Laia was halfway through her second sandwich when her realm panel pinged again.
Realm size increased by another 50,000,000 acres!
New population: 5,000,000 more refugees!
Productivity increased by 300000%!
She blinked, doing the math in her head.
Wait. If all these new people paid her even a single silver a month... that was 15 million silver a month? That was 150 thousand gold! Every month!
She could quit school entirely! She could buy a whole island! She could eat cheese sandwiches every day, three times a day!
Wow. This Chaos Sea mission was the best thing that ever happened to her.
She was just daydreaming about buying a soft new bed, when a huge roar shook the entire area.
The ground shook, the sky turned pitch black, and a huge, towering figure stepped out of the deep Chaos Sea. It was a hundred feet tall, made of writhing black Corruption, with glowing red eyes, and its aura was so heavy, the pantheon's gods all fell to their knees, unable to stand.
"WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?!" The Ancient Chaos Lord roared, his voice shaking the very stars. "THIS IS MY DOMAIN! I WILL DEVOUR YOU ALL!"
The pantheon's gods screamed, scrambling back in terror.
"It's him! The Ancient One! The one who created the Corruption! We've been running from him for ten thousand years!"
"He's awake! We're all dead!"
Laia blinked, staring at the huge monster.
Wait. That was the big boss of the Chaos Sea?
Oh! So if we beat him, we get the big end-of-mission bonus? That was even more money!
She pulled up the realm's message board, and wrote a quick note.
Hey guys! There's a big boss here! If we beat him, I bet we get a huge bonus! Let's get him!
—Laia
Deep in the Chaos Sea, the overlords saw the note, and they froze.
Then they roared, their auras flaring to maximum.
"The big boss! He dared to wake up and threaten the Overgod!"
"Kill him! Protect our god!"
Kane immediately ordered all the starships to focus fire, the star-core cannons charging to maximum power. "All weapons, fire!"
Torin shifted into his full ancient dragon form, a thousand feet tall, golden scales glinting in the dark, and charged the Chaos Lord, fist raised. "You dare touch our Overgod? I'll tear you apart!"
Elara wove the full life purification array, the entire sky glowing soft green, wrapping around the Chaos Lord, burning away his Corruption before it could spread.
Mephis poured out all his abyss power, the dark flames wrapping around the Lord's arms, holding him down before he could move.
Borin threw his legendary star-metal hammer, the thing flying faster than light, slamming into the Lord's chest with enough force to shatter a mountain.
Rokar led the entire orc army, charging forward, weapons raised. "FOR THE OVERGOD!"
All of them, every single overlord, every single race's top power, all attacking the Chaos Lord at once.
The Chaos Lord had just finished his roar, ready to blast them all into dust, when he got hit by a thousand star-core blasts, a dragon punch, life magic, abyss flames, and a hammer to the chest.
He went flying, slamming into a mountain, the entire mountain exploding into dust.
He scrambled up, staring at the overlords, his red eyes wide with shock.
Wait.
What?
He was the Ancient Chaos Lord! He'd ruled the Chaos Sea for ten thousand years! He'd beaten a dozen Greater Gods single-handedly!
How was he getting punched by an ancient dragon lord? How was there starships? How was there a whole army that could hurt him?
He stared closer, and his eyes went wider.
Wait.
These were the Overlords of the Races! The ones who went missing a year ago! The ones who ran from that tyrant Valerius!
They were all here? Working together?
For that little demigod-looking girl at the border?
Oh.
Oh right!
That was the hidden Overgod! The one who'd been hiding in the mortal realm! The one who'd collected all the overlords as his followers!
No wonder they were so strong!
He couldn't win that. He couldn't fight an Overgod who had all the overlords as his army.
He immediately put his hands up, yelling as loud as he could.
"I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER! DON'T KILL ME! I'LL JOIN YOU! I'LL BE YOUR FOLLOWER! I'LL PAY YOU TAX! ANYTHING!"
The overlords froze, then grinned.
Oh. He surrendered? Good. Saves us the trouble of cleaning up the mess.
They dragged him back to the border, to Laia.
Laia stared at the huge Chaos Lord, who was bowing to her, hands up, trembling.
Wait.
He wanted to be her follower? Pay her tax?
Wow! That was even better than the big boss bonus!
She nodded, grinning. "Sure! You can join! Welcome to the realm!"
The Chaos Lord let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank the stars. He wasn't dead.
The pantheon's gods stared, their mouths dropping open so far they could catch flies.
The Ancient Chaos Lord... surrendered to Laia?
He became her follower?
What the hell?
That was impossible!
They bowed even lower, scrambling to shove more gold and resources into Laia's hands.
"Miss Hayes! You did it! You defeated the Chaos Lord! We'll give you another five million gold! As a reward! Anything you want! Just name it!"
Laia's eyes went wide.
Five million?
Wow! That was even more money than she'd ever dreamed of!
She nodded, grinning. "Thanks! That's great!"
She was just about to ask if they could clear more of the Chaos Sea for even more bonus money, when her comms pinged.
It was a message, from the highest god of the pantheon, the Supreme Overgod, Orien.
"Laia Hayes. I have heard of your deeds. Come to my palace. I wish to meet you."
Laia blinked.
Supreme Overgod?
Wait, was that the guy who ran the whole pantheon? Did he have more missions? More money?
She nodded, immediately typing back.
Sure! I'll be right there!