Above the clouds in Japan stood Laurel, his fists tightly clenched until he finally relaxed them, exhaling a chilly breath.
"In the name of Laurel, Cardinal number 0 of the All World Alliance Guild. I command you."
He gradually lifted his hands into the air, leaving his index finger pointed skyward as he continued.
"Commence cleansing."
At that moment, his voice echoed across the globe, reaching Alliance members scattered in various locations.
China,
Beijing,
Panic and chaos had spread far and wide, even to the most developed nations.
Originally, the zombies weren't meant to be this aggressive or contagious. The cause of this sudden change remained unknown.
Like in the movies, they, out of nowhere, suddenly began to sprint, hunting down their prey.
Each one of them now held power far beyond that of ordinary humans, and with their sheer numbers, they brought nothing but despair.
Yet.
In the midst of this,
«Coward. Those creatures aren't human anymore. Their souls are lost; all that's left is an empty shell, so don't hold back»
"I know. I can see it."
As she walked through the devastated streets, surrounded by crumbling buildings, those monstrosities roamed aimlessly.
She strolled casually, enveloped in crackling lightning, silently offering a prayer while her hands gripped the long odachi at her waist, slowly drawing it out.
At some point, both had started to slowly get along.
Of course, EI with her condescending tone was still annoying as always, but now, it was getting better.
Then,
""We weep for the departed.""
From her body, lightning erupted.
As said before, EI controls power output and manipulation, as allowed by Mei's will.
Therefore, this unusual surge of lightning was managed so effectively that the damage it caused was minimal.
In addition to that, around her is an electromagnetic field in which it was very fatal to enter.
Coupled with [Chef], which allowed her to attack her opponents as though they were in front of her as long as she could see them.
Mei was on a spree.
Same was with Luminous. But before that,
"Ne~ Luminous~♡ What do you say I modify your skills a little bit?"
Transfer Space, before arrival at the target world.
Before their transfer to the mission world, they were brought to a completely different space before arrival, which, according to Laurel, was called the transfer space.
Here, Laurel approached Luminous with those words and a beaming smile, causing a tick mark to appear on the true ancestor's forehead.
"You—"
She flinched, seeing his irritable expression—he'd charmed her, Mei, with it.
Nevertheless, Luminous herself couldn't help but be curious. She had seen his works enough to know that he was the real deal.
While she understood that it was due to a skill he possessed, it was undeniable that he was the one who owns said skill.
Moreover, tampering with skills like this wasn't something anyone could do.
In fact, she doubts that even someone around Guy's level could outright manipulate skills, however, someone like Laurel could do so…
"What do you mean by that?"
"Some of your magic. I want to modify it. [Disintegration] and your [Secret of Faith and Grace], to be particular."
"...."
And now, Luminous was in the airspace above the Northern continent.
"Laurel, I thank you. You've made my work easier with your modifications."
A large halo appeared behind her, along with a bright golden light peering down from the clouds behind her.
No doubt she looked like a goddess at this moment.
Such an ethereal figure, despite being in the sky, some people were able to capture a visage of the divine being.
No. At first, the threat caught the zombies' attention, causing them to instinctively panic and eventually run for their lives..
However, upon being struck by the rays of light, they began to disintegrate.
Originally, disintegration was a spell designed to completely eliminate its target.
Now, however, disintegration had become an integral part of her abilities as a divine skill, known as:
[S-type]: [Arbiter]
This skill, characterized by its judgmental nature, encapsulated all the ideals of holiness that her followers believed in.
In simpler terms, she was a divine being who judged others.
The light from her disintegration spell could be either harmful or harmless, depending on her intent.
If it hit both a human and a zombie, only the zombie would be affected, leaving the human unharmed.
That was the power Laurel had bestowed upon her.
"I must say, Laurel, you are quite impressive. I suppose it's not so bad to rely on you."
Lux, on the flip side.
For the future Knight King, things were a bit tougher than he initially thought.
He was down south at the moment.
With the Machine Dragons being massive and his foes just regular-sized humans, it posed quite a challenge.
However, Laurel had foreseen this and went:
"Here~☆"
Casually, handing over a frost-encased weapon that seamlessly fit into Bahamut's arsenal.
"Vijaya."
That was its name.
It was named after the bow belonging to Karna, a legendary archer famed for its might and connection to his skills as a warrior.
The original intent for the bow was that it would evolve into an intelligent weapon, alongside Bahamut.
As Laurel explained:
"Right now, it might look like this. But the more you and Bahamut use it, the more it will be recognized. Eventually, it could transform into a legendary weapon all on its own."
It was all for symbolic purposes, which may eventually become something more in the future.
Lux exhaled as he wielded Bahamut, drawing the arrow of the etheric bow.
"Haah~"
"Just as I expected from you, Laurel. I can only say this much."
With that, Lux pulled back his bow and released the arrow.
Initially, the crimson arrow vanished into thin air, but the next moment, a crimson sphere, pulsing with energy, appeared before him.
"Burst."
The sphere grew until he gave the command. At that moment, as the red sphere exploded, a flurry of small light arrows shot out in all directions.
However, these weren't just normal, energy-based arrows.
[End Action].
Normally, it was a technique that allowed him to carry out almost limitless actions as long as he kept inputting commands.
This was the body and mind technique he had invented before.
But then, what if he used the energy construct like his body while giving directives like his [End Action]?
This is what happens.
Specialized attacks that are a 100% guaranteed hit on enemies. As long as he wants the attack to hit, it will always hit, thus giving him the:
[D-type]: [Guaranteed Hit]
Like that, thousands upon thousands of them were being wiped out every second, and all he had to do was simply reshoot the arrows.
On the other side of the Globe.
Laurel.
"I can see that everyone is doing great." Laurel said this with a smile on his face. Yet, the one who amazed him the most was definitely Lux.
Having personally crafted the Luminous [S-type skill], he was aware of how unique and powerful it was meant to be.
But then, with just a bit of help from him, Lux managed to develop his own D-type skill.
So, what exactly are [type skills]?
Type skills are not much different from regular skills in Luminous's world, but are more similar to game skills.
Like all in-game skills, they fall into two categories: active or passive skills, but in this case, they're referred to as D and S-type skills.
These skills can also be layered on top of existing ones or pre-existing techniques the users have learned to create the desired outcome, just like Lux did.
They're akin to Unique or Ultimate skills, but users have the freedom to tweak them as long as they stay true to their intended functions.
Additionally, it can be merged with other skills to create stronger skills using the system.
"Haha. Each and everyone of us…"
Even he hadn't created his own D or S-type skills yet. But he wasn't worried.
Shaking his head, he glanced around before his expression changed, turning serious.
"Time to have a chat with powerful figures."
United States.
Presidential Bunker.
Deep within an underground bunker, there was a room that resembled an office more than a typical bunker space.
A large presidential desk and chair took up most of the area, making it feel less like a military hideout and more like a command center.
Present in the room were the President of the United States, his secretary, and two soldiers standing guard at the entrance.
Additional soldiers were positioned throughout the bunker as well.
Among the political leaders who could join the meeting via video and audio, all felt a sense of panic.
"What do you mean the military can't handle the situation? What about nuclear weapons? Launch them!"
"Are you out of your mind? You want to wipe out entire nations just like that!?"
"Then what's your solution?"
As the argument was ongoing, heated up, some influential figures, who had safe, secure places to stay, insisted on unleashing nukes.
However, others who were relatively unsafe clamored otherwise.
"Honestly! Just what are those things?"
These undead were far more hostile than anticipated. They even used their own bodies as shields to take down the strongest military forces.
It felt like a scene ripped straight from a horror film.
"Besides, what is Russia doing?"
Before anyone could say anything, another politician had called that country; however, the reply was not the panicked shouts of the others.
"Everyone, switch to channel XRUS1920."
The Russian president had casually and calmly said that. The US president blinked, hearing the transmission before tuning into the channel.
What each of them saw was nothing short of astonishing.
A woman with lustrous silver hair, a porcelain face, fair skin, and a pair of mismatched eyes. All eyes were drawn to her.
Plus, the halo behind her, and those unseen hands of God in the sky… she was nothing short of divine.
Even "divine" seemed an inadequate description of her. In fact, they all felt they had committed a sin just gazing at her figure.
"What the—"
Then—
"Goddess Luminous. That is her name."
Sitting on the table, legs crossed, his back was facing them. Black hair, with matching clothes, and a smile when he turned his face.
"Who's there?"
"How did he get in here?"
The two soldiers immediately snapped to attention, guns drawn and aimed directly at him.
But suddenly, they found themselves unable to pull the trigger, no matter how hard they tried.
On top of that, their bodies felt like they were weighed down.
Before they realized it, they were completely immobilized.
The president, seated in his chair, was paralyzed—not by Laurel's powers, but by the shock of witnessing his soldiers freeze in place.
"Greetings, presidents and esteemed ministers of your parliaments. I am Laurel, the proud messenger of the Goddess Luminous."
"I bring you a message: Surrender or face annihilation."