Chapter 344: The Cost of a Few (1)
– Frey Starlight’s POV –
I was still wandering through the endless deserts of the Ultras continent, trudging forward as a violent sandstorm howled around me, tearing apart everything in its path.
But even so, I didn’t stop. I wrapped a piece of my clothing around my face, leaving only my eyes exposed, and pressed on through the blinding sand.
It had been four days since I parted ways with the other students after our battle against the witch Beatrice.
I’d spent those days running like a madman, searching for them, but I found nothing. No trace.
There weren’t many people in this world whose deaths would truly affect me. The ones close to me were so few, I could count them on one hand.
Yet ironically, most of them were now among the other elite students...
I wasn’t the kind of person to break down if people around me died randomly. I’d already grown numb after losing those I held dear again and again.
But I couldn’t accept the idea of losing the few who remained.
Step by step, I pushed through the storm, refusing to stop.
Whenever I had the chance, I opened the system interface to check on them...
Affection Points:
Snow Lionheart: 50
Sansa Valerion: 75
Danzo Smasher: 50
Ghost Umbra: 50
These were the only four whose affection points had surpassed 50, which meant I could still locate them using the Third-Person Perspective skill.
That’s how I confirmed they were all still alive.
But knowing their location was another matter entirely. All the terrain here on this damned continent looked the same.
I kept staring at their names on the screen, even as the sand whipped into my face.
Sometimes, I hesitated to use the skill, afraid of what I might find. Afraid they’d be dead. Torn apart by the Ultras. I couldn’t shake those thoughts from my mind.
But deep within that anxious heart of mine... I knew I was a hypocrite.
Because I was still clinging to the Nameless Mask. I still remembered the Unnamed King, the man who once fought Agaroth himself.
And somewhere inside my exhausted heart, I feared him more than I feared losing my friends.
If the people I cared about died one by one... what would I have left?
I know myself better than anyone. If that happened, I’d become nothing more than a cold, unfeeling killing machine... incapable of caring about anyone ever again.
And that... is the very definition of one man.
A king without a trace of emotion — Nameless.
The more I became like him, the more something inside me began to die. I feared I was losing myself piece by piece.
Maybe that’s exactly what the blue-eyed one wanted ... the one who knew my future and was paving the road toward it by any means necessary.
Against a power that immense, all I could do was fight back against the current of fate that kept dragging me into new suffering, hoping what I had would be enough.
I could never escape my own pessimism — this cursed mindset that always turned my worst thoughts into reality. It gave me insomnia. These eyes of mine had seen enough horror to last a lifetime...
Then, in a fleeting moment, my eyes fell upon another name — one I had left off to the side.
Affection Points:
Ada Starlight: 99
My sister Ada, the last remaining member of my family. The only one who held this much affection toward me...
I wondered how she was doing on the other side.
How was she dealing with everything? Would she try to save me?
"Of course she would."
With a faint smile, I kept moving forward, unaware of the storm that was unfolding across the world...
---
...
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The disappearance of the temple students — of the strongest generation — was no small matter.
A war between the Empire and the Ultras was already inevitable. What happened only accelerated the process.
—
– Shezclar Bay –
Part of the Demon Sea that divided the two continents... located on the eastern shore of the Ultras continent.
This bay was known for its perpetual fog — so thick it completely blocked visibility year-round.
Normally, it remained quiet, teeming with nightmare creatures swimming freely below.
But now, that calm had been shattered.
Even the dense fog could no longer hide what was coming.
For the first time in history, Shezclar Bay had become a battlefield .. one where armies prepared to tear each other apart.
The mighty fleet of the Empire, its colossal ships casting vast shadows across the sea, had forcefully broken through the Ultras’ naval defenses, clashing against them in the open waters.
For countless hours, the thunder of long-range magical cannons and mortar shells echoed without pause.
The nightmare creatures that roamed the seas fled in terror, unable to comprehend the madness of humans so eager to slaughter one another.
"Fire, you useless bastards! I know you’re not out of shells—I gave them to you myself, damn it!"
Iris Sunlight roared from the main mast of the Sunlight family’s flagship, his flaming beard dancing with the wind. The family had taken command of this sudden assault.
"Fire!"
With every order, artillery shells ripped through the sky like rain, bombarding the enemy from above.
At the same time, Iris’s fists ignited with flames as he launched explosive fireballs with his own body .. turning himself into a walking artillery cannon, obliterating enemy ships single-handedly.
But they weren’t the only ones attacking.
The Ultras retaliated just as fiercely, dealing heavy damage in return.
"Damn it..."
Iris clenched his teeth, his gaze fixed on the chaotic battlefield.
Hundreds of Imperial ships clashed against hundreds of Ultras, who refused to let them advance an inch.
Iris had rushed to the frontlines the moment he heard about what had happened to his sons—and his nephew.
Yet, to his surprise, it was as if the enemy fleet had been waiting for him.
"Iris! The situation’s bad!"
He turned to the voice beside him—a younger man clad in a crimson combat suit, with blazing red hair and an eyepatch over one eye.
It was Gal Varion Sunlight, second-in-command of the Sunlight family and father of Phoenix Sunlight.
"Gal... what happened?"
With a grim expression, Gal pointed westward.
"Something’s tearing through our ships on that side."
Iris narrowed his eyes, trying to peer through the thick mist. Then he saw it—destruction sweeping across that flank.
"What the hell is going on?"
*Raaaaaaaagghhhhhh!!*
Before he could grasp the situation, a monstrous, gut-wrenching scream pierced his eardrums like a dagger.
In perfect sync with that cursed cry, one of the ships was shredded into pieces.
Then he saw it.
A knight clad in dark armor, carrying a colossal sword on his back.
He leaped into the sea, running wildly across its surface on three limbs—his body defying logic as the ocean became his hunting ground.
With a single swing, he demolished another ship and slaughtered everyone aboard.
That knight was no ordinary being.
He was one of the Hollow.
He was Pontiff Sulyvahn.
Tearing through everything in sight, the Pontiff was ready to keep rampaging—until a massive beam of fire struck him from the sky, blasting him hundreds of meters back.
He landed unharmed, glaring furiously at Iris, who now hovered above the battlefield in midair.
"So, you’re the one they were talking about? The Hollow, or whatever you are."
Iris’s body flared with blazing heat, boiling the sea beneath him.
"Then burn in hell!"
Channeling a torrent of flame, Iris launched a meteor-sized fireball straight at the Pontiff, aiming to erase him from existence.
But Sulyvahn roared and leapt into the air, his sword cloaked in dark aura.
With one swing, he split the fireball in two and continued charging forward.
At that moment, Gal Varion appeared beside him and delivered a missile-like punch to the Pontiff’s side.
The impact sent him flying once again.
Gal, still airborne, stared in shock as Sulyvahn stood up .. completely unharmed.
"Be careful, Gal. This bastard is SS+ class."
"I figured that much already, brother."
Ignoring the constant barrage of shells overhead, the Sunlight brothers focused their attention on the monstrous Pontiff, who snarled and lunged at them.