+1 extra chapter because you surpassed the goal
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Despite being number one, Kaito wasn't widely known beyond his image and overwhelming strength.
The reason was simple, unlike most Lords who reached the top, he didn't dedicate himself to endless expansion and conquest.
But that was about to change.
Very soon, Kaito would show what the difference between ranks truly meant.
He would show what it really meant to be number one.
The Black Forest would be conquered in just a few months.
Most elven villages would surrender without resistance, and the elven king's rule would fall, replaced by Lucifer's dominion.
And all of that would begin the day Kaito decided to act instead of just developing slowly.
However, there was still a little time before that.
Gathering the necessary information would take at least another week, so Kaito decided to take those days off before the new period of conquest that awaited him.
When Sunday finally came, a new floor of the Tower of Worlds was unlocked.
Reading the mission description, Kaito smiled.
Since the first mission, which had been easy to guess just from the description, the next two had surprised him, as their names didn't reveal much about the world to visit. But this time, the name said it all.
[World: Omnitrix World]
[Mission: Eliminate the threat.]
[Description: This is a world facing an unusual threat. Depending on your strength, you'll be assigned a threat to eliminate.]
[World context: An advanced Earth that has accepted coexistence with alien species. However, racial conflicts create chaos, and that chaos threatens the lives of ordinary people. Though there are specialists in charge of maintaining order, some threats are beyond control.]
[Optional mission: Locked. (Information will unlock if this mission is accepted. Not recommended for players below level 30. High difficulty.)]
Kaito didn't hesitate for even a second before accepting the optional mission.
Immediately, new information appeared before his eyes.
[Optional mission: Special Technology]
[Description: Threats are being mysteriously eliminated, and the world is unaware of the reason. The system gives you a clue: alien technology. Find a way to obtain it. (If this mission is completed without having been previously accepted, rewards will still be granted.)]
'So I have to get the Omnitrix,' thought Kaito. After all, it's easy for anyone to infer what they mean by alien technology.
Although it seemed like a complicated mission, it really wasn't that much.
The Omnitrix's greatest weakness was its own user, Ben. Ben was just a regular human, and since the mission states that the world is unaware of the reason why the threats are being solved, it could only mean it's the Ben 10 from the original series, when he was still a kid. That was good, since Ben 10000 knew magic. Of course, the watch had a safeguard function that automatically transformed him into the optimal alien in case of danger, but that protection only worked to preserve his life.
In other words, as long as Kaito didn't try to kill him but only to take the Omnitrix, he should be able to do it without much trouble.
With that in mind, he decided to divide his group.
He now had six Sub-Lords under his command, and bringing them all along would be unnecessary and counterproductive.
Thus, he formed three teams.
On one side, Kaguya, Ai, and Mashiro.
The first two always fought together, and separating them would only weaken them. Moreover, since they were close- and mid-range fighters, having Mashiro, a long-range magic all-rounder, covered their weaknesses perfectly.
On the other hand, Asuna and Kirito made the perfect pair and worked flawlessly together, so Kaito left them as they were.
Lastly, Lala would go with him.
There were two main reasons. First, the world of Ben 10 was filled with advanced technology. Beyond the Omnitrix, a level 20 creation by Azmuth, there were countless useful gadgets, such as the Plumber's proto-tool.
The second reason was simpler, elimination.
Going alone would be boring, and the other two teams worked so perfectly together that they felt written by an author. So Lala would be his partner.
However, the moment the timer hit zero and they were teleported, Kaito regretted his decision.
They didn't appear on Earth.
Instead, they were floating in a dark, starry space.
For a moment, he thought they were in actual space, but after seeing the system notifications, he realized it was a special space and calmed down.
Until he read carefully.
[Detected: the "threats" of the main world pose no concern to the host.]
[Those who meet this condition will be sent to other worlds.]
[Omnitrix World is a multiverse. Qualified hosts will be transferred to different worlds. Difficulty will depend on the host's ranking.]
'Damn it…' thought Kaito.
Being number one, there was no doubt he'd get the hardest world.
[A world matching your difficulty level has been found. Beginning teleportation process.]
The dark space vanished, and suddenly Kaito found himself standing in the middle of a street.
[Warning: Due to external interference, the Host–System connection is being affected. Until resolved, the system will be unable to intervene.]
"What? System?"
Kaito spoke aloud, but got no response.
He couldn't open any of the usual windows, status, chat, or trade.
Still, he knew the system was only a medium, his power was still his own.
"If I'd known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have split us up," he muttered.
He looked around.
Although he was in the middle of a street, there were no cars or people.
The buildings were in ruins, vehicles overturned and destroyed.
Columns of smoke still rose, meaning the disaster had happened recently.
Destruction stretched as far as the eye could see.
And that could only mean one thing, whoever caused it possessed unimaginable power.
But the fact that Kaito couldn't sense a single person, alive or dead, despite all the chaos only made him more cautious.
"Let's move quickly," Kaito said, looking at Lala. "If someone was able to interfere with the system, they've probably already noticed our arrival."
But Lala didn't respond.
Her face was pale, her eyes fixed on something behind him.
Kaito turned slowly.
Even though his mind screamed danger, his instincts detected nothing, a disturbing contradiction.
In front of him was something.
A figure impossible to describe with logic.
It emitted no power, no vibrations, no magical aura.
Nothing.
And yet, Kaito knew that thing could kill him with ease.
The creature looked like a living scribble, a poorly drawn figure by a child brought to life.
Its body was a black so deep it seemed to absorb light, speckled with shining dots like stars.
Its limbs twisted with no discernible pattern, and where a face should have been, there was only an oval with two white dots and a line resembling a mouth.
Kaito didn't feel any power.
And that was the most terrifying part.
There was nothing to measure, block, or fight against, but that didn't matter, because he knew any attempt would be useless.
The creature before Kaito felt like the embodiment of omnipotence.
Something that couldn't be challenged.
When it extended its arm, in an unnatural motion, toward them, a notification appeared in Kaito's vision.
[You have been killed.]
[You have lost one life.]
[You have resurrected. Remaining resurrection chances: 2/3.]
The instant they resurrected, Kaito's body moved purely on instinct.
He grabbed Lala, who had reappeared beside him at the same time, and ran, aimlessly, only trying to get as far away as possible.
But before they could cover even a kilometer, the creature appeared before them again.
There was no sound, no movement, nothing to announce its sudden arrival, it was simply there, as if it had always been.
[You have been killed.]
[You have lost one life.]
[You have resurrected. Remaining
resurrection chances: 1/3.]
"Damn it…"
Kaito clenched his teeth.
If things continued like this, he'd lose all his lives within seconds.
Without wasting any time, he used the emergency item he had kept for situations like this.
[Guaranteed Survival Ticket used.]
[Searching for optimal survival method…]
[Increasing luck by 5000%.]
"Damn it, hurry up," he muttered, feeling the pressure of knowing that thing could appear again at any moment.
And it did.
The creature appeared once more in front of them.
But just before it could move, Kaito felt two hands pulling them back.
In the blink of an eye, he and Lala vanished from the place.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)