Chapter 356: The last survivor
"Void ste..."
Before he could activate his skill, he was immediately stopped ..
by two figures appearing at the exact same moment.
"There’s no point in what you’re trying to do... Snow Lionheart."
"I’m getting real tired of babysitting you suicidal bastard’s. Can’t any of you just sit still for once?!"
Ghost stood directly in front of him.
Danzo had appeared behind, wrapping him in a physical lock with his overwhelming strength.
Snow found himself completely trapped.
"Let me go."
"Not happening."
Danzo smirked, tightening his grip.
"I can hold this skinny body of yours all day long."
"I don’t want to hurt you both..."
Snow spoke coldly as his body began to emit more and more aura.
Ghost and Danzo both knew just how strong the Church’s champion could be.
But neither of them backed down.
"That’s enough, Snow Lionheart."
A hand landed on Snow’s shoulder—appearing out of thin air.
Phoenix had stepped in to end the battle before it began.
"Go ahead. Try. But tell me, Church Hero—do you really think you can overpower everyone here on your own?"
Now, face to face with Phoenix...
Snow stood frozen in place as conflicting thoughts clashed within his mind.
"Set your priorities straight, Snow Lionheart... don’t make a decision you’ll regret for the rest of your life."
He said nothing, but slowly withdrew his aura. At last, he yielded—forcing Danzo to release him.
"A choice I won’t regret..."
Sitting down quietly, unmoving, Snow couldn’t help but question whether any of the options before him were truly the right one.
Deep within his heart, he felt that no matter what he chose, regret would follow.
For in a land like this, there was no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" answer—
not when they were lost in a hostile continent, with no clue how to return home.
But that was about to change.
Just as the tension finally began to ease and silence fell once more...
Seris Moonlight stepped forward, holding a strange-looking object in her hands.
"About the portals... and a way home,"
she said,
"I think we may have found something useful."
Together with Sansa and Adriana, Seris presented the artifact they’d discovered when they were first teleported here.
Phoenix took the object—which resembled a metallic orb—and examined it curiously.
"Is this what I think it is...?"
"A magic map!"
Selina spoke up immediately upon seeing it.
"These kinds of artifacts often contain miniature constructs—used to identify places and chart locations."
"Can you activate it?" Phoenix asked.
Selina nodded eagerly.
"I can. It only needs a little magic to work."
Infusing her aura into the orb, Selina unlocked the intricate magical seals. The orb reacted instantly, glowing softly as a series of light circles emerged and stabilized.
A massive three-dimensional projection burst forth into the air above them—
a living map, fully rendered in vibrant detail.
Every elite student present stared up in awe, the full expanse of the Ultras Continent now reflected in their eyes.
"The entire continent... it’s all here."
The map was incredibly detailed—showing even cities and landmarks.
But Selina’s focus narrowed on one particular feature:
White spires scattered across the map in key locations...
"Teleportation gates..."
Their only path out of this hellish land now stood clear.
There were many gates, but most of them were located deep within major cities—cities of the High Blood, naturally.
What caught Selina’s attention, however, was one gate near their current location.
An ancient portal, hidden within an isolated mountain region.
"We can escape..."
Selina muttered without realizing, a glimmer of hope spreading across the weary faces of the elite students.
"If we can reach that gate... I can bring us back home!"
She pointed to the portal, which was roughly a hundred kilometers away, buried in the mountains.
Finally, the students had a clear direction, instead of aimless wandering.
"Well done, Seris Moonlight. But how exactly did you find this artifact?"
Phoenix asked, not fully convinced it was mere luck.
"Credit goes to Adriana. She discovered it before we met."
Seris gestured toward Adriana, who shrank in place as all eyes turned to her.
"I-It was just luck..."
Adriana mumbled nervously, but Phoenix shook his head.
"Be proud of yourself, Adriana. That ’luck’ may have just saved all of us."
He then turned back toward Selina, who was still analyzing the map.
"What’s the likelihood this map is fake?"
"Impossible," Selina replied.
"There’s a magical signature embedded in the artifact—it was created long ago. There’s no way it’s a forgery."
Reassured by her words, a sense of cautious optimism returned to the group.
"Then let’s move! We’ve wasted enough time already!"
Scarite exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement to leave this cursed place.
But Sansa quickly cut her off.
"Move? To where?"
The princess—silent for most of the conversation—chose this moment to speak.
"There’s still one person who hasn’t arrived. Did you forget? We’re not leaving without him."
Her words were firm. Scarite frowned.
"Frey Starlight..."
Everyone believed that the final survivor could only be Frey.
Some weren’t thrilled about staying behind just for one person, but their voices were too weak to challenge the decision.
"The princess is right. We’re not moving until he gets here."
Phoenix’s declaration left no room for argument—especially when even Prince Aegon himself said nothing in protest.
And so, everyone chose to wait for Frey.
But Selina—more than anyone—couldn’t bring herself to say a word.
She simply stared at them in silence.
She was the only one who knew the truth.
But recklessly speaking it aloud... wasn’t an option.
Frey Starlight might already be dead.
And he wasn’t the final survivor.
She had seen it with her own eyes—
Frey had forcibly interrupted his own teleportation, staying behind alone, surrounded by the Ultras army... and the witch who accompanied them.
As a result, he didn’t carry her mark.
He had erased it himself.
Frey was powerful ..
but not powerful enough to survive that.
In other words, whoever the last marked survivor was...
it wasn’t Frey Starlight.
That was what Selina wanted to say.
But she kept it to herself—until the very end.
.
.
.
The final survivor.
The one bearing the last mark...
Wasn’t a boy.
But a girl.
A lone figure who found herself trapped in a region under constant attack.
Clana Starlight.
The one everyone believed was waiting for rescue.
With a body battered and broken, riddled with deep gashes, her once-white hair now stained crimson with blood ..
She had burned through all five of her stars, draining every last drop of aura as she unleashed the full extent of her Stardust Style just to survive.
But no matter how many enemies she cut down...
more kept coming.
Her sword had lost its edge, no longer able to hold up under the relentless assault.
Surrounded by yet another wave of Ultras who had pursued her for days on end—
Clana had finally reached her limit.
"So this is the end...?"
The endless chase had prevented her from ever reaching the others.
Though the mark had pointed to their location—
they were far too far away.
Now, as dozens of rabid Ultras reached for her—
Clana raised her sword to her neck.
She had chosen to take her own life ..
rather than be raped by the hands of monsters.
Accepting her fate.
Ready for death.
She was prepared to die ..
but in the end, everyone else died instead.
Collapsing in place, unable to stand ..
Clana’s eyes widened in disbelief at the storm of dark slashes that erupted all around her, tearing the Ultras to pieces in an instant.
Like a phantom...
he appeared ..
in the center of the blood-drenched battlefield, staring down at her.
"Are you alright?"
Among all the elite students...
he was the only one without a mark.
"Frey..."
And just like that. .
the last two survivors of the elite class stood reunited.