Three years later.

It was a snowy morning filled with falling flakes as Yvette got out of bed and walked down the long corridor, noticing the stillness in the air-raid shelter’s hall. Only a black dragon lay curled up in a corner atop a pile of hay, occasionally letting out even breaths.

The time was around four in the morning—dawn had just broken. The magical dolls mimicked human sleeping habits, so none of them were awake, making it the perfect opportunity for her to sneak out and embark on her first exploration of Cookes.

Pushing open the stone door of the air-raid shelter and inhaling the cold air, Yvette felt her sleepiness dissipate slightly. She turned to look down the snow slope outside the valley, her initial exploration target set four years ago. The start of her first exploration had been delayed for so long that it surprised her.

Luckily, everyone here were long-lived beings; four years was about enough time for a human to finish college, thus it hadn’t been much for her fellow dolls or dragons.

Moreover, these four years had been quite fulfilling. She hadn’t so thoroughly engaged in spell optimization for a long, long time.

After all, a spell with a specification of 100,000, even for optimization work during the era of the Origin Civilization, often required dozens of people working day and night for half a year to complete.

Yet she had managed to optimize seven spells by herself during the last four years—something that would be hard to believe even in the Origin Civilization.

While she had made great strides, her practical application was still lacking. Upon stepping into the 100,000 specification realm, the operability and variability of spells had increased significantly; what she needed next was perhaps combat experience…

Lost in thought, Yvette walked down the snow-covered slope. She didn’t take the alloy warblade with her; as a low-end military-grade weapon, its power was inferior to her spells, and it was only somewhat durable. She intended to keep that dagger as a long-term memento.

For this journey into Cookes, her main objective wasn’t to slaughter indiscriminately or to uncover all the secrets of the city at once.

She wanted to gather some intelligence first. If possible, she would return multiple times to replenish her magic through meditation. After all, her motto was safety above all.

Utilizing the wind element, she floated to the outskirts of the city. Gazing at the city shrouded in white mist, Yvette indeed felt the atmosphere described in the divine envoy’s mission record.

There were no mutated beings, nor any living creatures. Rooftops, streets, and tilted billboards were all covered with thick white blankets of snow. In the boundless silence, even the sound of the wind moaning through the ruins seemed to have stagnated.

She landed in an empty street corner, stepping lightly as she moved at a speed that was not particularly fast but absolutely not slow either, circling around the nearby town community as she approached the city center.

After traveling about 20 kilometers, the city center began to come into view, and finally, a mutated being emerged from the shadows and attacked her, shooting out a shard of ice. Yvette, wanting to test the defense of her Crimson Armor, did not dodge but, instead, raised her hand to catch the ice shard, shattering it effortlessly.

The attack from this mutated being was quite weak… Yvette thought with some disappointment as she looked up to see a humanoid mutant. It resembled a zombie dug out of permafrost—stooped, its skin taut over bones, exposing some flesh, with a purplish-red sore on its head. Although it was only a first-stage mutant, its ability to condense ice shards for attack showed it had some strength.

But there were stronger threats behind it. Upon realizing its attack had no effect, this mutant seemed infuriated, forming dozens of ice shards rapidly around it to fire at Yvette.

This mindless barrage of firepower made her see a glimpse of her past self in this mutant.

Whoosh, whoosh, countless ice shards struck Yvette, raising a shimmering mist of frost but causing no real damage—only providing her with an additional effect. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers lightly, creating a blast of fire that erupted on the mutant, turning it to ash.

Hmm… While it could use spells, its combat power seemed to be below stage three—perhaps 2.5 stages. But even so, it was remarkable; typically, such mutants in other cities were just street-level nuisances…

She was secretly amazed as she continued forward. Along the way, she encountered sporadic attacks from various mutated beings. Nevertheless, whether humanoid or beast-like, these first-stage mutants demonstrated combat power above stage three.

In just a short stretch of 10 kilometers, she had already hunted over ten mutants with combat capabilities at stage three, nearly equivalent to killing ten nest masters. Fortunately, the encounters were mostly quick kills, reducing mana expenditure significantly, helping her avoid repeating past mistakes.

She had also set some rules for herself, such as having to unconditionally retreat when her mana fell below one-third and refraining from using her dark eye ability unless absolutely necessary.

Under these self-imposed constraints, she became even more meticulous about mana management.

About an hour later, as she approached the city center, a cold voice echoed from above, “Who are you?”

Yvette looked up to see a slender shadow standing on the peak of a building—a church—gazing down at her. Dressed in modern fashionable attire, if one ignored the non-human appendages, she might have appeared as a vibrant high school girl.

Unfortunately, the eight spider legs and six red dot-like eyes marred that beauty. If there were no surprises, this must be the Spider Woman mentioned in the divine envoy’s mission report.

After a moment, seeing Yvette silently watching her without speaking, the Spider Woman asked again, “This is the territory of the King of the Sky and Sea. Which sovereign do you serve? Who allowed you to trespass like this?”

King of the Sky and Sea? Sovereign? This seemed to indicate a hierarchy among high-tier mutated beings.

The former likely referred to a higher-level mutant, while the latter, called “sovereign”—was it a rank or a status?

Yvette hadn’t expected to gather so much information about mutated beings in just one encounter, but she felt puzzled as to why the Spider Woman hadn’t attacked her immediately after she had fought her way in.

Could she be wary of the potential presence of “someone” behind her?

“Who are you?” Yvette asked.

“I asked first,” the Spider Woman replied. Latest content published on novèlfire.net

“I’m Ice Rain, a member of the mechanical tribe,” Yvette said.

“Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Alright then.” Yvette felt a bit regretful. It seemed high-tier mutants had sharper minds than mechanical dolls; she had been seen through her flawless disguise. She decided to change her approach, saying, “Actually, I’m a wild mutant, and I don’t know anything.”

“You think you’re provoking me?” The Spider Woman’s tone grew colder. “Your performance shows at least four to five instances of ‘promotion.’ Haven’t you received any sense? Is this the kind of lie that gets easily exposed…?”

Sense? Sense of what? Could it be that mutants gain special information during their stages of elevation, what she called “promotion”?

Yvette replied, “I’m not lying; I really don’t know anything. Can you teach me?”

“It’s fine; no need,” the Spider Woman said coldly. “Anyway, you’re about to die; just be careful in your next life.”

Having said that, the spider legs behind her powered forward, transforming her into a shadowy figure as she lunged toward Yvette, unleashing a black, strange energy that resembled some unknown elemental spell.

Yvette, having prepared for battle for years, had been waiting for this moment. She wrapped herself in wind elements and collided against the Spider Woman in the snowy ruins of the city. Each time they met, three layers of her four-layer Crimson Armor would shatter, only to be quickly replenished.

Her attacking methods had also diversified significantly compared to the past. At times she shaped blades of fire from flames in her hands for slashing, while at others, she unleashed leaping thunder, only to be blocked by the Spider Woman’s black magical barrier.

Countless magical elements spread throughout the district like ebbing tides, washing over everything in the streets. The unknown black elements mixed in, resembling some corrosive poison; many conventional elemental magics, such as ice, fire, wind, and thunder, became rapidly darkened upon contact with these black elements before dissipating, like embers scorched by fierce flames.

The quiet streets witnessed repeated explosions, clouds of smoke billowing out and merging with snowflakes into a dense black fog, the sounds of detonation echoing before quickly being swallowed by the cold wind.

Minutes or perhaps a dozen minutes passed; the thrilling clash came to an end as both fighters withdrew simultaneously.

Yet astonishingly, despite the fierce battle that left the streets in disarray, with charred marks and craters etched in the snow, both Yvette and the Spider Woman remained untouched—clean even, with not a speck of dirt on their garments, except for the thin mist of breath condensing in the cold air.

“You really are strong; are you a five-stage mutant?” Yvette said, standing atop a spire of a building while looking down at the Spider Woman, her black dress fluttering in the cold wind.

“About that,” the Spider Woman said expressionlessly, then corrected herself, “After four instances of ‘promotion,’ I’m called ‘Lord.’”

“What about stage four?” Yvette thought of the dual-bladed demon; that guy had once claimed that stage four was called Lord during his boasting.

“Do you really know nothing at all?”

“I’ve lived on a remote island for many years and know nothing about mutant society. Well, I haven’t received that so-called ‘sense’ you mentioned.” As she spoke, Yvette conjured a white tentacle from her body to prove that she truly was a “mutant.”

The Spider Woman fell silent for a moment before her voice turned cold again. “But daring to trespass in the territory of the King of the Sky and Sea, you still must die.”

“Let’s save that for next time.” Yvette shook her head. Her mana was nearing the one-third warning line she had set for herself, and throughout the battle, the Spider Woman’s strength remained elusive, seemingly effortless in combat. This made Yvette wary, fearing a repeat of past mistakes.

Having fought for so long, support for the Spider Woman would soon arrive. Given her formidable abilities, who knew if she had any hidden cards up her sleeve? For safety’s sake, it was best to retreat this time and come back after replenishing her mana…

With that in mind, she transformed into a gust of wind, disappearing into the depths of the snowy ruins at the street corner.

…

The snow continued to fall.

Watching her enemy leave, the Spider Woman stood impassively atop the rooftop, lost in thought.

Time flowed in silence, and the snow layered upon the traces of the recently disturbed battle.

Ten minutes later, confirming that the silver-haired girl wouldn’t suddenly return for a counterattack, the Spider Woman took a deep breath, then staggered slightly, spitting out a mouthful of blood.