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Journey to Become the Zenith

Chapter 169: The Valkyrie’s Questions · Oct 23, 2026

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Chapter List (490)

Page number / 10

151 Chapter 151: When Silence Carries Weight 2026-10-23
152 Chapter 152: A Missing Piece in the Game 2026-10-23
153 Chapter 153: Heat, Steel, and Unspoken Claims 2026-10-23
154 Chapter 154: Blood in the Trade Routes 2026-10-23
155 Chapter 155: A Hunt That Went Wrong 2026-10-23
156 Chapter 156: The Edge Before the Hunt 2026-10-23
157 Chapter 157: The Spear Chosen in Silence 2026-10-23
158 Chapter 158: Storm over the Grasslands 2026-10-23
159 Chapter 159: Spear Dance Beneath a Frozen Sky 2026-10-23
160 Chapter 160: The One Waiting Outside the Guild 2026-10-23
161 Chapter 161: The Queen’s Shadow 2026-10-23
162 Chapter 162: Bloodline Echoes 2026-10-23
163 Chapter 163: Shadows Beneath the Northern Lanterns 2026-10-23
164 Chapter 164: Kings Beneath the Shadows 2026-10-23
165 Chapter 165: The Blessing Hidden in Blood 2026-10-23
166 Chapter 166: A Bloodline Hidden in Ashes 2026-10-23
167 Chapter 167: Bloodlines and Hidden Thrones 2026-10-23
168 Chapter 168: The Blood Oath 2026-10-23
169 Chapter 169: The Valkyrie’s Questions 2026-10-23
170 Chapter 170: A Blade Between Loyalty and Ambition 2026-10-23
171 Chapter 171: Flames Beneath the Blade 2026-10-23
172 Chapter 172: Threads Beneath the Underworld 2026-10-23
173 Chapter 173: Hidden Pieces on the Board 2026-10-23
174 Chapter 174: Training the Subordinate 2026-10-23
175 Chapter 175: A Morning That Shook the Guild 2026-10-23
176 Chapter 176: The Price of a Favor 2026-10-23
177 Chapter 177: A Favor That Binds Fate 2026-10-23
178 Chapter 178: The Road Beyond the Walls 2026-10-23
179 Chapter 179: The Weight of a King’s Shadow 2026-10-23
180 Chapter 180: The Lesson Written in Pain 2026-10-23
181 Chapter 181: A Blade That Demands Blood 2026-10-23
182 Chapter 182: Strength Forged Through Exhaustion 2026-10-23
183 Chapter 183: Between Power and Temptation 2026-10-23
184 Chapter 184: A Path Divided Beneath the Same Sky 2026-10-23
185 Chapter 185: A Circle Tightens, Silence Breaks 2026-10-23
186 Chapter 186: A Storm of Voices, A Promise Made 2026-10-23
187 Chapter 187: Shadows Beneath the Academy 2026-10-23
188 Chapter 188: The Crown Hidden in Shadows 2026-10-23
189 Chapter 189: The Weight of a Warning 2026-10-23
190 Chapter 190: The Girl Who Followed Through Eternity 2026-10-23
191 Chapter 191: The Truth Beyond Reincarnation 2026-10-23
192 Chapter 192: The Chains Beyond Fate 2026-10-23
193 Chapter 193: The Chains Beyond Fate [Part-2] 2026-10-23
194 Chapter 194: The Beginning of the Trap 2026-10-23
195 Chapter 195: The Meaning of a Hero 2026-10-23
196 Chapter 196: The Dream Beyond Hypocrisy 2026-10-23
197 Chapter 197: The Road She Chose 2026-10-23
198 Chapter 198: Fangs Beneath the Dawn 2026-10-23
199 Chapter 199: Beneath the Quiet Mask 2026-10-23
200 Chapter 200: Encirclement 2026-10-23

The Valkyrie’s Questions

”Let’s shake on it.” Victor extended his hand that bore the fresh knife cut.

Seeing this, Eon knew what he needed to do.

Using the knife Victor handed him, he lightly cut the palm of his own right hand as well, and their hands clasped.

Blood touched blood.

A pact sealed.

The amber lamps trembled softly as if the fire itself bore witness.

Victor’s voice came low and final.

”The pact has been formed. Your life and everything else is now mine. If you breach this contract formed by blood, then expect to lose everything you have.”

Silence followed.

Not ordinary silence.

The kind that comes after fate changes shape.

Even the hardened men gathered along the chamber walls seemed unwilling to breathe too loudly.

Eon had not merely pledged service.

He had offered eternity.

And everyone present knew it.

Lane’s dark eyes lingered on Victor with something like awe hidden beneath possessive affection.

Videl watched with a strange fierce pride.

Brinda leaned back in her chair, purple eyes narrowed, as though reassessing the man she had flirted with moments before.

And Clara—

Clara felt something colder.

A tremor she refused to call fear.

Because what she had just witnessed was no ordinary alliance.

It looked too much like a king receiving fealty.

Then suddenly—

Her hand caught Victor’s wrist.

Firm.

Unexpected.

Lane’s body moved at once, instinct ready to place herself between them, but Victor gave the faintest signal with two fingers.

Stop.

Lane halted.

Reluctantly.

Clara said nothing.

She simply pulled Victor out of the chamber.

Out into the narrow stone hallway where torchlight burned low against damp walls.

The sounds of the den dulled behind heavy doors.

Only the crackle of flame and distant footsteps remained.

Once she was certain no one listened, she turned sharply.

Purple eyes cold as winter steel.

The same eyes Victor had first seen when they met.

The Valkyrie had returned.

”What the hell is this?” Clara’s voice was ice cold.

Victor merely tilted his head.

”What do you mean?” he asked with a small smile, shoulders lifting in a careless shrug.

That smile almost made Clara snap.

”I’m not joking around Victor, tell me what this is all about.”

Her stern face, her cutting tone, the rigid tension in her shoulders—

Now it was easy to see why people called her Valkyrie.

Victor looked at her a moment.

Calm.

Almost amused.

”I’m not joking around as well,” he said. ”I’m telling you I don’t understand your question. You’ve got to be more specific than asking me something as vague as what the hell is this?”

Clara stared at him in disbelief.

This man...

Even now he played with words.

She stepped closer.

”Fine.”

Her jaw tightened.

”Tell me Victor... are you the leader of these people?”

”Yes.”

No hesitation.

No embellishment.

Just yes.

As if admitting he ruled part of the underworld was as trivial as stating the weather.

Clara felt her pulse jump.

Then she pressed.

”How long were you the boss of the underworld in Fantom City?”

Victor actually looked thoughtful.

As if searching memory.

”Hm.” He tapped his chin lightly. ”It was after we finished that dungeon for mine and Lane’s evaluation.”

His golden eyes drifted, remembering.

”After we were done with that, some things happened with some slave traders...”

A faint dangerous smile touched his mouth.

”And one thing led to another.”

He shrugged again.

”Since they decided to mess with me, I, in turn, decided to just take everything they had.”

Clara froze.

That was it?

That was his explanation?

No grand conquest.

No long campaign.

No elaborate ambition confessed.

He had conquered Fantom City’s underworld...

Because people annoyed him.

Because he could.

And somehow Victor said it with such natural ease that it sounded almost reasonable.

Almost.

But Clara was too sharp not to hear what lay beneath the casual phrasing.

I took everything they had.

That was not the language of an adventurer.

That was the language of a conqueror.

Torchlight flickered across his sharp features.

Black hair.

Golden eyes.

The black shirt beneath his gold-trimmed jacket.

He looked young.

Too young.

Yet every word made him feel older.

Ancient almost.

Clara’s throat moved.

She had followed him believing him reckless, arrogant... brilliant perhaps.

But this?

This was something else.

Something vast.

Something she had not measured correctly.

Victor seemed to notice her silence.

He leaned slightly closer.

”What?” he murmured. ”You look as though you’ve discovered I have horns.”

Against her will Clara almost reacted.

Almost.

Instead she narrowed her eyes.

”This isn’t funny.”

Victor’s smile softened.

”No. It isn’t.”

For a breath neither spoke.

The silence between them held more than accusation.

It held shifting trust.

And Clara hated that she could feel her certainty unravel.

Because part of her wanted to condemn what he had done.

Another part—

A more dangerous part—

Admired it.

Victor folded his arms.

”You dragged me out here just to ask whether I run the underworld?”

Clara hesitated.

Then quieter—almost against her will—

”Why didn’t you tell me?”

Victor looked genuinely surprised.

”Would you have believed me?”

That answer struck harder than if he had mocked her.

Because she knew.

She wouldn’t have.

And Victor knew she knew.

A faint smirk returned.

”Besides,” he added, voice low, ”some truths are better shown than spoken.”

Clara’s fingers curled.

Damn him.

Every answer only deepened the mystery.

Then she remembered what had started this.

Eon kneeling.

The blood oath.

A kingmaker’s gesture.

Her voice dropped.

”That man just swore his life to you.”

Victor’s gaze did not waver.

”Yes.”

”You talk as if that’s ordinary.”

Victor’s expression turned unreadable.

”Nothing about me is ordinary.”

The words should have sounded arrogant.

Instead...

They sounded like fact.

Clara had no answer.

Only a storm of questions.

And when she replayed his earlier explanation—

Some slave traders offended me, so I took everything they had—

Shock returned in full.

The man before her, though he never said it outright...

Practically admitted he conquered Fantom City’s underworld just because he could.

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