Four days.
That was exactly how much time Rias had been given to prepare for his one-way trip into the heart of the enemy empire.
For the rest of the Leonhart family, those four days passed in absolute normalcy.
The Duke managed his territories. Caspian practiced his sword arts. Lucien schemed in the shadows.
To them, Rias had already ceased to exist.
But within the locked walls of his secluded bedroom, a terrifying transformation was taking place in the dark.
Exhale...
A visible stream of mana escaped from Rias's lips, dissipating into the cool night air.
He was suspended upside down, his legs hooked over the heavy wooden rafters of his ceiling, performing inverted crunches. Sweat dripped from his forehead, landing silently on the plush rug far below.
Inhale...
A rush of pure, ambient mana flooded into his lungs. It instantly soothed the burning lactic acid in his abdominal muscles.
He didn't sleep. Not really.
With his purified mana veins and his supercharged comprehension, two hours of deep meditation provided more rest than eight hours of normal sleep.
The rest of his time was dedicated to sheer, unrelenting violence against his own physical limits.
He completed the System's Daily Quests flawlessly every single morning.
He did push-ups until his knuckles bled against the stone floor. He did squats until his thighs trembled so violently he could barely stand.
Then, he healed himself with nature's mana and did it all over and over again.
He had no sword. He had no magical grimoires or skill books. He had no combat instructor.
But he had the memories of the novel he wrote, and a body that was rapidly adapting to the impossible.
Rias dropped from the rafter, landing lightly on his feet with the silent grace of a feline.
[Ding!]
[Daily Quest: The Foundation of an Overlord - COMPLETED!]
[Rewards Distributed: +50 EXP, 1x Minor Stamina Potion.]
[System Notification: Experience Threshold Reached!]
[1,000 / 1,000 EXP]
[Initiating Sub-Rank Breakthrough...]
The air in the bedroom suddenly grew heavy.
Rias closed his eyes as a surge of raw, mana erupted from his core.
It wasn't the agonizing, fiery pain of his initial awakening. This was a smooth, increase of his power.
The mana capacity in the core increased slightly and even the ambient mana in his core becomes more purer than before.
His muscles tightened. They grew denser, leaner, like coiled steel wires beneath his pale skin.
His senses expanded outward, the radius of his mana perception doubling in an instant.
He could feel the pressure radiating in the training ground where knights are dueling with each other. He could feel the exact trajectory of the wind blowing against his windows.
[Breakthrough Successful!]
[Host has reached: Tier - Bronze-tier Lv. 9]
[Note: The Host has reached the absolute peak of the Bronze-tier rank. To shatter the bottleneck and enter the Silver Tier, the Host must experience life-and-death combat.]
Rias opened his eyes. In the darkness, his crimson irises seemed to faintly glow with an inner, predatory light.
"Bronze Level Nine," he whispered, clenching his fists.
The physical difference was staggering. Just four days ago, this body would have collapsed from swinging a wooden practice sword.
Now, he felt like he could punch a tree without breaking his hand.
It wasn't enough to fight his monstrous siblings yet. Not even close.
But it was enough to survive the road ahead.
The morning of his departure arrived with a cold, biting wind.
Rias stood in front of his mirror, adjusting the collar of his black tunic.
It was formal noble's attire, tailored specifically for this journey. Woven from high-grade silk and embroidered with subtle silver threads, it bore the roaring lion crest of the Leonhart family on the left breast.
It was the most expensive piece of clothing the Duke had ever given him.
'They really went all out for my funeral shroud,' Rias thought, a dry, cynical smile tugging at his lips.
He had packed nothing.
His System Inventory held his accumulated minor potions, but physically, he carried no luggage. He owned nothing of value in this estate, and he certainly wasn't going to bring the frayed, useless tunics he used to wear.
He would take the Velmer Empire's wealth once he got there.
Rias turned his back on the room that had been his prison for fifteen years. He walked out the door without a second glance.
He navigated the grand hallways and descended through the staircase toward the courtyard.
He didn't expect a farewell party.
He was absolutely correct.
The grand courtyard of the Leonhart Ducal Estate was empty of family members. Neither his siblings nor the Duke had bothered to wake up early to see the trash of the family off.
The transaction was complete. The pawn had been moved.
However, waiting outsde the courtyard was a sight that made Rias pause.
It was a carriage.
But to call it a simple carriage was an insult. It was a massive, rolling fortress of luxury.
The exterior was crafted from deep, luxurious and reinforced with shining plates of enchanted mythril.
At the front, harnessed by thick leather straps, were four terrifying beasts.
Obsidian Horned Steeds.
They were magical creatures with pitch-black coats, glowing red eyes, and spiraling silver horns jutting from their foreheads.
A squad of ten elite Leonhart cavalrymen sat atop their own warhorses, forming a protective perimeter around the carriage.
Standing rigidly by the open carriage door was Head Butler Sebastian.
"Young Master Rias," Sebastian greeted, offering a perfectly measured, emotionless bow.
"Sebastian," Rias nodded calmly, stepping out feeling the morning air. He looked at the outrageously shiny carriage with an amused glint in his eyes.
"I must say, I am flattered. I didn't realize the Duke valued my comfort so highly."
Sebastian's expression remained an unreadable mask of professional duty.
"The Duke values the reputation of the Leonhart name, Young Master," the butler corrected smoothly.
"You are being sent as the formal fiancé to the Imperial Princess of the Velmer Empire. It would be a grave insult to arrive in anything less than our finest transport."
Rias almost laughed out loud.
It was the ultimate aristocratic hypocrisy. They were sending him straight into the jaws of a most dangerous empire that despised their bloodline. They fully expected the Velmer assassins to poison his food, or for the Princess to slit his throat on his wedding night.
But heaven forbid the Leonhart family look poor while sending him to his death.
"Of course," Rias replied, his voice dripping with sarcastic tone.
"We must maintain appearances. The gold paint on the coffin is very important."
Sebastian's sharp eyes flicked upward, catching Rias's gaze for a fraction of a second. The butler's brow furrowed slightly.
Ever since the boy had awakened from his coma four days ago, something was... wrong.
The pathetic, shivering aura that usually surrounded Rias was entirely gone. In its place was a terrifying, calm.
"Your escort will take you directly to the Velmer border," Sebastian stated, stepping aside to present the open door. "From there, a delegation from the Imperial Court will receive you. The Duke expects you to fulfill your duty to the Empire without fail."
Rias paused just before stepping into the carriage. He looked back at the butler with a sharp, chilling smile.
"Tell my Father," Rias said softly, "that I will not disappoint him. He will remember this day for the rest of his life."
Sebastian didn't know how to respond to that. It sounded like a dutiful promise, but the cold glint in the boy's eyes made it sound like a lethal threat.
Rias stepped up into the carriage.
The interior was ridiculously lavish. Plush, crimson velvet seats lined the cabin. A small runic array in the ceiling provided perfect climate control, keeping the air warm and smelling of faint lavender.
Rias sat down, sinking comfortably into the velvet cushions.
He didn't look out the window to wave goodbye.
*CRACK!*
The driver snapped a whip glowing with mana.
The Obsidian Horned Steeds let out a terrifying, unified sound that echoed across the estate walls. The massive carriage lurched forward.
As the wheels rolled over the cobblestones, picking up a frightening amount of speed, Rias finally let his flawless mask drop.
He leaned back, resting his head against the soft cushion, and let out a long, genuine laugh.
He was out.
The invisible chains that had bound the 'original' Rias to a life of misery were finally shattered.
He was sitting in a rolling vault of luxury, completely unsupervised, heading straight toward the richest empire on the continent.
He closed his eyes and started to cultivate the mana in his core.
'The Velmer Empire is a viper's nest,' Rias thought, his mind racing through the lore of his novel.
'The Emperor wants to use me as a hostage. The nobles will want to humiliate me. And Amyra Celestia... she will likely try to kill me before I even reach the capital.'
The escorts riding outside were Leonhart elites, but they wouldn't die for him. If a powerful assassin struck, they would put up a false resistance and then flee, perfectly happy to let the "mistake" perish.
Rias opened his eyes, staring at the enchanted ceiling of the carriage.
He needed to break through to the Silver Tier. The System had explicitly stated he needed life-and-death combat to shatter the bottleneck.
He wasn't afraid of an ambush on the road.
In fact, as he felt the sheer, coiled power resting in his newly forged muscles, Rias realized something terrifying about himself.
He was actually looking forward to it.