Chapter 372: A New Era (1)

The Land of the Ultras...

Beyond the end of the mountain range, far from the Puppet City that had been wiped from existence..

Clutching his chest with one hand, trying to keep the gaping, bleeding wound from tearing wider, and supporting himself against the wall with the other—

Frey Starlight walked with a broken body and an exhausted soul, step by step, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

The whites of his eyes had turned crimson from all the blood, clouding his vision to the point he could barely see.

The agony he was enduring wasn’t something a normal human could survive.

And yet—

Frey never fell.

"I’m still standing..."

He muttered through clenched teeth, trying to give himself strength as he panted heavily, each breath a battle after having inhaled far too much smoke and toxic gas.

"I haven’t fallen yet..."

A bitter feeling swelled in his chest.

He had come such a long way ..

From a boy who once didn’t even know how to hold a sword—

To a warrior capable of surviving life-and-death battles against SS ranked threats.

Looking back...

He could see the bloody path he had walked to get here.

A path soaked in pain and loss—

Pain that never left him.

Struggling to breathe in the air around him..

Frey gazed up at the sky in quiet suffering.

Night had fallen, marking the beginning of his fourteenth night in the Land of the Ultras.

Even if this place was far from home—

The moon and stars above him were still the same.

Still the ones that had always lit his path.

After stumbling for what felt like forever—

Frey finally crossed the city’s edge and collapsed against the jagged mountain wall, hiding in its crevice.

His head tingled with growing numbness.

He had grown strong.

He knew that.

He had won the battle—

Escaping a hellish siege alive.

He had given everything ..

But... where had it gotten him?

"Nothing’s changed... not a damn thing."

He was still entangled in the threads of a fate woven by others.

Clana was dead .. She had thrown away her life for his.

And now his soul was shackled by that burden more tightly than ever.

It made Frey ask himself:

What had he been fighting for all this time?

No matter how strong he became—

No matter how hard he tried—

"Am I destined to survive... only to keep watching everyone around me die, powerless to stop it?"

Frey had always known he couldn’t save everyone.

That idea had never been realistic.

But the number of people he did want to save ..

It was so small.

So few, they could be counted on one hand.

If he could save just them...

He would be satisfied.

Yet still—

No matter how powerful he grew..

He kept losing them.

Frey felt something he rarely allowed himself to feel:

Fear.

Fear that what happened to Clana would happen to the others who still mattered to him.

And if that happened—

Then all the blood and sweat he had shed would mean nothing.

Thinking of all this ..

Frey felt his body begin to collapse,

His will starting to break under the crushing weight of life.

More than anything—

He wanted to shut his bloodshot eyes and just sleep.

To leave it all behind ..

All the pain.

All the suffering.

To sink into the dark and disappear.

But he didn’t.

Barely able to keep them open—

His dim eyes stared ahead as he forced a faint, bitter smile.

He tried circulating aura through his shattered body, Forcing it to begin healing on its own.

"I won’t fall..."

Suffering of this level wasn’t enough to bring him down anymore.

Not after walking through every kind of hell—

A hell that had forged his soul and mind in fire,

Making them colder each time.

Frey Starlight was no longer the same boy.

"I won’t lose... I won’t be defeated again..."

He wrapped his cold, blood-drained body in a long black cloak—

And sat quietly, tending to his wounds.

By now, he should’ve already lost consciousness.

But he didn’t.

With half-lidded eyes,

And barely a thread of awareness left ..

Frey remained awake,

Alone.

Like a wounded predator,

Licking its wounds in silence.

"I won’t lose again..."

Those were the only words he repeated every now and then—

The only thing breaking the stillness around him.

They were his fuel.

His anchor.

And with them ..

Frey kept moving forward.

There, beneath the full moon overhead—

His bitter struggle reflected faintly in those glassy, blue eyes.

"That’s right... Frey Starlight."

Standing atop one of the distant peaks, watching from afar .. The blue-eyed man observed Frey to the very end.

"Don’t you dare give up... I’m waiting for you."

The wind tugged at the Engineer’s long black cloak as he turned his gaze elsewhere.

"On the other side... I’m waiting for you."."

"You’ll suffer. You’ll bleed. And you’ll lose—again and again—until death becomes your only desire."

"You’ll feel like you’ve lost everything, like your strength is no longer enough... but no matter what ... don’t give up."

Between Frey, who had spent his life running through a dark tunnel, clinging to a thread-thin strand of hope—

And a man who had lived his entire existence for one goal and nothing else ..

The Engineer spoke, his words whispering beside the ear of the wounded boy.

"Kill the boy inside you, Frey..."

"Kill the weak child who breaks beneath every challenge. Kill that weakness—

And let it be reborn."

"Let the monster awaken... Frey Starlight."

In a world as dark as the one they lived in,

The only way to defeat the monsters that ruled it from above with iron fists and unimaginable power—

Was to become a monster yourself.

Frey already knew that.

But he couldn’t help but wonder ..

What price would he have to pay to become that?

And so—

Forcing himself to stay awake,

Clinging to consciousness with sheer will ..

Frey spent the night healing the wounds from the massacre he’d just endured.

...

...

...

Clana Starlight was dead.

And with her ..

The last lead Frey had to reach the rest of his companions was gone.

But the tragedy wasn’t his alone.

Back in the elite camp, Selena had broken the news—

She had lost the magical signature that tracked Clana’s presence.

In other words, she was telling them Frey was dead.

The reactions varied greatly.

There were those who accepted it immediately—like Scarite Sunlight.

Then there were those who gave no reaction at all, as if it meant nothing—like Lara Croft.

And even Aegon Valerion, who simply laughed when he heard the news.

And then ..

There were the ones who refused to believe it.

The ones who immediately rejected the possibility—

Frey’s own group.

The clash of opinions led the elite camp to a deadlock.

After waiting for days, hoping Frey would return .. They were now crushed by the announcement of his death.

Phoenix Sunlight was one of those who had staunchly refused to leave without him.

But now—

With the chance of Frey’s survival growing slim ..

Even the Miracle of the Sunlight family couldn’t risk the lives of the remaining students over a false hope.

He had already done everything he could.

And now,

It was time to move forward.

So, after several tense arguments within the elite class, Phoenix Sunlight made his decision:

"We’re leaving."

He had weighed his options.

And in the end, he wasn’t willing to gamble any further—

Not when they already had a route that could lead them back home.

His decision was final..

And it brought relief to many of the elite students.

But not all of them agreed.

"Professor Phoenix, please reconsider your decision."

Danzo was the first to speak up, stepping forward boldly.

"I don’t know much about magic or whatever, but calling him dead just because his signature vanished? That’s ridiculous. There could be a hundred other reasons for that."

"I agree with Danzo."

Snow stepped forward too—

Unable to ignore Frey.

"I know what Frey’s capable of. He’s stronger than me—and he’s not going to die that easily."

They tried to change Phoenix’s mind ..

But it was no use.

His mind was made up.

"I’m sorry. But I can’t risk fifteen lives on a hope that doesn’t exist."

It was final.

"Then run away from this place if you want. You’re free to do that."

"But I have the freedom to do what I believe is right, too."

Sansa stepped forward, her voice calm but unwavering.

"I believe Frey is still out there somewhere. So I’ll stay and wait for him."

She was ready to be left behind—

And both Snow and Danzo chose to stay with her.

But Phoenix didn’t like that.

He’d said from the beginning—

He wasn’t leaving any students behind.

And just as the tension was about to boil over ..

Aegon’s laugh cut through the air.

Everyone turned toward him.

With his usual smug grin,

Aegon Valerion mocked them all—

"You’re all such hypocrites."