The Magician wasn't annoyed at all by what he heard. In fact, he carried himself with the calm elegance of a therapist. Shaking his head and sighing, he sounded genuinely regretful: "Looks like I was too impatient. If I don't show absolute force, people just won't buy it. But let me remind you: your detection skills might be top-notch when you're piloting a mech, but now that your mech is trashed, you're not much of a fighter anymore."
Jill Young wasn't interested in arguing anymore. She just pulled out her large-caliber rifle and aimed it at them. The cold, dark muzzle glinted, and Jill's finger rested on the trigger, ready to shoot at the slightest provocation: "Let me ask you one thing: I'm fighting my Kaiju, you're stealing your data—why sneak attack me? I'm just an outsider here."
Honestly, Jill Young’s goal this time was super clear—she was just here to fight monsters. She had zero other ambitions or schemes in this world. She was minding her own Kaiju business, and these people suddenly jumped out to mess things up, ambush her, and frame her. The fact that Jill even stuck around to hear them out was purely out of respect for her fellow Earthlings.
But the Magician just burst out laughing. He didn’t seem scared of Jill’s big gun at all, and answered coolly with a hint of arrogance: "What are you talking about, outsider? There’s no such thing as outsiders anymore. If you’re a Chosen One, you’re already in the game! This isn’t a video game—fighting monsters doesn’t earn you XP, and nobody’s dumb enough to just fight Kaiju and save the world for fun!"
Just as he finished speaking, Jasper Xiao—whose lifelong dream was to save the world—suddenly sneezed on the other side of the mountain, barely dodged a slash from Bond, and swung his radiant hammer in return.
Meanwhile, on this side of the mountain, Jill Young—who really was just here to fight monsters—narrowed her eyes. So this is what they call 'can’t even have a conversation.' No point in talking, so she decisively pulled the trigger. Bang bang bang—the bullets tore through the air like artillery shells, blasting toward the other side. Facing the fierce gunfire, the Magician snapped his fingers, and the guy in the robe suddenly lit up, stepped forward, waved his wand, and shouted: “Butter yellow, creamy smell, ten dainty fingers turn to sausage—now!”
A weird energy seemed to leap across time and space, landing right on Jill Young. Suddenly, her ten fingers started swelling up for no apparent reason. The roaring stream of bullets wobbled and veered off course, blasting the snow on the ground into a flurry, but didn’t manage to take out those three right away.
"Huh?" Jill stared at her own hands in surprise. Her ten delicate fingers really had turned into sausages. But it didn’t hurt or anything—if she sniffed carefully, there was even a hint of sausage aroma. "This ability—now that’s interesting!" She shook her hands, and her fingers quickly returned to normal. Apparently, the magic only worked for a split second.
But in that brief moment, something had already changed in the swirling snow.
"I can do more than just control their minds. I can push them into a state of total hypnosis, unlocking superhuman strength and letting them pull off feats they could never manage on their own." The Magician’s voice rang out: "The other guy with me is a Druid—a real beast spirit shapeshifter. Usually, he just turns into a werewolf or something harmless, but guess what he can turn into now?"
Lu Yide once said that, according to the Druid lore he studied, a true Druid should master three disciplines: Elemental, Summoning, and Shapeshifting (think Diablo II skill tree). Lu Yide’s own Druid skills were laughably basic, but that didn’t stop him from gossiping about the real pros in the biz. As for the other two disciplines, let’s set them aside for now—the Shapeshifting Druid can only transform into creatures he knows best.
Now, if the creature this real-deal Druid is most familiar with were just a regular cat or dog, the Mind Magician wouldn’t be strutting around with such a smug attitude. Considering the theme of this world, Jill Young reached a conclusion—it’s probably...
"Ha! That’s right, it’s a monster!" The Magician’s words hung in the air as a shadow rapidly grew larger. Amid wild, primal roars, the shadow burst through the snow fog, coming into full view before Jill Young—a beast that looked a lot like the giant lizard from the Berserker’s first battle at the Hunter Academy. Its size grew absurdly, finally settling at a towering thirteen meters high.
Thirteen meters doesn’t sound that tall, but don’t forget, it’s standing on all fours. From snout to tail, it’s probably over thirty meters long, weighing at least fifty tons. Sure, it’s nowhere near a true Kaiju, but it’s still more than twice as massive as the Alien Queen.
Razor-sharp teeth, deadly claws, and a tail that whips through the air with a crackling sound—this thing is nightmare fuel. Its hazy eyes aren’t the usual Kaiju blue, but there’s not much sanity in those pupils either. The berserk killing intent radiated out as the giant lizard let out a low growl and lunged straight at Jill Young.
"See that? Up against my battle pet, what good are your guns?" The Magician’s voice echoed, clearly amplified by some device. "Kneel. Submit to me, and I’ll let you live."
It was déjà vu—Jill Young was once again standing shoulder to shoulder with a guy, facing down a ferocious beast. But this time, things were very different.
As the giant claw came crashing down, Teacher Yang’s eyes sharpened, ready to step in. But Jill Young suddenly held him back: "Wait, if you get involved, it won’t be any fun." Against a purely flesh-and-blood creature like this, internal martial arts could easily handle it, no stress. But Jill clearly wanted to try something else—she strode straight toward the swinging claw, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Her right hand flashed with golden light as she seemed to pull something from her storage space. "What a perfect chance to test my progress!"
The giant claw slammed down, its sharp nails gleaming with a dark sheen and whipping up a roaring wind. Behind the beast, the Magician’s lips curled into a smile—this blow would settle things, victory was his. Of course, this woman’s supernatural abilities were too valuable to waste; she had to be brought into the legion. Plus, she looked fantastic—having her as a battle consort would come with other delightful perks. With that thought, the Magician subconsciously signaled the beast to go easy—no need to squash her flat just yet.
Boom—the claw hit the ground, sending tremors through the earth. Dust exploded everywhere, and a spray of bright red blood shot sky-high, stark against the night.
"Did I actually crush her?" The Magician squinted to check, but just then the beast yelped in pain and jumped back a couple steps. The Magician frowned—there was a huge gash on its forepaw, blood spurting everywhere. That spray of blood? Turns out it was the beast’s own! "How is that possible..."
"Weak strength, slow speed, and sluggish reflexes—this is way too easy." Jill Young’s relaxed voice floated out from the swirling dust. The Magician spun around, catching the sound of metal clanking—like someone striding in full armor. In his wide eyes, a tall figure appeared in the haze.
That figure was slim and graceful, clad in perfectly fitted metal armor. In her hand was a massive sword—broad and long. With a casual swing, she whipped up a gust that blew away the dust, revealing her fully.
"The engineering crew really delivered—this gear isn’t half bad." Jill flexed her wrists and ankles, the silver armor shimmering with both elegance and style, sturdy yet beautiful. Gauntlets, arm guards, shoulder plates, neck guard, chestplate, belt, skirt armor, greaves, boots—everything but the helmet. Her silver hair spilled over the armor, looking ethereal and otherworldly. The whole set looked more decorative than functional. And that sword? Including the hilt, it was over five feet long, and Jill wielded it one-handed like it was made of plastic.
But the Magician wasn’t about to underestimate her—just moments ago, Jill Young had swung that sword and taught the beastly Druid a brutal lesson.
"Much better—now I won’t lose my balance just because I’m swinging a heavy weapon." To Jill, the armor wasn’t really for protection. Sure, the special metal helped, but what she cared about was the weight. The whole set clocked in at over a hundred kilos—finally solving her weight problem, at least for now.
Not that she could go toe-to-toe with a Kaiju, but at least now she could swing from midair without worrying about losing her center of gravity.
Ignoring the beast and the Magician, both still glaring at her, Jill glanced around and then looked up at Teacher Yang, asking, "What do you think?"
"Looks great."
"Really? I think so too!"
"But you look like you’re cosplaying." Teacher Yang deadpanned, "It’s like a mashup of Saint Seiya and Claymore."
"Ugh... Roasting myself is brutal." Black lines practically appeared above Jill’s head as she snapped, "Whatever, I’ll just have them paint it all black when we get back!"
"Then you’ll look like a Dark Saint Seiya meets Claymore mashup."
"Enough with the commentary! Just keep yourself safe and stay out of my way!" Jill pointed her massive sword at the Magician. "You—don’t get sneaky in the back. Let’s have a real fight, and maybe I’ll consider letting you keep your corpse in one piece!"
The Magician’s face was hidden beneath his hood, but his aura clearly darkened. "Didn’t expect her to have such high magic resistance, perception, and combat power. Are there really Chosen Ones this strong in the world already? All the more reason to make her my battle doll." With a snap of his fingers, the beastly Druid’s demeanor shifted—it was like a wild animal unleashed, roaring and charging forward.
At the same time, the mage beside him trembled and rushed in to assist, chanting non-stop as weird spells shot out from his staff.
Up against this combo, Jill Young was way more at ease than when she fought the Alien Queen. The beastly Druid was strong—he could easily bully the Alien Queen, and his unleashed attacks were ferocious. But unfortunately for him, Jill had leveled up during this time.