Mirabella walked back into the village perimeter, the thought of the new, powerful skill Physical Attack Siphon a quiet triumph in her mind. Her satisfaction was interrupted by Carl, who was sprinting towards her, winded and excited.
"Senior sister!!" He skidded to a stop, clutching his chest, the small white cat, Cupcake, perched calmly on his shoulder.
"Seems both of you are now friends," Mirabella observed, a small, genuine smile touching her lips as she glanced at the pair.
"He is still annoying at times," Cupcake muttered dismissively, rolling her large, luminous eyes. Despite her appearance as a mere pet, Cupcake was, for all intents and purposes, the second most powerful entity in the entire First Server, a fact known only to Carl and Mirabella.
"What happened? Why are you running?" Mirabella asked, her focus immediately shifting to Carl's frantic state.
"The villagers! They said they spotted a monster a few days ago! A huge one."
Mirabella's eyes narrowed. "Oh? What kind of monster and how big?" She was instantly interested, her mind calculating threat versus opportunity.
"They said it was twenty meters tall!!!" Carl exclaimed, his voice high with awe and terror. "And from their description... it sounds like a T. rex!"
"A T. rex?" Mirabella laughed, the sound sharp and disbelieving. "Those monsters only show up in the Second Server... why would a T. rex appear here?" She paused, the laughter dying abruptly.
'Wait...'
A sudden, chilling realization settled over her. 'Things had been moving faster than they should. The late start of Galaxy Fall by one minute. The earlier-than-expected appearance of the rare Devil's Grave. The change in Jessica's fate. The sudden, premature presence of the Devil Cult in the First Server. So many deviations from my past life's timeline.'
'If these small events are moving up, will the major world-changing events, like the Second Server Upgrade, also be earlier than usual?' Mirabella's heart tightened.
'Once the Server Upgrade hits, the three giant Guilds from the three enemy Empires will appear, dominating the rankings. My guild will be instantly forced out of the Top 1... No. I must get stronger. Now.'
She fixed her gaze on Carl. "What location?"
"South! That's the direction the villagers pointed."
"Wait," Mirabella asked, a skeptical arch in her eyebrow. "If such a colossal beast appeared, why is this village still standing?"
"They said it came at night. They switched off all their lights and hid, relying on sheer luck and the darkness. It didn't seem interested in the village itself," Carl answered, relaying the villagers' trembling account.
Mirabella nodded, processing the details. A colossal beast, a T. rex, appearing in the wrong server, and ignoring easy prey.
'Unusual behavior.'
Sensing her intention, Cupcake leaped down from Carl's shoulder and began to grow rapidly. Her pristine white fur bristled, and her two massive, feathered wings unfurled, spreading far and wide.
"Come on, we will fly and look around. A monster that size will surely leave easily trackable footprints," Mirabella commanded, smoothly mounting Cupcake's back. Carl quickly followed.
"Hold on tight," she warned, a hint of amusement in her voice. Before Carl could even secure his grip, Cupcake shot into the air with a powerful thrust of her wings.
"AHHHH!!!"
Carl let out a truly horrifying scream, gripping Cupcake's fur tightly, his face pale with adrenaline, refusing to look down.
Mirabella chuckled lightly, ignoring her companion's distress and moving her gaze across the landscape.
'A T. rex... I hope it's not that monster. The World Boss that eventually forced the three Empires to join forces to kill it... Huh? No, that monster was confined to the Third Server. This must be something else.' She dismissed the terrifying possibility, yet the seed of doubt remained.
___
[Two days Later.]
Mirabella squatted on the ground, two days of tracking finally yielding the ultimate confirmation. Before them was a gargantuan footprint, undeniably that of a T. rex.
"Gosh, these footprints are so big!! I could lay down in the center, and my body wouldn't even touch the edges," Carl said, his voice now hushed with a mix of shock and exhaustion.
Mirabella removed the stick sweet from her mouth, her eyes fixed on the forest ahead. The trees were broken, a visible, unnatural path of destruction carved through the dense woodland.
"It seems this monster is a Titan." she stated, her tone cold and analytical. "It's much bigger than what the villagers described. These trees are twenty meters tall, with thick trunks and deep roots, yet they were broken and uprooted like mere twigs." She stood up, looking around the field.
"We have been on this journey for two days, and we haven't been attacked once," she continued, her eyes scanning for any sign of wildlife. "It shows the local monsters were either killed by it, or are actively avoiding this entire area." She began walking toward the ravaged forest edge.
"Huh? We are still going?" Carl asked, surprised by her relentless drive.
"Of course we are," she said, placing the sweet back in her mouth. "Two days of tracking can't be for nothing."
'With all the cues—the size, the server breach—it is that monster, or something dangerously close to it. This won't be easy,' Mirabella thought.
'But why would a monster from the Third Server appear here? Or did I miss all this in my previous life, so focused on surviving and hiding behind Ethan?' She exhaled softly.
'Regardless, I want to know what this monster is after. Days of walking, and it is still heading relentlessly in a single direction. Even if a mountain stood in its way, it would simply shatter it and continue. There must be a treasure at the end of this trail.'
Carl looked at Cupcake, who gave an annoyed flick of her tail, then nodded decisively. "Alright! Let's enter this dangerous, eerily quiet forest!!!" He yelled, steeling his nerves and hurrying to catch up behind Mirabella.
__
At the far eastern flank, legions away from Mirabella's current location, a group of ten figures, clad in gleaming, pristine white armor, were rushing in the same direction. Their mounts were not regular horses, but powerful, high-tier war steeds, moving with incredible, tireless speed.
These ten were the elite vanguard of the Sword Empire, the number one strongest empire in Galaxy Fall.
"Captain!! Can we truly secure the item?!" a female voice sounded from the soldier riding beside the leader. Her face, like the others, was obscured by the solid, white helmet of the Imperial Guard.
The leader, Captain Raynor, gripped his reins tighter. "We must! The Commander and the imperial family instructed us: no matter what, we must secure it!" He increased his speed, urging his war steed faster.
"But, Captain... an unknown amount of high-level monsters are currently heading to that exact location, too," a man riding just behind them stated, concern laced in his voice.
Raynor's response was cold and unwavering. "I don't care if a legion of monsters wants it! We are all Awakened Fighters, with the weakest amongst us being Level 50! We won't let them have it. That is a promise!"
As the captain of this mission, his reputation and his Empire's interests rested on his success.
The rest of the squad exchanged glances, and nodded their heads in unison.
"We are with you, Captain!" they yelled, their voices ringing with disciplined loyalty.
"Keep going! Two more days, and we will reach our target coordinates! We have five days left before the window closes!" Raynor ordered.
"Yes!!!"
The thunderous sound of their white horses' hoofs smashed against the ground, a relentless, powerful rhythm as they pushed their speed to the limit, unaware they were on a collision course with a powerful player and a Titan beast.