Chapter 1211: Ascension Knights
Chapter 1211: Ascension Knights
"Since there are resources here, I’ll fight for them," Souta said with determination.
He didn’t care about offending the kingdom. Of course, he wouldn’t actively rob anyone but if they crossed the line, it would be their end.
"If some factions discover this place, they’ll turn this land upside down. After all, there might be information from the ancient era hidden here," Saya said with a laugh.
Souta chuckled. "We can worry about that later. Right now, our priority is restoring my strength."
At the moment, all he could rely on was his physical ability. It’s a mere fraction of his true power. Everything about him had been damaged, and the sensation was intensely uncomfortable. He had barely recovered enough to regain consciousness, and even his protective field remained fractured.
As for why he could communicate with the locals, the reason was simple: Saya translated the Highnun Language for him, and he replied in the Monster Language, imbuing his words with his thoughts.
After finishing his meal, Souta stretched his stiff body.
"It’d be better if the meat came from a high-level monster..." he muttered.
He picked up his sword and scanned his equipment. Nearly everything below Dark Grade had been destroyed.
Souta continued his journey.
Using his senses, he detected fruits scattered within a certain range.
Whoosh!
He tore through the vast forest at high speed.
"I know you can’t tell me what happened in the past," Souta said, "but is there anything you can tell me about myself? Even a simple story will do."
"Hmm... let me see." Saya paused, thoughtful. "Back then, there wasn’t a Great Barrier separating the continents of Imperium. Oh... I can say that." She sounded a little surprised at her own words before continuing. "I wasn’t at God-rank yet, so I didn’t know many details. Wars raged every day, and countless beings rose and fell alongside them."
"Some factions that hold power now were already overlord factions back then. The current Battle Hell Palace in Demon’s Land, a few of the Holy Lands in the God’s Continent... they all existed. As for the Giza Continent, everything fell apart. I don’t know what happened to the Monster Lords in the Dark Forest."
Saya recounted fragments of the past. Naturally, the details were vague. She existed as a will, her memory far from whole.
"I remember participating in battles... winning some, losing others," she said. "Slowly, I became a known figure in our clan. My parents and siblings praised me when I became an Ascension Knight, equivalent to SSS-rank or Hero-rank. The war intensified, and one of the God-rank beings in our clan perished. I remember the desperation, being surrounded by enemies far beyond our strength."
Souta could feel the weight of her emotions in every word.
Suddenly, his senses flared. He halted on a tree branch, every muscle tensing.
"Wait... I can feel it..." he murmured, his head turning sharply as his eyes widened.
A few seconds passed, and a smile slowly curved his lips.
"Well, there’s an unripe high grade fruit..."
Before anyone could react, he vanished from his position, dashing toward the source of the energy.
...
The atmosphere crackled with tension as two groups of armored figures faced each other.
"What do you think you’re doing, Marquis Devon?" a tall man with short blond hair demanded, his tone icy.
Marquis Devon, a man with long black hair, chuckled. "Why should I step back? I want it, so I’ll take it myself. It’s not yours, so why are you claiming it? You just arrived—do you think you can simply take ownership?"
Marquis Devon was a powerful and influential figure in the Everlasting Kingdom.
The tall man said nothing, merely fixing Marquis Devon with a cold, unwavering glare. He was Satrimon, a Captain of the Royal Guard.
The two men locked eyes, neither willing to yield. The warriors and knights behind them tensed, hands instinctively gripping weapon handles, ready for a fight that could erupt at any second.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
"Oh! An unripe Legendary Grade! What a haul!"
They both turned, startled, to see a man standing before a small tree, eyes locked on the fruit.
Devon and Satrimon turned their heads, frowns deepening. Neither knew where this young man had come from, or how he had appeared without them sensing it.
Souta ignored their gazes, eyes locked on the bluish fruit. He could feel it would take at least three more days to ripen. But he couldn’t wait that long. He needed to recover enough strength to undergo evolution.
In his current state, he wouldn’t be able to draw enough energy to envelop himself in a cocoon that resonated with the natural energy around him. There was a ninety percent chance he would fail the evolution.
He didn’t need to be fully recovered to succeed.
Drawing natural energy from the atmosphere alone wouldn’t suffice, he needed something like this.
"Do you really want to pluck it now?" Saya asked.
"Yep. I can’t wait three whole days," Souta said, nodding. He stretched out his hand toward the fruit, determination burning in his eyes.
"Wait?!"
"Brat! Don’t—!!"
Devon and Satrimon’s eyes widened at his sudden move. They bent their knees and charged at Souta in unison.
Whooosh!
Souta plucked the fruit in an instant, spun around, and his eyes gleamed with ruthless intent. With a swift motion, he raised his left foot and delivered a devastating kick.
Devon and Satrimon sensed the danger just in time. They crossed their swords in front of them, bracing, but the force that struck them was overwhelming.
Bang! Bang!
The impact sent both flying dozens of meters. They slammed into trees before sliding harshly across the ground.
Souta’s frown deepened. They hadn’t been severely injured. And with his physical strength still far from full recovery, that posed a bigger problem.
But none of that mattered now. The fruit was in his hands.
"Don’t try to stop me next time—or worse will happen to any of you."
With that, Souta turned and left the area.
Devon and Satrimon struggled to push themselves up, eyes fixed on the direction he had gone. They were injured, but the raw power behind that kick lingered in their bodies.
"An Ascension Knight...?" Satrimon’s mind raced.
The force of the attack could rival that of an Ascension Knight and not just any, but a second-degree Ascension Knight. That made it even more alarming.
Both Devon and Satrimon were themselves Ascension Knights. They knew every expert at this level in the entire kingdom and yet they had never seen this young man before.
An unknown Ascension Knight.
How had he grown so strong without anyone noticing?
Could someone in the kingdom be secretly raising an Ascension Knight?
After all, an Ascension Knight wields tremendous power and influence.
A storm of questions and uneasy thoughts swirled in their minds.
...
Souta found a secluded spot, taking over a cave from a first-stage brown bear.
He sat down and slowly brought the unripe Legendary Grade fruit to his mouth.
Ohm!
A surge of energy erupted from the fruit, flooding through him. He closed his eyes, focusing on guiding the flow. The energy coursed through his [Star Veins], clearing blockages and slowly cleansing every pathline.
It was painful but nothing he couldn’t endure.
With precise control, he split the energy, letting it envelop his Monster Orb. Cracks in the orb made the sensation excruciating, each pulse like fire against his consciousness.
Then he plunged deep into his own mind.
’There’s not enough energy...’ Souta muttered inwardly.
He drew the other portion of energy he had divided. Before him was a small plant, two mists swirling around it, encased in a transparent membrane. The plant was dried up, its surface cracked in every direction.
"[Douion III]... I need to restore it and reconnect the pathways," Souta muttered.
Focusing his energy, he enveloped the entire membrane. Then, channeling it inward, he attempted to open his dreamscape within his consciousness.
Outside, Saya sensed faint ripples of energy emanating from him.
She knew the effect would be limited. After all, it was only an unripe Legendary Grade fruit. If it were fully ripe, the result would be exponentially stronger, probably ten times more potent.
Saya had been waiting for over an hour before Souta finally opened his eyes.
"How is it?" she asked, her voice soft with curiosity.
A faint, confident smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "Better than nothing."
At the very least, the pathways of his energy were cleared. His Monster Orb remained damaged, but it could now contain a small reserve of power. The difference was subtle but enough. He had also managed to reconnect, even if slightly, with his dreamscape.
Just a little more, and he would fully restore his Douion, gaining the freedom to access his dreamscape wherever he went.
Souta pushed himself to his feet, stretching limbs stiff from the effort.
"Well, let’s go find another one," he said, his voice tinged with anticipation.
He leapt from the cave and surged through the forest, the wind whipping past him. Every heartbeat pulsed with excitement, each step a reminder that his strength was slowly returning.
Whoosh!
Within moments, he arrived at the edge of a massive trench. It yawned before him like a scar across the land, stretching almost fifteen kilometers long and plunging a full kilometer deep. Shadows pooled along its edges, and the sheer scale made even his heightened senses reel.