Meanwhile, the rats stood 5 kilometers away from the point of impact that the emissary accurately told them.
“Found it!”
One of the rats finally dug out a box from a snowy mountain’s peak that the Hollowstar Emissary told directed them.
“How did he send a box like this here?”
“Who knows what kind of powers he has…he is sending a subordinate with a meteor, so it wouldn’t be strange if he delivered this box here undetected somehow.”
“Alright, open it. Let’s see what kind of escape route he gave.”
The rat who found it opened the box, and everyone looked inside, finding a miniature model of a flying ship—pitch black with hazy purple and violet patterns, with the same symbol of a spiral with an eye in the middle on its wings.
“So this is our ride to get out of here, huh?”
“T-This…it’s an SSS-rank flying ship!”
“This must be fast and powerful, both given it’s an SSS-rank.”
“Activate it fast, and let’s go inside. I am freezing here.
“Yeah, the magical cold here is still affecting us despite the cloak. It’s fucking passing through my barrier.”
“The meteoroid is near!”
“Wait, why is it turning towards us?! It was supposed to strike five kilometers away!”
“What the fuck?!”
“Get inside the ship, fast!”
*BOOOM!*
Everyone felt a powerful impact while the ship was automatically covered in a hazy violet-black barrier before the impact.
It flew away as the mountain shattered by the impact, and destruction ensued in the surroundings, which also negated the earlier calculations done by Astra AI.
The airship stabilized in the air a couple of kilometers away from the impact, with everyone inside rattled.
“Hey, we are missing someone!”
“Who are we missing?”
“I don’t see Abbas.”
“Bastard, I’m here.”
“Fuck, it’s Andre! I don’t see him.”
“He’s not here.”
“Is he dead?”
“Definitely dead if he couldn’t get inside in time.”
*Thud!!*
Suddenly, everyone felt a powerful pressure descending on them.
“Hey, insects! Come out and greet your new leader.”
Everyone frowned at the rude and condescending tone.
They felt bad but only felt bad and nothing else as they hurriedly arrived on the ship’s deck.
However, the figure in front of them wasn’t what they expected.
‘He isn’t a human.’
‘What the fuck is that monster?’
‘Emissary didn’t say we were welcoming a demon…’
‘Is he a demon?’
Eight feet tall, the bulky, muscled figure in front of them had a bronze and obsidian black-colored skin texture, a pair of rising horns curved at the top part leaning forward, and a scary face with a wide grin at his shining bronze teeth.
He wore a dark gold metallic armor chest plate and braces around his arms and legs while a long alligator-type tail extended from behind, approximately two meters long.
“I am Lerkeion Wir Denekan. Address me as Captain Lerke with respect.” Stay updated through empire
Lerkeion’s eyes sharpened, glowing faint black with bronze patterns as he continued, “Insects! I’ve assessed you, and I am not satisfied. Before I begin to follow my lord’s command, you will go through training under me and evolve into decent dogs from maggots!”
“Let’s go. Bring me to your hideout.”
A powerful aura gushed out from him, causing everyone to fall over the deck as their knees weakened.
“WHERE’S YOUR RESPONSE?!”
“A-Aye aye, captain Lerke!
Everyone else quickly followed.
“AYE AYE CAPTAIN LERKE!”
“Danis, start the ship!”
As the ship began flying, Leikeron stood at its notch as if overlooking this world, his expression thoughtful.
‘The restrictions arrived,’ Leikeron’s stats were suppressed. ‘So the highest rank here is Platinum for now. But the 11th floor opened, so the front liners here will soon reach Epic-rank. Good. It won’t be fun crushing insects otherwise.’
Suddenly, a small semi-biological device in his ears vibrated.
“Yes, my lord. I have safely arrived, and they will be soon notified of my presence.”
[Hollowstar Emissary: Good. Make sure you keep playing with them with lesser risks to yourself. I want you to be a continuous menace.]
“Everything shall happen as you instructed.”
[Hollowstar Emissary: Our force has penetrated the other three worlds that are participating in Battlefield of the Mightiest. The one who rolls the dominion first will be promoted to Commander. All the best.]
Lerkeion ruthlessly grinned, “I will make this world fall over its knees in the coming phase 1 and make sure they lose first before the other three. That is my promise.”
…
Admiral Rudra looked at the huge screen as Astra’s voice rang.
“Admiral, here are all visuals as enhanced as possible I got from the meteoid.”
“As you can see, there’s someone on that meteoroid. He has embedded half of his body inside, and from the readings, this meteoroid was in control of this individual.”
“What in the….” Admiral Rudra felt shock and also danger.
Someone, not human, just entered their planet while riding on a meteoroid.
He had a strong gut-twisting feeling that this individual was related to the rats.
At first, he wanted to rush there to investigate, but going there recklessly was not wise.
‘Outerspace… traveling there while staying on that meteoroid. To do this requires great physical strength and a great reserve of Mana,’ Rudra frowned. ‘That individual is stronger than me.’
‘And so against everyone else.’
Suddenly, every single adventurer who was conscious received a notification.
[A foreign individual has entered your world. Restrictions have been placed. If any foreigner arrives in your world, their strength will be restricted to the same rank as the strongest 100 individuals on your planet.]
“It seems that everyone knows now,” Admiral Rudra caressed his beard in deep thought. “With how the rats are hiding, it’d be hard to find this individual once they go into hiding.”
“Astra, relay to the news stations that GAA is investigating this matter. People don’t need to worry.”
“Understood. Also, the meteoroid changed its direction unnaturally due to that individual. However, thanks to that, the damage will not spread far, and the ocean belt won’t be as affected.”
“Noted. Send some drones there and give us the footage of resulted situation. Also, contact party number A1.”
“It’s time to schedule a stroll into the 11th floor.”
Upon receiving the command, Astra contacted party number A1, whose members were none other than four other old monsters—Arjun, Zauna, Silvester, and Hiroshi.