Chapter 9 | From Galgame Nobody to Eternal Sovereign

Sophie felt like she was about to be blinded by the light.

No, it wasn't just a feeling.

It was an actual status effect.

【Log: You have entered the [Holy Light Irradiation] state. You recover 100,000 HP per second.】

【Log: You have entered the [Blind] state. Vision +100%.】

The light before her eyes no longer blocked her field of vision.

An arc-shaped blade of light advanced with unstoppable force, leaving a long, scorched trench in the ground before slamming into the translucent wall of the Moon's Cage.

There was no stalemate, nor the sound of colliding mana—it simply popped like a bubble.

The barrier shattered the instant it touched the light blade. The runic structures at the edges collapsed immediately, dissipating into the air as a shower of meaningless silver particles.

Only then did Bennis notice Kaila's arrival.

But it was too late.

The light blade tore through his protective mana and his bishop's robes, slicing him in half diagonally.

The shockwave from the light blade also ripped a wide crack in the ceiling of the underground hall.

The view of the night sky outside was laid bare.

A crimson full moon hung high in the dark expanse.

That cold, eerie red moonlight pierced through the layers of rock and the cracks in the ceiling, pouring straight down to form distinct pillars of light amidst the swirling dust.

The moonlight shone precisely onto the floor, illuminating Bennis's mangled body as it twitched in agony.

Whoa... Look at those stats.

Sophie's eyes went wide.

This kind of numerical output was almost a thousandth of what her main account could do.

Was this a character added in a DLC?

Or was there a fellow tester who had transmigrated along with their account?

Watching Kaila, who was still holding her scythe mid-swing, Sophie cautiously tested the waters.

“Odd changes, even stays the same?”

Kaila: ( •́ _ •̀)?

“Where is God? Where is the Impact?”

Kaila: ( •́ _ •̀)??

As Kaila's confused gaze turned toward her, Sophie let out a sigh of relief.

Not a fellow transmigrator, then.

So she just has high stats...

Before she could finish her thought, she felt a sudden surge of force.

Thud. Her back hit the rough, cold stone wall, sending a faint wave of pain through her.

To be precise, she had been pinned against the wall.

One fair arm had already reached past Sophie's ear, bracing against the stone wall next to her head and shaking loose a few specks of dust.

The other hand rested on her shoulder.

Kaila had somehow put away her scythe and closed in on Sophie. She was so close that her warm breath brushed against the tip of Sophie's nose.

“W-What are you doing?” Sophie was stunned, staring blankly at the girl who was half a head shorter than her yet had easily cut off her escape. “Do you want to have two hundred children with me too?”

What a beautiful CG.

Why did she suddenly get so close?

Is a CG about to trigger?

That shouldn't be possible. Heroines with an affection system aren't supposed to be affected by Charisma.

Or is this new DLC actually a smut game?

That wouldn't work either. Given the massive stat gap, Kaila could knock her out with a single finger.

“T-This isn't how the Rites of Zhou work! You should first have a matchmaker bring grand gifts to my family to express your intent for marriage! If I agree, you have to send someone with a wild goose as a gift for the Ritual of Proposal! Then you have to carefully ask for my true name, my birth order, my horoscope, and even my mother's name! Next, my father has to host a banquet for your messenger, serving wine and dried meat with full honors! Then you have to perform divination in the ancestral temple to ensure it's an auspicious omen before you can send someone with another wild goose to tell me! After that, you must send a messenger to my home with dark silk and deerskins as a betrothal gift! Then someone has to formally inform me of the wedding date and seek my family's consent! Once all that nonsense is done, on the evening of the wedding, you must first have your father perform the libation rite for you, where he personally commands you to come and fetch me! Then you have to wear the most magnificent ceremonial robes, ride in a carriage, and lead a grand procession with two other carriages following mine! My parents have to host a banquet in our ancestral temple, exchange tedious bows with you, and then invite you into the hall where you must kowtow and respectfully place the wild goose on the ground! Only then can I follow you out of the hall. You must personally help me into the carriage and drive it yourself, circling the courtyard three full times before handing it over to your driver! Then you ride back in your own carriage and wait honestly at your door for me! When I arrive at your house, you have to bow to me and invite me in. We must sit facing each other, drink from the nuptial cups, and eat from the same sacrificial animal! Without completing this entire process, you are not allowed to do that kind of thing to me...”

A flash of bewilderment crossed Kaila's face.

“My parents... are already dead,” she said after a moment of thought.

“Oh, what a coincidence! My parents aren't in this world anymore either,” Sophie said quickly. “So let go of me first. Let's talk things over slowly. We can build our relationship gradually, how about that...”

“It's not... like I'm going to kiss you,” Kaila whispered, seemingly having finally figured out what Sophie was thinking. “I'm... saving you. The full moon is coming.”

The full moon?

She felt like she had heard that mentioned quite a few times. Weren't these cultists waiting for the full moon to start their sacrifice?

Was it really such an important day?

Crack.

Sophie heard an indescribable sound of something shattering.

The red moonlight began to grow thick and viscous.

No longer following the laws of light, the blood-colored moonlight began to seep into the underground hall bit by bit, as if it were a physical liquid.