Light that shook the world
The world stilled.
The sky itself dimmed.
Time seemed to pause.
And from within him, from somewhere far beyond the stars—a voice echoed.
Not loud.
But impossibly deep.
Vast.
A voice that didn't just enter his mind—it commanded reality itself.
"Golden Soul… should not tremble."
Arthur's eyes widened.
His breath caught.
That voice.
He had heard it once—on the day his previous life ended.
The moment before he opened his eyes in this world.
The one who sent him here.
The one who reincarnated him.
But now—it was different.
Before, the voice had been distant. Cold. Like a king passing judgment.
Now—
It was present.
Real.
And crushing.
Arthur dropped to one knee. Not out of choice, but because the weight of that voice slammed into him like a cosmic hammer. The air itself felt like iron pressing on his shoulders.
"Have you forgotten, child?"
"You are not of this world. You are mine."
"You were born to rise in fire, not to die in mud."
"Stand."
The pressure intensified. Arthur's body shook violently, pain ripping through him. But his soul—his soul burned brighter.
"Golden Soul is not gifted. It is forged."
"Now rise… and burn everything that dares defy you."
Arthur's lips trembled.
Tears welled up—hot and bitter.
Not out of fear.
But from rage. From shame. From the fire of awakening.
For the first time…
Arthur Valerian felt helpless.
He had faced death before—many times.
He had clashed with Axel, his ruthless teacher, and though bloodied, he had always believed he would win.
He fought against elite Rank 1s from Ashveil. Against mutated beasts that tore through entire teams.
He had faced the Rank 1 ghoul who devoured mana and the Dread Fiends who crushed hope with every step.
He'd seen genius after genius fall before his blade.
Even when he battled Feldine, whose Arcane Magic twisted the very fabric of reality, and even when Julian stood alone against monsters that should have ended him—Arthur never doubted.
He never once believed he would lose.
Not until now.
His A-rank skills—useless.
His spells—disrupted.
His body—shattered.
The golems moved without hesitation, their hardened bodies immune to most magic, their attacks calibrated to break even peak Rank 1s. They didn't just strike—they overwhelmed.
And in mere moments—
Seventy percent of his mana—gone.
His ribs—cracked.
His armor—shredded.
And still, they pressed forward, sound waves tearing at his spirit, their blue veins of mana pulsing like heartbeats of inevitability.
Arthur gasped, blood trailing from his lips.
His legs trembled.
Not from pain.
But from a fear he hadn't known he could feel.
"…Am I… going to fall here?"
A crack in his confidence.
A fracture in the invincible will that had always pushed him forward.
But then—
His fingers clenched.
And his eyes—those burning, golden eyes—ignited.
No.
Not today.
Not tomorrow.
Never.
"I came to this world not to survive…"
"I was sent here to conquer."
The flames in his soul surged.
Even if his mana failed him.
Even if his sword broke.
Even if the world turned against him—
He would not stop.
Because he was reincarnated to win.
To dominate every battlefield.
To rise above every monster, mage, god, or king.
"I am Arthur Valerian."
"And I will conquer everything that dares stand in my way."
Golden light sparked at his feet.
Then roared to life around him, spiraling upward like a divine storm.
The fire in his soul became real—tangible.
He would find a way.
No matter how impossible.
Because that's what the conqueror does.
He rises.
A pulse.
Then another.
A tremor, like a god's heartbeat, echoed through the combat zone.
It started with a hum.
Then the hum became a pulse.
Then the world was drowned in blue light.
In the Grand Arena, where the greatest warriors, nobles, and rulers watched the survival tournament unfold in real-time—
the screens flickered.
Glitched.
Then—blackout.
The Virtual AI System, flawless for decades, let out a distorted screech.
SYSTEM ERROR: UNKNOWN ENERGY INTERFERENCE.
LIVE FOOTAGE UNAVAILABLE.
SOURCE: ???
EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN INITIATED.
Then it came.
The blue light.
So intense. So vast. So terrifying.
It didn't shine like the sun.
It didn't burn like fire.
It simply existed—everywhere.
In the sky. In the earth. In the soul.
A divine presence that needed no form. No face.
All over the world—from the cold towers of Elydrion to the lava-crowned peaks of Arcadia—the strongest beings in existence froze.
⸻
Rubina Valerian, the Peak Rank 7 Archmage, choked on her breath.
She staggered, falling to her knees.
"What… is this power?"
No one could see what is happening inside virtual world.
There was no image. No sound.
Only that unending blue light washing over the land.
Curtain Eisenworth, Rank 7 Beast Tamer, fell to all fours.
His contract beasts shrieked in terror, curling into themselves.
His voice trembled.
"It's not mana… it's something beyond that. A force that commands… the laws themselves…"
Dante Sagnius, Rank 7 Vampire Mage, dropped his sword.
It clanged uselessly against the marble floor.
He stared at the sky.
"Even the gods… never showed this."
The blue light pulsed again—deafening silence—then another wave of pressure.
And far away, the rulers of other lands reacted.
The Dragon Emperor of Arcadia clenched his throne with clawed hands, fear dancing in his draconic eyes.
"Who… dares shake the balance of the world?"
The Elf Queen, the Vampire King, the Werewolf Alpha, the Beasthuman King, the Emperor of Bhumara, and even the Sword Saint of Elydrion—
all stopped.
All looked up.
And all had the same question:
"What… is happening?"
They couldn't see the boy behind it.
They couldn't hear his name.
But they felt it.
The sky itself knelt.
The world stood still.
And at the heart of it all—a presence no one could trace.
A whisper echoed in the wind.
"A soul of gold… walks unseen."
And amidst the awe… amidst the terror blanketing the world…
Where all others had faltered—
Where Rank 7s had bowed to a pressure they could not comprehend—
Where the skies bled blue, and the air froze with ancient mana—
Only one remained standing.
On the tallest spire of Elydrion's royal citadel, beneath the dome of stars and the furious whirl of mana…
The Emperor of Elydrion stood still.
The strongest being in the world.
A man who had ruled through centuries of blood, fire, and prophecy.
A man untouched by fear—until now.
He looked at the blue light that engulfed the sky, watched as the entire world knelt before a presence unknown.
And then…
He bent the knee.
Not out of weakness.
But out of reverence.
His head lowered, his crown touching the stone floor.
His voice, when it came, was not human.
It was old.
Primordial.
A tongue long forgotten by mortals.
"𝐙𝐡𝐮𝐥 𝐐𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐱… 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚…"
Words that rippled through space like chimes struck by fate itself.
Words no one understood—not even the Rank 7s.
But they felt it.
Something had awakened.
Something long buried under the pages of time.
And the Emperor…
He smiled, ever so faintly, his voice a whisper only the gods could hear.
"At last… the star has begun to sing."
And as the blue light burned on—
he remained kneeling, still as stone, as if before a god.
Back in the combat zone—
Arthur rose into the sky, surrounded by pure, blazing golden mana, his figure backlit by a storm of divine energy.
His eyes glowed with burning intensity—golden flames dancing in his pupils.
He raised his hand, fingers pointed directly at the core behind the sleeping golems.
His lips moved.
"******."
The divine word echoed through space—not heard, but felt.
A moment of stillness.
Then—
CRACK—BOOM!
A beam of pure, golden light burst from the heavens, slamming down with divine precision.
The Monster Kingdom Core, housed in its protective glass, stood no chance.
It shattered like fragile crystal, the illusion of invincibility breaking apart in an instant.
The mutated golems guarding it let out distorted roars, only to be consumed in the radiant shockwave.
Only the Monster Core was destroyed.
Every other team's kingdom core remained untouched. But they all felt it—
A pressure, a force… a warning.
⸻
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
PHASE 3 — TERMINATED
Cause: unknown
⸻
Silence.
Then chaos.
Curtain, Dante, Rubina—all watching—felt sweat drip from their brows.
"What the fuck happen?" Curtain muttered.
"Who destroyed the Monster core?" Dante whispered.
Far away
The Emperor of Elydrion exhaled, leaning back into his throne.
"Golden mana… A divine signature…"
"Who is he really?"
Somewhere in the jungle…
Julian staggered, his clothes tattered, blood drying on his skin. His spear dragged behind him. Every breath burned.
Then—
The world lit up.
A golden brilliance surged into the heavens, blinding, majestic, absolute. It pierced through trees, sky, and space itself.
Julian looked up. His vision blurred.
His lips curved, a whisper escaping like a prayer.
"…He did it…"
But even he—didn't know who "he" was anymore.
Across the battlefield…
Rodin stumbled to his feet, shielding his eyes.
Sera clutched her chest, gasping.
Tess froze, healing spells vanishing mid-cast.
Leona, Nikolai, and the others turned their gaze skyward.
The light.
It wasn't from any spell.
It wasn't from any kingdom.
It was as if the world itself had opened its eyes.
Golden radiance swallowed everything, yet not a soul knew the source. The system screen, once recording the tournament, had gone black.
No footage. No name. No warning.
Just light.
And then—
Silence.
In the sky, Arthur slowly descended.
Golden light swirled around him, then faded into embers.
The divine voice in his head faded too, the last words echoing softly:
"This is only the beginning, child of the golden soul."
Arthur and other all existed the virtual world.