It could be said that this was a world of Gods' Hegemony. Being in this world now was naturally quite dangerous. Even if she did not provoke anyone, some future disasters would still drag her into their vortex.
For example, those World-Ending Calamities...
Although she had made it through safely in the original story, this was no longer a manga, but the real world... No one could be sure what would happen, so increasing her strength was essential. Otherwise, surviving those ten years would truly be difficult.
Continuing downward, aside from the main quest, there were also quite a few optional Bounty Missions to accept. The rewards were mainly Crystals and Gold Coins, materials, and Experience Chips.
Now that there was no more spending money to whale, these quest rewards had become especially important if she wanted to raise character levels and strength.
Bounty Targets
"Sure enough, free things are the most expensive."
Looking at the optional side quests beneath the main quest, especially the rewards section, made her feel a little miserable.
Crystals that had originally cost only a few dozen or a hundred yuan now required completing all sorts of quests with different difficulties.
There was no punishment for failing quests. It was not like she would be casually erased or anything. But failing some quests meant dying outright!
Bounty Missions were generally divided into two types: Challenge Bounties and Collection Bounties.
From highest to lowest, the difficulties were SSS+, SS, S, A, B, C, and D, for a total of seven ranks. However, even bounties of the same rank had certain differences in rewards. The harder the quest, the higher the reward.
Among them, these were the highest-ranked bounties available.
SSS+-Rank Mission: Kill/Subdue the Three Evil Gods of the exe World!
Mission Reward: 50,000 Crystals
SSS-Rank Mission: Kill/Subdue Great Red.
Mission Reward: 30,000 Crystals
SSS-Rank Mission: Kill/Subdue the Infinite Dragon God.
Mission Reward: 25,000 Crystals
"This is too much! The exe evil gods, the Two Dragon Gods..."
Were these really opponents she could handle right now?
Even with an SSS+-rank, max-level Moonlit Oath: For Love with Heart, it would be hard to say whether she could successfully kill those beings!
The Two Dragon Gods were the two strongest beings in the DxD World. According to the setting, they possessed endless divine might, existences even God 777 could not compare to.
Though their performances in the anime had been rather underwhelming...
Even Great Red, the strongest of them all, had been directly killed by the invading exe evil gods.
To truly kill beings like those, she would at least need a relatively powerful Herrscher, or perhaps one of those powerful characters from Star Rail.
Fortunately, the main quest did not require her to deal with those guys, so she did not need to face them for now. Once she became stronger in the future, it would not be too late to come back and challenge them.
Setting aside those absurd existences, the other Bounty Missions became much more reasonable. Even against Transcenders of the second tier, it was not as though she had no chance of killing them.
Compared to Challenge Bounties, Collection Bounties were much simpler.
They mainly involved collecting the artifacts unique to this world.
Among them, Sacred Gears were the most valuable.
Once she collected every Sacred Gear, she could even receive a large additional amount of Crystals. Aside from that, the collection reward was only one part of it. Unwanted artifacts could also be recycled into Crystals.
In other words, a single artifact could earn rewards twice: once from the collection bounty, and again from selling it entirely to the system.
Their value was even higher than the bounties for killing challenge targets.
Crystals were extremely important. To raise a Valkyrie's rank, she had to spend Crystals to buy Expansion Supply Cards and frantically pull character fragments.
The fragments needed to rise from S-rank to SSS-rank were no small amount.
Some unlucky Captains could not even successfully max out a starting S-rank Valkyrie after spending 100,000 Crystals.
If she got the chance, she did not want to let a single artifact or Divine Key Maiden slip away.
It would be best if she could seize all dozen or so Sacred Gears.
But for now, she should first accept some simple Bounty Missions.
There was a limit to the number of Bounty Missions she could accept at once: only three. If all three remained unfinished, she would not be able to accept any other Bounty Missions.
D-Rank Mission: Collect any artificial artifact.
D-Rank Mission: Kill any Newborn Demon.
D-Rank Mission: Kill any Lost Priest...
C-Rank Mission: Collect the Common Artifact "Dragon's Hand."
C-Rank Mission: Kill a Lesser Demon.
"Uh, Greater Demons, Highest Demons, and quasi-demon kings are all A-rank bounties?"
Looking at the bounty list, she found its classifications a little hard to understand. Bounties of the same rank could differ enormously in difficulty.
It seemed that only bounty targets that had reached Demon King Class could appear among S-rank bounties. Even quasi-demon kings could not.
Meanwhile, SS-rank bounties required at minimum a King of Pantheon, or even Transcenders.
In comparison, among the Collection Bounties that were also SS-rank, the Three Great Upper Divine Keys had all made the list. Collecting every Sacred Gear had even reached SSS-rank difficulty.
Was this not simply tempting people to steal these Sacred Gears?
She closed the quest interface. The more she looked, the more conflicted she felt.
Some D-rank missions rewarded only single-digit Crystals, and at most no more than 30 Crystals. Most C-rank mission rewards did not exceed two digits either.
Those that gave over 100 Crystals were exceedingly rare. They were nothing more than scraps.
Only missions above A-rank had rewards that could be considered decent.
And even that was all there was.
Previously, spending several 648 top-ups every month out of her allowance had never been a problem. Now, it was this difficult.
The girl sighed. She was in no hurry to do missions. Her first priority was still understanding this world before making further plans.
Also, she had to get used to Moonlit Wife's body...
Although he had cross-dressed at conventions before, completely becoming a girl still felt very strange for the time being.
This was completely different from back then.
"...My strength is so strong."
Looking at the wall ahead and feeling the immense strength in this body, the girl tried throwing a punch. The next second, the wall exploded apart.
Her crimson eyes widened considerably, making her look especially adorable.
She had never imagined her strength would be this great when she was only at her initial level one.
The girl looked soft and frail, yet she possessed the strength of an Ancient Evil Beast within her. Of course! She was Theresa, and even more so, a vampire!
How could she possibly be like an ordinary girl?
"That made a bit too much noise. I should leave first!"
She raised her head to glance at the sky. That blood moon had already vanished, while the bats around her only grew more numerous.
The girl seemed able to sense the conditions of these bats, and could even command them. Raising her right hand, a bat with spread wings as large as a basketball flew down from above and landed in her hand, looking incomparably docile.
And the bats that ordinary people found terrifying no longer seemed frightening in the girl's eyes.
In the game, Moonlit Oath: For Love with Heart appeared in the form of bats every time, and there had never been any lack of bats around her.
"Scatter. Become my eyes."
The girl spoke softly.
The surrounding bats immediately dispersed in every direction. Miraculously, the girl could vaguely sense the conditions around her through them.
Good. With this method, scouting would undoubtedly become much more convenient.
As long as she was careful and did not let anyone with ulterior motives notice her.
Come to think of it, vampires were not considered good things in many people's eyes. They were closer to... demons, perhaps!
Missing That Human...
As night fell and the lights came on, the city began to brighten, becoming lively and vibrant.
Crowds gathered along the streets, holding hot drinks in their hands. Some were dressed to the nines, some chatted and laughed, while others hurried toward their next destination.
The lights of cafés, bars, restaurants, cinemas, and all sorts of entertainment venues glittered in the darkness like dreamlike points of starlight.
Especially in the bustling commercial districts, colorful neon lights illuminated every inch of the streets and buildings.
The display windows of shops showcased the newest fashions, drawing the attention of passersby. Meanwhile, the windows of those towering buildings reflected the city's lights, as though telling the story of the city.
By the lake in the park, people strolled leisurely or sat on benches, admiring the reflections upon the water. In some alleys, children's laughter and playful shouts could be heard. That was their finest enjoyment of the night.
And at this moment, the beautiful vampire Miss Moonlit... Moonlit Oath, was strolling through the streets.
Night was when vampires were most active.
Naturally, the grown-up Miss Theresa was not about to sleep early. On the contrary, she was exceptionally energetic. But unlike traditional vampires, although Miss Theresa did not particularly like the sun, she was not afraid of it.
She could still live beneath sunlight. It was simply that... she instinctively disliked it.
But if she were with that human, none of it would be a problem anymore. There would only be overwhelming happiness.
Only now, the Captain had become Miss Moonlit.
"So many... humans..."
Theresa's beautiful crimson eyes swept across her surroundings. In the eyes of vampires... humans were undoubtedly food. They craved blood, but the girl was not one of them.
Unlike those vampires who could only feed on blood, Moonlit Oath could also enjoy the deliciousness of other foods.
That was wonderful!
After all, good food was one of life's greatest pursuits and could not be overlooked. If she could no longer taste delicious food, that would truly be too painful.
When she saw a shop selling ice cream, Miss Theresa Moonlit could not help walking over.
Unlike the legally loli Theresa who only loved bitter melon juice, vampire Theresa's favorite things... were probably all the experiences she had shared with the Captain.
Restaurants, amusement parks, the seaside, arcades, Ferris wheels...
They were deeply etched into her mind, impossible to forget.
"How strange... Why am I thinking about these things..."
The girl shook her head. Why did those scenes keep surfacing in her mind on their own?
She missed that human...
But she herself was the Captain!
"Damn Ai-chan, you never said... that controlling a Valkyrie's body would mean being influenced by the Valkyrie's body too!"
Yet no matter how badly she spoke of Ai-chan, Ai-chan gave no response at all.
She stopped thinking so much about it. After all, there was no use thinking any further. Miss Moonlit looked at the shopkeeper before her, staring at the machine making ice cream.
She spoke without thinking...
"Human, I want an ice cream."
Uh...
Before you continue