Chapter 430
Not merely wisdom.
Not merely strength.
Not merely knowledge.
But conviction.
A conviction so deep, so absolute, so total that Alaric seemed to hold not the slightest doubt that Xavier could accomplish what he was about to ask of him.
A conviction that made Xavier—though his body was still weak, though his mind was still in turmoil, though his heart was still shattered by the deaths of everyone he loved—suddenly feel that perhaps, just perhaps, there was something he could do.
Perhaps, just perhaps, all this tragedy was not the end of everything.
Perhaps, just perhaps, there was a reason why he was still alive while the others had died.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this was the moment for him to stop being a victim and begin becoming something else.
It is time, Xavier.
Alaric's voice sounded so close, so deep, so piercing that it reached the most hidden depths of his soul.
It is time for you to finish what your father began.
It is time for you to reclaim what is rightfully yours.
It is time for you to show the world, to the Obrim Dynasty, to Queen Xavier XVI who betrayed her own blood, that the blood of Xavier has never truly died.
That it has merely been sleeping, waiting for the right moment to awaken.
That it has only been hiding, waiting for the call to fight once more.
That it has only been holding its breath, waiting for a new breath to blow it back into the world with multiplied strength.
Your father, Xavier XV, died with the hope that one day you would grow up and return to reclaim what belongs to you.
He died with the belief that his blood—your blood—would never truly vanish.
He died with a prayer upon his lips, praying that you would survive, that you would be strong, that you would be ready when the time came.
And that time has come, Xavier.
Perhaps you feel unprepared.
Perhaps you feel too weak.
Perhaps you feel that all of this is too heavy for your young shoulders.
But believe me—you are more prepared than you think.
You are stronger than you know.
Because within you, since the moment you were born, something has already been planted that ordinary people do not possess.
Not only the Authority of Perception Alteration.
Not only the five elements.
Not only the royal blood flowing through your veins.
But something beyond all of that.
A legacy of resolve.
A legacy of courage.
A legacy of love so great for justice that you would be willing to die to defend it.
All of that is the inheritance of your father, of your grandfather, of your ancestors who ruled wisely for thousands of years.
All of that is a part of you—just like your hands and your feet, just like your heart and your lungs.
And now, after everything you have experienced, after all the suffering you have endured, after all the deaths you have witnessed, it is time for you to draw that inheritance from within yourself and use it for what it was meant for.
"I am Xavier XVII. And this is my awakening!!"
And like a dream suddenly shattered by the jolt of waking, time began to move again.
The air that a moment ago had frozen in supernatural silence suddenly rustled with motion returning to normal.
The soldiers of the Obrim Dynasty who had been frozen in terrifying poses suddenly came back to life.
Their eyes blinked.
Their breaths resumed.
Their awareness flowed again like water bursting through a broken dam.
And above all of that, the broad sword that had hung motionless in the air a moment ago resumed the movement it had been forced to stop.
It descended at full speed, with full strength, with the full intention of separating Xavier's head from his body still drenched in the blood of his friends.
Xavier, still kneeling with his head lowered, still feeling the warmth of Alaric's palm on his shoulder even though the old man had already vanished, still overwhelmed by thousands of thoughts about thrones and legacies and betrayals, could only surrender himself to the approaching blade.
Yet that blade never touched his neck.
Because in that very second—when the sword was only an inch away from the skin of his neck, dirty with dust and blood—something happened.
Something no one expected.
Not even Xavier himself.
From within his body, from the center of his chest—from the place where the golden-yellow warmth had long resided—an immense power suddenly exploded outward.
Not an ordinary explosion.
Not an explosion that human logic could explain.
But an eruption that felt like a volcano suddenly bursting after sleeping for thousands of years.
Like an ocean suddenly rising to swallow the land.
Like the sky collapsing and crashing down upon the earth.
That wave of power burst out from Xavier's body at unimaginable speed, slamming into the soldiers around him like a category-five storm.
The armored bodies were thrown backward, tumbling and rolling across the ground like rag dolls tossed by an angry child.
Swords flew from their grips.
Spears snapped into pieces.
Shields bent and shattered.
And in the middle of that chaos, from within the swirling explosion, a light burst out from Xavier's body and shot straight toward the sky.
The light was so bright, so pure, so majestic.
Its color was golden yellow—exactly like the one he had seen in his dreams, exactly like the one shining in Alaric's eyes, exactly like the one that had long resided within his chest without him realizing it.
The light pierced through the layers of gray clouds that had covered the sky for days, tearing through them like a giant arrow, and continued rising—higher and higher—until it vanished somewhere in the endless heavens.
And for a moment—for one second that felt like eternity—the entire battlefield fell silent.
Not silent because time had stopped again.
But silent because everyone—the soldiers thrown away by the blast, the soldiers still standing in the distance, the refugees hiding behind broken carts—were all frozen by what they had just witnessed.
They did not understand what had happened.
They did not know what power had just erupted before their eyes.
They could only stare in shock at the source of that explosion—at the boy still kneeling in a pool of blood with his head lowered.
But Xavier was no longer the same.
Within his body, something was flowing.
Something he had never felt before.
A new circulation of power began to operate, flowing from the center of his chest to every corner of his body, reaching the tips of his toes and fingers, entering every cell, every muscle, every bone.
The Authority of Perception Alteration began to activate, changing the way he saw the reality around him, allowing him to perceive things that ordinary eyes had never been able to see.
The five elements began to awaken one by one, roaring within his blood like a storming ocean.
Fire licked at his solar plexus, granting him blazing warmth.
Water flowed through his veins like an underground river that never dried.
Earth crept through his bones, granting him unshakable solidity.
Air whispered within his lungs, granting him boundless freedom.
And cosmic energy—the fifth and most mysterious element—began to whisper at the edge of his consciousness, revealing secrets of the universe long hidden from ordinary humans.
The six powers rotated within a perfect circulation, strengthening one another, supporting one another, completing one another, creating a symphony of power unlike anything that had ever existed before.
And when that circulation reached its peak, when the six powers merged in perfect harmony, when everything was ready to be unleashed, a second explosion was born.
To be continued…