BRAND NEW WORLD

Chapter 75: The Day the New Sky Fell

After the final meteor struck the earth, the screams vanished.

Only the wind remained.

And the sound of collapsing trees.

We waited in silence, weapons clenched tightly in our hands. Dust drifted through the air like ash from a dying world.

Then—

as the haze slowly began to fade—

dark silhouettes emerged from within the smoke.

"Now!" I shouted. "Don’t let a single monster escape!"

"YEAH!!"

The moment my command rang out, everyone moved.

Key and Putih shot toward the left flank like streaks of shadow.

Ryda and Hellen rushed toward the right.

And Axxel—

charged straight through the center.

From within the smoke, an elite goblin burst forward in panic, desperately trying to flee the impact zone.

From the opposite direction—

Axxel accelerated.

His greatsword flashed.

SLASH!

The goblin’s head flew into the air.

On the eastern side, several monsters attempted to escape.

The fastest among them were black wolves.

Their claws tore through the ground as they sprinted desperately for survival—

But Putih pounced upon them one after another, his massive jaws crushing bone and flesh alike.

Meanwhile, Key moved like a phantom through the battlefield.

A flicker.

A step.

A blade.

One by one, the throats of elite goblins and kobolds were slit open before they could even react.

Unlike in the game—

This was reality.

Any creature would die if its vital points were destroyed.

The neck connects the brain to the body.

Sever that connection—

and death became inevitable.

On another side of the battlefield, Hellen released arrows one after another, targeting the roc birds trying to escape through the sky.

Ryda cut down the monsters below with relentless precision.

And me?

I continuously activated my detection skill, making sure not a single monster escaped this place alive.

Any survivor of the meteor impact—

I erased instantly with magic.

• •

Five minutes later—

"Urgh... these monsters just keep coming," Ryda groaned.

"And their levels are ridiculously high," Hellen added while firing another arrow. "It’s hard to kill them in one hit. If it weren’t for Luna’s enhancement magic, this would be much worse."

"The Fortune Cake guild really is something else," Ryda muttered.

• •

SLASH!

"HAAAH!"

Key spun and cut down another monster.

Then—

from behind—

A shadow lunged toward him at terrifying speed.

One meter away—

GRAWWL!!

Putih crashed into the creature like a white cannonball.

"Putih!" Key shouted. "Thanks!"

WOOF!

• •

"HORAAAH!!"

Axxel leaped straight into the middle of the monster horde.

He raised his massive sword high—

Then it slammed it into the earth.

BOOOOM!!

The explosion blasted away the surrounding dust and smoke.

And when the battlefield became visible again—

"HORAAAH!!"

"HORAAAH!!"

His greatsword swung wildly from one strike to another.

Blood sprayed.

Bodies shattered.

Axxel rampaged through the horde like a madman, intoxicated by battle itself.

Everyone focused on their own side of the battlefield—

So no one noticed the roc bird and black wolf attempting to escape.

"Oh no!" Ryda shouted. "Hellen!"

The black wolf dashed away—

but suddenly—

a green energy slash shot through the air and slammed into its body.

BOOM!

The wolf was sent flying several meters backward, though it was still alive.

Seeing the opening, Ryda immediately thrust her spear forward—

THRUST!

The spear pierced straight through the wolf’s skull.

"Huh..." Ryda exhaled.

She turned toward the direction the attack had come from.

From behind the trees—

A young man dressed in green swordsman robes emerged, a blade resting in his hand.

"Thank you..." Ryda said.

"You’re welcome," the young man replied calmly.

Meanwhile—

Hellen fired an arrow at the roc.

THUD!

The arrow struck its body—

But the creature still managed to fly.

Seeing this, I prepared another spell—

when suddenly—

a black-and-yellow sphere of lightning shot through the sky and slammed directly into the roc bird.

ZZZZT!!

Its body convulsed violently as electricity surged through it.

For a brief moment, it floated helplessly in the air—

before crashing to the ground.

Thin black smoke rose from its burnt feathers.

I frowned and looked toward the source of the attack.

"...Rima?"

"Lun! What’s going on!?" shouted a silver-haired elf woman with green eyes as she floated in the air.

"Rima!" I called back. "I’ll explain later! Help us deal with the monsters first!"

With two additional powerhouses joining the battlefield—

The fight became far easier.

[A Few Moments Earlier]

People across the continent noticed strange stars appearing in the daytime sky.

Not only in nearby cities such as Tazik, Rantjah, and Zarua—

but throughout the entire continent.

Even in Arvastan.

"I see..." murmured Sultan Armett Shadid Al-Moesram thoughtfully.

"If the monsters sealed within the Forbidden Land break free... not only Nyrranthea, but every kingdom may fall," said the silver-haired elf woman beside him.

"This truly is a crisis..." Princess Zeba Al-Moesram whispered while staring at the glass in front of her.

"What if we combine our strength?" asked Prince Hasby Al-Moesram.

"How?" Zeba asked.

"Through marriage, obviously! Me... and Lady Rim—"

THUD!

"OWW!!"

Prince Hasby groaned in pain.

The elf woman’s expression, however, did not change in the slightest. Elegant. Calm. Completely emotionless.

Inside a restaurant in the royal capital, Sultan Armett, Princess Zeba, Prince Hasby, and Rima were discussing the crisis surrounding the Forbidden Land.

Then—

BOOM!!

The ground shook violently.

Plates and glasses crashed from the table.

"Is everyone alright?" Hasby asked.

"Yes," Zeba replied.

Rima nodded.

"Father?"

"I’m fine," Sultan Armett answered.

As they looked around, the entire city seemed to be experiencing the same tremor.

People stumbled.

Confusion spread.

What... is happening? Rima wondered.

Then someone suddenly shouted—

"Look! The sky!"

Everyone raised their heads.

Stars?

But it was midday—

Moments later, the stars fell.

Five seconds afterward—

Another tremor shook the city.

This... is this magic?

Realizing something—

"Sorry, but I have to go," Rima said.

Without waiting for a response, she immediately shot into the sky toward the falling stars.

Near the city gate, a young man dressed in green was about to enter the city when he noticed the falling stars.

Then he saw someone flying toward them.

Without hesitation—

He followed.

After crossing the borders of Arvastan and entering the Kingdom of Nyrranthea, the landscape transformed into endless grasslands, dry earth, and dense forests.

"The meteors should’ve fallen around here..." the man muttered.

As he moved through the forest—

He spotted a black wolf running toward him.

Instantly, he unleashed a green blade of energy.

"...Huh? It didn’t die immediately?"

Then—

A spear pierced straight through the wolf’s skull.

"Thanks for the help," said a woman carrying a spear.

[Back to the Present]

When I saw the black wolf trying to escape, I was already preparing a spell—

When a green slash suddenly struck it down.

Then, from within the forest—

A young man dressed in green emerged.

"...Gale."

At the same time, I noticed a roc trying to take flight.

I was about to cast another spell—

When a sphere of lightning shot upward and instantly brought the creature crashing down.

Then—

Someone appeared.

"...Rima."

"Lun! What exactly is happening?" Rima demanded.

"I-I’ll explain later. Help us clean up these monsters first."

"Fine. But you’d better have a very good explanation for this," she replied, narrowing her eyes.

With the arrival of those two, the battle became much easier.

Ryda and Hellen’s side stabilized thanks to Gale’s support.

As for Key and Putih—

Despite fighting alone, their power beyond Level 300 made everything look effortless.

Rima and I monitored the battlefield, eliminating any monsters attempting to flee north or south.

And Axxel—

even while facing trolls three times his size—

showed no fear whatsoever.

Instead—

He matched them head-on in raw strength.

After investigating further, I estimated the monsters’ levels to be around 200–300.

[Several Minutes Later]

The battlefield finally became clear.

The smoke had faded.

Only corpses remained—

alongside massive chunks of stone scattered across the ruined earth.

"...These are?" Key muttered, touching one of the enormous rocks the size of a house.

"Why are they still intact?" Ryda asked. "Shouldn’t meteors explode on impact?"

"Yeah," Hellen added. "In movies and TV shows, meteors always explode and disappear."

"If I remember correctly," Axxel said, "Luna once explained that this magic doesn’t actually create real meteors. She said they’re more like giant rocks falling from the sky."

"...."

Ryda approached Gale, who stood quietly by himself.

"I’m Ryda. And you are?"

"Gale."

They shook hands.

"Thanks for helping us earlier," Ryda said shyly.

"Happy to help," Gale replied with a faint smile.

"Lun... are you alright?" Rima asked quietly.

There was worry in her eyes.

"Yeah. I’m fine."

"What exactly happened here?"

I explained everything from the beginning.

Rima listened silently, her brows furrowed.

"...There were simply too many of them," I said bitterly. "And we didn’t have enough people. Honestly... It’s a miracle no city was attacked, and no one died."

"Haah..." Rima let out a long sigh.

"You really know how to create problems."

"...Sorry?"

"You do realise your magic was visible all the way from the capital in Arvastan, right? And if we could see it there, then everyone else probably saw it too."

Her expression turned serious.

"That means people will start asking who could cast magic powerful enough to bring down the sky itself."

"...."

"Every kingdom, every organisation, every powerful figure—they’ll want you."

She looked directly into my eyes.

"I’m not worried about you."

"...."

"But think about Daisy."

My heart tightened.

"She’ll become a target, too. Someone will eventually try to use her to control you."

...She was right.

I hadn’t even thought that far ahead.

"Still," Rima continued, "what’s done is done."

She glanced at the devastated battlefield around us.

"So... what are we going to do with all this?"

The once beautiful grasslands had become a wasteland.

Then—

"Kak Luna!"

I turned.

Princess Verni and Lenti arrived alongside several royal knights.

"Kak Luna! Are you alright!? What happened here!?" Verni asked, eyes wide as she stared at the battlefield filled with corpses.

Together with Rima, Ryda, and Hellen, I explained everything.

After hearing our story—

Everyone fell silent.

Some of them clearly doubted what they heard.

Even if they didn’t say it aloud—

Their expressions revealed everything.

"Lun, what about all these monster corpses?" Axxel asked.

Even though we could store them in spatial storage—

How exactly were we supposed to divide them?

"I think it should depend on Luna," Key said. "She killed most of them."

"Mm! Agreed!" Ryda and Hellen nodded.

"Eh!? But all of you helped too..."

"...."

"How about this?" Rima suggested. "We gather everything first, sell the materials later, and split the profits evenly afterwards. Sound good?"

"That’s a great idea, Rim! I’m in!"

"Then let’s store them for now," Rima said.

Since it was Rima’s suggestion, I asked her to handle the storage.

"For now... let’s return to Tazik first."

Just as Rima was about to collect the corpses—

A group of soldiers suddenly arrived.

Among them stood one figure clearly different from the others—

their commander.

"Lady Rima!" the commander called out.

"Vice Commander Ryman," Rima replied calmly.

"And also... Princess Vernotta!?"

The moment Ryman recognized Verni—

He and his soldiers immediately dropped to one knee before everyone.

• •