"..."
Silence stretched across the line, broken only by the sound of falling snow and distant wind.
Whoosh
The old woman materialized beside Icarus, her teleportation creating a small displacement of air.
She’d clearly just returned from escorting Damian to the medical facility.
Kinsley’s voice kept going, filling the silence.
"I know you’ve had problems with the MP in the past, so I thought you might appreciate the opportunity to–"
Icarus held his hand forward, letting snow fall onto his palm gently.
But his cold voice cut through Kinsley’s words like a blade.
"Fuck off."
Then he ended the call.
Click
The old woman’s eyes went wide, her mouth opening slightly as she stared at him.
’Did he just... to the head of the Kinsley Imperial Family...’
She remained silent for a long moment, processing what she’d just witnessed.
Then her weathered face showed something between concern and resignation.
"General..." Her voice came out careful. "Ever since the Hell Portal closed, you’ve become very emotional..."
Icarus didn’t respond immediately, just watched the snow melt against his palm.
"Is the kid okay, Zara?"
Zara’s expression shifted at the question as she shook her head slowly.
"If the limbs had been cut off cleanly, they would have healed faster..."
Her hands clasped behind her back.
"But the limbs were almost completely shattered by those giant weapons. The bone fragments, the crushed muscle tissue, the destroyed nerve endings... It will take considerable time to regenerate everything properly."
Icarus nodded once, accepting the information.
Zara’s eyes tracked back toward the dome, her voice carrying something like wonder.
"So... the reports were true after all. Another awakener with Abyssal Slaughter at the perfection level has appeared."
Icarus let out a long breath, the sound carrying weight.
"I thought they were exaggerating when I read the documents..."
His hand clenched, crushing the melted snow between his fingers.
"When I tried to learn that art decades ago, I couldn’t form the absurd level of belief it requires. It seems very easy on paper, doesn’t it? Just keep believing you will kill your target..."
His voice became quieter.
"But in life, who can maintain that conviction throughout? When you’re wounded and bleeding, when the enemy is stronger, when death is staring you in the face... maintaining absolute belief becomes impossible for almost everyone."
He paused.
"If believing in yourself was that simple, everyone would achieve their goals. The gap between wanting something and truly believing you’ll accomplish it... that’s where most warriors fail."
Zara sighed, her shoulders dropping slightly.
"And that energy he used to... devour the corpses..."
Her voice carried unease, but Icarus’s expression remained neutral.
"It carries devouring principles... He must have refined that experimental art mentioned in the reports to a functional level."
Zara’s face twisted into a grimace.
"Eating and devouring monsters... I don’t know how to feel about that... practice."
"The Headmaster himself is insane."
Icarus’s voice came out flat, carrying no judgement.
"Did you think his disciple would be any better? But it’s better this way..." His eyes hardened. "From what just happened with that phone call, it seems those extremists are starting to move against him already. The Kinsley family reaching out this quickly after his arrival proves they’re monitoring his movements closely."
Zara turned to face Icarus directly, her weathered features showing concern.
"You shouldn’t have been so dismissive of Lord Kinsley... The consequences–"
"Humanity is facing war-like situations again."
Icarus interrupted, his voice carrying edges of barely controlled anger.
"And I heard the Kinsley family is involved in an escalating conflict with the Vance Imperial Family, forcing the best warriors in defense-specialized fields to focus on their internal aggression instead of protecting the Federation."
His jaw clenched.
"All Vance family forces that were assisting the northern military operations were recalled to the Western Region because of Kinsley provocations. Both families have turned that entire region into a political and military mess while we’re losing our men to giant invasions."
Zara sighed heavily, her breath misting in the cold air.
"Your generation is still better than mine in some ways..."
Her voice became distant, touched by old memories.
"In my days, the Royce family in the Central Region, Cross and Ashford in the Southern Region, and Kinsley in the Western Region... they all used to kill commoner geniuses almost daily. Anyone who showed exceptional talent without noble blood would disappear before reaching their potential."
Her hands tightened behind her back.
"If it wasn’t for the Bloodworth family forming the foundation of the military and protecting talented commoners, all of us would have died young. If only they weren’t..."
She didn’t finish the sentence, the words trailing off into uncomfortable silence.
Icarus’s expression darkened further at the mention of the Bloodworth name.
"...We should focus on training these candidates."
His voice cut through the heavy atmosphere.
"Especially Damian Valcor... He might not be the strongest A rank yet..."
He turned to face Mara directly.
"But in the future, he will be. Don’t send him to the portals during the standard deployments."
Zara’s eyes widened, her head tilting slightly as she studied Icarus’s face.
’The General never shows favoritism... What’s going on?’
But she nodded slowly, accepting the order without questioning it aloud.
"Understood, General."
Snow continued falling around them and in the medical facility, a seventeen-year-old warrior lay unconscious, having proven something that would echo throughout the candidate’s minds.
The youngest A rank in Federation history.
And somewhere far to the south from here, in an academy Damian hadn’t been seen in months, interesting events were unfolding.
****
[Stormhold Academy, Battle Arena]
The arena held hundreds of students packed into the stone seats that ringed the fighting grounds.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the open roof, illuminating the dust that hung in the air from previous matches.
Iris Langsten stood alone in the center of the arena, her blue hair catching the light, her rapier held loosely at her side: B rank awakener, fourth-ranked student from her year and Heir to the Langsten Imperial Family.
And strangely, no opponent stood across from her.
A girl near the front of the crowd leaned toward her friend.
"She’s really going through with this? Challenging Damian’s ranking when he’s not even here to defend it?"
Her friend shrugged, arms crossed over her chest.
"What’s he going to do about it? The academy rules are clear, if you don’t defend your rank within the challenge period, it gets forfeit automatically."
A third-year student nearby shook his head, his expression doubtful.
"Doesn’t she fear what’ll happen when Damian comes back? Everyone knows no one in the academy can actually defeat him in a real fight."
The girl’s friend laughed, the sound carrying an edge of nervousness.
"Well, there are rumors saying that Damian Valcor won’t ever return to the academy. It’s been weeks since the attack on Tranquil city and he never once came back after that."
The third-year’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, just turned his attention back to the arena floor.
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