A World with 78% Distortion

The stench of blood and rot hung everywhere, as if the very soil was filled with human flesh and remains.

The air carried the smell of something scorched.

Within the endless void, smells and sounds always returned first, followed by vision slowly coming into focus.

The Professor had once again taken the form of a medium-haired woman wearing black-rimmed glasses. She took a deep breath, as though she had consciously been holding it throughout the transfer.

He instinctively lowered his body, every muscle tensed. A gemstone in his right hand had already been crushed, and mysterious whispers echoed beside his ears.

He immediately received a great deal of additional information.

"Is that the ability of the Tarot Sequence? Interesting~"

A flippant voice sounded behind him. The hairs on the Professor’s back instantly stood on end. He had not sensed Mercenary Tao’s presence at all. Turning around, he saw only Mercenary Tao, once again dressed in that pink robe, floating in midair.

He swayed slightly beneath the massive tree along with the wisps of green smoke drifting in the breeze.

And if he closed his eyes, Mercenary Tao’s presence vanished completely. Merely floating in the air, he had already blended into the aura of his surroundings.

Mind Like Still Water, follow the natural course of the Dao…

The Professor knew very well that this was proof Mercenary Tao’s martial arts had reached the Peak of Technique.

He relaxed slightly as well. At the very least, in this world, a monster like Mercenary Tao would be his most reliable ally.

"Be careful, His Excellency Mercenary Tao. This world is very dangerous. Even you should not let your guard down."

Bai Cangshu suddenly turned around. An unusual breeze arose from nowhere, and a leaf spun through the air across the vast grassland.

He lightly reached out, and an invisible, exquisite force drew it into his palm.

The veins on the front of the leaf were clear and intricate, resembling an Ouroboros. That distinctive pattern represented the Infinite Dimensional Space.

He flipped the leaf over and saw golden words rapidly appearing on its back, like scorching molten gold leaving behind black lettering.

World Loaded: Secondary World D45 (World Distortion Level 78%)

Mission Type: Team Survival

World Difficulty: Medium ~ Purgatory (Reincarnators, explore carefully while ensuring your survival)

Hearthstone Charge: 1/30

Attention: Due to the effects of Proof of Sin and Karma, your appearance and identity information have been altered (appearance and identity will receive hidden three-dimensional adjustments)

Attention: You have been granted Permanence: Language Comprehension in this world

In this world, you may obtain and unlock the following milestones. Milestones will affect mission ratings and title acquisition.

Dragon Hunter (Rare): Hunt at least one Successor Dragon Race

Half-blood Killer: Kill more than 100 Mixed-bloods

Beast Species (Rare): Reach over 50% bestialization and successfully return

Scion of the Ancient God (Extremely Rare): Obtain more than 3 portions of Blood of the Ancient God

Legendary Investigator (Extremely Rare): Come into contact with an Outer God and successfully return

...

A huge number of milestones appeared at once. The number of milestones that could be triggered in this world was beyond imagination, and their grades far surpassed those of the past.

There were more than five Extremely Rare milestones alone.

And…

Bai Cangshu looked at this world’s distortion level. It was actually as high as 78%. The Secondary World B711 he had experienced before had probably only been a little over thirty percent distorted.

From that perspective, this world truly was quite special—and exceedingly dangerous.

Bai Cangshu looked at the descriptions of Ancient Gods and Outer Gods. Clearly, unlike those Derivative Worlds of the Dragon Race, this was no longer merely a world of Dragon Kings.

"Ah!"

As though it had waited until they had just received the world information—and perhaps because they had entered using a Hearthstone and had not triggered the Main Mission—a shrill scream rang out from beneath a distant cliff.

Bzz~

The air twisted slightly, and Artoria, who had been concealing herself with magic, revealed herself.

She was now equivalent to Bai Cangshu’s creation and did not count as an independent Reincarnator. Thus, even without being added to the temporary team, she had entered this world along with Bai Cangshu’s transfer.

She looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery around her. Wild grass had grown past her knees. The surroundings were filled with grasslands and hills, while the so-called cliff was merely a rock face less than a hundred meters high.

Black stones jutted out from it. On the vast grassland below, a group of soldiers clad in tattered armor were constantly retreating.

Before them was only a hunched figure, swaying as it slowly approached the soldiers.

More than a dozen corpses already lay scattered behind the figure.

Seeing this, the Professor’s hand flashed with light, and a hand cannon appeared.

Bai Cangshu had no intention of acting. With his perception, he could easily tell that the soldiers below possessed no special power whatsoever.

They were probably no stronger than ordinary farmers. Their armor and weapons were crudely made.

They were most likely cannon fodder meant to fill the battlefield with corpses. At this moment, it would be more fitting to call them routed soldiers.

The one pursuing them was a human emitting a strange aura. The development of its limb muscles far surpassed that of an ordinary human, granting it the strength to tear apart a human body with its bare hands.

"Should we intervene?"

The Professor asked instinctively, but received no answer. He looked at Mercenary Tao, who merely wore an indifferent expression.

The Professor pursed his lips and was about to act when he saw a flash of Black-red Sword Light.

Boom!

A massive ravine tore directly through the hills, and terrifying magic cleaved the mutated human apart.

Its limbs and head flew in all directions.

After crying out in instinctive terror, the routed soldiers finally realized they had been saved. They turned and saw the female knight in black-red armor standing on the slope.

"Thank you, my lady knight!"

"We… we’re saved!"

Their cries had barely lasted long before Artoria arrived before them.

"Tell me the time and place."

Her voice was icy as she raised her sword. Understanding what she meant, the routed soldiers began talking over one another.

The Professor frowned, as though he had sensed something unusual, and said to Mercenary Tao,

"It’s the year 1435. This place is probably… Artoria’s homeland…"

It was only natural for a ruler of Britannia to have some unusual reaction upon returning to her homeland nearly a thousand years later.

He looked up at the sky. There, the clouds twisted into something like a vortex. Across these hilly grasslands, traces of fire were everywhere.

At first, he had thought it was merely arson during wartime, but now it seemed to be a sign that the Dragon King was awakening.

Crackle~

Blue-white lightning flickered faintly over Bai Cangshu’s body as Mantra fully spread out. Within its enormous range, there were surprisingly few human voices.

Corpses were everywhere. Death was everywhere. In a distant village, people were piling up large numbers of corpses and burning them.

The next moment, the sound of hooves rang out. A group of knights in white cloaks came riding from afar. Upon seeing them, the routed soldiers immediately relaxed.

"Wonderful, it’s the Church of Healing!"

"Lord Lawrence heard our prayers. Our war… is over!"

The group no longer paid attention to the female knight in black armor. Ignoring their injuries, they ran toward the knights.

As long as they had that blood medicine, even if they had contracted that damned plague on the battlefield, they could survive. They only needed to be… devout enough!

The Professor lowered his head and spoke to Bai Cangshu.

"They’re from the Church of Healing. They’re probably another factor distorting this world. What do you think? Should we make contact?"

Bai Cangshu merely watched as the knights distributed some kind of medicine to the routed soldiers before walking toward them.

The routed soldiers who had taken the medicine also took grayish-white cloth from their horses and draped it over their backs. This represented that they had joined the Church of Healing, were no longer soldiers, and had officially withdrawn from the war.

One of them suddenly clutched his head. He felt his mind becoming incredibly muddled, as though some kind of voice kept echoing in his brain.

His body also felt lighter and lighter, while his arms itched unbearably. Irritated, he suddenly clawed at himself.

Splurt!

Warm blood sprayed all over him.

Beneath his completely mutated arm, a headless corpse slowly fell to the ground.

"Ah! Duncan isn’t devout! He’s turned into a beast!"

Duncan shook his head as those voices rose and fell in volume.

I’m not devout?

No, I’m obviously the most devout one. I even… offered my own younger sister to the Church!

The people around him continued shouting. Duncan grew even more agitated. He wanted to open his mouth and argue, but what emerged was a strange roar.

Roar!

Bai Cangshu watched the scene and smiled.

Blood medicine… was actually quite a good thing for him.

"Go, Artoria. Kill all these filthy wretches who have trampled upon your homeland~"

"Uh, leave that one alive."

The one he pointed at was none other than the already mutated Duncan.