Trystan stood amidst a sea of fractured space. He could see the rubble from the tower he built floating in stasis— bits and pieces of rock, earth, and sky scattered across the void of nothingness that spread out all around the Overlord of Extim.

Most of the tutorial had fallen into the nothingness of empty space, especially since the pocket world itself that contained the tower had collapsed. But there were still some remnants that could be scavenged.

So that was what Trystan did. And that was what he had been doing for the past few days… or so it felt.

Since there was no sun here— just a black canvas that spread out around him, with the occasional streaks of the leftover sky from the tutorial that floated overhead— it was hard to tell the time that passed in this place.

Trystan stared down at a pile of rubble as he sighed. “Nope, there’s nothing here.”

Despite the amount of time he had spent searching for clues on the saboteur who messed with his tutorial, he couldn’t find anything. There was far too little left of the tutorial for him to find what could have potentially altered the blueprints to include this… exploit of the hidden bosses.

“Come on, Maria,” Trystan called out as he turned around from the pile of rubble he had been rummaging through.

He heard a set of footfalls approaching him. It echoed across this empty void, coming from around a large chunk of rubble that blocked his vision. Shaking his head, the Overlord of Extim sighed.

“There’s nothing here. We may as well just find this [Legendary Brawler] and ask him—”

But before Trystan could finish, he heard a heavy thud. Blinking, he looked up to see the bloodied body of his maid lying before him, having fallen from just around the corner.

Trystan’s eyes went wide and he rushed to her side. “Maria? Who did this to you? Are you alright?”

She groaned as he placed a hand on her side. And a voice spoke up, drawing Trystan’s attention up above.

“Don’t worry, she’s not dead.”

“Who—” Trystan blinked right as he caught a glimpse of a glowing golden figure standing on top of a piece of broken sky.

The Overlord of Extim narrowed his eyes for a moment, but then he immediately reacted after. He could tell whoever this was was not an ally. And the fact that they were stronger than Maria made them an immediate threat.

“[Unique Skill: De—” Trystan started.

But then the golden figure laughed and waved a hand dismissively. “Dispel Skill.”

And Trystan blinked as the spell circle that was forming in his fingertips began to vanish. He looked down at himself in confusion, before glaring up at the golden figure.

“Who are you? How did you do that?” Trystan demanded as he took on a defensive stance.

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The golden figure just chuckled as it rose to its feet. It brought a hand up, pointing towards the rift that was in the distance— the gateway leading back to Extim.

“Me? I’m just an old soul looking to avenge my fallen comrades. That’s all.”

And as the golden figure spoke, it twisted its hand, like it was crushing a ball. Trystan’s eyes grew wide as the only exit from this collapsed pocket space was suddenly snuffed out like a candle being extinguished.

“How is that possible?”

“Overlord Trystan, you’ll soon come to understand that many things you thought were impossible… are possible. Until then… tata!”

The golden figure laughed as it snapped a finger. And then it flashed out of existence as Trystan tried to give chase after it.

“You bastard!” Trystan exclaimed.

However, it was too late. The golden figure was gone. Trystan cursed as he slowed to a halt, before sweeping his gaze around his surroundings. Slowly, the realization settled in that he was trapped here in Maria with no way out.

That Extim was left… without an Overlord.

And Trystan truly wondered how he was going to explain this to the other Overlords once he got out.

***

Damien lay atop a pool of blood, groaning in pain for what felt like an hour before he heard a set of footfalls approaching him from the side. Looking up to the side, he watched as Aria and Lena— the latter now back in her human form— rushed to him.

“Papa!” Aria called out.

“D-Damien…” The Leviathan hobbled over, clearly still hurt.

Aria just ran over to hug Damien. Meanwhile, Lena began rummaging through his sack at his side.

“Do you have any other of your Potion of Regenerations on you?” Lena asked as she lowered the bag.

“Unfortunately, I do not. I used my last for you and Aria.” Damien closed his eyes, letting his aching body grow numb.

“Does that mean papa isn’t going to survive?” Aria asked with a worried look on her face.

“You can’t die, Damien,” Lena said as she placed a hand on her chest. “I’m not ready to be a single mother!”

“It’s alright, guys,” Damien chuckled as he opened his eyes and faced them. “Don’t worry, I will survive.”

He closed his eyes as he recalled his state after all the boss fights he had been in. Honestly, he was fine as he was right now. Looking up, he nodded at the Leviathan-transformed-human and the little demon girl reassuringly.

“Trust me, I’ve been in much worse positions than this and gotten out alive. So you guys can go back and rest, alright?”

Both Lena and Aria exchanged a glance. And then they took a seat as they smiled at him.

“Nope!” Aria exclaimed cheerfully.

And Lena nodded. “We’ll wait here for you to recover.”

Damien blinked as he stared at the both of them. Then he closed his eyes as a small smile spread across his lips. Because for the first time ever, he was no longer alone. Even back in his past life on Earth, he never knew what this felt like. And it was—

This is nice, the thought crossed Damien’s mind. And he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash over him with that.

Status:

Name: Damien Thorne

Class: [Legendary Brawler - Level 619]

Titles: [Immortalslayer] [The Boss Killer], [Explorer of the New World], [Death Defier], [Monster Hunter], [Master of Martial Arts], [Sage Mage], [Aura Champion], [Coward]

Stats:

[Strength: 1260 (+100) (+100) (+10) (+30) (+25) (+25)]

[Magic: 733 (+100) (+100) (+10) (+20) (+50) (+30)]

[Speed: 1089 (+100) (+100) (+10) (+50) (+25) (+50)]

[Vitality: 689 (+100) (+100) (+10) (+50) (+25) (+25)]

Skills: [Vengeance Fist], [Supernova Strike], [Nebular Punch], [Soulcrusher], [Rage Unleashed], [Aura Creation], [Greater Haste], [Instant Strike], [A Hundred Blows], [Basic Slash], [Disengage], [Jump Over Mountains], [Wind Leap], [Object Appraisal], [Eagle Eye]

Passive Skills: [Super Instinct], [Unbreakable Skin], [Heavenly Bones], [Soul Mastery], [Aura Unleashed], [Greater Durability], [Greater Speed], [Greater Strength], [Indomitable Spirit], [Second Life], [Heightened Senses]