— Frey Starlight's Pov —
"…"
Silence lingered for a while.
The loud noise was what had drawn us together earlier—the sound of Xevier breathing his last.
And now, here we were, standing around his corpse, unable to say a word.
As I looked at the rotting body, corrupted by demonic blood, I could vaguely imagine the torment Xevier must've endured.
He must've known he was going to die. Helpless to stop it. Maybe, in those final moments, he tried to do something—anything—that could give his life some meaning.
But the look on his face… that expression of sorrow, fear, and bitter regret… said otherwise.
Despite knowing all that, I didn't feel anything.
I wasn't sad. I wasn't angry. I simply thought his death was pitiful.
And I'm sure many of the others shared that same thought.
Everyone, except Selina, who mourned him. The rest just stood in silence.
"We should inform Professor Phoenix…"
Seris was the first to break the silence, pointing out the obvious.
After that, things happened quickly.
Seris crafted a coffin of ice to preserve Xevier's body from further decay. Then we all split up.
The only emotion we seemed to share on our faces was fear…
Fear of death, which had finally come knocking.
…
…
"I see."
That was all Phoenix said after learning one of his students had died.
From a single look, I could tell how angry he was. Perhaps he blamed himself, since he was the one who told us to loot the corpses. Had he not done that, maybe Xevier wouldn't have been bitten in the first place.
But while Phoenix seemed to carry the blame on his shoulders, none of the students did.
After a brief discussion that lasted only a few minutes, we buried Xevier's body here—within this foreign Ultrian city. There was no way to take him home, and no one volunteered to carry his body.
We got rid of him quickly. So quickly, in fact, that some didn't even show up for the burial.
Still, despite how pathetic his death seemed, it wasn't meaningless.
With the first casualty, we were all forced to face the truth—forced to return to reality, realizing just how close death truly was.
A single bite. A small wound that might've seemed trivial to most… was enough to kill.
So what about the rest of this dark continent?
…
…
…
That night, I found myself wandering alone, lost in thought, avoiding everyone else.
As I passed by the dilapidated buildings that once housed the Ultras, I wondered how they managed to live like this—feeding on their own kind, leaving corpses strewn about like worthless trash… like dogs.
Then I asked myself another question…
How did they lure us here?
Teleportation isn't something that can be tampered with—unless the gate itself is compromised. And that points to the existence of a traitor within the temple. A mage, to be precise, since only mages can operate those gates.
A skilled mage… one very good at hiding.
And yet, I couldn't think of a single name.
Even though I'm the one who created this world, I couldn't figure it out.
What if the traitor was still nearby?
"I'm completely in the dark…"
And it didn't seem like that would change anytime soon.
After wandering aimlessly for hours, I finally stopped. I leapt up and climbed onto a building taller than the rest—one that overlooked most of the city and its high walls.
Ultras City looked like an ancient desert town from a forgotten age. But the difference was ... this place was utterly dead.
Demons devour life force—the aura that sustains the earth itself…
This city, and everything around it, had long been drained. The land died because of the demons Phoenix and the others discovered underground.
At this rate, if the demons keep coming, it's only a matter of time before Earth suffers the same fate as Londor—a lifeless world devoid of even a trace of vitality.
In that moment, I raised my head toward the sky… still asking questions that had no answers.
"The gate Kazes Valerion sealed…"
Who broke it?
Who opened the door that let all those demons flood in from beneath the city?
To shatter a seal of that magnitude… it would take at least One of the Ten High-Ranking Demons
And only one name came to mind.
"Wesker…"
The Rank Four demon who fought my father seventeen years ago.
Wesker is terrifyingly powerful. He managed to pass through the seal by force, though he severely damaged him. Still, he didn't break it—he merely forced his way through.
Later, he lost that fight to my father and the Engineer who stood by his side.
But… did Wesker ever really leave Earth?
If he didn't, then he's likely the one who destroyed the seal. A monster of his level could definitely do it.
But if it was him… then where did he go?
Where is he hiding?
The demon who bears the Eye of the King—the eye that can see the fate of all living beings.
The same being who once laid his hand on me.
If a monster like that were to return and attack the Empire…
There would be nothing I could do to stop it.
"Frey Starlight wouldn't be able to defeat him."
I muttered quietly, then pulled something from inside my clothes.
A black, metallic object in the shape of a mask.
"Frey can't do it… but you can."
Staring into the hollow eyes of the Nameless mask, I recalled what happened in Londor.
To be honest, I'd been thinking about those events every day since then—but I'd buried the thoughts after we fell into the Ultras' trap.
Still, Xevier's death today brought those memories flooding back…
I knew I was going to die one day. Everyone does.
But the difference between me and the others… is that my death would open the door for something greater to live.
Because I'm just a temporary host. A vessel crafted for a certain king.
A king powerful enough to achieve everything I ever wanted.
I wasn't sad about that—on the contrary, I'd fully accepted it.
Accepted the fact that one day, I'd be replaced… that my will would be cast aside.
But Xevier's death made me realize something important ...
"I don't want to die like that…"
A pathetic death. One without meaning. A death so insignificant that people throw your body away on the same day… and forget you the next.
If death and disappearance are truly my fate…
Then at the very least, I want to die on my own terms.
Whether here, against the Ultras… or elsewhere ..
"I am the master of my own fate."
It may not be my place to say that, considering I'm just a puppet being pulled by the strings of the blue-eyed Engineer…
But this time, I really wanted to defy his expectations.
To break the future they'd prepared for me up there… the fate I was never allowed to escape.
I wanted to shatter it.
To succeed… and then die the right way.
There's no such thing as an omnipotent being in this world—not even Agaroth, the great Demon King himself.
So maybe… what seems impossible at first glance… isn't entirely impossible after all.
"I guess that's enough for now."
Without realizing it, I'd spent hours like that—gazing at the sky, thinking through every little detail.
Drowning in isolation…
A lone star drifting through the void.
…
…
…
By the time I moved again, dawn had already arrived.
The cold air that stung my chest and the faint sunlight breaking through the ruins marked the end of our first day in the abandoned Ultras city—
And our first night without our fallen comrade… Xevier Adams.
I intended to return to where the rest of the elite class had set up camp—the administrative building with the corpses buried beneath it.
But I stopped when I heard someone yelling near the wall beside me.
Maybe it was curiosity that made me approach the source of the voice.
And thanks to my enhanced senses, it wasn't hard to pinpoint.
As expected, the shouting came from none other than Scarite Sunlight, who was lashing out at a grim-faced Phoenix standing in front of her.
"Why are you trying to push us away like this?! Is that what you want? For us to die out there like Xevier?!"
She screamed at him while her brother Ivan tried to hold her back.
Phoenix didn't react. He just stared at her in silence, his fiery eyes glowing faintly.
"That was never my intention," he finally said. "But starting tomorrow, I'll be moving on my own to search for the escape gate. I can't take you with me on a mission that dangerous."
It was the first time I'd heard of Phoenix's plan.
Apparently, he intended to explore alone—leaving us behind in this relatively safer location.
It meant he wanted to shoulder the greater danger himself.
But Scarite didn't see it that way—and her response made that clear.
"So you want to abandon us and run away alone? How fitting of you… 'Miracle Lord.'"
"Scar… I'm not abandoning anyone."
Phoenix reached out to her, trying to calm her down.
But she slapped his hand away instantly.
"Don't touch me!!"
Her explosive reaction made me wonder how Phoenix, who could erase her with a single blow, was keeping so calm.
"Get out of my sight! You're the one who took everything from us… our future, our family… our father. I hope you die on this cursed land with the rest of us!"
She turned and stormed off, leaving behind a stunned silence. Ivan bowed awkwardly to Phoenix, then chased after his sister.
Phoenix let out a long sigh as he watched his family disappear. Once they were gone, he turned toward a dark corner with a forced smile.
"How long do you plan on hiding there?"
"Just as I expected of you."
I stepped out of my hiding spot once I realized he'd noticed me.
There's no fooling an SS-ranked Awakened's senses.