The winds howled softly across the barren plains of the Safe Grounds. Grey stood beneath a fractured sky, his breathing calm, and his spirit still a mix of confusion and
uncertainty. The labyrinth he had conquered still echoed within his mind — his muscles burned with newfound strength. Yet even with victory behind him, he knew that complacency was death, he had also been weakened. The final labyrinth awaited — the one that would either crown him in glory or shatter him into dust.
Grey dropped to the ground, pressing his palms against the cold stone floor.
"One… two… three…" he muttered under his breath.
He moved with precision, his body a blur of discipline and power. His arms flexed like forged steel, his breath steady even after hundreds of repetitions. By the time he
reached five hundred push-ups, the ground beneath him had pulls of sweat. But
Grey did not stop there.
He stood, and began running laps around the training grounds while pushing a boulder. His feet stomp like the match of war drums, dragging the stones across the earth as he sprinted in wide circles. Sweat streamed down his face, but his expression
remained firm — a warrior's calm forged in chaos.
"Again," he gritted tightly. He ran faster, harder, until dust rose like storms behind him.
After a dozen laps, Grey stopped abruptly and turned toward a distant mountain more of an over sized hill though. "This should do," he said, voice low. He extended his
arm, his aura rippling outward in waves of golden light. The mountain trembled
— and then, slowly, it lifted off the ground.
He caught it with both hands and grinned faintly with the corner of his lips.
"Ha… this is easier now," he said between grunts. "I don't even need to activate my Zone."
He tossed the mountain aside as if it were weightless, causing a thunderous crash in the distance.
Hours passed.
The air crackled with energy. When his body finally reached the brink of exhaustion, Grey drew Ieva, his blade, and stood suspended in midair through sheer control of his aura. His focus sharpened; the world became
silent. He thought to himself, 'this error is going to make clearing the last labyrinth, treacherous.' He could only use his aura, ekrin, states but couldn't utilize any skills, he felt frustrated as to how he was going to fix his current predicament.
He stood "well I can't dwell on it forever." 'Let's move on for now.'
A single slash carved horizontally. Boulders shattered, mountains getting chipped, and the ground was left marred by deep craters. His sword art had become more serene—
each swing sang with fast paced dances, every swing cuts through the air- a profound sound.
When the final echo faded, Grey sat cross-legged in a meditation pose amidst the devastation.
He closed his eyes and began to meditate. For days, he remained there — motionless, disciplined, absorbing and refining every ounce of his power.
And when he finally raised his eyes, it burned like twin sun.
He was ready.
The scene shifted — the perspective narrowing into Grey's mind as he stepped across a gate's threshold.
He found himself walking through a desolate expanse — the Lone Man's Land. The terrain stretched endlessly, cold and broken like a battlefield long abandoned by gods and men alike. Shattered weapons and bones of titans lay half-buried in the sand. Boulders hovered in the sky like suspended moons, while sky shimmered strangely with energy both divine and corrupted.
Grey's instincts screamed at him. Something was wrong.
From the mist, a figure emerged. He was tall, very tall rather ordinary men even stood at 200 centimeters had nothing on the giant framed figure, who was draped in a black
robe that fluttered like a living shadow as if stars had left it behind. His build was powerful, his chest scarred by battles beyond mortal imagination. His right arm looked mutilated, roughly severed and then reformed by an unknown power — faint fragments of energy pulsed through the wound like burning veins. His face was rugged yet striking, marred by the scars from his right arm up to his cheek.
Grey's hand instinctively moved toward his sword that was already being materialized. 'How is a human here?' He thought.
The man's gaze pierced him, and then — a voice echoed, not through air, but through existence itself. In an instance everywhere became dark as pitch black.
"Who are you… how did you get here?"
The words struck like thunder inside Grey's mind. His system window flashed open:
[Warning!! Divine Entity Detected — Kaelion ??? The Honor
God.]
Grey froze. "A…
A god?" 'That voice alone carried the weight of eternity. If he's one of the beings Law warned me about… then I'm in deep
trouble.'
Before Grey could act, another light flashed — his system window came alive.
[System fully restored; Hibernation complete.]
"Yo! Grey! It's been a while!" Law's cheerful voice rang out. "Whoa, by the look of things,
you've reached the final stage!"
Grey grunted, still tense, "Yeah."
Law's tone shifted. "Wait—who do we have here—" He suddenly paused, panic rising in his voice. "Oh no…no why is he here?"
"What?" Grey asked, confused.
"Get out of the way now—!" Law shouted.
But it was too late. Kaelion vanished and reappeared before Grey in an instant. A swift kick struck Grey's chin with a bang, launching him upward like a meteor.
"I'm talking to you," Kaelion said coldly. "Who the hell are you?"
Grey's body crashed through the clouds, tearing through sound barriers and creating sonic booms, his ribs cracking under the force. The cosmic space above split open, he hurled through it blood streaming from his nose and mouth.
He felt spine ripping pain coursing through his frame, he choked out in a pulsing ache.
'I have to get the kid out of here!' Law's thought echoed.
Grey was still flying higher, the earlier impact didn't seem to have slowed his pace, he moved extremely fast towards a nearby moon.
Grey's unbalanced body made contact with Kaelion who appeared above him — faster than thought —he stepped on the moon shifting his balance to his other leg as he
stomped Grey back toward the platform.
A deafening boom rang out…
Grey slammed into the ground, the impact shaking the entire region. His vision blurred.
Blood pooled beneath him as pain burned through every nerve.
Kaelion descended, expression unreadable, his aura tearing reality apart around him. He
raised his foot again — and just as he was about to crush Grey's skull— A blinding light enveloped Grey...
Grey's eyes fluttered open, the sterile white of the hospital ceiling greeted him. His body
ached in every muscle and bone.
"What…? Am I
dead… oh," his mind clicked.
"Oh, Why am I back here?" he muttered, groaning as he sat up. "Does that mean the training is over?
Damn it… did I loss?…"
Law's voice came softly, filled with concern. "I transported you out of there."
"What? Why would you do that?" Grey snapped. "I still had a month left to train!"
"The system realm no longer exists," Law explained gravely. "It collapsed. You can't go
back there."
Grey clenched his fists. "I just got caught off guard—"
"No," Law interrupted. "Even if you were prepared, even if you were at your peak
performance—you would have never won that fight?" telling him the cold hash
truth.
Grey's voice faltered, but he brazed himself. "I…
I know I wouldn't have. I've faced countless monsters now! So I know that, it could have
ended badly!" declaring loudly.
Law sighed.
"Keep your voice down, use your mind link — someone might hear us."
Grey frowned,and then silently connected his thoughts through. 'So what are you saying- is that right now it's not safe.'
"Yes." Lawresponded?"That god — Kaelion — he wasn't supposed to be there. He must have killed everything in that realm, even the final boss, and got trapped. When he
saw you, he thought you could help him escape."
"Escape?" Grey thought, puzzled.
"Yes. But that's not your concern now. Focus on healing, Grey. Think about everything you've been through — even this loss."
Grey's anger softened into silence.
Law continued, "Even with your strengthened body, he broke nearly all your bones without any effort." That's the level of a god, Grey. You can't rush into their realm unprepared. Before Grey could reply,a
system notification appeared before his
eyes:
[The last Sky born Egg is shaking preparing to hatch.]
"Huh?" Grey blinked. 'The Skywreth's egg?' His eyes widened. 'Time must have flowed
differently in the system realm — her hatching's been accelerated!'
He summoned the egg from his system. Its shell glowed faintly, golden cracks spreading across its surface as bright light shimmered in his eyes.
He placed the egg gently back into the system. 'I'll keep an eye her on her. She might hatch soon.'
Law's voice softened. "Get some rest, Gre…"
Before he could finish Grey caught him off, 'Before that, what's the problem with this power.'
"Ha! I don't seem to understand! What are you saying?"
Law framed pretence, "Don't lie." Grey yelled in anger, "no! Tell me- was I really
obligated to kill those creatures or even compelled to do so, yeah I know many
of them deserved it but…"
Law remained silent, Grey continued as tears rolled down his cheek- staring at the ceiling, the sun kissed his face forcing out his tears, he bawled even more.
'Ok I know what to do now!'
He came to a sudden decision, "If you are using me I might as well use you in my own way." Grey's body wasn't strong enough to handle another person's authority, but what
if he could adopt it by fully synchronizing his own power with it then inherit the authority.
"What do you think you are doing," Law bellowed, Grey ignored him then engaged in opening the system, his hair light gold as his ears slid backward into an elegant point- then he used skill fusion and merged all the skills at his possession including the current one he was using.
"No stop that," Law barked, but it was already too late, Grey's Ekrin, dwindled as his entire body was weakened, although he felt relieved after doing it and he paid no heed to whatever was about to happen to his body.
SYSTEM;
Skills synchronization in progress
Forming of new authorities; ten in progress
'Good it worked.'
"Do you know what you've done, you fool!" Law voiced in a thundered roar. "It doesn't matter now, what's done is done." He laid back onthe hospital bed, exhaustion washing over him. Seems I was out for hours… he thought.
But before he could drift into the embrace of sleep, the door burst open — his mother's
silhouette filled the room, her expression urgent, with puffy eyes, carrying news that would change everything.