Ats stood frozen as Manna shot toward him with blinding speed. Everything happened so quickly that his mind barely had time to process the danger. Her long, razor-sharp cws were already inches from his throat.

  [System detects a threat against the Lord of the Floating Isnd from his subordinate.]

  [The Lord has full trol over all subordinates within the Floating Isnd, but only to prevent harmful as that threaten the Lord.]

  [High-level threat tai has been activated, rendering the individual immobile until the harmful i subsides.]

  Suddenly, Manna stopped iracks. Her cws hovered mere millimeters from his neck, but they never made tact. The Vampire Queen's face twisted in fury, her crimson eyes glowing fiercely as she bared her teeth, lips curled in a snarl. She was seething with rage.

  "Argh... I'll kill you... Argh!" Manna snarled, her voice trembling with fury and pain.

  Her entire body was stiff, trembling as she fought against the invisible force holding her back, struggling desperately to her cws around Ats's throat. But she couldn’t move any further, locked in pce by the system’s safeguard.

  Karian, standing nearby, froze as well, wary but not moving an inch. Everyone present uood the fual rule: a summon could never harm their Lord, no matter what. And this Rank-S exclusive Vampire Queen should have known that.

  "How dare you summoo this barren isnd! I'll kill you, I'll kill you, you fool!" Manna screamed, thrashing in vain as she tried to move.

  Edrik let out a sigh, shaking his head. He patted Karian on the shoulder, and the warrior straightened up, returning to his usual posed stance.

  "What’s wrong with you?" Ats asked casually, looking down at the woman who, despite her deadly aura, still appeared to be in her early twenties.

  But then agaiitle was the Queen of the Eternal Dusk—a title that definitely sounded intimidating. She was, without a doubt, a Vampire. And a Queen.

  “How dare you summon me! You’re nothing but a lowly creature, unworthy to and me. I’ll kill you, drain your blood dry, and leave your corpse for the dogs ireets!”

  "Ssshhh." Ats hushed her with a calm gesture, and Manna’s mouth snapped shut. Though she was still visibly fuming, muttering angrily under her breath.

  “ you calm down a bit and stand up straight?”

  Manna grudgingly stepped bad stood upright, still fighting against whatever invisible force was keeping her from attag. Her muffled grumbles tinued behind her closed lips.

  “Hamu hemu hemu, haumu, hamu, homu,” she grumbled ily.

  “What?” Ats leaned in, bringing his ear closer to her face. “What did you say?”

  Manna's mouth flew open again. "Don’t e any closer! I refuse to let you near me. I swear, I’ll kill you if you even dare touch me!"

  “Oh, you mean something like this?” Ats replied casually, immediately reag out and grabbing her . Manna jerked, but couldn’t fight back, her body frozen in pce.

  Ats tilted her face from side to side, feeling the tension in her muscles, aware of how deeply she resehe situation. Then, with deliberate ease, he released his hold.

  “See, I go this far. But I’ll respect you," he said. "I’ll give you a ce to accept the situation, and ter, we talk once you’re ready. Deal?”

  Manna’s anger was still palpable, her muffled grumbling tinuing behind her sealed lips.

  “Now," Ats tinued, "you stand here for now. When you're ready to speak peacefully with me, you’ll be able to move again. Uand?"

  Her furious gre didn’t waver, and she straio move, still desperate to unother attack.

  Ats sighed. He hadn’t expected things to escate into something quite this... unique. She was undoubtedly a ruler in her ht, likely a lord in her past world—just like Edrik and Karian.

  And of course, Manna had suffered a major defeat—ohat led to her losing her isnd. Now here she was, having fallen from her previous status, only to faother humiliation as a summon under another lord, a human lord.

  Her pride was surely t. Her title alone reflected her high rank. Who knows what level she had achieved in her world, or how vast her army had been. And now, what fate had befallehing under her and? It was impossible to tell.

  But ohing was clear: his first Rank-S summon definitely had some issues. Still, he wasn’t too worried. He had plenty of time to figure things out a everything straight.

  After all, they had no choice but to survive together.

  Ats had no iion of treating them harshly, like sves. His goal was to build a strong team under his leadership, treating them more as panions and allies—even though there was a system guarantee in psuring none of them could ever harm him.

  The memory of what had happened just moments earlier flooded his mind—the moment he had nearly died, all thanks to them, the other members of his expedition.

  Damn! I’ll hunt them down, he vowed silently, his fists g. Every st one of them. And when I find them, I’ll hurl them into the abyss, just like they did to me.

  Now, Ats was curious to see just how powerful this new Rank-S summon really was. Manna, the Queen of the Eternal Dusk, was bound to have impressive stats!

  [Name: Manna Nightshade]

  [Level: 69]

  [Strength: 212 | Agility: 324 | Intelligence: 122 | stitution: 119 | Stamina: 132]

  [Job: Specialized Fighter]

  [Eternal Dusk Mastery (S) - Blood Snty (A) - Frenzied Reflexes (SS) - Reaper’s Precision (A) - Fearless frontation (A) - Emotional Outburst (A) - Emotional Surge (A)]

  Level 69! Manna’s level was even higher than Karian's, and at this early stage, having someone of her caliber under his and was nothing short of extraordinary.

  But that wasn’t all. While most people gained about 10 stat points per level, Manna’s total stats were far beyond that. How much exactly? Ats did a quick calcution.

  It’s over 900 stat points!!!

  Damn!

  A level 69 with stats that high? She was easily parable to someone in the level 8e! Truly remarkable.

  Now, Ats shifted his focus to her talents. Even a brief gnce revealed that eae had a minimum rating of A. Absolutely incredible.

  [Eternal Dusk Mastery: Taps into the powers of eternal darkness, increasirength, speed, and magic when fighting uhe moon or in darkness, making her nearly unstoppable during nighttime.]

  [Blood Snty: Allows her to drain life force from her enemies with every strike, using it to heal herself and prolong her life, making her exceptionally hard to defeat.]

  [Frenzied Reflexes: In moments of emotional votility, Manna's reflexes bee unnaturally sharp, allowio dodge attacks and ter with lightning-fast precision. However, these reflexes bee harder to trol as her emotions grow more intense.]

  [Reaper’s Preanna wields the scythe with such fihat each strike targets vital points, maximizing damage with every swing. Her precision allows her to deliver deadly blows with minimal effort, cutting through armor and defenses with ease.]

  Ats's eyes locked onto the first four talents. Eternal Dusk Mastery—rated S—and Frenzied Reflexes—rated SS!

  She was clearly desigo be a killing mae with talents like these. In darkness, she could bee incredibly powerful, able to survive longer in battle by abs the blood of her enemies. Not only that, but her fighting speed increased when she was emotionally unstable. No wonder she flew inte the moment she arrived!

  And then there was her Reaper’s Precision—a clear sign she was a cle fighter, using her scythe for devastating attack.

  [Fearless frontation: Manna has no fear of frontation and will aggressively challenge anyone who opposes her. This talent makes her particurly intimidating in face-to-faters, though it often leads to unnecessary flicts due to her harsh temperament.]

  [Emotional Outburst: Her emotions often ma in loud, dramatic outbursts, which might cause a se or distract others.]

  , Fearless frontation caught Ats’s attention—it made her aggressively front anyone, regardless of their strength. This one could definitely be troublesome for him. trolling that kind of reckless aggression would be a challenge.

  And then there was Emotional Outburst—pretty self-expnatory. It likely amplified her power in the heat of her emotions, but also made her harder to manage.

  [Emotional Surge: Her emotions fuel her magic, causing her spells to grow more potent when she’s overwhelmed with rage or other intense feelings. However, this cause her to lose trol, leading to devastating colteral damage.]

  Lastly, Emotional Surge—a surprisingly powerful talent. Her anger didn’t just fuel her aggression; it actually enhanced her magi other words, the more unstable her emotions, the more brutal and unstoppable she became. Stronger, harder to kill!

  "Cool," he thought with a faint smile. She truly deserved her title as an Exclusive Rank-S character.

  He couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. He had been incredibly, very lucky to get her. Now, the urge to pull more tickets burned inside him. He had plenty of time, and he was ready to spend every ticket he had.

  "Let’s do it!" he whispered eagerly.