Soulless Soul

Chapter 26: A Name That Carried History

The suffocating atmosphere inside the massive training hall slowly began to return to normal after the brief, astonishing duel between Arthur and Vesper. The low kinetic dampening field hummed softly, fading into the background as the glowing digital screens finaly cleared the combat logs.

All around the perimeter, groups of newly awakened Commons gathered tightly together in circles, frantically discussing every single micro-movement of the match.

"Did you see Arthur’s explosive speed at the start?" one student gasped, gesturing wildly with his hands. "I thought he genuinely had her cornered for a second."

"She barely won that exchange..." another countered, shaking his head.

"No, you’re missing the point. She didn’t just win; she adapted mid-stride," a more analytical student corrected. "That is exactly what decided the fight. Arthur threw everything his lineage had at her, and she just processed it like a machine."

Sky leaned his back heavily against a nearby concrete wall with his arms tightly folded across his chest, quietly listening to the stray bits of gossip while pretending not to care in the slightest. His sharp mind, however, was still actively replaying every frame of the brief battle. The pure, unadulterated gap between himself and those two monsters was absolutely enormous. If he wanted to survive the upcoming Royal Rumble, he had a mountain to climb.

Not very far away from his position, Arthur had already been completely surrounded by several sycophantic members of his assigned training squad.

One of them, a broad-shouldered, arrogant young man named Colton, let out a forced laugh as he patted Arthur heavily on the shoulder. "You almost had her, man!" Colton said with a wide, dismissive grin. "Honestly, if you ask me, she was just incredibly lucky. A fluke."

Arthur said absolutely nothing, his posture perfectly rigid.

Colton, completely misreading the room, mistook the young Legacy’s silence for silent agreement. He scoffed, looking over toward the exit. "I honestly don’t understand what everyone in this academy sees in her anyway. She’s just another talented Common who got a lucky break in her solo run. Sure, she’s skilled, but people are acting like she’s some kind of unkillable legend."

Arthur’s handsome expression grew noticeably colder, his eyes narrowing into slits.

Colton continued, entirely oblivious to the danger. "And that arrogant, stuck-up attitude of hers—" Before another single word could leave the idiot’s mouth... Arthur moved.

His hand shot forward like a literal bolt of lightning, blurring through the air.

Clack!

His iron fingers wrapped brutally around Colton’s throat, cutting off his words instantly. The cheerful, casual conversation surrounding the squad vanished into a dead, terrified silence in less than a second.

Colton’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated horror as the grip tightened. "A-Arthur...!"

Arthur didn’t just hold him; he effortlessly lifted the broad-shouldered teen completely off the ground with one single hand. The room around them fell into an absolute, petrified silence as nearby students turned to watch. Colton desperately clawed at Arthur’s wrist with both hands, trying with everything he had to pry the iron grip away, but it was like pulling at solid stone. His legs kicked helplessly in the empty air while his face gradually turned a deep, sickly shade of crimson.

He tried to breathe. Nothing. He tried to speak. Only broken, pathetic wheezes escaped his lips.

Arthur’s expression remained frighteningly, unnaturally calm throughout the entire ordeal. His cold, dark eyes stared directly into Colton’s panic-stricken gaze, conveying a silent promise of absolute violence. Several nearby squad members instinctively took a massive step back, swallowing hard. None of them had ever seen the easygoing Arthur look like a literal executioner before.

After what felt like an absolute eternity, Arthur finally released his grip, his hand dropping back to his side.

Thud!

Colton collapsed heavily onto the hard floor, coughing violently as he greedily sucked in the cold air, his chest heaving. "Cough... cough...!" His hands clutched his aching, bruised neck, his breath ragged. After finally catching his breath, he looked up with a mixture of intense confusion and raw fear.

"W-Why... why did you do that to me?"

Arthur looked down at him from his towering height, his face devoid of a single hint of human emotion. "Don’t you honestly know who she is?"

Colton frowned, his voice trembling as he rubbed his throat. "No..." he muttered, looking around for support. "...Who is she?"

Arthur answered without a single shred of hesitation, his voice echoing clearly across the stone floor. "She’s from the Valerius Clan."

Colton’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, his entire body freezing. "The... Valerius Clan?" Arthur nodded slowly, his voice dropping into a tone of profound respect. "She’s the direct granddaughter of the first man to ever successfully clear a dungeon run... the legendary man whose singular achievement brought order back to human society after humanity’s darkest era of collapse."

The entire group fell into a deep, heavy silence. The name Valerius wasn’t just a clan name; it was a Chapter in history textbooks.

Arthur continued, his gaze drifting over the crowd. "And her parents were universally recognized among humanity’s greatest heroes during that very same apocalyptic age. They died keeping the gates closed."

Colton swallowed hard, the arrogance completely draining from his body. "W-Who were they? "Arthur’s cold expression softened ever so slightly, a look of solemn reverence passing over his features. "If you truly want to know their names... find out yourself. But keep her name out of your mouth."

No one spoke for several long seconds. The immense weight behind Vesper’s true identity settled over the entire freshman group like a crushing mountain.

"So that’s why..." someone in the back whispered in awe.

"No wonder even a direct heir like Arthur calls her ’Sister Vesper’ with so much respect."

Colton stared blankly into the distance, his hands still trembling against his knees as he struggled to process the terrifying political reality of the girl he had just insulted.

"What...?" his voice was barely above a quiet whisper. "What do you mean...?" A faint, cynical chuckle suddenly echoed from the nearby shadows.

"Heh..."

Everyone turned their heads instantly toward the sound.

Sky had been standing several meters away the entire time, leaning against the wall and completely minding his own business. He hadn’t intended to get involved in their elite drama at all, but Colton’s stunned, utterly petrified expression had been so ridiculous that his street-rat filter had failed him, and he couldn’t help laughing aloud.

Colton’s face instantly darkened with a wave of intense embarrassment, turning into pure rage. "You think that’s funny, trash?"

Sky shrugged his shoulders, keeping his hands loosely in his pockets. "I didn’t say a word."

"You’re laughing at me!" Colton roared, storming toward him, anger completely replacing the fear he’d just suffered under Arthur’s grip. He needed a scapegoat to regain his dignity, and a bottom-ranked nobody was the perfect target. "This is your unlucky day, rat!" He raised a heavy, clenched fist, ready to vent every single ounce of his built-up frustration straight into Sky’s face.

But before Colton could even begin to throw the punch... a familiar silver-haired figure walked calmly past them.

Vesper.

The exact moment Colton noticed her silent, icy approach out of the corner of his eye, his raised fist froze completely dead in midair. His face twitched violently. After everything Arthur had just revealed about her lineage, there was absolutely no way he wanted to cause a scene or draw her attention.

He slowly, awkwardly lowered his hand back to his side, his knuckles turning white. "This isn’t over," Colton muttered under his breath, glaring daggers at Sky. "You’d better watch your back from now on, bastard."

With one final, venomous glare, he turned around on his heel and hurried after the rest of his squad, completely deflated.

Sky simply raised a hand and scratched the back of his head, watching the boy scurry away. "...What a weird, insecure guy," he muttered to himself.

Without giving the encounter another single thought, he continued on his way toward the exit. Vesper quietly walked past him a few paces ahead, her calm, distant expression showing absolutely no sign that she had even noticed the pathetic commotion around her at all. She truly lived in a world of her own.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!