Seth had plans for him. For hours, he forced Tommy to use his abilities against him, beginning with [Unreal], compelling him to erase Seth's strength again and again. Each time, Seth allowed the skill to take effect briefly, his body adapting, growing resistant to it. He repeated the process until the ability no longer worked at all.
Then came [Eraser]—a skill that allowed Tommy to delete anything, and have it stop existing. Seth ordered him to use it, enduring the pain without flinching. Each time, his skin and muscle regenerated, restored almost instantly by his passive healing. He kept this up for hours, an endless cycle of destruction and recovery, until Tommy could no longer affect him in the slightest.
When the man's strength finally gave out, Seth let him die without hesitation. Only then did he pause to check his progress, pulling up his status window to see how far he'd advanced.
[Name: Seth Williams
Race: Primal Human
Talent: Nexus (UR Rank)
Title: [The Honor One], [The World Chosen]
Tier: 0 Tier (1/1,000,000,000 XP)
Combat Power: 675
===============
Skills: [Nexus Eyes (LvL: 2/5)], [Sword Slash (Lvl: ?/5)], [Blazing Sword Slash (Lvl: ?/5)], [Blazing Sword Strike (Lvl: ?/5)], [Blazing Sword Strike (Lvl: ?/5)], Blazing Sword Pierse (Lvl: ?/5)],
Resistances: [Debuffs (Lvl:1/5)], [Reality Warping (1/5)]
Equipped Gear: [Tier-D Great Sword], [Storage Ring], [Cursed Armor]
Mount/Pet: [None]
"That increased my combat power by fifty? Not bad," Seth thought to himself, looking over his updated stats. "I should head out and find more people with interesting abilities." With that decision made, he started moving again, his figure disappearing into the distance as he set off to locate another region that might hold someone worth his time.
"Empress, we should expand toward the north. The mall is positioned well—it's a strong defensive location where we could establish our main base," a woman said while pointing at a map..
Across from her sat a white-haired woman resting comfortably in her chair, scrolling through her phone with calm focus. Her beauty was beyond striking, easily rivaling the elf Seth had encountered before… no, it surpassed it entirely. Every detail about her appearance drew the eye—her long white hair, her fair skin, her composed presence. It was like she was a goddess.
"The mall is over a hundred miles from here. Reaching it would mean clearing at least twenty regions," a woman said with a deep frown, concern evident in her tone. Her words made the woman they called Empress sigh in clear annoyance, her expression tightening ever so slightly.
"Would it help?" another voice spoke up sharply, a man stepping forward with irritation in his voice. "Expanding our territory means she gets stronger. The larger the Overlord's domain, the greater the world's strength within it. Besides, we need more land if we plan to start mining. We finally got ourselves a blacksmith—it would be foolish not to look for resources while we can."
The Empress exhaled slowly, setting her phone down with visible reluctance as her gaze drifted toward the distant horizon.
"Tier 4 monsters are starting to spawn. We should focus on entering the next regions ourselves before they become more common," the woman warned, her tone uneasy. "Each time we expand, the monsters grow stronger. Right now, the only one among us capable of facing a tier 4 monster is the boss—and even then, some of those creatures have a combat power exceeding 800."
Her words hung heavy in the air, but she trailed off mid-sentence when she noticed what the Empress was doing. To everyone's confusion, the Empress suddenly rose from her seat and left the meeting room without a word. Her expression was calm, almost regal, as she stepped outside and looked up toward a white-haired man standing atop a rooftop, his sharp gaze sweeping across the land below.
"I don't appreciate strangers wandering my territory," she said coolly, her tone dripping with arrogance. "I, the most beautiful of empresses, will not let this offense go unpunished."
Seth turned his eyes toward her, slightly narrowing them as he studied the woman. Her beauty was undeniable, but her arrogance reminded him of those haughty young masters from the cultivation novels he'd once read.
[Name: Chu Yun
Race: Frost Goddess Dragon
Talent: Omni Freeze (SSS Rank)
Title: [One out of the 18 people with an SSS rank Talent], [Blessed By the Dragon Goddess]
Tier: 0 Tier (10/100,000 XP)
Combat Power: 779
===============
Skills: [Ice Manipulation (3/5)], [IDragon God's Eyes (1/5)],
Resistances: [Cold (5/5)], [Blood Loss (5/5)], [Mind Manipulation (1/5)],
Equipped Gear: [Frost Robes], [Frost Shoes], [Frosty Sword]
Mount/Pet: [Unhatched Egg]
"I, your empress, like your eyes. I shall give you—" Her arrogant tone cut short the instant she saw Seth's combat power. The proud smirk on her face vanished, replaced by disbelief as her eyes widened in shock.
"An SSS-rank talent, this is a first," Seth said with a small smile, stepping forward without hurry. Each step he took seemed to press down on the air itself, making her feel as though the world had grown heavier.
The empress took a step back, her body trembling slightly. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see through him. Her ability only revealed his tier and combat power… yet that number alone was enough to leave her speechless.
A combat power of 990. Something beyond reason—beyond anything she had ever seen before.
"I have no interest in coming here to destroy what you've managed to protect," Seth said calmly. Everything around him looked untouched by the chaos that had ravaged the world over the past five weeks—buildings still stood firm, the ground showed no scars of battle, and there was an eerie sense of order that most regions had long lost.
It had already been a week of Seth moving across territories, conquering one overlord's land after another and using their domains to fuel his growth. His strength had indeed increased, but not as much as he had hoped. By his calculations, it should have doubled by now, yet his progress had slowed—most likely because he hadn't been training his body as rigorously as before.
"Then what do you want?" she asked, her tone edged with caution. Even as she stood tall, the unease in her eyes was clear. Having someone like Seth casually step into her domain without permission was enough to put anyone on guard.
"I will become the new Overlord of this region. Since you're SSS-tier, you'll serve as my right hand," Seth said lightly, his calm tone leaving no room for debate.
"Like hell," she snapped back, but the confidence in her voice vanished the moment Seth disappeared from sight. In the blink of an eye, he was suddenly sitting behind her, casually resting in a chair that hadn't been there a second ago. She froze, her thoughts scrambling to understand what had just happened or how he had even done it.
"Like hell I would reject," she quickly corrected herself, forcing a nervous smile. Seth gave a slow nod of approval, clearly satisfied with her quick change of tone. Without wasting time, he claimed the Overlord token for himself, his control spreading across the region.
It was a good thing she had already expanded her land so far—her territory stretched wide, providing Seth with a solid foundation to grow from. With that, he ordered her to begin conquering the regions leading directly to his camp,