engaged in battle. Even his B-rank teleportation privilege couldn't change that.

As of that wasn't enough, she used her domain completely cut off the system from the world.

Only A-tier system functions would work on Planet Seventeen while she kept it cut off. Some believed only B-ranks could do that, but it was the power of her mastered Laws that accomplished that, not her rank.

Liya would be investigated for cutting the system like that, but preventing a B-rank pre-war violator from escaping would be good enough an excuse.

But the primary reason she did that was mana. She kept herself connected to the system and still had unlimited mana, but Uk'Gaar didn't. The only ways for him to restore the connection were leaving her domain or overwhelming it with his. Although B-ranks had a lot of mana in their bodies, more than a million times Liya's, her having an unlimited supply while he didn't was the only reason she even had a chance of surviving this battle.

Uk'Gaar released his domain as soon as he realized what was happening.

Liya clenched her spear and prepared for the challenge.