Yuki fell to her knees as the light of noon began to filtered through the trees, painting long shadows across the charred earth. The vilge y in ruins, its vibrant life stilled by the destruction that had swept through it. Smoke curled zily into the morning air, carrying with it the faint scent of ash and despair. The gentle whisper of the wind danced between the broken branches and crumbled stones, an almost sacred stillness bnketing the nd. It was as though the earth itself grieved for what had been lost.
Her current form began to break down, the armor surrounding her body turning to mush as the wings and tendrils on her back fell apart. Her horns and halo also melting like tar.
Yuki’s body trembled, her strength drained not only by the battle but by the despair that now consumed her. She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay grounded, but the overwhelming sorrow threatened to pull her under. The memories of the fight, of the lives lost, of the destruction she had been unable to prevent, all surged within her like a storm. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to breathe as her fingers dug into the earth beneath her. And then, as if the universe itself had waited for this moment, a notice fred to life before her eyes.
[Condition meet: You have gained the title Hero Killer]
[Conditions Achieved: "Quest: Kill The Hero & Members of the Light & Healing Church" Completed]
[Granting Rewards]
Her eyes flickered open, the faint glow of the system prompt cutting through the haze of her despair. For a moment, hope sparked within her, fragile and tentative. She stared at the glowing text, her mind tching onto it as though it were a lifeline. Whatever else had been lost, she had achieved something—completed a task that carried its own weight. Her lips parted as she waited, the moments stretching into what felt like an eternity.
[Granting Rewards; Information On The Soul]
[Receiving Information Package]
Suddenly, pain. It was unlike anything Yuki had ever experienced. She colpsed forward, her hands clutching her head as a flood of knowledge poured into her mind. The information came all at once, a torrent so overwhelming that she couldn’t scream, couldn’t think, couldn’t even move. Every fragment of her being felt as though it were splitting apart under the pressure. Her vision blurred, her senses dulled, and for several long minutes, she y motionless on the ground, a prisoner to the unbearable deluge of knowledge.
When it finally subsided, she gasped for air, her body trembling violently. Her hands remained pressed to her head, her thoughts disjointed and fragmented. Slowly, painfully, the pieces began to fall into pce. The overload had been excruciating, but the crity it brought was undeniable. Her mind buzzed with new understanding, new possibilities, and a revetion so profound that it brought tears to her eyes.
The being had not been lying. The information she had received was real, tangible, and powerful. A grin spread across her face despite the tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt her heart race, a mixture of etion and disbelief coursing through her veins. She didn’t even gnce at the other notifications; the gift she had just received was all that mattered. Clutching the ground beneath her, she let out a shaky ugh, a sound that was equal parts relief and defiance.
Yuki let a smile cross her lips as she activated [Void Resonance TII] and [Harvest TII]. Her face cracked and splintered before spreading across the rest of her body like an old antique doll breaking down after years of abuse before the vicious bck ooze she has become so familiar with began to ooze from her body starting with her eyes, move and then her cracks before it began to fall onto the floor and spread across the remains of the battle field. Her bck ooze spread and covered the battle field before spreading and covering the corpses that where spread across its surface. Leaving only one body untouched before her. Yuki brought the lone corpse of a wood elf towards herself before allowing herself a small grateful smile as she brought the corpse closer to her chest.
Even though Yuki hadn't realized it before but she really did love Lirien something she now knows she realized it to te. "I'll bring you back... My dear Lirien," she said before allowing the void to consume the corpse before her. She had the answer now and she would see her goals to completion. The revival of Lirien, there exploration of Lumea Mortii and there return home.
Hours trickled by in retive peace, though the air felt heavy with unspoken grief. The vilgers moved through the ruins of their lives with quiet determination, their steps slow and deliberate as they carried the wounded to makeshift shelters and sifted through the rubble for anything salvageable. The quiet was unnerving, a stark contrast to the deafening chaos of the battle that had raged mere hours before. The silence now felt less like tranquility and more like the solemn hush of a graveyard, the weight of loss pressing down on every soul.
Yuki had found a corner of the devastated vilge to rest, tucking herself away against the remnants of a stone wall that still bore scorch marks and cracks from the earlier destruction. Her body ached in ways she couldn’t fully articute—not just the physical exhaustion from the fight but the lingering echoes of the overwhelming flood of information forced into her mind. Every nerve felt raw, every thought too loud. She leaned back against the cool stone, her eyes closed as if shutting out the world could help her make sense of it all.
At her feet y a small pile of items gathered from the aftermath of the battle: armor stripped from the padins, a broken clock, and several bags of coins scavenged from the attackers. Yet her attention wasn’t on those things. Her fingers absently turned the hilt of a sword—a bde she had taken from Hakura’s remains. Beside it, a ring glinted faintly in the muted light, another token from what had been left behind after she’d consumed Hakura’s corpse.
The sword felt foreign in her hands. She traced its edge with her fingers, careful not to cut herself, noting the faint hum of enchantments etched into its surface. The magic embedded within it called to her in a strange, distant way, like a song sung in a nguage she didn’t yet understand. The ring was no different; it radiated mana, and the runes covering its surface where undeniable. Yuki turned it over in her hand, studying the intricate patterns carved into the metal. It was beautiful and otherworldly, and though she could feel the energy coursing through it, she had no idea what it did—or how to use it.
Her gaze shifted to the sword’s polished surface, catching her own reflection in its steel. The face staring back at her didn’t feel like hers. The porcein skin, the glowing violet eyes—they belonged to someone else, someone she still struggled to recognize. She tilted the bde slightly, watching as the image distorted, as if mocking her. Who am I now? I'm I still me? Or Have I Become Someone Else The question lingered in her mind, unspoken but insistent.
Her thoughts drifted to Hakura. The image of her friend—her best friend—fshed before her eyes, now mingled with the memory of Hakura’s bde striking down someone Yuki had barely begun to know but had cared for deeply. A lump rose in her throat, and her grip on the sword tightened.
“I hate you,” she whispered under her breath, the words sharp and bitter. She wasn’t even sure if she meant them. Anger bubbled beneath the surface, tangled with grief and guilt. Hakura had killed her new friend, her… crush? The word lingered awkwardly in her mind, unfamiliar and raw. Yuki bit her lip, her emotions roiling like a storm she couldn’t control. She wanted to bme Hakura, to let the hatred consume her, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t fair. Hakura hadn’t acted out of malice.
No, the bme didn’t lie with her. It y with the Church of Lumina—the true orchestrators of this tragedy. It was their twisted ideology, their merciless crusade, that had forced Hakura’s hand. Yuki’s nails bit into her palms as the memories of the Church’s actions surfaced, each one feeding the growing fme of her resentment.
Her shoulders slumped, the anger giving way to exhaustion once more. “It wasn’t your fault,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. But the words felt hollow, as though she wasn’t sure if she believed them.
Yuki then opened her status;
Name: —Soul Name: —Race: Void-Infected Human (Intermediate) (King)Ascension: 2Status: Disaster
Attributes:
Vigor: 2960/2960+10%+200%
Magic: 1930+10%+200%
Strength: 1790/1790+10%+200%
Spirit: 2115/2115+10%+200%
Skills:
Uncommon:[Swordsmanship TI]: Increases proficiency and effectiveness with swords, enhancing speed and precision in combat.[Lancesmanship TI]: Boosts skill with polearms, improving range, thrusting speed, and accuracy.[Makeshift Weapons User TI]: Grants expertise in using improvised or unconventional weapons, making them more effective in combat.
Rare:[Foreign Energy Absorption TI]: Absorbs external energy sources, converting them into usable mana.[Conversion TII]: Allows for the Conversion of stats from one to another to replenish energy levels for a specific stat quickly.[Overwhelmed TI]: Increases stats by a percentage based on the difference between current and maximum energy reserves, with a 5% increase for every 10% difference.[Detection TI]: Detects entities and traps in a wide area but risks sensory overload, mana drain, and increased vulnerability.[Kin Control TI]: Allows the user to exert control over lesser kin of the species, maniputing their actions and movement to some extent through Retion to the user.[Smite TI]: Allows for the use of holy power to all down a pilr of holy light from high heaven.[Holy Shield TI]: Grants 20% resistance to blunt damage and 50% to all sources of negative energy. Unique:[Void Resonance TII]: Grants control over void energy, amplifying void-based abilities while increasing risk of soul instability with prolonged use.[Harvest TII]: Extracts 40% of a dead target's stats and has a 30% chance to steal a skill, with a 5% chance for an additional skill, but causes soul instability from imbanced stat gains.[Survivor TII]: Boosts defensive stats by 50%, allows survival of fatal attacks every 12 hours, and restores 20% HP, but halves HP regeneration for 6 hours after activation.
Legendary:[Disaster: Four Paths]: Combination of the [Hero TI], [Infernal Lord TI], [Celestial TI], [King TI]. Upon activation this skill will activate one of both sub skill selections for and activate there effects. Skill Activation Time One Hour, Skill Cooldown 4 Hours.
Traits:
Passive F: [Alert TI]Passive D: [Cooperation TI]Passive B: [Shadow Affinity TI], [Earth Affinity TI], [Holy Affinity TI]Passive A: [Survivor T1], [Easily Forgotten TI], [Mana Overflow TI], [Ether Overflow TI], [Death Faded TI], [Touched by the Void TI]Passive S: [Soul Damage TIII], [Four Paths]Passive X: [Void Infection TII], [Soul Circuits Internal Break TII], [Soul Fracture TI]Titles:Moniker Titles: [Hero Of Monsters]Achievement Titles: [Overcoming],[First King], [Hero Killer]Syer Titles: [Wolf Syer], [Beast Syer]Css-Based Titles: [World Css Holder]Curse Titles: [Touched by the Void], [Death Faded]Unique Titles: [System Survivor], [Mortal Celestial]Fate Titles: [Discarded], [Survivor], [Follower of K■■■■ Y■■■■■]World Titles: [Summoned Hero], [Forgotten One], [Anomaly], [Disaster, Four Paths]
Her shoulders slumped, the anger giving way to exhaustion once more. “It wasn’t your fault,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. But the words felt hollow, as though she wasn’t sure if she believed them.
Yuki then opened her status.
The numbers danced before her eyes, a reflection of her increasing strength, both in mind and body. Her Vigor had surged to 2960, the physical endurance and stamina she had developed since arriving in this world becoming more evident by the day. Magic now pulsed at 1930, and she could feel the flow of arcane energy inside her, ready to be harnessed. Strength, too, had grown to an impressive 1790, and Spirit had surged to 2115, a sure sign that she was adapting to the weight of the abilities she carried. The boost to her stats felt like an awakening, each number an acknowledgment of her growing power. But it was the new addition to her race type, the biggest reason in her sudden surge of power—King—that caught her attention the most. A 200% increase to her stats. In addition to her 10% increase from intermediate Yuki wondered what her current stats where however did not wish to do that math.
Yuki turned her mind towards her newest skill "Disaster: Four Paths". It's description called it a combination of the skills [Hero TI], [Infernal TI], [Celestial TI], and [King TI]. A skill with the promise of chaos or order depending on your path taken... Yeah Yuki had no idea what it meant by that st bit of description. But as Yuki kept reading, 4 system windows then opened up in front of her. All of them info on the paths for the disaster skill.
Looking at the skill, Yuki's mind already began to run through the implications of each. The Path of the Hero was a tempting option—boosting both her and her allies’ stats, but she didn’t think she could be able to trust anyone enough to rely on them. She would likely have to work alone, and the thought of being a leader was more responsibility than she cared for. The Path of the Celestial was another possibility, granting resistance to status ailments and constant regeneration, but she wasn’t interested in being untouchable. She didn’t need to be wrapped in a protective bubble; she wanted the power to shape her fate. The Path of the Infernal, however, immediately grabbed her attention. Doubling her damage based on missing health, while weakening her enemies, sounded far more useful to her. It was savage, brutal, and she could feel the rush of power it promised. Yuki then gnced at the final Path, the King Path. The boost in power was tempting, but once again Yuki didn't think she could rely on others for a while. She would focus on her own strength so NOTHING could be taken from her again.
With a deep breath, Yuki allowed herself a moment of calm before stepping forward. She knew the path would not be easy, but it was the only way forward. The skills, the strength, the new power coursing through her—she would learn to control it, to wield it without losing herself.
She let the weight of her decision settle into her chest, the burden of kingship, of her future, of the path she was about to take.
As the sun climbed higher, Yuki rose to her feet, equipped the cloak and chest pte before taking the sword she gathered from Hakura and seethed it into its saber before pcing the ring onto her finger. She grabbed a bag with her essential items, took a final look at the vilge, and began to make her way toward the edge of town. Her footsteps were soft, barely audible over the gentle breeze.
She stopped when she saw the elder standing at the forefront, his silhouette framed by the pale light. He stood tall despite the grief that weighed on him, his shoulders squared with a dignity that belied his age. His weathered face, lined with years of hardship and leadership, was softer now, touched by the quiet sorrow they all shared. Yuki walked toward him, her steps firm, and nodded in acknowledgment, knowing the journey ahead would test her in ways she couldn’t yet fathom. But she would face it head-on. She had no other choice.
His hands, gnarled and calloused, were csped in front of him. The gesture could have been a prayer, a blessing, or simply a way to steady himself. When his gaze met Yuki’s, something unspoken passed between them. It was an understanding, a bond forged not by words but by shared sacrifice. Yuki felt the weight of it settle on her, an invisible thread tying her to the vilge and its people.
Behind the elder, the vilgers stood in a loose formation. Some leaned heavily on crutches, their injuries a testament to the brutal fight they had endured. Others supported their loved ones, their arms wrapped around trembling figures. Children peered out from behind their parents, their wide eyes filled with a mixture of fear and awe. They did not speak, but their gazes spoke volumes. Yuki felt their gratitude, their sorrow, and their hope, all mingling in a way that was almost unbearable.
A small goblin child stepped forward, clutching a bundle of herbs and a crude wooden figurine. His steps were hesitant, his small hands trembling as he approached. The figurine, a tiny goblin warrior, was roughly carved but endearing in its simplicity. The child held it out to Yuki, his eyes wide and watery. She knelt down, her expression softening as she accepted the gift. The herbs carried a faint, earthy scent, and the figurine felt rough against her fingers. It was a gesture of thanks, a token of gratitude from someone who had nothing else to give.
“Thank you,” Yuki murmured, her voice barely audible. She felt a lump rise in her throat, the weight of the moment pressing heavily on her chest. The child’s bravery, his innocence in the face of such devastation, struck her deeply. She pced a gentle hand on his head, offering a small smile despite the tears welling in her eyes.
The elder stepped forward then, his voice steady despite the emotion that thickened it. “We will never forget what you’ve done for us,” he said. “You saved us, even when you didn’t have to. You gave us a chance to rebuild.”
Yuki’s breath hitched, and she fought to keep her composure. “I didn’t save everyone,” she replied softly, her gaze dropping to the ground. “There was so much loss… so much I couldn’t prevent.”
The elder pced a hand on her shoulder, his grip firm but kind. “You did what no one else could. That is enough.”
She nodded, though the weight of his words felt almost too much to bear. With a final gnce at the vilgers, Yuki turned away. Her steps were slow, each one feeling heavier than the st. The path ahead was uncertain, but it was the only one she could take. As she disappeared into the forest, the vilge behind her grew silent once more, its fragile hope left to bloom in her absence.
Yuki walked deeper into the woods, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. The faces of the vilgers, the elder’s words, and the weight of her new knowledge all swirled within her. She clenched her fists, her resolve hardening. There was still so much to do, so much to learn, and so many battles yet to fight. The journey was far from over, but for the first time in a long while, she felt a spark of determination. She would carry their hopes with her, no matter where the road led.
Hours slipped by as Yuki traveled, the ndscape around her slowly transforming with each step. The towering trees, once thick and unyielding, began to thin, their branches sparser as the nd sloped downward toward a great cliff. The air grew cooler, and the whisper of the wind through the branches was joined by the faintest hint of rain, carried on the breeze. Yuki’s violet eyes scanned the horizon, a faraway look in them as the expanse of the world below beckoned her.
The earth beneath her feet felt different now, more uneven, as the ground fell away toward the edge of the precipice. She stopped for a moment at the cliff's edge, her gaze drifting over the jagged terrain that stretched out below her. The sheer drop into the valley below was dizzying, the trees at the base of the cliff thick and impenetrable. Yet something about the view called to her, as if inviting her to step into the unknown.
But then, her sharp eyes caught movement below.
In the distance, a skirmish was unfolding—an eruption of chaos in the otherwise tranquil ndscape. Her gaze narrowed, focusing intently on the scene below. There were soldiers, a disciplined line of them, their armor gleaming under the pale light of the setting sun. Swords fshed as they cshed with a group of bandits, their ragged attire and wild expressions standing in stark contrast to the soldiers’ methodical approach. The bandits seemed relentless, each one charging forward with ferocity, their eyes filled with desperation. Behind the soldiers, mages stood with their hands raised, their fingers weaving intricate patterns in the air. Glowing light crackled from their hands, spinning into eborate spells that smmed into the attackers with blinding force.
A group of merchants—fifty, maybe sixty—huddled together at the back of the fray, their faces pale with fear, eyes darting from one direction to another as if searching for a way out. Yuki could hear the distant shouts, the csh of steel on steel, and the surge of magical energy that seemed to fill the air with an electric tension.
Yuki remained still, watching the battle unfold with a quiet detachment. Her mind noted the soldiers’ disciplined formations, the mages’ rapid incantations, the way they held the line even as the bandits surged forward, eager to break through. It was clear that the soldiers were trained, and the mages powerful, but there was a desperation to the scene—an urgency that indicated the battle was far from won. Even with their unity, the bandits were proving difficult to fend off, and Yuki could see that the merchants were edging dangerously close to the fray, their protectors too preoccupied with the attack to focus on their safety.
As her eyes traced the movements of the combatants, Yuki's lips parted, a small, bitter ugh escaping her. The sound was almost like a curse, low and mirthless.
"This is almost too cliché," she muttered to herself, her voice a quiet whisper against the roar of the battle below. She stood there, watching, a detached observer in a world full of chaos. “A band of ragtag bandits attacking defenseless merchants, and here I am—another wandering soul with the opportunity to come in like there savior.” She finished with a shy.
"But such a thing could come with some good information." She sighed and jumped down she might not like the humans of this world already from her current interactions with the church but the possibility of info was to important to pass up.
Kiera_Yanagi
