Later that day.
Inside Lamiode Hospital in Aedoh City, a loud commotion was unfolding in one of the wards.
Lyra, dressed in a long pale patient gown, struggled toward the door while wrapped in thick bandages around both arms. Edict held her firmly in place.
"I'm telling you to let me see Light!" Lyra shouted. Her voice was already turning hoarse from yelling.
"Just stay still for a moment, will you?" Edict replied with mild annoyance.
"He's currently receiving medical care. You'll see him soon."
Lyra slowed down slightly. She looked up at Edict's eyes, searching them as if they might reveal the truth she desperately wanted.
Then she asked, her voice quieter but filled with hope.
"He'll be okay… right?"
Edict murmured something inaudible before answering.
"He's out of immediate danger. I'll take him with us to a better hospital. We're heading to the capital in a few minutes."
She stepped toward the door.
"Go prepare while I sort some things out first."
Lyra watched Edict leave the room. When the door finally closed, she turned her attention to the white serene glowing screen floating in front of her.
---
[System Class: SSS]
[System Name: Zenith's Full Blessings]
[User: Lyra]
[Path: Hero (Eternal Radiance)]
[Rank: Acolyte — Level 1]
[Current Admiration Index: 1%]
[Global Admiration Index: 0.00%]
[Ether Points: 20 / 20]
[Hero Points: 0]
---
[Guardians: (1) Zenith's Angel]
[Angel Ability: Afterlife Burden]
Ability Explanation:
Angel grows stronger by purifying the souls of every being killed by you, helping them ascend to the afterlife. Angel can manifest the abilities of every purified soul.
The more souls Angel purifies, the heavier the mental burden on the host.
[Purifiable Soul Capacity: 0 / 10]
[Angel Rank: First Celestial Wing]
---
[Current Active / Passive Skills: (1) Holy Bolt (Temporal)]
---
[Active Quests: (1) Become USA's Charles Caldwell's Sidekick]
[Quest Expiration: March 1st, 50th E.E]
[Failure Penalty: All Precious Memories Permanently Erased]
[Temporal Quest Skill: Holy Bolt]
[Ether points required for skill: 10]
Automatically locks when quest is completed or failed. You may use Hero Points to permanently buy skill back from the store.
---
[Access Hero Store at Rank: Acolyte — Level 5]
---
Lyra stared at the screen in silence.
Her hero system was completely unfamiliar to her.
Her father had once been a B-Class hero who managed to reach the low-levels of Vanguard Rank, a tier above Acolyte. However, his specialty leaned toward journalism and investigation, so he rarely fought on the front lines.
He and Lyra's mother had eventually been killed by a Rank-Fourteen Dread.
Still, her father had carefully drawn the structure of his system for her many times when she was younger. He had explained every detail, every tab, every possibility. Lyra had memorized all of it in case a day like this ever came.
But now that the moment had arrived, that knowledge felt useless.
Her system was completely different.
She sighed in submission as a faint trace of guilt appeared on her face.
'Was I actually the cause of Light's villain awakening?
I'm pretty sure the first thing I saw was Zenith's Half Blessing… before it turned into a Full Blessing after I unconsciously absorbed Light's glow.'
Her chest tightened.
'Would he hate me after finding out?'
Her thoughts drifted toward the quest notification again.
It was something she considered extremely important. The memories of Light and her parents were things she absolutely refused to lose.
Lyra instinctively raised her hands toward her mouth, wanting to bite her fingers the way she always did when emotionally stressed.
But she stopped, there was no fingers to bite.
The reminder made her pause.
After a moment, she slowly stepped backward and slumped weakly onto the hospital bed. The sharp scent of antiseptic filled her nose, grounding her thoughts slightly.
---
Several minutes later.
Light was still unconscious.
A young man in his early twenties carried him across the hospital corridor on his back.
The young hero's face was twisted with visible disgust. To him, it felt like he was carrying a sack of garbage.
He glanced toward Edict, who was walking ahead of them.
"Shouldn't we have just put him in a wheelchair or something?" he asked irritably.
"Bring him here. I'll carry him myself."
Lyra's voice came from behind them.
She quickened her pace and stepped beside the young hero before crouching down slightly, offering her back in a piggyback gesture.
The young man looked at her, then glanced at Edict.
Edict kept walking without even turning around.
The young hero forced an awkward smile at Lyra and kept moving forward.
Soon they reached the exit.
The moment the doors opened, a wave of icy air rushed in.
Lyra instinctively flinched as the cold bit into her skin.
Rain poured from the sky in relentless sheets. Heavy storm clouds blanketed the entire horizon. Lightning flashed across the heavens in bright jagged arcs, followed by thunder that made Lyra's chest vibrate faintly.
Soon they reached a large SUV waiting outside the hospital, which they quickly boarded.
The car sped away from the hospital without hesitation, cutting through the storm toward the capital.
Light lay unconscious on the back seat while Edict's assistant sat beside him, keeping watch. His expression remained unpleasant as he occasionally glanced at Light with open contempt.
His hatred for villains ran so deep that he had to fight the urge to wrap his itching hands around Light's throat.
Across the world, the weather had long since become abnormal.
The endless storm clouds covering every region weren't always raining, but when rain did fall, it came with terrifying storms powerful enough to topple entire mansions.
These clouds were remnants of the Apocalyptic World War that had reshaped the planet decades ago.
Plants no longer grew normally.
Although science and technology had advanced rapidly, the global economy remained unstable.
Large portions of the earth had turned barren, triggering one of the worst famines humanity had ever faced.
Humanity had only survived because scientists eventually discovered ways to cultivate certain crops using Ether energy instead of sunlight.
Even then, it wasn't enough.
Food remained scarce.
The rich could eat their fill while the poor survived by stealing whatever they could.
Rain hammered violently against the roof of the speeding vehicle.
Lyra wanted to clutch her seatbelt tightly, but the absence of her fingers made it impossible.
The thought of a sudden hurricane appearing from nowhere and swallowing the car whole kept her nerves constantly on edge.
The highway was completely empty.
No ordinary vehicle could survive driving through such heavy rainfall.
But Edict's car was different.
She had personally enhanced it using her power.
She called the vehicle Monster.
As long as her Ether points remained sufficient, the car could travel almost anywhere she wanted.
During the journey they passed dozens of wandering Dreads, but none were strong enough to stop them.
Only one ape-like Dread dared to leap directly onto the road to intercept them.
It lasted less than a second as monster slammed straight through it.
The reinforced Ether-powered wheels crushed the creature instantly, turning it into a smear of blood and flesh across the asphalt.
After some time, the rain began to calm.
Lyra leaned against the window, quietly watching the outside world through the glass.
Her mind still struggled to process everything that had happened.
Earlier that morning, she and Light had only hoped to awaken as decent heroes and perhaps join a comfortable private guild.
Instead, they were now traveling in the personal vehicle of a government hero from the GAA.
And not just any hero, but one whose rank was probably high within the organization.
Something suddenly appeared in the distance, making Lyra to straighten in her seat.
At first she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Then she saw it clearly... It was a massive ethereal black veil resembling fishscales, it stretched endlessly across the horizon, like a protective veil cast from heaven.
It was perfectly unblemished, rising upward like a titanic dome.
People stood near the base of the structure.
Some held heavy Ether-powered rifles.
Others leaned casually against the dome, appearing bored.
The entire area looked like some kind of checkpoint.
Lyra frowned slightly, confused.
Then the car slowly came to a stop as Edict stepped out.