Jhena strode into the temple. The old man still stood there, his eyes widened once more.

“H-Hero! You returned!”

She passed him by, walking towards the altar.

“Hero’s just a class, it’s not who I am.”

“T-Then, what are you?”

Jhena grabbed the sword with a single swipe of her arm, turning around to head back towards the entrance.

“A bounty hunter. And I have my target.”

She left without another word.

Colonel Dagurx looked up as he heard footsteps in the command center. His chitin lit up and his antenna stood in the air.

“Jhena! Where have you been?! Did something happen?!”

Jhena strode up to him, a curious sword strapped to her back.

“I need a corvette. One you don’t need back.”

“...what the heck are you going to do with that?”

“My job.”

Colonel Dagurx looked into her eyes. After a moment, he chittered lightly.

“I see. You’ll have it.”

Jhena nodded, and left the command center. Colonel Dagurx whispered as he watched her go.

“...I know that look. Welcome back, Sergeant Major Cuuhl.”

Erune walked up to Jhena as she sat in a room, hand passing over the holy sword on the floor.

“Jhena, what are you doing?”

“Analyzing this sword’s composition and enchantments.”

Erune heaved a sigh.

“Don’t bother. We’ve tried everything with that. Even the Master Smith Darbamri Drakeheart couldn’t make heads or tails of it. I’m not sure I believe it’s divine like they say but…”

“I got it.”

“...what?”

Jhena lifted a hand. A second holy sword began to grow from the hilt up.

“I got it.”

Erune gripped her hair and pulled. After a moment she heaved a huge sigh.

“Of course. Of course you did. Of course you can just make holy swords. Of course you can just replicate enchantments I can’t even read. I forgot you’re a monster.”

Jhena frowned as she dismantled the copy.

“How rude.”

Just then, a message from the Colonel passed before Jhena’s eyes. She stood up.

“Just in time.”

“Hm? Where are you going now?”

“To kill the Dark Lord.”

“Wait, what? Like, right now?”

“Yep.”

“Jhena, give a girl some warning, won’t you? The Resistance isn’t ready to get you over there, I need some time to arrange passage, you know?”

“No need.”

“No need? No need?!”

Erune held the bridge of her nose.

“Jhena, you know this is a year-long trip by sheer distance alone? Not to mention you need to cross through the defenses the Dark Lord’s hordes have set up around your little camp, then pass through his entire nation with all of his agents searching for you. We need time to plan this! And even if we evade the armies, one does not simply walk into the Dark Lord’s castle.”

“I’m not going to walk.”

“Then how are you going to get there? Humans aren’t allowed mounts in the Dark Lord’s domain, you know?”

“You’ll see.”

Erune just heaved a sigh. No, it’s ok. She wouldn’t be surprised again. This was Jhena she was talking about.

Erune’s mouth hung open as she stood in front of the portal.

A ship.

A ship was flying.

Of course a ship was flying.

Jhena turned to her.

“You want to come?”

“...that’s ok. I’ll be busy…rethinking my life…”

Jhena shrugged.

“Suit yourself. Head to the command center if you want to watch, I’ve told Colonel Dagurx about you already. He’ll have a live feed.”

“I-I see. W-Well, um, good luck?”

“Thanks.”

Jhena stopped and turned to face Erune properly.

“And thank you, Erune. I…I needed someone who could understand.”

Erune nodded. She walked forward and put a hand on Jhena’s shoulder.

“We all do. Good luck Jhena, give him hell for me, would you?”

Jhena nodded, and turned to embark on the corvette as it landed.

Jhena sat in the cockpit as the corvette flew into orbit. With the ship paired to her nanobots, she didn’t really need to fly the ship manually, but she enjoyed sitting in the pilot’s seat.

Just one little pleasure she always had.

But the ship had reached the intended orbit, so it was time to stop messing around and get to work. She activated the ship’s sensors, her nanobots adding a magical layer to the scan. Soon she located her target.

A black castle appeared on the feed.

She stood up from her seat, activating her full combat suit. She placed her hands on the ground, sending her nanobots through the craft.

Once upon a time, a job like this would’ve taken her hours, days even. Back then, she could only command nanobots within a short distance once they left her body. She also needed time and matter to replenish her nanobot stores, as she couldn’t keep too many of them in her body at once.

All that no longer applied.

The Nanomeister class and its related skills vastly improved her ability to control her nanobots as well as the numbers she could store and handle. Learning magic only improved this further, especially space and mind magic. Her nanobots could use magic to report to her and hear her commands at any distance. And she no longer needed to store them purely within her own body. The class and the mana also seemed to change the nanobots themselves, improving their capabilities as she grew stronger.

Finally, the Hero class applied over all of this, improving every aspect of her being. The class didn’t truly overwrite the Nanomeister class, but improved upon it, elevating it to its full potential.

Potential she now displayed in full as she completed a day of work in mere seconds.

The exterior of the corvette shimmered and melted, reforming itself according to Jhena’s will. The hallways shrunk and vanished, the turrets melted into the hull. The entire craft shrunk and extended as Jhena removed every non-essential space and system.

Soon the craft was little more than a stick, a cockpit, and an engine. And what’s more, the exterior started to turn golden, and glow with a yellow light.

Soon Jhena’s creation was complete.

The holy sword-coated rod from god.

And the nanobots finished their targeting calculations.

Jhena strapped herself into the seat, and took a deep breath.

“Fire.”

With a single word, the rod reoriented itself, pointing towards the planet.

Jhena was pushed back into her seat as the thrusters engaged and the rod began its descent.

Several minutes of clenching her teeth later and the cockpit opened, Jhena’s seat ejecting from it as previously calculated. Jhena waited as the chair tumbled through the air; once the momentum from the rod had bled off she disengaged the strap. She created thrusters on her suit and began to hover in the air.

Below her, she could see the light of the engines as the rod descended on the black castle below.

And then the sun lit upon the Earth.

Level 121 Orc Praetorian slain!

Level 136 Ancient Wight slain!

Level 115 Death Knight slain!

Level…

Jhena waved her hand as a flood of notifications passed her eyes.

Title Gained: Wrath of the Heavens

Unique Skill created: Hammer of God

Huh, neat.

And then she heard a deep, rumbling laugh.

“Kukuku…what incredible power. To destroy my entire castle and send me to my true form immediately…you will be worth killing.”

Something dark exploded out from the dust cloud. Jhena sent a sensor scan through the debris to determine what it was.

A black dragon, as tall as the castle she had destroyed.

And it was staring right at her.

“Kukuku…come, you who brought out my true form in a single blow! I can feel it, my first level in centuries!”

Jhena grimaced. It could never be easy, could it?

The dragon opened its mouth, a purple light growing within. Jhena engaged her thrusters and shot to the side. A beam of purple lighting and fire shot from the monster’s mouth, ripping apart the air. Jhena could feel the heat through her suit, even from just a glancing blow.

Jhena held out her hands. Her nanobots shimmered as they extended into the air and began drawing a massive magic circle with blue light.

The wind howled and hailstones the size of trucks began to rain from the sky.

“You think you can harm ME with such a weak attack?!”

The Dark Dragon simply ignored the hailstones as they shattered against his scales.

However in the confusion he had lost Jhena.

Jhena appeared in the air above and behind the dragon. The air distorted and several large missiles appeared before her, tipped in the gold metal of the holy sword. She locked into the dragon and the missiles launched.

“GAH!”

The dragon let out a cry as golden explosions peppered its back, taking a step forward. He spun around, swinging his massive head with another breath ready when an explosion struck his jaws.

Jhena stood on the ground, manning a massive artillery cannon.

A giant black tail approached her position. She vanished as the tail smashed the cannon to pieces.

She appeared in the air directly above the dragon and held out her hands. The air distorted once more and a massive orbital cannon appeared in front of her. The device lit up and an orange beam struck the dragon, a massive explosion obscuring it from view.

“ENOUGH! DARK BURST!”

A black wave burst out of the dust cloud. Jhena vanished once more to dodge the blow and grimaced.

She was fine, but the nanobots she had injected into the beast were wiped out by the energy surge.

She vanished once more as a giant claw approached her…

Only to find a purple fireball approaching her new location.

Jhena grit her teeth and formed a shield as the bolt exploded, sending her hurtling through the skies.

“NICE TRICK, BUT ONLY AN IDIOT WOULDN’T FIGURE IT OUT”

Jhena swung in the air and activated her thrusters. A hail of purple firebolts flew through the air, covering the skies. Jhena drew the holy sword on her back, deflecting bolts as she took evasive action. As she did, a row of holy sword-tipped missiles ejected from her back, launching into the dragon’s arm. The missiles buried themselves deep within the dragon before exploding. The dragon roared in pain.

Jhena took the opportunity and vanished, appearing on the dragon’s other arm. She ran up the arm, using her thrusters and whip to duck and dodge through another barrage of bolts. Spikes on the dragon extended and arced towards her. Jhena formed a golden shield, ducking and rolling once the spikes bounced off it and boosted into the air. She held the holy sword high above her head, the blade extending out. The blade began to glow and a fusion of mana and plasma surged across it, forming a blade of light the size of a building. Jhena let out a yell as she swung her blade.

The Dark Dragon’s eyes widened and he quickly ducked his head, trying to lean out of the way of the strike.

But he couldn’t move his wing in time.

The Dark Dragon let out a roar that shook the ground itself as one of his wings fell to the ground, a mighty blast of fire and lightning surging into the sky as he threw his head back. He swung forward with a snarl and bloodshot eyes.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!”

The Dark Dragon raised a hand into the sky. A massive black magic circle blot out the sun, purple lightning arcing from it.

“DIE! APOCALYP…”

Jhena appeared on the ground in front of the Dark Dragon, a massive blue crystal floating in the air before her. She held out her hands to it, a large magic circle covering over it. The crystal began to glow with a blue light.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to use one of these. And now, with mind magic, I finally can. PSI DEVASTATOR!”

A massive blue beam fired from the crystal, slamming into the dragon’s head. The Dark Dragon screamed as his body and mind were assaulted simultaneously.

Meanwhile Jhena grimaced and held her head with her right hand, blood dripping from her nose.

“Ouch…that wasn’t as fun as I thought it’d be.”

She held up her left hand into the sky as the dragon clutched his head.

“Well, here goes nothing. HAMMER OF GOD!”

Jhena gasped as she felt the mana drain from her, emptying almost entirely. Her nanobots rushed to restore her stores, siphoning as much power as they could to keep the skill activation from cannibalizing her life force. She could feel their numbers drop as they sacrificed themselves to generate more power.

But the skill activated in the end.

The ground began to shake.

The air roared.

The clouds burst apart.

A golden spear descended from the heavens, covered in holy flames.

And struck the stunned dragon dead on.

The shockwave knocked Jhena to the ground, kicking up another cloud of dust.

Jhena groaned and rose back to her feet. She grimaced.

No messages.

She limped over to the edge of the crater…

There was a body lying in the center.

A human body.

Jhena formed a holy sword in her hand, covering it with a beam saber, and approached…

A man lay on the ground, battered and gasping for breath. He chuckled and coughed as she walked towards him.

“...not…bad…I can’t remember the last time I lost.”

“...I thought that was your true form.”

“...so did I. How long has it been…since I overcame my humanity?”

“...humanity? Then, why did you do this?”

“Hm?”

“Thousands dead, maybe millions. A sudden attack with no warning, monsters in the streets causing indiscriminate casualties. For what purpose did you do this?”

“...I did no such thing.”

Jhena froze, and narrowed her eyes.

“You lie.”

The Dark Lord chuckled and coughed.

“I…think I know what you’re talking about. I can scarcely remember that time…but that day I remember clearly. Weird messages, monsters appearing out of nowhere, right?”

“...”

“I wonder what happened? Those days I was just trying to stop the killing. At what point did power turn from my means to my ends?”

He coughed up blood.

“I…indeed intended to conquer your world, slaughter as many of you as needed. But the monsters you speak of…I know not where they come from. Only that they do.”

Jhena glared at the man. She analyzed every biological sign she could. She read his mind and intent with magic.

He didn’t lie.

“...how did you form a portal to our world?”

“...I also…do not know. Victory was more important than understanding.”

“I see. Then there’s nothing more to talk about.”

“No…there is not.”

The Dark Lord closed his eyes. Jhena walked over to him and lifted her hands.

She brought them down.

Level 541 Idruzor slain!

Prime Candidate defeated!

Analyzing…

Minimum qualifications achieved. Worthy candidate identified.

Ascension available.

Ascend now?

Jhena narrowed her eyes. A trick? A trap? Something divine? Something sinister? She had no idea what this thing was or what it wanted with her.

But she had only one choice.

If the Dark Lord wasn’t behind this…then someone else was. And perhaps that person was behind this very system too.

So she would do what she did best.

Search. Hunt.

And kill.

A beam of light surrounded her and she was gone.