A.N :
And here we are, three extra chapters to celebrate the castle! Now, I think I'll go back to the regular release schedule... probably :)
Thank you all for your support!"
The first volume and the Victoriad Arc are now approaching their final chapters!
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-Frey Starlight's Pov-
Within the Eastern Nightmare Lands…
Inside the walls of the mysterious Shadow Sect…
Abraham Starlight lay unconscious, defeated by the Engineer in a single blow.
What happened was shocking, even to me... the very person who had once written a novel about this world in excruciating detail.
Alongside the Engineer, I memorized the faces of the others... and decided that no matter what, I would never forget them.
A dark-skinned woman, with black hair and a body so sculpted that her abs were clearly visible ...Evankhell, the previous wielder of the Dark Sister sword... perhaps the blade was even named after her.
A boy who looked no older than ten, with golden hair and vibrant blue eyes.
A man with long black hair, standing perfectly straight, with a massive spear strapped to his back.
An old, withered man, almost bald, leaning heavily on a cane.
I would remember them.
I would remember every single one of them.
The scenes flashed quickly as my father awoke once more, only to find himself lying there .. alone.
The Shadow Sect had fallen silent again.
And the others... had vanished without a trace.
"It felt as if everything I'd seen and heard that night was just a fleeting dream... but that sword proved otherwise."
Gripping the Dark Sister tightly .. a pitch-black katana pulsing with immense power... Abraham realized that what he had experienced was real.
It was no hallucination.
"Where will this path take me? Was following that strange system really the right choice?"
A journey into the unknown.
That's exactly what it was.
But my father didn't waver. He simply continued doing what he had always done.
He returned to the Starlight branch family's lands and resumed his training.
He lived his daily life to its fullest, blending in naturally with the world as if he had been born into it, as if he hadn't lived a completely different life before.
Everyone around him saw him as a mature young man .. far wiser and more composed than his age should allow ...and he gained deep respect, all while hiding the true extent of his strength.
"Stronger... I knew I had to become much, much stronger."
Even when he thought he had enough power, the Engineer's effortless defeat had shown him otherwise.
He knew better than anyone ... no one could predict what the future would bring, nor what challenges awaited.
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Abraham Starlight: Level 90
Age: 25 years
Stardust Technique: Ninth Star
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Leveling up had grown excruciatingly difficult.
My father finally faced the ultimate wall at SS+ rank.
The gap between SS and SS+ was monstrous .. so wide it shattered the ambitions of even the most gifted talents.
And beyond SS+... lay only the unknown.
At the age of 25, he finally made his decision.
"To send the signal... to find my family...
I decided to conquer the world."
Twenty-five years of training since his childhood.
Twenty-five years of wielding the sword, fighting without pause.
And now, he was ready to reveal himself to the world.
"The first step... was the Starlight Family."
Being one of the empire's most powerful factions, it was the perfect starting point.
Thus, on that day, Abraham Starlight packed his belongings, said goodbye to his false family, and set out toward the Eastern Oclas Mountains ... the stronghold of the Starlight Family.
There were many tales later told about that day ...
A day when a young man appeared at the gates of the mighty Starlight Family, demanding a duel with the strongest warrior within.
The gatekeepers mocked him.
"Black hair? A branch family fool? What the hell are you doing here?"
They jeered, slapping him on the back condescendingly.
"You better leave before you get yourself hurt..."
With a single glance, my father assessed them .. mere B-rank insects crawling before him.
"I wish to challenge the strongest man of this house. From what I've heard... that would be the current Lord.
Could you kindly direct me to him?"
Even as the guards burst out laughing at the "nonsense" spoken by this strange young man,
Abraham maintained his calm.
They tried to shove him away, but he stood his ground.
"Please,"
One last time, he asked politely.
When they tried to forcefully remove him, they made the greatest mistake of their lives.
I watched with a blank expression as my father fought dozens of guards at once.
I saw him send them all flying with a single blow .. without even drawing his sword.
"I asked nicely."
BOOM!
The front gate shattered into pieces as the alarm bell echoed across the Oclas Mountains.
An alarm signaling that a disaster had befallen them.
"You draw your swords against me... Don't you realize these weapons are meant to kill?"
BOOM!
More bodies were sent soaring.
"So you want to kill me, is that it?"
BOOM!
Cold sweat trickled down my back when I saw my father hurl one of Starlight's strongest generals clear over a massive mountain like a mere punching bag.
"Since you want to kill me...
Then it's only fair I respond in kind!"
That night, for the first time in Starlight's history, the threat came not from the Nightmare Lands ..
but from within the empire itself.
After crushing the faces of an absurd number of Starlight family warriors, the true elites finally began to appear one by one.
The Senate .. a council of powerful fighters ranked S and above .. descended upon him.
Among them, a woman resembling a wild beast charged forward, launching a devastating punch straight at my father.
Seven stars of the Stardust Technique blazed around her heart as she attacked.
But my father caught her fist effortlessly nullifying her attack completely.
Looking closer, I was stunned to recognize her.
Carmen Starlight.
She looked exactly the same as when I had last seen her...
Was that even possible?
This was supposed to have happened long ago, yet Carmen hadn't changed at all .. as if it had just happened yesterday.
"Carmen Starlight was a sharp woman...
I knew it the moment our fists collided."
My father's voice echoed through the memories as I watched him face nine elders of the Starlight Family alone.
Yet even against that number of elite-class powerhouses, he didn't lose.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!"
They all shouted at him in unison, even as their battle laid waste to everything around them.
"I simply wish to face your strongest.
I didn't come here to cause trouble.
I didn't even kill your guards ... only knocked them unconscious."
He wasn't lying.
Sure, he beat them half to death .. but he hadn't killed a single one.
"Are you playing with us?!"
I watched Carmen lunge at him with terrifying speed.
But he dodged effortlessly, brushing her aside with casual ease.
"Calm down and think... If I really wanted to kill you, you'd all be dead already."
"What the hell are you saying?!"
BOOM!
From the beginning, he never even drew his sword.
He fought them all with nothing but his fists.
Continuing to beat them into the ground.
Carmen wasn't stupid.
She realized the gap in power the moment she clashed with him.
The strange young man before her was on an entirely different level ..
pressure heavier than anything she'd ever felt, even compared to the Starlight Lord himself.
But she couldn't retreat, not in front of an enemy like this.
The nine elders launched their strongest coordinated attacks at him ..
but he blocked every one of them with ease.
They were relentless, especially Carmen, who fought tirelessly at the front.
Eventually, all of them collapsed under his relentless assault ..
all except her.
Her stubbornness made my father serious for the first time.
"What a stubborn woman..."
Forming a blazing white flame around his right fist, my father disappeared ..
reappearing before Carmen at the speed of light.
His punch exploded toward her face,
and in that instant, she felt the overwhelming aura pouring from the blow.
She saw death rushing toward her.
But just before it landed, his fist stopped a hair's breadth from her face ..
the shockwave alone obliterated everything behind her, leaving a massive fist-shaped crater in the giant mountain behind her.
Carmen's legs gave out and she collapsed before him.
Glancing at the imprint on the mountain,
she realized she had never been closer to death than she was that day.
"Will you listen now?
Or do I need to do more?"
After obliterating the Senate like they were mere toys…
They finally realized the magnitude of the threat standing before them.
"W-What do you want?!"
"I've repeated myself so many times that my mouth's about to fall off...
I want to face your strongest."
The strongest in the family.
The moment he uttered those words, a beam of light descended behind Abraham.
As if answering his call.
From within the beam, two elderly men emerged, unleashing their overwhelming auras.
Though the marks of old age were evident on their faces, their bodies radiated a terrifying level of strength as they stood tall like spears challenging the heavens.
They looked alike, a clear sign that a deep bond connected them.
"What's going on here?"
Both were strong, but the true monster was the elder standing at the front.
"That pressure...
So you're the current Lord of the Starlight Family."