Tiyara was flying through the sky at incredible speed. The tension on her face was clearly visible.
Suddenly, her expression became even more serious.
"What?! There are two powerful mana sources that suddenly appeared?!"
She had already been sensing Yuki's mana, but the appearance of two additional powerful mana signatures shocked her.
"What the hell is going on over there...?!! I need to hurry before something happens to Yuki!"
She pushed her speed even further.
Meanwhile, inside Sumaru's castle...
The giant centipede stood amidst the shattered ground.
In front of it stood Precious.
Behind Precious, in a corner, Yuki lay on the ground with his battered body.
On the opposite side, behind the centipede, Sumaru and several demons were hiding behind pillars in fear.
Suddenly, the centipede attacked.
Poisonous needles shot from its mouth toward Precious.
However, Precious easily dodged every one of them while thinking,
"Killing this thing with my current limited powers will be difficult, but not impossible. If I were in my original form, I wouldn't even need to kill it. I could simply bring it under my control. But right now... it won't submit to me."
Precious looked at the creature and spoke calmly.
"Sorry, brother... but I'm going to kill you."
He stopped dodging and leaped directly toward the centipede.
"PULSE CORE — First Form."
Precious extended his left palm.
A transparent fog emerged from it and rushed toward the monster.
But suddenly—
The centipede's hairs began growing rapidly.
The countless hairs wrapped around Precious and trapped him midair.
"?!"
For the first time, Precious looked surprised.
The centipede immediately attacked with its enormous razor-sharp legs.
KRRRK!
However, Precious shattered the hair bindings through pure physical strength and landed safely on the ground before jumping backward.
The centipede stared at him.
"Hm... so you won't die that easily, huh?"
Precious narrowed his eyes.
"I don't know which world this centipede came from, but it traveled countless light-years to reach this galaxy. I can't even guess how many abilities it possesses."
Suddenly, the hairs covering the front of the centipede's body moved aside.
Its skin became visible.
Then the skin split open.
A long horizontal mouth formed across its body.
Inside were several enormous fang-like structures surrounding endless darkness.
From that darkness—
A giant tongue shot out.
"!"
Before Precious could dodge, the tongue wrapped around him and dragged him toward the creature's mouth.
Without wasting a second, Precious activated another skill.
"NAILERANG."
His fingernails shot forward like blades and pierced the tongue.
The centipede roared in pain and immediately released him.
Precious landed safely on the ground while his nails returned to normal.
Blood slowly flowed from the centipede's mouth.
"KRRRAAAAH!!"
The monster began smashing its body into nearby walls.
The entire castle shook violently.
Huge chunks of stone fell from the walls and ceiling.
Yuki remained safe because he was positioned behind Precious near a corner.
Unfortunately, Sumaru and his demons were standing near a pillar behind the centipede.
Massive stones rained down on them.
Several demons were crushed to death.
Sumaru barely managed to dodge the debris.
Meanwhile, Precious analyzed his opponent.
"The hairs covering its body greatly reduce physical damage from punches and kicks."
"Its countless legs are enormous and razor-sharp, making close combat difficult."
"However... if I can hit its internal body directly with a long-range attack, I can win."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Golden Thunder Vine."
Golden lightning vines erupted from his fingers.
They wrapped around the centipede's body and restrained it.
The creature struggled violently.
But every movement only caused it more pain.
"KRRRYY?!"
Then Precious activated another skill.
"RINAM."
He rushed forward and unleashed a barrage of punches.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Every impact shook the entire castle.
His fists moved so fast they appeared as nothing more than blurs.
The centipede's body trembled under the relentless assault.
Finally—
The hairs protecting its body were completely stripped away.
Its exposed skin became visible.
Precious pulled back his fist.
Then delivered one final punch.
The impact was far greater than all the previous attacks combined.
BOOOOOOM!!
The centipede's skin exploded apart.
Its upper skeleton shattered.
The gigantic creature crashed onto the ground.
After twitching for a few seconds...
It died.
Precious landed softly on the ground.
He stared at the fallen monster for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"Haa..."
"You could have become a great warrior."
"But your ego was your greatest weakness."
"Ego can raise someone to the highest peak..."
"...but it can also throw them back into the gutter from that very same height."
There was a hint of pain on his face.
Then he turned toward Yuki.
Instantly, his serious expression disappeared and was replaced by his usual energetic smile.
"Well, my work here is done."
He walked toward Yuki.
"Now it's your turn. Go kill Sumaru."
Then Precious spoke to the system.
"Chichi, heal him."
A system window appeared.
"Hm."
A confirmation sound echoed.
Green light covered Yuki's body.
All of his injuries disappeared.
The blood vanished.
Even his mana was fully restored.
Yuki stood up in shock.
Precious continued.
"Almost every demon knight is either dead or has already fled."
"Only three or four demons and Sumaru remain."
"I know you can defeat that many enemies easily."
"Anyway, I'm leaving."
Yuki quickly stopped him.
"Wait!"
Precious turned around.
Yuki hesitated before asking,
"How did you come here? I mean... why?"
"You said you wouldn't help me even if I was dying."
Precious responded with an innocent expression.
"Oh..."
"Then watch this flashback."
A scene appeared from Planet Elaria.
Inside the royal garden of the Shin Kingdom, Precious was relaxing under the warm sunlight.
Suddenly, a system window appeared beside him.
"Master! Master!!"
Its voice sounded extremely worried.
Precious opened one eye and replied in an irritated tone.
"What~? I'm relaxing right now..."
The system quickly answered.
"But Master, it's an emergency!"
Precious immediately stood up and looked at the window.
The system spoke urgently.
"An intruder has entered the world of Piratan."
The moment Precious heard those words, his eyes widened.
"What?!"
"An intruder entered a world that I created?!"