Chapter 451: The Rise of the Black Crown (1)
The Belgrad Summit.
The summit, once an annual political gathering, had somehow transformed into a war council ..
A council attended by the Empire’s greatest powers, led by the current Emperor...Sir Alon Valerion, who had reclaimed the throne after his eldest son, Maekar Valerion, failed so miserably.
Maekar himself was absent, but without a doubt, he remained one of the Empire’s most powerful assets in the upcoming war.
Among those gathered, the royal hall was filled with the leaders of the major families and guilds, as well as the full force of the Church, who had answered the call.
Normally, the Church would never attend such events ..
But Sir Alon had managed to bring them under his authority.
Also present were many young faces of the new generation, Both graduates of the Temple and the very youths who had once been victims of the recent hunt.
The Empire had been drowning in unrest and riots for the past several months,
Fueled by the public’s outrage over the royal family’s catastrophic failure.
Unlike the elite warriors who survived the prison cube, The ordinary soldiers had died in the worst way imaginable ..
Starved to death during their imprisonment.
The death toll had reached thousands.
And with the Ultras launching repeated attacks, The citizens were on the verge of collapse.
No matter what happened, no matter how the tides of war shifted, They always found themselves the victims ..
They were the first to suffer, the first to die.
As if their lives meant nothing.
Cannon fodder.
No different from worthless cattle.
And now, the Iron Emperor was telling them they must fight in the coming war ..
A war far more brutal and devastating than anything they had faced before.
Naturally, it could be said that the people of the Empire were completely against this war.
After all, who would be the first to die on the battlefield?
Who would be thrown into the front lines?
Them. And no one else.
Their fury had reached its peak.
And so, Crown Prince Aegon proposed broadcasting the Belgrad Summit to the entire Empire ..
Claiming he had a plan that could turn the tide.
At first, his suggestion was rejected, fearing that the enemy might learn of the meeting’s contents.
But Sir Alon eventually accepted Aegon’s proposal after the prince showed him the full picture.
And thus, the long-awaited moment arrived ..
The moment the war would officially begin.
Inside the grand hall of the royal sanctuary ..
The Empire’s great powers sat apart, each group in their own place, Their eyes fixed on the stage before them, and the massive screen behind it ..
The place where everything would soon be revealed.
On the side of the Sunlight Household ...
Once regarded as the strongest family in the Empire ..
The young lord Phoenix sat at the front,
Claiming his rightful place as the next Lord for the world to see.
Phoenix was still the same as ever ..
The brilliant star, the greatest talent of his generation.
But the look on his face had changed completely since the events of the Ultras Continent.
Though many of the elite students had survived, A great number of them had perished.
No one blamed Phoenix for it ..
But that didn’t change the fact that they were just children, And Phoenix had been the one responsible for them.
He had made most of the decisions in that cursed land .. And thus, their lives had rested on his shoulders.
What happened in that nightmare cast a long shadow over the young Lord of the Sunlight family ..
Especially since among the dead... were members of his own family.
Scarite Sunlight.
Evan Sunlight.
The two he had treated like younger brothers ..
The sons of the current lord, Iris Sunlight—
Had died because of him.
And now their ghosts haunted him still.
For the first time, dark shadows appeared beneath Phoenix’s blazing eyes,
A clear sign of the harsh toll the past months had taken on him.
"You look awful, my nephew."
From behind Phoenix, a familiar old man appeared ..
With a burning beard and a warm gaze.
He had lost much of his weight after his time trapped in the prison cube,
But the current Lord of the Sunlight family still burned with his usual fire.
Iris Sunlight had finally arrived, taking his place beside his nephew.
Behind him stood the strongest warriors of House Sunlight ..
Most notably Phoenix’s own father, Gal Varion Sunlight.
Although Iris tried to start a conversation with his nephew, Phoenix said nothing.
He didn’t even look him in the eye.
Was it arrogance?
Of course not.
The truth was simple:
Phoenix no longer knew how to face his uncle ..
Not since his sons had died under Phoenix’s command.
And Iris, who had lived long enough to witness most of life’s hardships, understood it all too well.
"My nephew, listen to the words of this old man while we still have time before the summit begins."
Sitting beside Phoenix, stroking his fiery beard, Iris spoke calmly.
"You need to understand something, Phoenix. In this life, you cannot save everyone.
No matter how strong you become,
The idea of a hero who saves everyone ...
Is nothing more than a fairy tale for children."
"Even the great Abraham Starlight lost his life... and his wife’s.
And the hero before him, Kazis Valerion, was no exception either.
To give us the peace we enjoyed for so long .. He had to sacrifice himself and many other heroes alongside him."
Phoenix didn’t know how to respond to those words.
He had avoided his uncle all this time, unable to face him.
But who would’ve thought that the first words Iris would speak to him ...
Were the exact same ones Frey Starlight had told him long ago...
Back when they were both still trapped in the Ultras Continent,
And when, except for Xiver, everyone else was still alive.
There is no such thing as a hero who saves everyone.
Those destined to live will live.
And those fated to die... will die.
"I know... I know there’s no meaning in the idea of a hero who saves everyone..."
He had accepted it long ago.
"But... how many lives were in my hands?
How many people could have survived if I had made better decisions back then?
How many souls might have lived to see tomorrow if I had simply been stronger?"
The line between life and death was nothing but a series of fragile details ..
A single right decision, a timely intervention...
Sometimes, it was even simpler than that.
There was no way he could escape the burden of responsibility, Especially when the father of those he had failed to save was sitting right beside him.
"Phoenix... not everything you wish for in life will come true."
Iris gently placed his hand on his nephew’s head, pulling him into his chest, speaking softly.
"I’ve been watching you this whole time.
You tried to run from me, But I’ve been right beside you all along.
I saw how you spent these last months training like a madman.
I know how much it hurt you."
"Uncle..."
As Iris embraced him, Phoenix finally allowed himself to feel weak,
Releasing all the emotions he had bottled up for so long.
"It was hard, wasn’t it?
I know.
They were like your brothers.
All of you... have always been my sons."
Though Iris had rarely shown his emotions throughout his life .. He had loved his children.
Even though they resented him,
Even though they spent their lives hating Phoenix, Believing he had stolen everything from them ..
The truth was far different.
"I’ve seen what you’ve accomplished.
You’ve mastered the family style ..
The Eternal Flame ..beyond what I ever dreamed of witnessing.
And you’ve broken through to the SS+ Rank, haven’t you?"
The moment Iris spoke those words,
Shock filled the entire Sunlight household.
And beyond them ..
Anyone who overheard was equally stunned.
"We have gained another SS+ warrior..."
Phoenix had never announced his breakthrough.
Until now, only Iris had noticed it.
"You’ve raised the name of this family.
You are our pride, Phoenix.
So hold your head high, and always look ahead.
Who knows?
Maybe one day, you’ll reach the Ilios State . the final stage of the style,
One that only the first Lord of this family ever achieved."
Sitting behind them, Gal Varion quietly listened to Iris’s words.
He had no idea his son had reached SS+,
And now he was hearing his brother speak of the Ilios State...
A combat state spoken of only in legends within the Sunlight family.
It was said that whoever attained it would manifest flames as hot as the sun itself.
Reaching that state meant the user had officially entered the mythical SSS Rank.
Gal wondered ..
Did Iris truly believe Phoenix could reach that level?
Yes, Phoenix was the greatest of his generation...
But the ancient heads of the great families were on an entirely different level.
After all, there was a reason no one had reached SSS Rank in all these long centuries.
In the end, Gal Varion thought...
Perhaps the Ilios State would remain lost forever.
And there, in that place ..
Phoenix embraced his uncle, A single tear falling from his eye, mourning the younger brothers he had lost, And all the other students who had died under his command.
"The past is gone, and it cannot be changed.
But the future still lies ahead of us,
Full of possibilities..."
What mattered now was the future before them ..
The future where everyone would have a second chance.
As Iris spoke those final words,
The hall darkened, And the long-awaited summit finally began, A single spotlight illuminating the platform below.
At the same time, a live broadcast began streaming across the entire Empire,
Allowing every citizen to witness what was about to unfold.
But the man who stepped onto the stage wasn’t Sir Alon.
It was someone else entirely.