On a certain isolated island overseas, Chu Lian was lying flat against a tree branch, utterly motionless as she played dead. She had no choice. If the thing not far away discovered her by accident, she would end up as food in its mouth.
"Damn it, what kind of setting is this? In Overlord, there are actually giants as a lifeform—and they just have to be at the peak of the Earth rank, half a step into Heaven rank. Their bodies are as tough as dragons, and they can use all kinds of bows and weapons. This is ridiculous." Chu Lian complained inwardly, left with nothing but the feeling that her luck truly couldn't get any worse.
She had originally been using the Seraph, flying intermittently from the edge of the continent toward the open sea. It had taken her several days before she finally seemed to pass through some kind of barrier, arriving at a peculiar continent surrounded by numerous islands.
At first, she had been delighted that she no longer had to drift endlessly over the ocean. In this place where the trees were unnaturally tall, she thought she could finally rest properly for a few days.
She had never expected to blunder straight into the territory of giants.
These giants were different from the ones in Attack on Titan—those were large in size but not truly that powerful. Of course, they were also not the legendary Titan giants born as natural gods.
Instead, they had their own nation and social structure. Like humans, they could forge weapons and equipment. Their discipline was strict. It was practically a magnified human society—a kingdom of giants.
If that were all, it might have been manageable. The problem was that once these giants reached adulthood, most of them were at least high Spirit rank. Elites could step into the Earth rank. The strongest among them had even reached high Heaven rank. After arriving here, Chu Lian didn't dare move recklessly at all, afraid that one of the strongest giants would catch her and treat her as dinner.
Unfortunately, while her thinking was sound, she had no way of knowing that from the moment she crossed the barrier, her every movement had already been seen.
Whether out of disdain or for some other reason, they had not acted personally. Instead, they ordered their subordinates to begin searching for her.
For the first two days, she had remained safe. Just as she was preparing to sneak away, on the third day, giant soldiers carrying orders began combing the area for her traces. The leaders among them were several experts at the peak of Earth rank, forcing Chu Lian into a frantic escape.
Fortunately, her size was small, and the environment here was complex. As long as she hid well enough, she was almost impossible to detect. Otherwise, she might already have been captured by now.
"Damn it. I can't run. The moment I do, those Heaven-rank giants will definitely make a move. I can't be sure whether Teleport or the Seraph's twelve-times supersonic top speed can let me escape. If I fail, I'm dead. But staying here isn't an option either. Since they've come looking for me, they must already know my general whereabouts. The longer I remain, the more dangerous it becomes. Ahhh... There's only that dragon-slaying quest left unfinished. I was so close. Can't they just let me complete it and leave?" Chu Lian pressed her lips together, her mood utterly foul.
If she had another chance, she would rather never have come here at all than be hunted like prey.
"Hah... I found the reason, Lian'er. We came to the wrong place." As she cautiously avoided detection, Ayase—who had been searching these past few days for the reason Chu Lian ended up here—finally spoke.
"All right. Please, you have to tell me exactly what this place is. I absolutely refuse to believe this is part of Overlord. The difference between the two is far too great." Chu Lian felt her tension ease slightly at Ayase's words. As long as they found the cause, there would be a solution.
"This place is commonly known as the 'Land Forsaken by the Gods.' Its true name should be the 'World of Exile.' It does not exist within any world, yet it maintains a peculiar connection with all worlds. The barrier you passed through earlier was actually a defensive wall separating two spaces."
"The inhabitants of the World of Exile cannot leave that defensive wall. However, those who do not belong to this world may come and go freely. Every native of the World of Exile has a peculiar mark imprinted upon their soul. As long as that mark exists, they cannot leave. Outsiders do not possess it. They can freely choose whether to stay or depart."
"Of course, that doesn't mean you can remain here indefinitely without consequences."
"First, if you stay continuously for more than one year, you will automatically acquire the mark of a resident of the World of Exile. At that point, you won't be able to leave even if you want to. Even if you stay intermittently, once your accumulated time exceeds three years, you will still become a resident of the Land of Exile."
"Second, if your strength is too weak, survival in the Land of Exile is nearly impossible. There are no true natives here. All of them were permanently banished and sealed here by powerful gods or other supreme beings."
"And the enemies capable of opposing such beings would certainly not be weak. Perhaps they committed heinous crimes, yet annihilating their race was deemed too cruel, so they were exiled instead. Perhaps they opposed the Lord of a world, failed, and were punished by being sent here. Or perhaps, in some monumental war, they chose the wrong side, became the losers, and were ordered to reside in this world."
"In any case, no race here is weak. All are at least Spirit rank and above. The strongest among them can even contend with gods. However, they can never become gods themselves, so they cannot grasp the rules of this place, nor can they cross the defensive wall to reach the outside world."
"Simply put, release any one of these races into a high-magic, high-martial world, and they would immediately alter its entire balance of power. Even the weakest tribes possess strength comparable to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The stronger factions have even established nations here—such as the Dark Giant tribe currently searching for you."
"They were at war in their original world and were exiled here as the defeated side. They inherently possess the characteristics of a nation, so upon arrival they occupied this region and became an independent kingdom."
"Even so, the Dark Giant tribe cannot be considered especially powerful here. They only possess the ability to barely protect themselves. They do not have the strength to invade others."
"No one knows the true size of the Land of Exile. It seems boundless, yet it also appears to operate under special rules that prevent anyone from probing its true nature. It is said that even the powerful beings who discovered this space could not discern its deeper mysteries, so they simply used it as an alternative prison."
"As for why the Dark Giant tribe is searching for you, it is likely because you came from the outside world. They want to find a method to traverse beyond this place, and thus..."
Ayase did not continue, but her meaning was obvious. Chu Lian listened, then helplessly curled her lips.
"So I just happened to blunder in here and brought all this upon myself?"
"I never expected that somewhere overseas in Overlord there would be a place connected to the World of Exile. You should know, in the main world there isn't anything like this. Well... maybe there is, we just never found it."
"My luck is truly incredible. I just picked a random direction and ended up inviting this much trouble." Chu Lian gave a bitter smile. It was true. Facing these giants, her strength was far too insignificant. Defeating the weaker ones might be possible, but escaping from here was nothing short of a pipe dream.
"I suggest you stop hiding. Go out and let them find you," Ayase advised when she saw her expression. "After all, you still have the identity of a Spacetime Traveling Merchant. You can completely negotiate a trade with them."
The suggestion was undeniably tempting.
"But I don't have much on me right now. If they want something I don't possess, wouldn't that just be courting death?" Chu Lian was still uneasy. As a Beginner Merchant, not only was her seniority low, but her inventory was also pitifully lacking. Most of the time, when she wanted to make a trade, she had to scrape things together just to meet the requirements.
"Do you have any other option?" Ayase rolled her eyes. She was out of ideas too. Unless Chu Lian immediately gave up her future qualification to reenter Overlord and abandoned the side quest, she could return at once.
But this troublesome girl had already stirred up so many romantic entanglements in Overlord. There was no way she would leave just like that. Besides, the final quest reward in Overlord was far too tempting. Giving it up would be an immeasurable loss.
"Then there's no other choice." Chu Lian let out a sigh. She stopped hiding and instead exchanged for a white, gold-trimmed High Priestess robe from the system, covering her entire body so that only her hands and the lower half of her face were visible. Then she stepped out from her hiding place and called toward the distant giants, "No need to keep searching. I'm here."
"Hah... Finally found you, little one..."
Unexpectedly, the fierce-looking Dark Giant turned around. Upon seeing her, he seemed to relax in relief, even letting out a breath, his tone surprisingly gentle.
"Hm? What do you want with me?" Hearing that, Chu Lian was already certain they were not here to cause her trouble, but had some matter to discuss instead.
"That, I'm not sure about either. The Prophet is the one who ordered us to find you," the Dark Giant replied. He bent down and extended one hand toward her. "Since you are willing to meet us, please come with us. The Prophet and the others are waiting for you at the royal palace."
"All right. I hope it's something good." Chu Lian did not hesitate. With a light jump, she landed in the giant's palm.
Looking at the giant before her—at least thirty meters tall—Chu Lian silently calculated the combat strength of this race. It seemed that even fighting dragons head-on would not be a problem for them.
"More precisely, they are stronger than most dragons," Ayase corrected. "Most dragons possess bloodline ranks at the seventh tier or slightly beyond. The Dark Giants, however, are at the fifth tier. A difference of two tiers in bloodline rank translates to nearly a forty percent gap in combat power. That half-step Heaven-rank dragon from Miami that fell from Heaven rank? It would likely lose against any half-step Heaven-rank Dark Giant here."
"Of course, that's because that dragon's bloodline rank wasn't particularly high. Some legendary dragons—Golden Two-Headed Dragons, Diamond Dragons, Holy Dragons, Poison Dragons, Crystal Dragons, even Shadow Dragons or Elf Dragons—are not so easy to provoke. But for now, the Dark Giants can certainly be considered an exceptionally powerful race."
As the system's chief steward, Ayase was practically a walking encyclopedia. Anything Chu Lian did not know, she did. Now that she understood where they were, she had already filled in the relevant data and could answer any question at any time.
"Fine. I'd like to see what they want from me..." Biting her lower lip lightly with her silver teeth, Chu Lian stood quietly on the giant's palm and allowed him to carry her toward their destination.
On a distant mountain stood a colossal imperial city—luxuriously decorated and exquisitely constructed—its vast dome nearly piercing into the clouds...