The Orc King stared at me with glowing blue eyes, such a freaky pop of color against his red and black skin. I had gotten so used to his brutish anger, his sudden calm was alarming.

I brandished my kindjals at him, two in my hands and the other two floating at my side, ready for his next attack.

[You should already be dead.] The Orc King said, his gnarly voice almost smooth. [How are you still alive, Goddess?]

My eyes widened in shock. The more I stared at the strange Boss, the more I couldn’t help but think he was weird. This was the same monster I’d been fighting this whole time, wasn’t it? He didn’t change into a different person, did he? Was that even possible? I didn’t know how to answer his question. I wasn’t Goddess, and I didn’t think anything good would come from me talking to him anyway. This was way past flinging insults at each other.

[Answer me!] The Boss yelled, staring right at me as if he knew she was in me. Suddenly he jerked and grabbed his head with a wail. His eyes flickered between glowing blue and the normal bloody red color.

The instant he showed weakness, I attacked. My floating kindjals shot at him. I Warped and appeared behind him. The Orc King turned and blocked my attack, throwing me back. He kept swinging in a circle and knocked the floating kindjals away.

In that second, I Warped right in front of him and activated Mist Blade. My right kindjal immediately extended out ten feet and impaled the Orc King right through the heart.

He froze midswing, a look of shock on his square face.

The floating kindjals appeared and stabbed into his sides, crisscrossing inside his massive chest. Blood gushed out of the Boss’s mouth, but he still wasn’t dead. With a yell, I lunged forward and swung the remaining kindjal in my hand.

The Orc King’s head thudded to the ground five feet from where his body dropped. His wide eyes stared at me, the blue light fading slowly until it was the Orc King’s normal face.

[+10,000 EXP]

Breathing heavily, I walked up to the body and extracted my kindjals from it. I stabbed down where the energy crystal was, and the Boss’s body exploded into little lights. My pained groan echoed in the desolate square as I bent down and picked up the Drop Orb left behind. And the Orc King’s sword. My Items Bag was nearly full with all the stuff I was collecting in this world alone.

[Obtained King’s Crown.]

Goddess gasped, her breathy voice right behind my ear.

I jumped and whipped around, brandishing my kindjals at the ready. But there was nothing behind me. “What?” I muttered. God, even talking hurt right now. “What’s wrong?”

The crown … The circlet … she whispered in a stuffy voice. How did it get here?

“Huh?” Just as I was about to open up my Items menu, the ground started to shake.

Alarmed all over again, I looked around. Kesstel said that once a Boss was killed, that world would vanish. Was the world disappearing now?

In the distance, I could see the mountains that circled the remnant of Vapria start to dissolve, like leaves directed by a blower. It wasn’t fast, but it was obvious that the world was starting to fade away. What would happen if I didn’t get to the Portal in time?

You are also a Boss of this world, and I still have some control of it, Goddess said. Vapria won’t disappear until we leave the world. But that doesn’t mean that you should linger too long here.

The huge double doors to the palace swung open and several Red Orcs holding weapons came out. They were trying to act big and tough, but they were heavily poisoned. Only one of them could even stand straight and had more than a third of her HP. Their gazes locked on me in surprise. Apparently they didn’t expect to see me alive. Did they think they could give moral support after their king won the fight? Too bad for them. They didn’t even have time to recover from their shock before my floating kindjals shot through their chests. In less than ten seconds, they all exploded into little lights.

I didn’t have a lot of time — even without Goddess’s warning, I could see the world slowly wafting away — but I said I was going to clean out Goddess’s city. And there was no way I was going to walk away from all that EXP.

My aching steps were slow, as I walked up the wide stairs to the palace. The last time I was terrified out of my mind. Now, even though I hurt like hell, I felt completely calm as I stepped into the massive dark room. Green fires dimly lit the place, casting green highlights on the Orcs still inside. Half of them were already dead, the other half were either weakly on the ground or hugging the walls. They no longer looked at me like I was a toy for their entertainment. They stared at me like I was death incarnate.

I was okay with that.

The floating kindjals at my side shot out, aiming at all the energy crystals. Twenty minutes later, I walked out of a completely empty palace two levels higher.

I didn’t have anymore black blood on me — that all disappeared when I destroyed their energy crystals — but my armor was still covered in my own. I didn’t have time to rest either, judging from the speed that the world was disappearing.

“I want a nap,” I muttered and Feather Stepped over the rooftops toward the hill on the outside of the city. “And food.” When was the last time I ate? And I couldn’t say that the meditating I’d done while cultivating was very relaxing.

Below me, a multitude of different kinds of monsters rushed into the now mist-free city, fleeing from the collapsing edges of the world. Either they were too panicked or they just didn’t notice me, but they left me completely alone as I ran the opposite direction as them.

Which was fine by me. I was too tired to deal with anything else right now, easy EXP or not. Not when the clock was ticking down. Goddess said the world wouldn’t collapse until I left it, but I didn’t trust the parasite to not make things difficult.

I frowned as a thought came to me. “Goddess, was that another person possessing the Orc King in the end?” I asked. “It seemed like he was suddenly a different person. Who was it?”

I don’t know, she whispered back. I also think something happened to that disgusting creature, but because I’m anchored to you, I couldn’t tell where the soul that possessed him came from. It was like puppet strings descended from the sky and attached to him.

“Hm.” Well, waiting here wasn’t going to get me any answers. It would just get me caught in a black hole.

I leapt past the last building in the city and landed at the base of the hill. The Portal’s small black arch stood over my head. My lips pulled in a frown as I looked at it.

“Goddess, you said that this Portal isn’t the Las Vegas Portal, right?”

That is correct.

“Do you know where it is?” I jumped to the top of the hill and landed in front of the Portal.

Every other time I’d seen the Portal to Vapria, it had been between two trees. It was a little odd to see it as a free standing arch in the middle of short grass.

No. But you should be able to use the mist to find it. As long as it’s in a place that has access to air, the mist should be able to get inside. If not, well, with how long you’ve been gone, I thought the expedition team would have found it by now. There was a slight hint of disappointment in her voice.

I blinked. “Wait, how long have I been gone?”

It took you a week to absorb the extra energy and another five days to cultivate the mist. Plus one more day to clear out the city, so …

“Thirteen days?” I gasped.

It’s only been four days on Earth, Goddess said like that solved everything. But that boy is starting to make trouble, so you better get back now.

Boy? What boy? “Kesstel? Is that who you’re talking about? What’s he doing?”

Getting anxious.

“Ah.” Anxiety and power don’t really go together that well.

I turned around one last time and looked at the city as it wafted away like snow in the wind into the cloudy sky. I know it wasn’t the real thing, just a relic the parasitic planet made, but to me this was Vapria. I hated the place, but it was still my beginning. And also the place where I gained the ability to keep me and my family alive. I was grateful for that.

I faced the Portal and stepped through it. In theory, it would take me back to the same place, but I didn’t actually know if that was true. The only hands-on experience I had with stable Portals was the one that collapsed with Kesstel inside. Not very encouraging.

Usually when I go through a Portal, it’s a one-second situation, like stepping into a room. One where you pass through a disorienting pressure at the doorway, then it's done. This Portal wasn’t like that at all. Maybe because I was the ‘Boss’ coming out. Instead of an instant thing, this Portal was like a hallway. Slowly, I walked through, each step like wading through heavy, waist-high snow. The pressure resisted me going forward, but at the same time I could feel that there was nothing behind me. As soon as I passed through a section of the Portal, everything behind me disappeared.

Vapria was gone. I could feel it inside my soul, as if a hole had opened up in my heart. Behind there was nothing but a black void. And every step I took shortened the Portal to where it used to be.

Goodbye, my beautiful world, Goddess whispered.

I’m sorry, I thought back, since I didn’t dare open my mouth.

So am I.

Her tone implied that she didn’t want to talk anymore, so I let her be.

Slowly, I became aware of words drifting around me. I couldn’t understand them at first, like they were just a muffled whisper behind a pillow. The more I walked, the clearer they became. It was … two men talking?

“You c … stay here,” one guy said, his voice fading in and out.

The other guy responded, his words too muffled to understand.

“I’m sorry, but … you need to … help.” The first guy responded.

“You’re wrong,” the second guy responded.

My eyes widened and my heart flipped as I recognized that cold voice. Kesstel!

“Really? An E alone in the middle of this godforsaken place for four days? She’s dead, dude. Get over it. You knew this was going to happen when you brought the poor girl. I mean, look at Price’s team. At least they found the bodies.”

Hang on, I knew that voice too. Who was it? The flashy S Hunter from the party before we left. What was his name again? Trevor? Taylor? No, Tyson. Right, it was Tyson.

“She’s not dead,” Kesstel answered back evenly.

“Huh. How do you figure that?” Tyson drawled.

Silence followed. I frowned, straining my ears as I continued to walk through the black tunnel. I couldn’t see anything around me, I just hoped I was walking in a straight line. I had been using their slowly crescendoing voices as a gauge, but now that they weren’t saying anything, I was left alone in the black void.

“Kesstel?” I called out but my voice fell flat, as if it didn’t go an inch past my face.

No one responded.

Finally Tyson sighed in frustration. “How long do you plan on sitting there waiting?”

“Until the world collapses,” Kesstel answered back evenly.

“God, man. Right now is not the time for your warped sense of humor,” Tyson groaned. “S’s are supposed to encourage the public, remember? You can’t talk like that.”

“It’s true,” Kesstel said.

The pitch black in front of me started to change. Slowly, it began to lighten in color to a soft gray circle. Encouraged, I tried to walk faster. Even though my legs were moving faster, it still felt like I was going the same speed. I didn’t stop.

“Sure, man.” Tyson muttered something else under his breath that I couldn’t catch. “And if she’s alive and doesn’t come back before the end of the world, huh? What then?” He threw it out like a challenge.

“Then I go look for her.”

A small smile curled my lips. Oh, this man. How could anyone say something like that with just a flat, emotionless voice? But it made his words all the more precious, because they were obviously his real feelings.

I reached out to the light gray circle. My fingertips touched a smooth, soft surface. When I pressed against it, the gray suddenly receded, opening a three-foot hole in the visually flat space. On the other side was a sand-covered mound of debris. I ducked through the hole and straightened up, looking at the massive pile of brick, steel, wood, and sand ahead of me. When I say massive, I mean it was almost fifty feet tall. I thought I’d come back to the hotel’s pool area. So where was I?

I turned and finally saw something familiar. The RV resort with the empty pool. I glanced between the RV resort, the pile that was in front of me, and the road I was suddenly standing on, comparing it to the mental map I had of the area. This mountain of debris was … the hotel? What happened to it?

Two figures appeared on top of the debris, Kesstel with Tyson close behind.

“W-what?” Tyson gasped. “A Portal?”

Kesstel simply jumped down to me.

I glanced at the small black Portal at my side. Its edges were already wiggling and collapsing. Within seconds, it had shrunk to the side of a platter. In a couple more seconds it would be gone, forever erasing Vapria from existence.

Kesstel landed in front of me and immediately he reached out, as if I wasn’t a disgusting mess. Just as I started to lift my hands, before he even touched me, he flinched away. In a flash, he jumped back ten feet and stared at me with wide eyes.

I blinked at him, completely baffled. “Are you … okay?” I asked.

Kesstel’s eyes started to faintly glow bright blue.

*****

Jyn Devhro

Rank S

Lv 92

EXP to Next Lv 12,569

HP 3,515/38,515

MP 65/785

Strength 155 (+40)

Magic 140

Constitution 148 (+40)

Stat Points 0

Agility 148

Perception 140

Intelligence 127

Skills

Throw

Critical Hit

Quick Hit

Mirror (Improved)

High Jump

Float

Abilities

True Mist

Feather Step

Regen

Stealth

Poison Fog

Mist Blade (Enhanced)

Merge

Warp

Telekinesis