"That smoke bomb that teleports is quite useful, cost me 10 cosmic coins, and I made an epic exit!" A strange duo walked side by side, a young man with an elegant and relaxed appearance spoke happily.
"Too childish. Where are we headed?" The talking rooster asked the young man as they walked side by side.
The duo passed through a devastated and desolate forest, as if a hurricane had swept through the area.
"Going to the city. I heard it's a neutral trading city affiliated with some force from the central continent. Everyone in the village warned me not to go, and Chen Yu also warned me not to go because the city was going to fall. But who cares about the opinion of a regressor?" A excited smile formed on the young man's face as he imagined the scenes inside the city.
"Hahaha! I think I left one of my eggs back in the village." Gold turned around only to be grabbed by the neck.
Ding!
[New mission available!]
[Connect the bank to the universe of this world!]
[Objective: Establish a branch so that the system can anchor spatial coordinates!]
[Estimated time: 15 days]
[Reward: Ability to transit freely to this universe]
Note: This mission is optional, so it will not be evaluated by the system.
"Oh! Interesting." Draconius read the mission and was surprised.
"As the system is weakened, it can't create a good spatial anchor quickly. If you establish a branch here, it will expedite the process." Gold spoke with crossed arms, making a grumpy face while being held firmly by the neck.
"But isn't that rushing things too much? I mean, I barely attended my first client, and now I'm opening a branch."
"You don't have a customer flow yet, and it will take you a while to achieve that. At least, I don't see much use in sitting around waiting for treasures to come to you when you can be more proactive. In fact we were lucky to find the first client in a few hours, could take up to 1 week" Gold shrugged and jumped on Draco's shoulder to enjoy the journey, knowing he couldn't escape anyway.
"You're right; I should start looking for more clients." Listening to the chicken's words, Draco nodded, taking 5 tokens and making them disappear with 1 thought.
"I already have an idea of what to create and how I'll get the land." Thinking about the system's store with various items, an excellent idea emerged in the banker's mind.
Motivated to improve, he smiled while taking a small scroll from his inventory, which practically cost him all his cosmic coins.
-100 cosmic coins
Current balance: 0
....
Meanwhile...
In the hall of a large nine-story Chinese pagoda in the City of Nine Lights, a commercial point belonging to the Nine Heavens Sect in the Northern Continent.
"Holy maiden, a massive attack is coming towards the city. I humbly request that we take advantage of this moment to escape while the demonic prana doesn't interfere with the teleportation matrix!" A middle-aged man with a large beard, wearing a blue cloak, knelt before a young woman sitting on a throne, speaking with evident panic in his voice.
The woman with long silver hair wore a beautiful navy blue dress, embroidered with green ornaments that revealed her toned abdomen and slightly muscular, smooth back. She wore a veil obscuring her angelic face, leaving only her sculpted form and porcelain white skin to be admired.
"We will fight. I cannot flee, leaving thousands of innocent lives when I have the ability to defend the city." The woman spoke with serenity in her beautiful, melodious voice, as if the sky could collapse, and she would remain unaffected.
"But, holy maiden! This horde is ten times larger than the estimate, and the former mayor left the city's defenses in a deplorable state!" The middle-aged man wore a discontented expression but continued to try to convince the woman before him.
"I have already made my decision. Do you dare question a saint? Should I report your behavior to the council publicly?" The woman questioned with an undisturbed voice, releasing a faint aura of a spiritual apprentice.
The man seemed to change to a completely arrogant behavior when questioned. He immediately stood up, pointing at the woman angrily while speaking, "You know what, if you want to die, then die soon! I will return to the sect and wait for news of your death to report to the sect. A weak saint like you didn't even deserve to hold this position for so long!"
"Because of you, I am still an outer disciple. Goodbye, waste of time!" The man emitted a terrifying aura of a peak spiritual master, giving his back as he left the hall towards the teleportation matrix, slamming the doors shut with force.
BAM
*Sigh*
In the empty hall, the woman sighed as she saw the room empty.
"When did I fall so low?" The saint asked herself, placing her delicate hand on her chin while contemplating the dark cloud approaching on the horizon.
A bright blue glow appeared between the wooden ceiling indicating that the teleportation array was used.
"How even my sect has abandoned me. Why can't I abandon the sect as well?" Saying to herself, seeing that she is finally alone, in the same calm tone as always, she raised her hand, and a small emblem in the shape of clouds appeared.
"I have been humiliated enough to remain loyal to the sect. What I do from now on will be my choice!" The woman said, looking at the cloud emblem that had accompanied her since childhood when she joined the sect.
*Crack*
With a firm squeeze of her delicate hand, she broke the emblem into dust, something that symbolizes desertion for sects worldwide. After that, a mysterious blue energy emanated from the remains and flew away.
"I can't let so many people die because of others' incompetence." She stood up from her throne and walked to the hall's door, which faced a balcony overlooking a frantic crowd.
The crowd consisted of traders, residents, and city warriors who had been living in misery for years. They were all in a panic after the news of the monster horde. Everything became worse when one of the Nine Heavens Sect envoys left the saint's hall, heading straight to the teleportation matrix, closing the doors with force.
"The saint left the room!" When the veiled woman left the hall on top of the pagoda, the crowd calmed down instantly, as if waiting for orders to resolve such a crisis. All eyes were on her with hope.
Seeing everyone in the city gathered in search of hope, the woman took a deep breath and spoke, clenching her fists tightly.
"I come to declare to all present that I officially deserted from the Nine Heavens Sect and am no longer one of the holy maidens. The sect has abandoned everyone in this city."
"What?!"
"I always knew those bastards were treacherous!"
"How will we survive?"
Panic was evident as they learned from the woman herself that the sect had abandoned them before the calamity arrived. But also, a feeling of anger took hold of many who had long been living in precarious conditions thanks to the corrupt government of the former mayor.
"Calm down!" The woman's calm voice echoed throughout the city, soothing everyone's hearts in the moment.
"The sect has long been taken over by the greed of the strong and has fallen into an unrecognizable state, reaching the point of abandoning this city when it did not yield the expected profits under the hands of a villainous mayor who defiled the bodies of several young women and killed many innocent people, bringing hunger and despair to this city." As she spoke, an old man was brought by two soldiers, wearing only underwear.
"You can't do this to me! I am the grandson of a core elder of the sect. The sect will come after you!" The old man shouted to everyone present, making threats. His face was distorted with hatred and indignation.
*Cut*
Before he could continue speaking, the woman next to him cut off his head with an ice sword that materialized in her delicate hands. The man's head fell to the balcony floor with wide eyes in disbelief.
"A horde of monsters is coming here now, and we cannot rely on external help from such a person. Therefore, even though I am not the strongest or most competent here, I ask for everyone's support to fight against the monsters that will attack this city. We need all the support possible to survive!" The woman bowed to the astonished crowd, her actions calm from the beginning.
"This is the saint of our city!"
"Long live the saint of the Nine Lights!"
The crowd became excited, and shouts of support began to rise. In the oppressive atmosphere brought by the gigantic dark cloud and the smell of blood in the air, the woman on top of the pagoda seemed to be the beacon of hope for all present.
Seeing this, the woman nodded her head, seemingly slightly satisfied, but then quickly regained control of the situation and issued various orders: "Soldiers, fortify the defenses! Merchants who want to support the city's defense with their goods or even fight can be sure they will be paid later. Just write contracts that I will sign if we survive! Citizens who want to enlist to fight, look for the nearest security post. Women, children, and elderly unable to fight, seek the underground shelter!"
The crowd began to disperse, each going to do something to contribute to the defense, even if unwillingly. After all, no one would survive if everything fell apart.
In the middle of the crowd, a young man dressed in an elegant suit and a top hat looked up at the veiled woman on top of the pagoda, amazed. What was peculiar besides the young man's beauty was a golden rooster on his shoulder with a very expressive face.
"Gold, so this is a real woman?" Draconius said, fascinated, observing the woman on top giving various orders.
"She scares me!" Gold said, swallowing hard as he saw the headless body finally fall to the ground.