BONG…
BONG…
BONG…
The resonant, deep tolling of the bronze bell shattered the tranquil silence of the early morning mist.
Faint dawn light filtered through the cracks of the wooden window, illuminating the small room of the convent.
The moment he heard the morning bell, Shin instantly snapped his eyes open and bolted upright, driven by the defensive instincts of a child raised in a wasteland.
He glanced at the two adjacent beds, where Kento and Loona were still groggy, curled up warm inside their blankets.
Shin stepped over and gently shook his siblings awake.
— “Kento, Loona, wake up quickly.
This place isn’t like the junkyard; we have to follow a schedule.”
Though not fully awake, the three siblings reminded each other to neatly and tidily fold their blankets and pillows.
Just then, Sister Clara pushed the door open, wearing her usual gentle smile.
She led them to wash up, then thoughtfully prepared new clothes for the three children.
They were simple but perfectly clean habits, faintly carrying the scent of sun-dried flora—a complete replacement for the tattered rags previously stained with blood and grime.
Stepping into the convent courtyard for morning exercises, Shin realized they weren’t the only children there.
Roughly ten other kids of various ages, both boys and girls, were lining up neatly.
After a few light stretches, everyone transitioned into early morning prayer.
For the first time in their lives, Shin and his siblings were introduced to the concept of religion and a supreme Lord who protects all creation—luxuries that were utterly non-existent in the brutal Dark Zone junkyard.
As the service concluded, Sister Clara led the children to the grand dining hall, where the other sisters had laid out a steaming breakfast.
The aroma of fresh soup and freshly baked bread made the three children’s stomachs growl loudly.
— “Wow!
The food is so delicious, Brother Shin!” Loona’s eyes sparkled, marveling in awe as she ate.
— “Eat slowly, no one is going to take it from you.” Shin lightly tapped his sister’s head, scolding her, though his eyes were full of absolute doting affection.
Beside them, Kento silently ate with his head down, uttering not a single word.
His mind seemed to still be trapped in yesterday’s battle.
Standing nearby, Sister Clara smiled and warmly ladled more soup for the three children:
— “There’s plenty of food left, everyone, so please eat as much as you like!”
Meeting the Leaders
After breakfast, Sister Clara led Shin and his siblings across a long stone corridor to the office of the convent’s leadership.
There, seated behind a massive oak desk, were the two most powerful figures of the sanctuary: the Priest and the Mother Superior.
The Priest possessed hair as white as snow, which could easily mislead people into thinking he was very old, but his sharp face and piercing gaze made it clear he was only in a robust, vigorous middle age.
Beside him sat the Mother Superior, whose brilliant golden hair exuded an aura of strictness yet profound benevolence.
— “Welcome, you three.
I am Priest Malachi.
And this is Mother Superior Agatha,” Priest Malachi spoke gently.
— “Greetings, my children,” Mother Superior Agatha gave a slight nod, offering a kind smile.
After a few pleasantries, Priest Malachi immediately cut straight to the core matter.
His eyes turned solemn as he stared intently at the three children.
From Sister Clara’s account the previous night, he knew their background was anything but simple.
— “Clara told us about finding you in that dark alley late last night,” the Priest spoke in a low tone.
“We do not care for beating around the bush.
Tell me, where do you come from?
Why have you appeared in a town as secluded as this?”
Hearing this, the atmosphere abruptly turned heavy.
A profound sorrow etched itself onto Shin’s face.
Clenching his fists, he recounted honestly:
— “Yes, Father…
My siblings and I were teleported to a green plain in the distance.
After that, we just kept running along the dirt trail until we reached this town.”
Priest Malachi and Mother Superior Agatha instantly exchanged glances, a flash of astonishment surfacing in their eyes.
— “Teleported?” Malachi pressed on.
“Then who was the one who teleported you here?
And before arriving here, where was your home?”
— “It was…
our adoptive grandfather,” Shin bit his lip.
“As for the place we lived before…
it was the Dark Zone.”
SLAM!
Mother Superior Agatha instinctively bolted upright, her wooden chair clattering against the wall.
The complexions of both the Priest and the Mother Superior shifted drastically.
The Dark Zone?
This place was located an entire hemisphere away from the Dark Zone!
The ability to execute spatial teleportation over such a macroscopic distance…
was absolutely not something an ordinary person could achieve.
It required a gargantuan, unimaginable amount of Sophion!
— “Your grandfather…
what is his name?” Priest Malachi’s voice lost its composed demeanor as he demanded urgently.
“What name does he bear to possess such terrifying spatial mastery capable of warping reality across hemispheres?!”
Shin took a deep breath and answered clearly:
— “My grandfather’s name is…
Kuroko Akaisin.”
— “WHAT?!!!”
The entire office erupted into a shockwave of disbelief.
Mother Superior Agatha and Sister Clara shrieked in unison, covering their mouths with their hands, unable to believe their ears:
— “Akaisin?!
The adoptive grandfather of you three…
is Akaisin?!”
Priest Malachi leaned back into his chair, his trembling hands intertwining as he muttered in utter bewilderment: New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
— “Akaisin…
One of the legendary paragons from the Genesis Generation?
Then…
what reason could compel a supreme existence like him to employ a forbidden art to teleport you three all the way here?”
Remembering the image of his grandfather standing alone against two monsters, blood streaming down his face yet still turning back to smile at him, Shin’s heart tightened.
The teenager’s eyes welled with tears, his voice choking with agonizing grief:
— “I think…
he is gone!
A psychopath appeared out of nowhere and attacked my sister Loona and my brother Kento.
My grandfather had to step forward to battle those men…
In the end, he expended every last drop of his remaining strength to teleport us away, giving us a path to survive…”
Beside him, Kento could no longer restrain himself.
Lifting his resentful face, he wailed through his tears:
— “What did we even do wrong?!
Why are they so cruel that they had to tear our family apart?!”
Witnessing the heartbreaking sorrow of the three children, Priest Malachi let out a long, regretful sigh.
Standing up, he walked over and placed his hands on the heads of the three siblings, his voice brimming with a protective warmth:
— “Sigh…
Truly a tragic loss for a living legend of the previous era.
I fully understand your situation now.
Cry no more; rest assured and stay here.
From this day forward, this convent shall be your safe, shared home.
You have nothing more to fear.”
— “We…
thank you so much, Father!” The three siblings bowed in unison, their tears of gratitude splashing onto the stone floor.
Secrets Behind Closed Doors
Once the conversation concluded, Sister Clara quietly led the three children out of the room to return to the living quarters of the convent.
At this moment, only Priest Malachi and Mother Superior Agatha remained inside the office.
The gentle atmosphere from moments ago vanished instantly, replaced by a sinister, frighteningly chilling aura.
Standing by the window, Priest Malachi watched the departing backs of the three siblings through the glass pane, speaking slowly:
— “To think even someone like Akaisin has fallen…
When will this generation of blood and slaughter finally come to an end?”
Mother Superior Agatha stepped closer, her golden eyes completely devoid of emotion as she replied coldly:
— “On the path of vying for ultimate power, even a grandmaster cannot escape the destiny of being purged.
That is the immutable law.”
She paused for a moment, her eyes flashing with a razor-sharp glint as her tone shifted:
— “As for tonight’s operation…
how are the preparations coming along?”
Priest Malachi smirked slightly, revealing a dark, mysterious facet completely detached from his benevolent morning persona:
— “A target has been acquired.
The plan proceeds as scheduled.”
— “Very well, I understand.” Agatha turned and walked away with chilling indifference.
Thirst for Knowledge and Strength
Meanwhile, as they traversed the convent’s corridors, Loona suddenly halted her steps before a large room.
The door stood ajar, revealing thousands of rich volumes stacked neatly on wooden shelves that reached the ceiling.
The thirteen-year-old girl’s eyes instantly ignited with curiosity and excitement.
She tugged at Sister Clara’s sleeve:
— “Wow!
So many books, Sister Clara!
Look over there, there are even journals detailing technology and machinery!
I love them so much.
Are there any other books related to this field inside?”
Surprised by the young girl’s peculiar interest, Sister Clara chuckled softly:
— “Oh, so you like technology?
Alright, let me take you inside to see if we can find any more!”
The two stepped into the library.
Loona was like a little bird finding its nest; she eagerly gathered a stack of books spanning various fields of technology, mechanics, and structural blueprints.
Plopping down onto the floor, she immersed herself in reading, completely oblivious to her surroundings.
Seeing this, Sister Clara smiled and excused herself to head out to the vegetable garden behind the convent to assist the others with farming.
While the courtyard atmosphere outside was dyed in somber tones, inside the library filled with the crisp scent of new paper, Loona was like a fish in water.
The terror and exhaustion of their flight seemed temporarily dispelled behind the fragrant pages.
Not limiting herself to the elementary mechanical and technological books she started with, Loona’s sharp eyes began scanning other shelves.
She enthusiastically pulled down documents ranging from Biology and Chemistry to various other natural sciences.
From the most fundamental concepts of cellular structure and standard chemical reactions to advanced theories on genetic modification and complex energy compounds.
This room packed with knowledge was nothing short of an invaluable treasure trove.
Clutching a towering stack of books, she sat in a corner of the wooden floor, her eyes wide as she voraciously absorbed every single line like a sponge soaking up water.
The raw fascination and excitement radiating from her small face allowed her to temporarily forget the cruel reality waiting outside.
An Enigmatic Encounter
In another deserted corner of the courtyard, only Shin and Kento sat together beneath the shade of an ancient tree.
A prolonged silence stretched between them until Kento suddenly clenched his hands into tight fists, slamming them hard against the rugged tree trunk.
The fourteen-year-old boy’s face contorted with pain and unwillingness as he gritted his teeth and growled low:
— “Damn it…
Why must it be like this?!
Because of those miserable bastards, we lost grandfather!
Brother Shin…
I was too naive before!
But this world has no room for the weak!”
Shin silently observed his younger brother.
He knew that the seeds of hatred and a burning thirst for strength had officially sprouted within Kento’s heart following yesterday’s tragedy.
And this peaceful life at the convent…
was likely nothing more than a fleeting lull before a far greater storm in the future.
In a corner of the convent courtyard, the whistling wind and dull, hollow thuds rang out repeatedly.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Kento was unleashing all the resentment, indignation, and helplessness locked within his heart onto the rough bark of the ancient tree.
The boy continuously delivered powerful punches and kicks using the techniques of Kyokushin Karate—the brutal, full-contact martial art he had trained in for so long.
Every single strike carried a ferocious shockwave of force that shook the branches above, as if he wanted to use the physical pain in his knuckles to paralyze the agonizing grief of losing his guardian.
Shin stood quietly to the side, watching his brother train like a madman, his own heart filled with a bitter ache.
Knowing Kento needed an outlet to release his emotions, he didn’t step in to stop him.
Spontaneously, Shin turned his head to scan the deserted courtyard.
Opposite them, beneath the shade of a stone colonnade, he noticed a figure who had been sitting there unnoticed.
It was a boy around their age, sitting with his knees hugged tightly to his chest.
His eyes stared blankly into the empty void, reflecting a dazed, strangely profound loneliness.
Driven by curiosity, Shin slowly crossed the wide courtyard, approaching the enigmatic boy.
As the distance closed, he offered a friendly smile, taking the initiative to break the icy atmosphere:
— “Hey, hello!
I’m a newcomer who just moved here last night with my siblings.
What are you doing out here all by yourself?”
The other boy didn’t move an inch.
The only sounds in the area were the rustling leaves and Kento’s distant striking.
He completely ignored Shin’s presence, his soulless eyes remaining glued to the ground.
— “…” The boy remained silent.
Met with indifference, Shin lightly scratched his head, feeling slightly awkward, but he didn’t lose heart.
Surviving in the Dark Zone had forged Shin a thick skin and remarkable patience.
He pressed on in a gentle voice:
— “Have you been at this convent for a long time?
You seem to be a person of few words.”
His only response was another prolonged silence.
Seeing that the other party was determined to remain mute, Shin decided to take the initiative to introduce himself first to build rapport:
— “My name is Shin.
What about you, what’s your name?
Let’s get to know each other.”
This time, perhaps because Shin’s persistence had chipped away at the ice in the boy’s heart, or perhaps because he simply didn’t want to be bothered further, the boy’s lips parted slightly, emitting a low, cold, and clipped tone:
— “Ling Mo.”
— “Oh, Ling Mo?
Your name sounds really unique!” Shin’s eyes lit up upon seeing the other expand the conversation, and he immediately followed up: “So, how old are you this year?”
— “Sixteen,” Ling Mo replied tersely, devoid of any superfluous emotion.
— “Really?!” Shin exclaimed in delight.
“You’re the same age as me!
I also just turned sixteen this year.
Looks like it’s fate.”
Shin took a sweeping look around.
Noticing that Ling Mo had been entirely isolated since morning, neither conversing nor joining the group of ten children during breakfast, he tilted his head and asked:
— “Do you…
not have any friends here?”
Ling Mo relapsed into his silent state.
His eyes blinked once, but he absolutely refused to answer.
— “…”
Shin saw right through the profound loneliness concealed beneath the cold exterior of his peer.
Smiling, he extended a warm hand toward Ling Mo, declaring resolutely:
— “Well, from now on, let’s be friends!
Old rules apply: silence means consent!”
Ling Mo cast a brief glance at the hand extended before him, then looked straight into Shin’s dark, resolute eyes, which were filled with absolute sincerity.
He neither nodded nor shook his head, continuing to maintain silence true to his nature.
— “…”
Knowing the boy had tacitly accepted under his “rule,” Shin let out a casual chuckle.
He turned around, pointing a finger toward the figure furiously hammering the tree trunk across the yard:
— “That’s Kento, my younger brother.
He’s going through some rough stuff right now, so he’s a little cranky.”
With that, Shin extended his hand once more, gesturing with enthusiastic invitation:
— “Come over and sit with us to clear your mind.
Sitting all by yourself in this dark corner forever isn’t good for you.
Let’s go!”
Ling Mo sat motionless for a moment.
His gaze followed the direction of Shin’s hand toward Kento, then shifted back to Shin.
After a brief period of deliberation, he slowly, deliberately extended his own hand, lightly placing it into Shin’s palm.
Beneath the gentle morning sun of the convent, Ling Mo stood up.
Step by step, he silently accompanied Shin across the courtyard, walking toward the training Kento.
A new destiny, an enigmatic friendship between children bearing the profound scars of the era, had officially commenced under this shared roof.
END OF CHAPTER 12