Silence covered the battlefield.
The Demon King's sword lay broken beneath him.
His army was gone.
The royal knights stood frozen.
Nobody understood what they had witnessed.
Kael slowly descended from the sky.
His feet touched the ground.
The blackness disappeared from his eyes.
Everything returned to normal.
For a moment, Kael smiled.
Then—
his smile vanished.
Something felt wrong.
He looked toward the academy.
Hundreds of students were staring at him.
One girl pushed through the crowd.
"Kael!"
She ran toward him.
Her name was Liora.
She had been Kael's only friend since childhood.
She stopped in front of him, breathing heavily.
"You idiot!"
Kael blinked.
"What?"
"You jumped out of a fifth-floor window!"
"I didn't fall."
"That's not the point!"
Liora grabbed his arm.
Then she suddenly stopped.
Her expression changed.
"Kael..."
"What?"
"Your eyes."
Kael frowned.
"What about them?"
"They look..."
She hesitated.
"...empty."
Kael stared at her.
For some reason, her words frightened him.
He turned toward a nearby soldier.
"Do you have a mirror?"
The soldier nervously handed him one.
Kael looked at his reflection.
His gray eyes were exactly the same.
But something inside them was different.
He couldn't identify what.
Then the voice returned.
[Warning.]
Kael's expression hardened.
"Explain."
[Absolute Authority has been used.]
[Existence-level alteration detected.]
[Cost has been collected.]
Kael's heart stopped.
"Cost?"
[Emotional attribute removed.]
The world seemed to become colder.
"What did you take?"
The system remained silent for several seconds.
Then—
[Fear.]
Kael stared at the message.
"Fear?"
[You can no longer experience fear.]
Kael looked toward the enormous battlefield.
The dead.
The destruction.
The Demon King's remains.
Nothing frightened him.
Not even slightly.
He slowly clenched his fist.
"So that's the price."
Liora looked at him.
"What price?"
Kael didn't answer.
The Demon King suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned toward him.
His body was covered in wounds, but somehow he was still alive.
"You finally understand."
Kael looked at him.
"Understand what?"
The Demon King smiled.
"Your power isn't free."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know?"
"Because..."
The Demon King coughed blood.
"...your kind existed before."
The battlefield became silent again.
Kael stepped forward.
"What do you mean?"
The Demon King looked directly into his eyes.
"Long ago, another being possessed the Absolute Authority."
Kael froze.
"What happened to him?"
The Demon King smiled.
"He became God."
Kael waited.
"And then?"
The Demon King's smile disappeared.
"He became nothing."
Kael's expression darkened.
Before he could ask another question—
the Demon King's body began to dissolve.
Kael raised his hand.
"I can stop this."
Liora grabbed his wrist.
"No."
Kael looked at her.
"I can save him."
"I know."
"Then let go."
Liora shook her head.
"You're already losing something."
Kael stared at her.
She whispered:
"I don't know what it is yet."
"But I don't want you to lose anything else."
For the first time since awakening—
Kael hesitated.
The Demon King looked at them.
Then he laughed.
"Interesting."
His body disappeared into ash.
But his final words remained.
"The gods are coming."
That night, Kael sat alone on the academy roof.
The capital had survived.
The people were celebrating.
They called him a hero.
A god.
A monster.
Kael didn't care.
He stared at the moon.
"Fear..."
He tried to remember what fear felt like.
Nothing.
He imagined standing before death.
Nothing.
He imagined losing everything.
Nothing.
Then he imagined Liora dying.
For the first time, something stirred inside him.
Not fear.
Something worse.
A strange emptiness.
Kael stood.
"I won't let that happen."
The black mark on his palm began glowing.
[New ability unlocked.]
[Absolute Creation.]
Kael looked at the message.
He could create anything.
Weapons.
Worlds.
Life.
Even another universe.
But beneath the ability was another message.
[Warning: Creation requires a greater price.]
Kael closed his fist.
"Then I won't use it."
A voice came from behind him.
"Good."
Kael turned.
An old man stood beneath the moonlight.
He wore a white robe covered in golden symbols.
Kael had never seen him before.
"Who are you?"
The old man smiled.
"My name is irrelevant."
He looked at Kael's palm.
"But I know what you are."
Kael's expression became cold.
"Then speak."
The old man raised his head toward the stars.
"You are not the One Above All."
Kael said nothing.
The old man smiled.
"You're merely the successor."
The stars suddenly began disappearing.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Something enormous was approaching from beyond the universe.
Kael looked upward.
For the first time, he couldn't see its end.
The old man whispered:
"Your predecessor is coming."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
The old man answered:
"Because you awakened."
A massive eye opened beyond the stars.
The universe trembled.
And Kael heard a voice.
A voice that sounded exactly like his own.
"Give me back my throne."
Kael smiled.
This time, there was no fear.
Only determination.
"Come and take it."
The heavens shattered.
TO BE CONTINUED...