The second Laia said yes, the entire meeting hall erupted into cheers. The pantheon leaders swarmed her, shoving more resources into her arms—anti-corruption wards, divine potions, even a whole set of legendary armor, the kind that could block an Overgod's smite.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Miss Hayes! You're our savior!"
"We've been stuck on that Corruption problem for a thousand years! No one could fix it!"
"Take all the resources you need! Anything you want!"
Laia stared at the armor, then at the potions.
Wow.
The mission supplies were way better than she'd expected. She'd thought she'd have to buy her own stuff, but they were giving her all this for free? That saved her so much money!
She nodded, tucking everything into her bag. "Thanks! I'll get it done, don't worry!"
She hurried back to her dorm, and pulled up the realm's message board, writing a quick note.
Hey guys! We got a new mission! We need to clear the Corruption from the Chaos Sea! They're giving us a million gold if we do it! And all the land we clear can be ours! Let's work hard, okay? We can get more refugees there, more tax!
—Laia
Inside the realm, the overlords saw the note, and they froze.
Then they roared.
"She's doing it! The Overgod is finally fixing the Chaos Sea!"
"That thousand-year problem? He's gonna solve it!"
Kane's eyes went bright, already pulling up his starship schematics. "Right! All the fleet! We're bringing every single starship we have! We'll blast the Corruption away before it can even react!"
Torin nodded, roaring, and his dragon form spread out, golden wings covering the sky. "All dragon clans! Mobilize! We're going to war with the Corruption! For the Overgod!"
Elara closed her eyes, and the entire forest of the realm glowed, life magic pouring out. "All elven mages! Prepare the life purification array! We'll turn that dead land back to green!"
Borin slammed his hammer, and a hundred legendary weapons floated up behind him. "All the forges! We're bringing every weapon we made! No Corruption is gonna survive this!"
Rokar slammed his fist into his palm, and the entire orc army roared, weapons raised. "My troops are ready! We'll charge first!"
Rhea spread her wings, and the entire swarm poured out, billions of rakkasra, ready to devour anything in their path. "My swarm will clear every last bit of Corruption!"
All of them, mobilizing their entire races, their entire armies, their entire fleets, ready to follow their Overgod to fix the thousand-year problem of the pantheon.
They didn't know that Laia was just packing a bag of cheese sandwiches, thinking, "Wow, they're so excited. This mission is gonna be done in no time."
An hour later, they all arrived at the edge of the Chaos Sea.
The pantheon's gods were already there, waiting, staring at the black, rotting land of the Chaos Sea, the Corruption oozing out, the chaotic monsters growling in the dark. They'd been trying to fix this for a thousand years, and they'd barely moved the border a mile.
They turned, and saw Laia, and then they saw the army behind her.
Wait.
A hundred million soldiers? Starships? Dragons? Elven mages?
They stared, their mouths dropping open.
What?
That was an army big enough to conquer the entire pantheon!
Laia waved at them, grinning. "Hey! We're here! Let's get started!"
Then she turned to her refugees. "Okay guys, go clear the Corruption! I'll be right here, eating my sandwich!"
The overlords nodded, and charged.
Kane's starships opened fire, star-core blasts tearing through the Corruption, turning the black land into clean dirt in seconds.
Torin's dragons flew overhead, breathing golden fire, burning away the Corruption monsters before they could even move.
Elara's life magic poured out, wrapping around the land, turning the rotting dirt into rich soil, trees growing out of nowhere.
Rhea's swarm swarmed over the entire area, devouring every last bit of Corruption, every last monster, leaving nothing but clean land behind.
Borin's turrets set up, blasting away any Corruption that tried to spread.
In less than an hour, the entire border of the Chaos Sea, the part the pantheon had been fighting over for a thousand years, was completely cleared.
Clean, green land, trees, rivers, everything.
No Corruption left.
The pantheon's gods stared, their eyes wide, their mouths dropping open.
They'd spent a thousand years, barely moving the border a mile.
Laia's people just cleared a hundred thousand miles in an hour.
What the hell?
That was a miracle!
Laia stood up, brushing the crumbs off her coat, and grinned. "Wow! You guys are fast! That was way quicker than I thought!"
She turned to the pantheon leaders. "Okay! We're done! Can we get the million gold now?"
The leaders stared, then bowed, immediately.
"Of course! Of course! Here's the gold! And more! We'll give you all the land you cleared! And we'll give you another million, as a bonus! Just... just keep going? Clear more of the Chaos Sea? Please?"
Laia's eyes went wide.
Another million?
And more land?
That was even better!
She nodded, grinning. "Sure! We can do that!"
The overlords cheered, hearing that.
The Overgod wants to clear more? Let's go!
They charged deeper into the Chaos Sea, working even faster.
Laia sat back down, opening her sandwich, and stared at her realm panel.
Realm size increased by 100,000,000 acres!
Productivity increased by 500000%!
New population detected: 10,000,000 refugees from the Chaos Sea! They want to join your realm!
Laia blinked.
Wow.
More refugees? More tax?
This was the best mission ever.
She didn't notice, deep in the Chaos Sea, an ancient, slumbering entity, had woken up.
It felt the clean aura, the life magic, the star-core power, pouring into its domain.
It opened its eyes, and stared toward the border.
...Who is clearing my domain?