The twinkling stars luxuriated, like small sparkling gems filling the vast darkness overhead. The vast welkin, akin to a void of darkness with sprinkled dots of radiance. Flickering like burning candles, small dots of radiance in the mantle of night. Dante looked up, he was unsure what had happened to him, to be honest, the pain he suffered, it was a bit numb.

He remembered his death vividly, the pain, how his head had been ripped out of his body. He rubbed his neck, it ached with phantom pain every now and then. Being honest, he had thought ⁠— well he would’ve thought ⁠— that that was the end of his life, that was the conclusion. But evidently, he was wrong, very wrong. After dying at the hands of the vicious Emperor and being considered a vanquished one, he was revived by the same man.

Dante sighed as he peeled his gaze off from the vast stars. The universe was dangerous, evidently so, and yet he simply felt a bit lost. He had long forgotten about his grudges, about his grand ambitions and delusions, and at the moment, he didn’t exactly know why he lived. He was nothing more than a mere pawn under the Emperor. Well, mere was an understatement, since he was the man’s left hand man. But unlike the demons that surrounded him, he held no actual reverence for the man, at most it was the amazement of being alive.

He closed his eyes, feeling the dull pain coursing his body. It had somewhat lessened after he reached D Grade, but according to the Emperor he would keep feeling pain until he reached C Grade. Apparently the Prophecy, while C Grade was also not particularly good for his body, it just ate away and nibbled at his blood, and yet it was also part of him. He didn’t really get it.

Dante didn’t know if he should consider himself lucky or unlucky. The extent of his luck was that he was now supposedly part of Arkaram, and thanks to that he could rest in a comfy bed. The emperor had found some sort of castle and claimed it as the starting point of the city. To be honest, Dante didn’t remember all that much.

He died, next thing he knew was waking up and hearing an ominous voice, only to look up and see the Emperor peering into his soul. He didn’t struggle⁠— no that was a lie, he struggled a lot, but ultimately he relinquished his will and became part of Arkaram. Dante disliked to admit it, but after all he had gone through, rather than make him stronger it just whittled at his will. Right now, he felt like a husk of a man, his hatred had boiled over and soared down into the depths of depression. He no longer blamed anyone or even himself, it was simply:

Life.

And he accepted that. He hated the cockroach person, sure, but he didn’t really hold hope in being that strong. He sort of resented the Emperor for putting him in such a position, but at the same time he was alive. So the situation was a bit complicated if he thought about it. In the end, things had boiled and fizzled, and now he was just Dante. Not some vengeful resentful person that wished to end The System, no, he was just a human. One that had gone through a lot and was now simply tired of things. He held no will, no resentment, he simply wished to be left alone.

Sadly, he didn’t think that was possible.

Dante flipped on the bed, facing away from the window. It was a dark room illuminated only by the radiant moonlight, it was time to sleep. Even though his life solely consisted of killing, eating and sleeping, he definitely looked forward to sleeping the most. He had even convinced the demons he needed at least ten hours of sleep to function⁠— the Emperor knew it was a lie, but he left him be. Even though it was a small gesture, Dante appreciated that he had some level of freedom, or at least sway in his current state of affairs.

With a sigh, he focused on drifting to sleep⁠— a notification came one that shook his brain for a moment.

A Patriarch has finished Continental Challenge #2 and can now pass through the Central Wall. Two individuals have now finished a Continental Challenge, the Central Continent adapts its riches. New Heralds await inside.

And it’s dead.

Dante already knew the Emperor had gone to slay the C Grade monster, and surprisingly or unsurprisingly it had happened in about a day. He didn’t really understand the insanity of the man after witnessing it first hand, but it didn’t really matter to him at the moment.

There was something about owning the planet upon going to the Central Continent, but Dante didn’t really get it. He just knew that he wanted to not think about things for today, or never really, but the longer he could avoid thinking about things the better.

He moved around on the bed before finding a comfortable position. He could feel an ugly scar running across his neck, he was unsure about how he had revived, but that was a grim reminder of the man he once was, and it also marked his rebirth. The new Dante that didn’t care, he just wanted to be left alone.

He was different now.

* * * * *

They called him mana names, the Emperor, the Demon Emperor, His Majesty, Conqueror of Ragna, Emperor of Arkaram, but now he was none of that. He was more, he had bested a Herald in one to one combat. He was:

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The Breaker of the Obsidian Scales ⁠— a Heraldslayer.

His chest heaved as blood trailed down his sore muscles, small shallow breaths that sent small spasms down his body. He stood above the manticore, its body dozens of meters long but its bones broken, instead of fur it had iridescent black scales that were now broken and shattered. A long slash ran through the side of the beast, one that had wriggling darkness, as if it was actively consuming the beast’s flesh.

He took a deep breath, he honestly didn’t know if to head to the Central Continent as soon as possible or wait it out. There were a few things he didn’t know. At the same time, he wasn’t the first person to kill a Herald, but the second one. He⁠ suspected that the elf had killed a Herald, the four legged animal with moonlight powers that he had seen, but it confirmed it. She could’ve left for the Central Continent at any time and yet she waited.

And now, she seemed to be thinking about killing the Dragon too. He didn’t necessarily understand her. She was strong, he even half-believed she was C Grade, but even if she wasn’t, she could’ve gone to the Central Continent and waited for someone else to slay their Herald so new ones would spawn.

Heraldslayer, the Breaker of Obsidian Scales, Emperor of Arkaram. He was unsure about what to think of the elf, but right now he was cautious. She hadn’t gone to the Central Continent yet, and there had to be a reason for it. At the same time, he too felt unsure about that place, he didn’t know what was actually in it or what kind of tribulation to expect.

Things were a bit problematic, but he simply chuckled, deep down he felt excitement. He thought he would be unchallenged, infallible, but the truth was that others too were just as extraordinary as him. He looked forward to it. He moved away from the dead beast, and with a flick of his hand he held its flesh and blood, drinking it all.

Notifications came and soon, there was one that made him smile.

[Do you wish to undergo C Grade evolution?]

Once more, he was a step closer to his plans. He grinned wide as he stepped away.

“The Heralds will fall, one by one, they will be felled,” he mused. “The New World will erupt into chaos as everyone vies for the leadership of it. Great Organizations, the Legacy itself, all wanting a grand piece of my world.”

He closed his eyes as he watched notorious individuals. He saw the familiar elven warrior, plotting to kill the dragon. He saw the red-haired Human with a traitor⁠— no, he was doing Arkaram’s work by producing such a talented individual, and he also saw other less important people such as the humans he had vanquished and a fox. But it didn’t take long before he returned to the elf.

“To be extraordinary, one must first be ordinary…”

“Show me what you’re capable of, warrior…”

With those words, he agreed to the notification.

* * * * *

“First you must calm down, Blair,” Elasia said calmly.

“But⁠—”

[An Initiator, a Patriarch, Heraldslayer, Breaker of the Obsidian Scales. Lvl. 124 has reached C Grade in the New World and is the first individual to do so. Congratulations! Heralds have appeared in the Central Continent.]

I froze. “Someone already got to C Grade?”

Lumina shrugged. “Wouldn’t you have gotten C Grade if we just stayed in the Crimson Stretch?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but⁠—”

“That is troublesome.” Elasia said out of nowhere. “I am afraid that… No, nevermind, let’s focus on the issue at hand.” She turned to me. “The elves cannot be summoned since the city is destroyed. There is a great chance they will run away if we do it as soon as possible.”

I slowly nodded. We were in a cave, simply standing around, I could still smell the ash in the air. The dragon had left less than an hour ago, and I still felt angry, however… Elasia was right. I couldn’t rush things right now, lest everything would be ruined. I had no choice but to wait, even if it bothered me.

“From what I got, he killed a Herald to reach C Grade.” The Light Maker said as we all turned.

“And?” Lumina urged.

“Doesn’t that mean he can cross into the Central Continent now?” he asked.

I blinked. “I can cross too.”

“You can?” He raised his brow. “Shouldn’t you have gone there a while ago?”

Elasia shook her head. “All walls must be down for anything to happen. However, now there are more stupid monsters there, so might be good for leveling?” She gave me a glance but I shook my head. “Aside from that, there really isn’t much to do other than to bide our time carefully. Which includes, learning to use Essence.”

“That is going to take a long time.” Lumina said. “We should just rebuild the city and go kill the stupid dragon. It was pretty hard to not kill it this time around, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back next time.”

Elasia sighed. “Right… I wanted to kill it pretty badly too.”

“I WANT to kill it.” I emphasized as I got glances.

“And you will kill it.” Lumina beamed. “Just have to rebuild first.”

I slowly nodded, a lot more satisfied with the situation.

“Then let us do that,” Elasia finally acquiesced. “We’ll focus on rebuilding first. Then we will deal with the social situations, and finally the summoning and the opening of the city to then go kill the dragon.”

At that moment, just as we were about to continue talking, hurried soft footsteps echoed off in the distance. It happened in less than a second, but Sun stood before us with a small frown. His body heaved up and down as we all looked at him. Something was definitely wrong. Sun took a breath meeting my gaze as he finally spoke.

“The humans want to… speak to you about their freedom, Blair.”

I blinked, and I heard Elasia audibly sigh.

At that moment as I processed the utter stupidity and selfishness of the request, I felt anger.

What?