Swaaash!
Caron slowly opened his eyes to the sound of waves crashing close by.
Before him stretched a vast, endless sea. It was soaked in moonlight, shimmering in shades of deep blue.
Caron wondered if he had fallen asleep or if he was still caught in some lingering illusion. His mind felt hazy. Perhaps... he was already dead.
"Ha..." He let out a long sigh as he gazed across the sea.
He called out to Guillotine in his head, but there was no reply. The familiar, deranged voice that had always answered him was gone, and the silence left him oddly empty.
Squelch.
He stepped slowly into the water. The sea was shallow here, the waves barely reaching up to his calves.
It was cold. So cold that it chased away the fog in his mind, too sharp and vivid to feel like a mere illusion.
Lifting his head, Caron looked around, but saw nothing—only the endless expanse of the sea stretching in every direction.
Is this... the afterlife? he thought.
Whoosh.
From this boundless sea, he felt a surge of overflowing mana.
His own core had been destroyed, so he could no longer take in the mana within himself, but even just letting it soak into his skin brought a strange comfort.
What am I supposed to do now? Caron wondered.
Now that he was here, he found himself with nothing. No task, no direction. Maybe he was just meant to sit and wait—for an angel.
The thought made him chuckle faintly despite himself. He thought, An angel? Ridiculous.
If anyone came to fetch him, it would more likely be a demon. After all, he had never lived the sort of life that would grant him passage to heaven.
Caron pushed aside his idle thoughts and walked forward. The deeper he went, the more the water rose.
Splash.
Before long, the waves were at his waist. He kicked lightly, sending ripples across the water, and looked up at the sky.
One thing was certain. This couldn't be reality. No moon in the real world could ever shine with such brilliance.
"It's damned beautiful," Caron muttered, half in awe, half in mockery.
He lingered there, submerged in the tranquil waters, staring at the radiant moon for what felt like a long time.
Leo and Seria's faces drifted into his mind. They were the last two faces he had seen before the end. As they came to mind, Caron smiled bitterly. His chest ached with regret.
If I had known... maybe I should've waited until I fully reached 9-Star before moving, he thought.
For a brief moment, he wavered, but then shook his head firmly. He concluded, No. This was the best I could do.
Even if he could turn back time, he knew he would have made the same choice. He couldn't have postponed the expedition forever, waiting for a distant, uncertain peak that could never come.
"I suppose I owe them an apology too," Caron said quietly.
His old subordinates... They were his comrades in this life, but he'd once again left scars on his old subordinates who had once followed him faithfully.
At the very least, Caron had hoped to see them grow old and die peacefully in this lifetime.
But once a sinner, always a sinner—even after reincarnation, he remained the same. That truth gnawed at his heart.
And so Caron walked on, step after uncertain step, his mind drowning in endless thoughts.
He couldn't tell how much time passed, but suddenly...
Flash!
Several streaks of light came into view as Caron kept walking forward aimlessly.
They were strange beams—columns of blue light pouring down from the heavens, converging upon a single point in the middle of the vast sea.
Even more uncannily, he could sense familiar presences within those rays.
"...Halo, Sabina," Caron whispered.
He didn't know what was happening, but there was no mistaking it. That light was Azure Mana.
Drawn as though bewitched, Caron moved toward it.
Whoosh!
The faint traces of Azure Mana still lingering in his body resonated with the beam.
"...Ah."
At last, he stepped into the very heart of the light. And then, voices—so familiar they nearly broke him—rang in his ears.
"Please, please!"
"...Caron."
They were Leo and Sabina's voices.
And then—
"You bastard. Are you running off on your own again?"
...It was Halo's voice. The sound was the same, yet the tone was different. It was as if they'd gone back fifty years.
Other voices followed, layering over one another.
"The future of the Ducal Family."
"Please take this old one instead, O First Ancestor."
They were the voices of the First, Second, and Third Elders.
Yes, this was Azure Mana, passed down through the bloodline of the Leston family. The occasional unfamiliar voices could only be those of the other elders Halo had drawn into the Demon Realm.
Azure Mana—pure, untainted Azure Mana—began to take root inside Caron.
Whoosh!
Though his core had been torn apart by Sloth, the mana flowing through these beams somehow gathered once more at his chest.
There was no time to comprehend what this meant. With eyes tightly shut, Caron seized upon the power his kin had poured into him.
Whoosh!
The Azure Mana of countless souls surged wildly, spiraling inward and drawing itself into his heart.
...A core? Caron thought.
For a moment, he faltered. Then he shook his head firmly. This wasn't a mana core, not in the way he once knew.
His old core, when he had reached 8-Star, had formed the image of eight seas. This... this was different. What he felt now was but a single ocean.
And yet, it wasn't the core of a 1-Star. It was far too vast for that. Boundless, without end.
But he cast aside those thoughts. Such details didn't matter. Not now.
This is a chance, Caron thought.
Whatever the truth of this place, his family was trying something—rebuilding the core Sloth had destroyed, reshaping it into a new form.
He couldn't let this opportunity slip through his hands.
And so, he threw open every mana channel left in his body, straining to accept the full torrent of his family's power.
Kwaaaa!
A vortex burst outward from him, spiraling with such ferocity that it seemed to devour the entire sea around him.
There was no time left to think.
Just... accept it, Caron thought.
He cleared his mind of everything else, surrendering wholly to the moment.
Mana rampaged through him in relentless waves, yet he endured in silence, focusing only on absorbing it all.
Above the once-tranquil ocean, a sudden storm roared into being.
***
"Everyone, fall back!" Halo shouted urgently.
At his command, those of the Leston bloodline—who had been pressing their hands against Caron—quickly withdrew.
From a step away, Halo scrutinized Caron's condition. He asked, "...Saintess Seria, can you raise a barrier?"
"Yes, I can," Seria answered.
Fwoooosh!
A massive vortex had formed around Caron, devouring everything nearby like a starving beast. It pulled in mana, dark mana, and even holy power.
Halo subtly stepped in front of Leo, shielding him from the violent swirl.
Seeing this, Leo asked in a trembling voice, "Grandfather... What about Caron...?"
"If you stay close, even your mana will be drawn in. Do you not remember what happened before? We've already done everything we could," Halo replied firmly.
"When you say before...?" Leo trailed off.
"When Caron first learned the Ocean Dominance Arts," Halo said.
That day, when Caron first entered Azureocean Castle and received the Ocean Dominance Arts from Sabina, Leo had fainted during a joint training session. That was because Caron's core had ravenously absorbed the mana around him.
The scene before them was similar—only now, countless times more violent.
Clenching his fists tight, Leo stared at Caron. He asked, "...He'll be all right, won't he?"
That level of mana, moving despite his core being destroyed, was unthinkable.
They had poured mana into Caron at Halo's command, but Leo still didn't understand the true purpose of that.
Halo merely nodded, then said, "He'll be fine."
The moment a knight's core shattered, their path as a knight was said to be over. That was common knowledge—and, in most cases, the truth.
Without a core, mana could no longer be controlled. It scattered, leaving the knight no different than an ordinary person.
But what was happening in Caron's body was far from ordinary.
...A new core, Halo thought.
His eyes widened as he saw it. It was an immense ocean spreading out from Caron's chest.
It was a miracle. Nothing else could explain it.
It's endless... Halo thought.
Even he couldn't help but gasp. What appeared before him was not the eight seas Caron once possessed.
It was a single ocean.
Yet that ocean was breathtaking, its form resembling all eight seas fused into one. It could mean only one thing.
...9-Star, Halo thought.
Once, he'd told Caron the latter could only reach 9-Star by facing death. But back then, "death" had merely meant the death of a knight—the surrender of all he had built.
To abandon one's core, to give up all one's gathered mana, and then merge the seas into one wasn't something knowledge alone could achieve. It demanded flawless control of mana. Countless realizations. Years of mastery.
"...So a miracle is born of death?" Halo murmured.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Sloth's destruction of Caron's core would lead to this outcome.
Kwoooosh!
The vortex Caron had created surged even more violently.
Boom!
Seria, who had been maintaining the barrier, suddenly vomited blood and collapsed. Leo rushed to hold on to her as she staggered, her face pale.
"I cannot hold it anymore. My holy power..." Seria whispered.
"You've done all you could. Rest now—you've worked hard," Halo reassured her gently.
From this point on, it all lay in Caron's hands.
Halo wondered if Caron would subdue that boundless ocean and ascend to 9-Star, or be devoured by the vortex, not even leaving a trace.
Their role was only to hand him the key. If he failed, there was nothing more they could do.
The Leston bloodline watched in silence. Caron's comrades and former subordinates clasped their hands together, praying with all their hearts.
How much time passed, no one knew.
Kwoooosh!
The raging vortex slowly began to calm. The roar subsided.
What only moments ago had threatened to consume everything now dissolved into silence.
Everyone held their breath, staring at Caron.
"Ha..." Caron exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. His gaze, bluer than ever, swept the surroundings.
"I really thought I was dead," he muttered, his voice carrying its familiar hint of mischief. Then, smiling brightly, he stood.
The storm was gone.
"Caron!" Leo shouted, and was the first to run toward him.
Caron opened his arms wide, ready to give him a hug, but Leo's fist landed squarely on his face instead.
Thwack!
Caron fell onto his back, then looked up with a sheepish grin. He teased, "I just came back from the brink of death, and you hit me in the face? That's how you welcome me?"
"At least you're alive!" Leo shouted.
"Wow, your punches actually sting now. My cousin is all grown up. All that's left is for you to get married. Is this the joy of parenting?" Caron laughed, spouting his usual nonsense.
Leo glared down at him, clenching his fist as he said, "I thought you had really died this time, you bastard! Why are you always like this?"
"Well, I'm alive. Now wipe those tears and talk. You look ugliest when you cry. With that already ugly face, you should at least smile more," Caron said with a smirk.
"...You... really..." Leo muttered, his voice thick with emotion.
Their brief reunion was filled with tears, scolding, and laughter—until another voice cut in.
"Caron," Halo called as he stepped toward his grandson.
Caron rose, straightening his clothes before bowing respectfully and saying, "I've caused you no end of trouble, Grandfather. I'm sorry. But now's not the time for this—we need to storm the Demon King's castle right away—"
Whump!
Halo pulled him into a tight embrace, cutting off Caron's sentence and releasing a long breath.
Caron flinched at the unexpected gesture, but soon relaxed with a gentle smile and nodded. He murmured, "...I'm sorry."
Halo chuckled weakly and replied, "As long as you know. You've always been like this."
He held Caron for a long while before finally stepping back, gazing down at him, then continued, "Thank you for enduring. And..."
His voice softened, almost reverent as he added, "Congratulations on reaching 9-Star."
A legend had been born.