Journey to Become the Zenith

The Afterglow of a Slain King

Victor remained where he stood.

The cavern was still trembling faintly from the aftermath of the battle. Broken stone lay scattered like fallen stars. The immense body of the Void Tyrant Hydra was dissolving, its colossal frame unraveling into threads of mana that shimmered like drifting mist.

He did not move.

He simply stood there, breathing slowly, savoring the echo of it all.

That fight—

It had been real.

For the first time in ages, he had needed everything. Calculation. Instinct. Blood. Resolve. Even then, victory had not been guaranteed.

The uncertainty.

The edge between survival and death.

The thrill that once defined him in another lifetime—

He had almost forgotten it.

Back when he had been Anos, such exhilaration was common. Battle after battle. Challenge after challenge. But time had dulled that sensation.

Until now.

A faint smile touched his pale lips.

Then—

Something changed.

Victor’s golden eyes narrowed as he noticed the mana dispersing from the fading Hydra. Normally, when monsters died within a Dungeon, their mana returned to the Dungeon Core.

But this time—

It did not.

Instead, the drifting currents of mana shifted direction.

They flowed toward him.

Toward his scythe.

Diana, still manifested in weapon form, began absorbing the Hydra’s fading essence.

The cloak of red death energy that had enveloped Victor slowly dissolved, revealing his pallid face beneath.

Confusion replaced exhilaration.

”What happened? What is this, Diana?”

At the edge of the chamber, Clara stiffened.

She had been watching in stunned silence ever since he decapitated the Hydra. Now she saw him speaking—to no one.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered if the strain had finally broken him.

Then—

The scythe dissolved into black mist.

And where it had been—

A veiled woman now stood.

Cloaked in black.

Face hidden beneath shadowed fabric.

Long black hair fell like a river of ink down her back. Her red eyes gleamed faintly through the veil.

Clara’s breath caught.

She blinked once.

Twice.

Was exhaustion playing tricks on her mind?

Victor and Diana had sensed Clara’s presence since she stepped onto the floor.

But for now, they ignored her.

Diana spoke calmly.

”This is one of my skills, born from the legends that portray me as the Harvester of Souls. Any enemy who dies after you, my Master, use the technique where I drain your blood to strengthen myself—their soul, or rather their mana, is devoured by me. In doing so, both of us grow stronger. We each absorb a portion of the enemy’s mana. Do you not feel it, Master?”

Victor closed his eyes briefly.

He examined his internal reserves.

His mana capacity had increased.

Not dramatically.

But undeniably.

When he confirmed it, he said nothing.

He simply stared at the place where the Hydra had fallen.

”Master?”

Diana tilted her head slightly. Her voice held a trace of uncertainty.

Victor was not smiling.

Not smirking.

Not mocking the world with arrogant amusement.

He was quiet.

Still.

Clara watched him from the shadows of the cavern’s edge.

The ever-present overconfidence she had come to associate with him was gone. In its place—

Something else.

Something heavy.

For just a heartbeat, she felt it.

Sadness.

A weight deeper than battle fatigue.

As if the victory had stirred something older than this world.

Before she could fully grasp it—

Victor turned toward her.

And smiled.

Bright.

Easy.

The veiled woman beside him dissolved into mist, as though she had never existed at all.

Clara stood frozen.

Had she imagined it?

Had she truly seen a cloaked figure speaking with him?

Or was her mind finally unraveling after everything she had witnessed?

The only certainty she clung to—

Was that she had seen him kill a monster capable of destroying Fantom City.

And now even that felt surreal.

”Oh, you finally arrived, Clara. How about Lane? Where is she?”

The shift in atmosphere was jarring.

Victor’s tone was light again. Casual.

Diana, though now hidden within the void of his contract, felt the same confusion Clara did.

Clara didn’t respond.

She was still staring at him.

”Hello, Clara? Are you okay?”

There was the faintest hint of concern in his voice.

That snapped her out of it.

”What the hell was that?!” she burst out, stepping forward. ”Did you just kill a Void Tyrant Hydra?! Also, who was that person wearing a veil? Was that person even real? Did I just hallucinate everything?!”

The questions tumbled over one another—confusion, disbelief, fear, awe all woven together.

Victor raised his hands slightly, suppressing a laugh at her disoriented state.

”Calm down, alright? Everything you saw was real. Everything you said happened.”

”How?”

Her voice lowered.

Demanding.

”Okay,” he replied, folding his arms casually. ”I’ll answer all your questions after you tell me where Lane is. Alright?”

Clara inhaled sharply.

Forced herself to breathe.

In.

Out.

Again.

Control yourself.

”Lane is fine. I left her near the staircase on the upper floor. So, Victor—tell me what happened here.”

He nodded.

Then explained.

He told her how he cleared the floors below. How he encountered the Hydra. How he fought it. He mentioned that he possessed a weapon that could be summoned from the void.

But he did not speak of Diana.

Not once.

Clara listened carefully.

Now she understood something important.

She had gravely underestimated him.

But the veiled woman...

He never addressed her.

Which meant one of two things.

Either she had hallucinated—

Or he was hiding something.

Given what she had just witnessed, the second option felt far more likely.

Still, she said nothing.

If he chose not to reveal everything, that was his decision.

Her evaluation of him had shifted.

He was still overconfident.

Still violent.

Still scheming.

But now she understood.

There was substance behind the arrogance.

”So—any more questions?” Victor asked with a light smile, clearly unbothered by her suspicions.

Clara’s eyes narrowed slightly.

”Why do you want to be B-ranked? As the Guild Master said, with your power you could go straight to S-rank. Even Lane is of A-rank quality. So why go through all of this? Why B-rank? What are you scheming?”

The only thing this test had truly proven—

Was that he was someone she needed to watch even more closely.

Victor didn’t hesitate.

”I do want to be S-rank. Just not right now. Being B-rank is the best position for me at the moment. I don’t want to raise too much suspicion. Jumping to S-rank—or even A-rank—after the initial test is excessive. B-rank, on the other hand, is believable. Lane and I will simply be labeled as geniuses... instead of monsters.”

He said the last word lightly.

But Clara heard the weight beneath it.

”Why are you telling me all of this?” she pressed. ”Aren’t you worried I’ll tell others? Or reveal the real results of this test?”

Victor’s smile widened slightly.

”First off—even if you tell anyone else, we have the Guild Master on our side. Who do you think the other branches of the Adventurers Guild will believe? You—the secretary? Or Isabella—the Guild Master?”

He tilted his head faintly.

”Even with her... peculiar background, they would never suspect Isabella of doing something that requires more paperwork.”

Clara blinked despite herself.

He wasn’t wrong.

”And finally,” Victor added calmly, ”I don’t think you’ll do anything of the sort.”

Her jaw tightened.

”Are you threatening me?”

He raised an eyebrow.

”How does that sound like a threat to you?”

”....”

She couldn’t answer.

Because everything he said was logical.

And because deep down—

She knew she wouldn’t expose him.

There was no harm in them becoming B-ranked adventurers.

The only thing that unsettled her—

Was how completely he seemed in control of the situation.

”Any more questions?” he asked again.

”....”

”None? Alright then—let’s go pick Lane up and head to the Dungeon Core.”