After parting with Nia, her warmth still ghosting across his lips, Ash walked the familiar corridors back to what was supposed to be a prince's chamber. The foreign ache in his chest was gone. After living the original Ash's seventeen years of pain in a single heartbeat, the body no longer felt borrowed.
He was Ash Solace, in every way that mattered.
The room itself was an insult wrapped in stone: cavernous ceilings, tall arched windows that let in violet daylight, marble floors cold enough to bite through thin slippers… and in the center, a single narrow twin bed with a threadbare blanket. Nothing else. No desk, no wardrobe, no banners. Just emptiness that screamed how little the kingdom thought of its "stain."
Ash shook his head, lowered himself cross-legged onto the bare floor, and breathed.
'Status!'
The blue panel bloomed open like a flower of light.
[Ash Solace
Race – Human
Age – 17
Rank – E (Existence Level – 1)
Talent – Shitty
Affinity – N/A
Waiting for assimilation
Bloodline of Eternal Bond
Phoenix Nirvana Flame
Bonded Ten-Tailed Celestial Fox
Primordial Sin Scripture – Lust
Eyes of First Dawn
Absolute Null Zone
Infinite Storage Ring
Perfect Disguise Veil
Singularity Genesis Physique
Ever-Calm Haven]
Ten god-like items stared back at him, each one pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
"What kind of karma was steep enough to repay me with all of this?" he whispered, finger hovering over the glowing golden words: Assimilate.
He knew no one would come looking. Nia was locked in training for the week. While everyone else had written him off years ago.
"Let's get rid of this frail frame first."
He pressed.
Pain detonated.
It wasn't fire or knives; it was existence itself rejecting the old rules. Bones shattered into dust. Muscles liquefied. Blood flash-boiled. In the span of a single skipped heartbeat his body split down the middle with a wet, sickening crack, two halves falling away from each other.
Before they could hit the ground, black-violet light erupted from the wound. A living void wrapped around the ruined flesh, knitting, folding, compressing. A cocoon of absolute darkness formed around him, perfectly spherical, perfectly silent, swallowing even the sound of his screams that never came.
Inside, Ash Solace was being unmade and remade at the same time.
And the world outside did not wait.
----
Elaris was not like a usual world of continents and quiet seas. It was one endless super-landmass ringed by a wall of living death that no one, not even the Elarian Empire, had ever breached. Kingdoms and Empires were the only 'organizations' in the world, they measured their worth by the amount of territory they had. The smallest kingdom no matter the ranking at the minimum had 50,000 kilometers of land whether floating or grounded, and every ruler, righteous or monstrous, chased the same golden phantom that hung eternally above the geographic heart of the world: the World Kingdom Ranking.
No one knew where it came from.
No one knew why it rewarded territory with heavenly treasures that could forge gods.
They only knew that the moment it appeared, the Era of Kings began, and mercy ended. The first to understand the rules had named their kingdom after the world itself: Elarian. They conquered, swallowed, and grew until the name became Empire and the rest of history was erased beneath their banners. Every year since, the ranking showered the top kingdoms with gifts that made S-ranks look like children.
This was the world Ash had been thrown onto, a world where kingdoms were the only pieces that mattered.
----
Far to the east, inside the modest... well by imperial standards, Voss Kingdom, a young man with shoulder-length black hair and storm-blue eyes stepped from his chambers.
This was Kale Voss.
Seventeen.
Already B-rank.
And the bearer of the publicly acknowledged first SSS-rank talent in recorded history: Heavenly Conquest Sovereign.
[Talent – Heavenly Conquest Sovereign
- Every living being that submits to him (willingly or by force) permanently adds 3–10 % of their total existence level and mana pool, to Kale himself.
-The submission is sealed into a golden crown mark on their soul; breaking it kills the victim instantly. The only way to free a victim is if the user himself dies.
-Once per year Kale can issue a "Conquest Edict" that forces every marked soul within a thousand kilometers to fight for him at 150 % power for one hour.
----
He walked the marble corridors and pushed open the throne-room doors.
"Mother. Aunty."
Queen Sonna and Queen Yonna turned towards him almost in sync and flashed smiles to him. Both women shared the same midnight hair and sharp Voss features, though Sonna wore hers in long, regal waves while Yonna's was shorter, streaked blood-crimson.
"Son, you've reached B-rank in a single year," Sonna said as her smile never left her face.
"Fufufu~ We may not have to wait long for proper heirs after all," Yonna purred, biting her lip.
Kale only shook his head, long accustomed.
"I plan on leaving today. We must begin our march to glory; in five years I plan to expand our territory enough for us to reach the top 1000 at the least." He spoke with eyes that flashed with determination.
Sonna was in front of him in a heartbeat, arms around his neck, body pressed close. His hands found her waist, then lower, drawing a soft moan from her lips.
"That's a good plan son... but come back alive. The world already knows of your talent, some may want to recruit you while other may try to eliminate you. Tread lightly, your aunt and I will always have your back, but we are only A ranks." she whispered against his ear. " So, remember... you're worth more than any crown."
He smiled, kissed her cheek, "Don't worry mother, I will return. Heh, don't be surprised if you hear tales about me soon." He said before nodding to his aunt and departing.
Behind him, Yonna's laughter echoed softly.
"If he ever learns the whole truth about you, sister… that boy might cry all night."
Sonna's cheeks flushed crimson, but she said nothing. She only returned to her throne and stared out at the violet sky where the World Kingdom Ranking burned like an unblinking golden eye.
Far away, inside a forgotten bedroom, the black cocoon pulsed once.
Then again, stronger.
Something inside had already begun to outgrow the world that thought it knew power.