In the dense forest, the sounds of tearing flesh and triumphant growls filled the air. Three wolf-like creatures, each sporting a single horn, were feasting on their hard-won prey, relishing the victory.
Suddenly, six ice swords shot through the air at lightning speed, shattering the grim scene. The first strike struck one of the unicorn wolves squarely in the head, encasing it in ice, followed immediately by a flurry of sword strikes that left its brain frozen solid.
Click. The creature's head shattered into fragments.
The remaining two unicorn wolves froze, their eyes narrowing at the source of the attack. Their low growls betrayed neither fear nor hesitation—they were bloodthirsty predators to the core.
Ahead of them, a figure danced across the forest floor with breathtaking agility, every movement fluid, almost artistic, like a performance rather than combat.
"Dodge, instant slash!" Kiana's voice rang out. In an instant, she blurred past, reappearing behind one of the unicorn wolves as if teleporting. The Pulse Taidao in her hands swept lightly across the creature's neck, carving a deep wound, and blood spurted.
She shifted again, moving to the side of the last unicorn wolf. In its terrified gaze, Kiana's blade spun in a precise pattern, leaving three deep slashes that bloomed across its body like a dark lotus—a branch attack of the Crimson Armor, a powerful control skill.
The unicorn wolf was sent flying, and Kiana descended with it. With a single, decisive strike to the head, it collapsed lifelessly. The remaining enemies were eliminated just as efficiently.
A flash of light illuminated the aftermath, and a stream of materials—visible only to Kiana—poured into her body.
"Just as I thought."
Kiana nodded, confirming her guess. The first unicorn she'd slain earlier had released materials, but because the other two were still alive, the automatic collection system hadn't activated. Now, after all enemies were defeated, the system worked as intended.
While she examined the mechanics of the world versus the game, Kiana pulled out her mobile phone and received her mission reward.
"Chariot Armor? Bronia series… let's see what it's like."
She clicked through the Valkyrie armor interface. On the screen appeared a silver-haired Lolita-like girl, floating gracefully in midair with her companion, an intelligent robot, reloading a gun with eerie precision.
A dazzling light enveloped Kiana. Her long black hair gradually shifted color, her Crimson Armor disappeared, replaced by a holy glow that obscured her form. When the light faded, she had become an expressionless, petite girl in a black-and-red uniform.
"Floating…?" Kiana looked down, her feet lifted slightly off the ground, less than half a meter.
"Even these little details are accounted for…" Kiana thought, admiring Besta's attention to nuance. Bronya's midair combat ability was precise and elegant.
Curious, Kiana poked her new chest. Compared to her own or Mei's body, Bronya's frame was tiny; there was barely anything to fit into the phone's UI.
With this, Kiana had now acquired three of Yusan's armors—the most accessible in the game, and three of the four B-level armors. The last B-level armor was Yuji Jizi.
Using all her remaining upgrade chips on the chariot armor, Kiana instantly leveled it to match her Crimson and White Training Armors. Weapons, for now, remained basic, but Kiana relied on her Crimson Armor as her primary combat force anyway. In the original game, Chariot Armor functioned mainly as support—its ultimate gathered enemies for AoE attacks rather than dealing damage directly.
"Time to keep farming monsters."
Tapping her equipment, Kiana set out once more on the path of monster hunting and leveling.
A month later, Kiana lounged on a boulder by the lake, basking in the warm sunlight. The soft rays mingled with the sea breeze, the air so perfect it made her eyelids heavy.
Not far away, Elise and her sisters played in the water, laughing and tossing a ball back and forth.
"Kiana, come down and play with us!" the third sister, Ilya, called out warmly. She had grown comfortable around Kiana over the past month.
"I told you, I'm a Devil Fruit user—I can't go in the sea," Kiana replied.
"Come on, can't you just play a little? You can discuss it with the sea!" Ilya insisted, her expression earnest.
Kiana sighed inwardly. The girl was hopelessly cute in her seriousness. If it were negotiable, Kiana might have joined her, but she shook her head and rolled over, ignoring Ilya entirely.
After a month of intense training, Kiana had reached Commander Level 35. She was also steadily accumulating crystals from missions, now totaling forty-five a day. Having completed all her tasks early this morning, she had come here to relax.
During this period, she had drawn eight standard supplies, though no new armor appeared. With nine draws completed—including her first Pulse Taidao—she knew the next supply would be guaranteed to yield a Valkyrie of Grade A or higher. Kiana now held 240 crystals, ready to spend as soon as the mission system refreshed tomorrow. Any S-level armor would do.
Today, however, she simply relaxed, letting her efforts accumulate for tomorrow's draw.
She reflected on her progress. How many creatures had she slain on this island? It had been bustling when she first arrived; now, the quiet of the island spoke to her relentless work. Checking her map, she saw that the red dots marking beasts had dwindled—she had nearly exterminated them all.
"The day to set sail can't be far off," Kiana murmured. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of a ship. She glanced at the calm sea, blue and unbroken except for a few gulls. With no humans nearby, and no newsbirds ever having visited this isolated place, there was no way to check the current timeline. The newspaper Bailey had borrowed from Ilya was useless here.