Corneline

The second I saw Corneline's rank, I killed the stream.

The reason was simple.

"If I cut it right here, they'll go crazy, right?"

That was part of it — but the real goal was something else entirely.

Honestly, I should've cut it before I even showed the rank.

SS-rank Mitsu alone had been enough to set the world on fire. So if the abilities of an EX-rank familiar got aired live?

Things would get even more annoying.

Worst case, some country might try kidnapping me — or worse, try to haul me off by force. Sure, I'd be fine with my familiars watching my back, but there was no harm in being careful.

Besides, you're the ones who invented the verification system on anonymous forums. You started this.

"Heheh. Time to check out EX-nim's abilities."

I looked over at Corneline, still sprawled out on the ground and not fully with it, and pulled up her ability window.

"A barrier?"

For an EX-rank, the ability felt surprisingly ordinary.

"So that crystal she was wrapped in was a barrier, huh?"

Given that even Mitsu's attacks hadn't scratched it, it was clearly strong — but I'd been expecting something flashier, so it was a bit of a letdown.

"On pure offense, Mitsu might still have the edge."

"I shall become Her Highness's blade."

"……"

One word from me and Mitsu was over the moon. Undtung watched her with a look of pure secondhand embarrassment.

"What art thou staring at?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing at allsyo."

Then one of Corneline's fingers, still lying limp on the ground, gave a little twitch.

"...!"

A moment later she slowly pushed herself up and gazed toward the sky.

"At last — one who has delivered me from my bonds has appeared!"

"……"

Standing there with both arms flung wide, saying something like that, whatever mysterious aura she'd had left went up in smoke.

"Once more, pay homage to the return of the great angel! Hwahahat!"

When Corneline finished her grand declaration, nothing but silence settled over the island.

Undtung, reading the room carefully, leaned in and whispered to me.

"Princess… this one's a real weirdo, seems like it, yo."

This was supposed to be the same EX-rank as me?

At Undtung's words, Corneline finally seemed to register our presence.

"Hm? …A human?"

The moment her eyes found me, they lit up like stars.

"A real live human!"

She shot toward me in a blur of flight, already gearing up to fire off a barrage of questions — only for Mitsu to cut her off cold.

"Uwek."

Tumble, tumble-tumble.

"Who gave thee leave to approach Her Highness without permission?"

Caught by the scruff of the neck, Corneline went rolling across the ground in a thoroughly undignified heap. After one more full spin she bounced right back to her feet like nothing had happened.

"Hmph! I let myself be caught on purpose!"

When we all kept staring at her with open skepticism, she got flustered enough to raise a single finger and start making excuses.

"I simply did not wish for a mere mortal to feel the wall that stands between them and an angel."

Undtung watched this shameless performance and whispered to me again.

"She definitely just got grabbed and tossed, yo."

"Yeah. I saw."

"That is NOT what happened!"

Corneline puffed out her cheeks and glared at us.

"How dare you doubt this angel."

"……"

"Fine. I shall specially grant you mortals a glimpse of an angel's power."

"You were just getting tossed around a second ago — what power are you even talking about, yo?"

"Silence, goblin!"

"……"

Undtung's jab left Corneline momentarily speechless. She covered it with a string of unnecessary coughs.

"Ahem, ahem. Behold, mortals! The power of this body!"

Corneline pointed a finger at a palm tree.

"Prism Barrier!"

A transparent film unfurled from her fingertip and completely enclosed a single palm tree.

Do you really have to shout the skill name? The thought crossed my mind, but I let it slide for now.

"...That's it?"

If this was the full extent of an EX-rank familiar's power, that would be genuinely depressing.

As if telling me not to worry, Corneline flashed a smug grin.

"Mortals truly have no eye for quality! Allow me to explain just how magnificent an angel's barrier is…"

"…Mitsu, wanna try cutting that?"

"As you command."

She looked ready to monologue about how amazing her ability was for an entire day, so I decided to have Mitsu test it instead.

Shiiing.

She brought Dark Red Shadow down at a speed the eye couldn't follow.

Under normal circumstances, the tree would have split with a crisp crack.

Ting!

"……!"

Instead, Dark Red Shadow bounced off with a metallic rebound, like it had struck solid steel. For the first time, Mitsu's eyes wavered.

"I shall try with my full strength."

She swung with far greater force than before —

Ting!

— and the result was identical. Not so much as a scratch.

"Hmph. Now do you comprehend the power of an angel?"

Emboldened by our reactions, Corneline pressed on.

"An angel's barrier is not limited to mere defense!"

She lightly clenched her hand.

The transparent barrier instantly contracted inward, locking the palm tree in a crushing grip.

Crrrk.

The translucent shell squeezed the trunk tight — tight enough that any living creature caught inside would be completely immobilized.

"It can also subdue a challenger!"

Our stunned faces only made the angel's shoulders climb higher.

"At last you recognize the might of an angel! Umhahahat!"

A barrier that didn't take a single mark from Mitsu's slash… and she could use it for restraint, too.

"Still feels a little underwhelming, though…"

Compared to my own abilities, its practical applications seemed a bit limited.

"Umhahahat! You are the benefactor who unsealed this angel, so I shall specially bestow upon you an angel's blessing!"

"An angel's blessing?"

That sounded incredibly impressive. Was I about to get some new ability?

"Know that this is a tremendous honor for a mere mortal!"

"Okay, but what is it actually?"

Anticipation bubbled up for the first time in a while. Just what kind of blessing would an EX-rank angel hand out?

"From this day forth, I grant you the privilege of praising me to your heart's content!"

"……"

Corneline. Did you just scam me.

"There is no need to rejoice so excessively!"

"How the hell is that an angel's blessing?!"

Getting my hopes up for something this worthless was so aggravating I flicked her a solid forehead flick.

"Ow ow ow…! A mortal dares strike this body's head…!"

"Is that all you've got? Nothing else? Mitsu's better."

"Your Highness…!"

I praised Mitsu on purpose, needling the angel just a little.

"Fufufu."

Corneline wore a meaningful smile.

"An angel is not so foolish as to reveal the entirety of her power."

She was acting exactly like a little kid dying to show off a secret only she knew.

"This ability is a secret!"

As expected of EX-rank — there was more. And the second I showed any curiosity, she got so excited she started teabagging me with it.

"Hm hahahat! Your curious face is so amusing that I shall hide it even more thoroughly, as a special treat!"

In that case, I had no choice but to check with the Eye of the Unbeliever.

"Divine Punishment?"

The moment I said the skill name out loud, Corneline flinched like she'd been caught.

"H-how did you learn of that?!"

I tried to dig into the details of what Divine Punishment actually did, but—

Unfortunately, I couldn't check the effect itself.

Well, she's hiding it this hard for a reason, right?

Just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knowing an EX-rank was sitting on a secret ability was enough. And right now, something even more fun was sitting in front of me.

As expected of a Hard Mode Tower clear reward from a Distortion Phenomenon — a guaranteed EX-rank gacha ticket.

"I've never even seen an EX-rank artifact before…"

This had to be a world first too, right?

And at times like this, wasn't baiting the chat the most fun move? Keeping the familiar's ability under wraps until the end had been the right call, and cracking the artifact alone would probably be the smart play too, but…

"How am I supposed to hold back from this kind of fun."

Opening an EX-rank gacha ticket by myself would be a total waste.

Click.

I turned the stream back on.

The moment it went live, notifications must have blasted out everywhere — viewers flooded in like a tidal wave.

I skimmed the chat and grinned.

Just as expected — the desperate viewers were endlessly entertaining.

"Yay~ hey everyone. I totally didn't realize the stream cut out!"

I brazenly papered over why the stream had died with a simple "I didn't know," then cut straight to the point.

"So I got this as a Tower reward! It felt too good to open alone, so I turned the stream back on so we could open it together!"

Oops. Misspoke.

I'd basically admitted I'd killed the stream on purpose — but the EX-rank Artifact Gacha Ticket was so outrageous that nobody stuck on that for long.

"Alright, cracking it open right now!"

I tore the gacha ticket. It shifted through the shapes of countless artifacts, and then—

FLASH—

With a burst of brilliant light, an artifact that looked like an ordinary mirror dropped into my hand.

Wait. Did this mean I didn't have to live in a one-room studio anymore?