Viers was familiar with the bullet-ridden battlefield, from FPS games such as Call of Duty. What he didn't expect was to encounter one in this magical fantasy world setting. He saw Bone Raven cultists and demons being showered with bullets. Magic-infused metal was being pumped into their bodies, blood splattered and wings torn. The Tower Master had produced enough guns to equip a battalion, apparently.

  The guns were a new invention, some cultists were facing guns for the first time and it showed. Caught off guard by the high attacking power from weaker opponents.

  However, for the Level 3s, the Magisterium guns were unable to penetrate their Unreality Field.

  Viers saw that the elites of these gun-trained forces, the Thunderhand division did possess special guns and bullets. Those had proven effective against Level 3s but in limited numbers, the Magisterium must be unable to mass produce anti-Level 3 guns or above yet.

  How Shinra-like. The Magisterium even has its own SOLDIER... These Thunderhands are elite Pathseekers trained in both cultivation and weaponry. If my soul search isn't wrong, the doc even performs dubious strengthening surgeries on them. The more I know about Doctor Reseh, the more I hate the man.

  Furthermore, there were high-end golems around three meters in size equipped with rocket launchers or flamethrowers. This complemented the defender’s ranks as soldiers used these golems as mobile bunkers, raining coordinated gunfire and all flavors of Artes down on the enemy.

  Viers got to say the Tower Master really packed a substantial fighting force in his Tower.

  Well, to be expected of course. If someone tried to invade my Biome, I’d also give them one hell of a welcome.

  But the cultists were fighting back, guns or not, they were magically enhanced humans and trained killers. The demons also were no simple cannon fodder, especially the Level 3s. Casualties mounted on both sides.

  A few loyal soldiers yelled “For the Magisterium!” They died as some shadow demon ripped through their ranks.

  As bodies stacked higher, Viers spotted one person who seemed to be having the time of his life.

  “Hahahaha! I live for this! More! Give me MORE!” Bennec was trading shots with the opposition wielding two handguns. He'd grab a dead body to block a shot or throw a desk, only to pop a shot around the object.

  “You call that shooting? My grandma could shoot better than you with her eyes closed! This is how you use firearms!” He planted two feet on the man's shoulders and then two bullets in the man’s forehead and used the corpse to absorb the subsequent volley.

  The Level 4 dodged bullets while he returned fire with contempt. When he ran out of bullets, only then he ducked for reloads.

  “Ahh... I love the smell of gunpowder... I want to bask in it every day.”

  “Really? I’m a napalm man myself. My morning isn't complete without smelling some.”

  “Hoh. Decided to join us, have you? Well, there’s enough shooting targets for everyone.” Bennec said to Viers, who joined him in his cover.

  “Just passing through,” Viers replied.

  “Shame. Claw would have liked that. She seems to be fond of you.”

  “Where is she, by the way?” Viers asked about the other Level 4 from the Bone Ravens, Lykin the Lighteater.

  “Somewhere. We got attacked by a Level 4 speedster earlier. She handled it.”

  Must be Malm, one of the Executives, Viers cross-referenced the data. That drunkard is fast, using his light affinity to move with great speed. Lykin is a great match against him.

  “Well, don't play around too much Crackshot,” Viers said. “It would be a shame if your side missed the loot.”

  “Ha! No chance. The guns and whatever tech these tinkerheads stowed in the Armory are ours!”

  A squad of soldiers flanked Viers and Bennec, their guns at the ready. Simultaneously, Bennec and Viers dispatched them with their own guns in reflex.

  “Nice kill. Got some skill with guns, don't you?” Bennec said.

  “I don't hate these new inventions,” Viers said. “Seems convenient.”

  “Most of my fellow assassins frown upon them. Traditionalists and their knives, bah.”

  Their banter was stopped by an approaching presence. From behind the enemy lines a man walked towards them with brown skin and wearing a black turban, clutching a curved sword in hand.

  “What do we have here?” Bennec smiled with glee and shot him a few times.

  The man deflected the custom bullets that Bennec had self-made to use against high-Level opponents like they were raindrops.

  Executive Shamir.

  Bennec lost his smile. “My man, you just offended me. Now I have to put holes in you. Ghost, would you-”

  Bennec turned to his side and found Viers pulled a Batman disappearance maneuver on him.

  “...Oh well. More shooting for me,” Bennec cocked his guns.

  “EAT LEAD!!!”

  The sounds of guns firing roared continuously.

  ***

  Jessica felt something that was quite hard to describe.

  As a Level 4 and all the power that position entailed, it was only natural that she could force her way through the opposition of a force of lower Level Pathseekers. The thing was, Jessica herself didn't quite believe it.

  After Viers took her in, she had been surrounded by prodigious geniuses. There was Viers, first and foremost. How strong he truly was, she couldn't imagine. While she had become Level 4 first, Farley, Paina, and Clarissa were close despite being much younger. Jessica never felt she was superior to them, especially Clarissa. Boram’s raw talent, Dia’s vast foundation, the fire and cloud elementals... Jessica was surrounded by geniuses. Even if they weren't at first, they were now.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  What she did was do her best with the training curriculum that Viers outlined.

  Then, when she faced the elite guards of the world-renowned Magisterium...

  ...Are they really this weak?

  Jessica was surrounded by fallen bodies of a Thunderhands squad and wrecked golems. The scars of battle on the walls and floors showed a mighty battle. Jessica was unscathed. Everything else was dented or cracked. Could it be? Had she become super strong now?

  The single mother shook her head.

  Complacency was dangerous. So what if she could defeat a hundred Level 3s? If she got defeated even once then it was all over.

  Viers gave her the most crucial of tasks: saving the mother of the half-elf princess. Her location should be at the lab, and according to him, a mad Level 4’s playground, where the doctor conducted sinister research. For everyone’s sake, she must not fail.

  Jessica felt a telepathic connection reaching out to her and let it through. Viers’ card was so convenient.

  “Yes, Boss?”

  “Star, status update?”

  Compared to Dolphin, Jessica was more familiar with the codename Star from the club. It might be a secure telepathy but they were in enemy territory so better to not use their real names. Jessica was sure her Boss thought something along those lines. Despite his age, the way he covered his tracks was as meticulous as an old man.

  “I’m almost at the lab floor, moving up the stairs now.”

  To ensure the safety of the captive, Jessica was told to go straight to the lab and she did.

  “Good. I’ve done my part. The teleportation station is down. I’m coming towards you now. You proceed first.”

  “I understand.”

  So far so good. The plan was always for her to go in first. If for some reason she got held up by the doctor, she just needed to hold until Viers arrived.

  “Over and–” Viers abruptly paused. “Correction. You’re on your own, Star. I must handle the Tower Master.”

  This was also within expectations. The first plan was too good to be true anyway. The Magisterium wasn't that soft.

  “Copy that. You have my word I’ll rescue the elf. Godspeed on your part, Boss.”

  Goddess knew he was facing a much more dangerous foe. She would do her duty in all of this.

  “Roger. Master your feelings, the doctor will try to unbalance you. Over and out.”

  Jessica ran towards her destination. Before a closed gate, with bold writing of AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY, she rechecked her equipment, refreshed her strengthening Artes, and made every preparation to be in top condition. Satisfied, she used the access card that she had taken from a high-ranking officer she had defeated earlier and opened the gate to the laboratory stratum of the Tower.

  The office-like place she saw seemed abandoned. Based on the mess such as the papers on the ground and knocked cups, the people left in a hurry. Thinking nothing of it, Jessica continued. The lab stratum was massive, she had to traverse a good distance to reach the deepest part where the crucial things were kept. The doctor’s personal office was there too.

  Jessica didn't dally. She moved with purpose and vigilance. She sometimes stopped to confirm her position with a map and where the direction she had to go. The lab layout was even more complicated compared to the rest of the Tower because of how many rooms there were. The size of the whole lab stratum was more or less the size of a small town.

  At first, the places were ordinary. After a while, she began seeing machinery producing something, flasks and equipment similar to an alchemist's workshop, ancient stone slabs, and many other relics. Soon, she wasn't even able to make heads or tails of what they were researching. There was even a monster habitat in the lab with live monsters roaming. The woods were maintained and the ceiling was dozens of meters up.

  “Ugh...”

  Soon, she reached the sensitive part of the lab. In cages, she saw people, mostly beastfolk, in containment. They were like lab rats under study. Some had limbs that clearly belonged to some other life form. Some behaved strangely as if they were hallucinating. There was one woman who seemed to be in so much pain that she repeatedly banged her head into the wall until blood flowed. She recognized some were suffering from demonic corruption, no doubt by design.

  There were even children, younger than her son, in cages! Thin and poor. They were hurdling together, eyes full of fear and hopelessness. One looked at her quizzically, wondering why the researchers were all gone.

  Jessica gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She wished to help them but she had a duty to fulfill first. She swore she would come back.

  Trying to keep her head cool, Jessica then forced her way into one of the deepest labs. There were multiple signs of life and magic from the other side. She expected to be welcomed by a deluge of Artes, instead, she heard a mixture of scream and laughter.

  “Yes, YES! This is it! I can feel it! Raise the power by two percent!”

  “Sir, the subject’s condition is critical,” a lab assistant said.

  “Just do it! We’re on the verge of a breakthrough here, are you blind?”

  The man in a white coat, who Jessica had no doubt was Doctor Reseh, had his back towards her. His full attention was the elf on the other slide of the glass panel. She was covered in bandages including her face but the long ears were unmistakable. She was on some sort of bed, pierced by multiple tubes. On the floor, there was a magical circle while on the ceiling, there was a mechanical contraption. The screams she let out showed what kind of agony she felt. Her condition was truly horrendous.

  Unforgivable.

  “Hahahaha! The essence of elven immortality... will finally be in my hand!”

  Doctor Reseh seemed to be oblivious but the other white coats in the lab took note of the newcomer, shaking with fury.

  “Sir, there’s-” One person fearfully tried to warn the doctor. Jessica’s aura was anything but friendly.

  “Don't interrupt me, you fool! The timing of the extraction is of the utmost importance! Right... about...”

  Jessica struck before his design came to pass, with a jumping, spinning roundhouse kick to the doctor’s temple.

  “Bugyeeehhh!”

  The doctor destroyed some lab equipment with his momentum. The other researchers ran for their lives chaotically. Jessica, who didn't know how to stop the machines, charged through the glass panel. She punched the machines above the elf and broke their function. She landed beside the elf.

  “No, no, no.”

  The elf’s scream had stopped but she was dying. Whatever they did, it took a very heavy toll on the body. Jessica could feel her life was slipping.

  “Hold on! Your nightmare is at an end! Don't you want to see your daughter again?”

  Jessica did what she could. She was no healer but she could do something, sharing her qi.

  “I got you. I got you. I’m a friend. Come back, Sylisa. Your daughter, let Elvina meet her mother again!”

  Jessica felt a light twitch from the elf’s hand and a pulse.

  “Yes! All will be well. I promise.”

  “W-who...” Sylisa wasn't able to see, for her eyes were covered with bandages.

  Before Jessica could answer the room was filled with electricity, battering fiercely at her Unreality Field. Jessica protected Sylisa first before herself.

  “You, what was that energy?”

  Jessica's eyes widened. She struck Reseh with all she had and landed a clean hit, so how could the man be still alive? With a twisted neck no less!

  “I wanna know! Woman, cooperate with my research! I’ll let you rest for four hours a day and let you eat and go to the toilet. I’ll even give you painkillers for the pain during experiments, a top-class treatment, right? You’ll agree, yes?”

  Doctor Reseh was a gaunt man. He was thin and his hair had started graying. Jessica felt astonished that the man didn't have anger in his voice, only elated curiosity. Despite saying frightening things, he had no malice. He simply had no empathy, only his curiosity towards his research mattered.

  Jessica had no hesitation.

  “Imaginary Domain–”

  At the Armory floor, Bennec got one of his guns sliced off. Executive Shamir’s blade was coming close to his neck.

  “Imaginary Domain!”

  At the power room, Lykin and Malm had been locked in combat for a while. Malm used his speed for a hit-and-run tactic.

  “I grow tired of this,” she sighed. “I’ve got better things to do, cowardly man, Imaginary Domain!”

  At the Archive, Izabella and Alan were facing Galenn, the strongest Executive. She had defeated Bissa but the woman still lived because of Galenn’s intervention. The man already deployed his Domain and equipped a custom-made power armor.

  “Imaginary Domain,” the two Blood Church cultists said resolutely at the same time.

  At the top of the Tower, Viers and Tower Master Baharir used their Domain to settle things. One was doing it in a much happier tone than the other.

  “Wuahahahaha! Domain Expansioooooooon!!!”