Chapter 47: Nameless Hero (2)
The confidence on Yara’s face thinned just enough for Misha to notice. That alone felt satisfying.
After everything, after the lies, the betrayal, the sight of Nyxie’s body on the floor and Gerbaut collapsed in his own blood, the crack in Yara’s composure felt almost precious.
Misha’s eyes narrowed in fierce, ugly satisfaction. Her fists curled tighter. Even in her soul state, fury still reached her somehow.
Good... let her feel it too. Let her choke on fear for once.
The woman who had worn grace like perfume, the woman who had smiled through betrayal and murder, and acted as if everything still belonged neatly under her control, finally had something new in her eyes.
Misha almost wanted to laugh. It bubbled in her chest, sharp and disbelieving because the situation had become so absurd that laughter seemed like the only sensible response.
Then her body lifted one hand. The golden fire circling that arm tightened and gathered beside her. It did not flare outward wildly. It condensed, compressed, and shaped into an enormous lion, stepping out of the flames. Its mane rolled like living fire in layered waves of gold and deep ember-red. Sparks fell from its paws when it took a step forward. Its eyes burned with the same terrible radiance now pouring from Misha’s own.
The beast did not roar, it only lowered its head and looked at Yara.
Across the room, Yara’s body went rigid. Every muscle in her frame seemed to tighten at once.
Then the lion moved. It crossed the distance in a single violent rush. Fire burst behind it like a cape dragged through the air. The heat from its charge rolled through the throne room hard.
Yara vanished into frost at the last second and reappeared several meters away, but it was not fast enough. One flaming paw clipped her left arm.
Her gauntlet ignited at once. The smell of scorched steel and flesh hit the room immediately.
"Hnngh...!!" Yara hissed and groaned loudly, the sound sharp and ugly and gratifying.
Misha stared at the burn spreading across her skin and for a tiny, shameful second, felt relief. Then her gaze shifted from Yara to her own body.
No... it was not her body anymore.
Nameless stood there without moving. He was simply watching and that somehow felt more oppressive than the lion’s assault. The lion alone was enough to keep Yara busy.
"S-system..." Misha whispered from where her soul hovered, dazed and somehow still aware enough to think. "Can I... can I check Leo’s Soul Status now?"
Ding!
「 〔SOUL STATUS〕
"Nameless"
Rank: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Race: Human
Class: Paragon
Constellation Chamber: Leo
Potential Growth: ★ EX ★
—
<APTITUDE>
Combat ..... 95 (SS+)
Support .... 89 (S+)
Leadership ... 96 (SS+)
Adaptability .... 83 (S-)
Mental Strength .... 98 (SSS)
—
<UNIQUE SKILL>
Lionheart
Effect:
The greater the adversity faced, the greater the enhancement to all combat capabilities.
Upon entering critical state, all attributes increase significantly.
King’s Pride
Effect:
Summons the King’s Lion.
Enemies struck by the lion suffer Burn and reduced combat performance.
—
Possession Duration: 4 Minutes
Restricted Duration: 50 Seconds
Cooldown: 37 Hours 」
A seven-star...
Misha’s mouth fell open.
No wonder the whole room had changed the moment he descended. Even Yara looked rattled, her insufferable confidence now gone.
This was not Olivia’s sharp, reckless presence, forcing her body past its limits. This was something different.
Yara’s ice rose again, faster. Shards formed around her, and her ice sword rebuilt itself. She slashed toward the lion, frost exploding from the blade in a crescent arc.
The beast met the strike head-on. Fire tore through frost. Steam burst across the room. Yara slid backward, her heels carving white lines into the floor. The lion pressed her again without waiting for instruction, forcing her left, then right, then back toward the throne steps. Every time she raised ice, fire answered. Every time she vanished, the lion found her again.
「 Possession Time Remaining: 00:00:41 」
Nine seconds... Only nine seconds have passed.
That felt insane. The lion had nearly torn Yara apart in nine seconds, and Nameless had not even moved.
Then, at last, he raised her hand. "Regulus."
The lion stopped instantly. It turned, flames spilling from its mane in slow, obedient waves, and returned to his side. The fire surrounding it drew inward without diminishing. It stood beside him like something born to kneel to no one except him.
Then Nameless looked toward the sealed gate behind the throne. "I accept the trial."
He did not need to raise her voice. The room seemed to listen anyway.
"I will face the Goblin King. Open it."
The massive gate behind the throne groaned.
Stone scrapped against the marbled floor. A deep red glow bled through the widening gap, followed by a foul breath of head, blood, iron, and old rot. Something enormous shifted beyond it.
Yara saw the opening. Despite the burns running across her arm and shoulder, despite the frost hissing uselessly against the heat still clinging in her skin, she moved at once. She turned and shot toward the yellow portal in a streak of frost.
Misha jerked toward her on instinct. "No!"
Nameless did not move to stop her.
"W-why did you let her escape?!" Misha shouted, anger ripping through the shock. "Why?!"
He did not answer. Instead, he extended one hand.
Nyxie’s claymore, lying a short distance from her body, shuddered once and flew into his grasp.
The gate opened wide and the Goblin King stepped through.
It towered above the broken floor, armored blackened iron and bone, its crude crown fused crookedly to its skull. Its mana rolled through the room like a filthy tide. Its grin stretched far too wide. Its axe alone looked heavier than Misha’s whole body.
Before it could even take one step, Nameless swung once.
The claymore cut through the air in a single golden arc.
The Goblin King’s head left its shoulders so cleanly that Misha’s mind lagged behind the sight. The body remained standing for one impossible moment, then collapsed with a crash that shook the room.
The silence that followed hit hard.
Nameless lowered the blade. Then he turned her head slightly, looking somewhere.
"You’re watching, right?"
Misha flinched. Was he talking to her?
Her body turned toward the portal Yara had escaped through. "You want to know why I let her go."
Yes.
"Yes," Misha whispered anyway.
"This will be the only time I’ll descend into your body," he said. "So listen carefully."
「 Possession Time Remaining: 00:00:23 」
Using her voice, it stayed low and calm. "I will not kill her for you."
The words struck like a slap. Misha stared, her brows pulling together at once.
What? After all that?
After Nyxie–
After Gerbaut–
"You will do it yourself," he continued. "Use your grief properly."
He began walking toward where Nyxie and Gerbaut’s bodies were. "Use your anger properly. Carry them until they start being your weapons."
Her eyes stung, hot and bright, while her nails dug into her palm.
He bent, lifted Nyxie’s body with one hand and Gerbaut’s with the other as if neither of them weighed anything. "If you want to go after her, if you want revenge, then you have to grow strong enough."
Misha’s chest tightened. Gerbaut said something similar...
He was her mentor, the man who had taught her how to survive without letting her fear swallow her whole. He did not soften the truth or pretend around her. He always stepped forward just right in time to save her.
As for Nyxie... She was different. She was loud, reckless, and far too cheerful in places where no one had any right to smile. Still, she was a dependable friend.
They both died before her eyes. She couldn’t even do a thing to save them... All she had done was watch.
She watched Nyxie fall, and watched Gerbaut’s body hit the ground. She watched life leave their eyes while she stood there, frozen and useless.
Then there was Elyes. She could still remember his screams of pain.
A bitter laugh almost escaped her. How could she blame him for leaving?
Sparks of golden light surrounded both Gerbaut’s and Nyxie’s bodies until they floated on their own beside Nameless.
Then his gaze lifted toward the ceiling, and the contempt in her face changed shape into something bitterly familiar. "Do something about this."
The throne room hummed.
Ding!
A new gray window flashed overhead.
「 Administrator Authority Detected.」
「Attempting to intercept certain departing souls. 」
「 〔!ERROR!〕
Requested action violates Floor Management Protocols!
Soul signatures are scheduled for recycling!
All deceased participants are property of the Tower! 」
Misha’s breath caught.
Property?
Another window appeared immediately after.
「 Attempting system correction... 」
「 〔!ERROR!〕
Correction failed!
Access Denied!
Administrator command conflicts with existing Tower protocols! 」
「 Overwriting Protocol... 」
「 Bypassing Floor Management Restrictions... 」
「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕
Core system rules have been breached! 」
「 Rewriting participant records... 」
「 Override complete. 」
「 Participant records successfully modified. 」
「 Removing physical vessels...」
Nyxie and Gerbaut’s bodies continued to glow, then their forms started to blur.
"Wait– what’s happening?!" Misha shouted.
Another window answered.
「 Soul Signatures Archived. 」
「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕
Dormant Soul Signatures Detected.
Constellation Souls have been detected within Aries and Taurus Chambers. 」
Misha stared in shock.
Aries... Taurus...
Her heart slammed once against nothing.
No way...
Something in face softened while he stared at the last window that appeared. "Don’t worry, your friends will not be consumed by the Tower. They’ll live through you."
「 Possession Time Remaining: 00:00:07 」
The aura around him flickered. The gold beneath Misha’s body began to dim. Regulus dissolved into sparks at his side. The pressure crushing the room started to lift, though not enough to make the throne room feel normal again.
Then finally, Nameless turned his gaze toward where her soul floated. He held her gaze as if he could see her there. "Keep climbing, Misha. Find the answers you came here for. Your brothers are waiting for you."
A strange ache rose in her chest at the mention of her brothers.
They were... waiting for her?
That only meant one thing. They were still alive.
But how did he know?
"You still have a long way to go, young lady." His lips curled up into a small smile. "Become someone worthy of summoning me. I’ll wait for that day..."
Then the light around him shattered.
Ding!
「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕
Emergency Leo Constellation Possession has ended.
Leo Chamber entering cooldown.
Access to the Leo Chamber has been temporarily revoked. 」
The heat vanished, the pressure broke, and Misha fell back toward her body.