Swoosh—the green ball of light soared through the sky, splitting the clouds that had gathered overhead.
It was getting dark, as if the ball had reached an area where storms were gathered.
Rumble—the thunderstorm started to unleash its fury, sending bolts of silvery lightning cracking through the sky.
The thunderclap was so loud that it shook the ground and frightened the dark-furred animals below on the forest floor.
The green ball of light penetrated through the thunderclouds, and like a shooting star, it streaked across the sky.
After a while of flying, the green ball of light saw something in the distance.
It was the furthest corner of the world, surrounded by a tall wall of shadow that seemed to be connected with the sky. It was a mysterious and enchanting place, beckoning the green ball to explore its secrets.
As the ball approached it, the green light shot forward and made a hole the size of an elephant in the wall of shadows.
Swoosh—the ball flew through the hole, and almost instantly afterward, the wall regenerated, sealing the ball inside the mysterious world.
The ball descended from the sky as if gravity were forcing it down and crashed into the ground.
The ground exploded, uprooting the nearby trees and causing tremors that shook the very foundation of the mysterious world.
At last, the green ball dissipated into particles of light that scattered in all directions.
From the ball, a disheveled-looking duo emerged.
“Argh!” Reinhardt exclaimed, clutching his side in pain.
It had been a very long time since he had gotten pleasure from feeling pain, and it made him stop to savor the feeling.
However, the curiosity about what had occurred overtook his mind, and he started looking around the place, wondering where he was.
“What the hell is this place?” His voice was filled with amazement as he looked towards the sky.
In the sky, several floating islands completely ignored the laws of gravity and floated there as if they had wings of their own.
Then he noticed what caused the strange darkness, as it was supposed to be morning still.
It was the wall of shadows that was connected with the sky, as if the sky were simply a ceiling for the world below.
“Unbelievable…” Reinhardt murmured. “Where is this place, and how come I have never seen it before?”
He then turned around and sprang into the sky.
With a single leap, he appeared to defy gravity and soar through the air effortlessly.
After reaching the height of two hundred meters, his red eyes seemed to glow even brighter as he caught an unbelievable sight.
There were stairs, like they were leading to the heavens, and at the top of the stairs, there was a platform with a glowing door.
The glowing door was rather strange, as it had intricate patterns etched into its surface, pulsating with a soft, ethereal light and, strangely, white-feathered wings!
As his gaze lingered in the direction of the glowing door, he thought he heard the echoing whispering of angels.
‘Could this be the path to the heavens above?’ Reinhardt’s breathing turned rapid, and he then softly landed back on the ground before walking back to the crash site.
There, he saw the black-haired young man lying on the ground; the katana was still stuck in his gut, but he was not dying for some odd reason.
“Where have you sent us?” Reinhardt grabbed the katana and twisted it further into Ambrose’s body, but surprisingly, he didn’t even flinch.
“I… don’t know…” Ambrose whispered. ‘How… am I not dead? After using the teleportation pearl, I thought that I would die quickly so I could return to Hightown…’
“You don’t know?” Reinhardt asked, his voice filled with a hint of anger.
He then pulled the katana out of the young man’s body, cleaned the bloodied blade with his sleeve, and sheathed it.
“We are now trapped here. You really cared about that town since you sacrificed yourself.” Reinhardt said to the lifeless-looking young man. “However, once I get out of here, I’ll return there.”
‘Doesn’t matter…’ Ambrose thought to himself, his expression blank. ‘Bella would’ve already left the place.’
“Are you perhaps thinking that it wouldn’t matter?” Reinhardt turned to him, almost like he could read his thoughts.
He smirked and said, “I am a vampire. I am now familiar with every scent present in that town. I will find everyone that was in town that day, then kill them.”
“Why…” Ambrose asked hatefully. “Why would you bother doing something so troublesome?”
“It’s about principle.” Reinhardt crouched beside him, looking straight at his blue, dull eyes. “It’s about sending a message.”
“A message… hah.” Ambrose let out a bitter laugh. “I suppose… with strength, you can do whatever you want.”
“Exactly.” Reinhardt smiled. “I have visited every place in the world, except this one… With strength, you can do anything—even waltz straight into someone’s wedding and steal the wife. How can anyone stop you if you have strength?
“Strength is absolute freedom.
“I have lived thousands of years, and I started as a young vampire, weak like you right now.
“I also lost everything, taken by someone stronger than me. But then I steeled my resolve and trained endlessly, pushing myself to become stronger.
“And here I am.”
“A bully.” Ambrose laughed bitterly. “You could do the opposite and uplift those who have been pushed down, yet it is your wish to do something selfish.”
“I tried being good.” Reinhardt said, his smile fading away. “I have lived a long time, and of course I got tired of seeing misery around me, so yeah, I tried helping the weak.
“What did I get as a result? More misery, more suffering, and more people taking advantage of me.
“I’ll do what I want and what makes me happiest.”
“Happiness…” Ambrose sighed as he looked toward the dark sky.
“Being the World’s Strongest Swordsman does indeed bring me happiness.” Reinhardt laughed as he touched his katana. “I am the pinnacle of all swordsmen, and I like to fight with strong opponents.” 𝔬𝒱𝓛xt.𝑐
“You are… World’s Strongest Swordsman, but you have never called yourself the strongest.” Ambrose turned to him, still too exhausted to stand up. “You are still not the strongest, are you? Why not go challenge the strongest if you want to fight so much?”
“Haha.” Reinhardt chuckled. “Ever heard of the enemies of the world? The Three Black-Ranked Kings?”
Ambrose nodded slightly.
“I am not surprised you know about them.” Reinhardt looked at him with a slight smile. “The Three Black-Ranked Kings are the people you should seek if you want to fight the strongest.
“They hold unmatched power and are feared by all.
“The first of the Black-Ranked Kings is Ravan. He is the otherworldly king of the Dark Continent, the ruler of shadows and nightmares.
“I once visited him, and the experience was truly chilling.” Reinhardt laughed. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t have a chance to fight him because I would have been ambushed by his entire army.
“If I want to fight him, I would also fight his entire army. That is way too bothersome, even for me.
“Ravan’s nickname is the Feared; he is most likely the most feared person in the world as he holds the highest amount of authority.
“Then there is Matchitehew the Despised. He is the hidden King of Warhaven and is despised and hated by all who have had the misfortune of crossing paths with him.
“He is the most dark-hearted person I have ever met. I am like a saint compared to him.
“He’s truly a despicable person, and he often uses nasty tricks while fighting, so I didn’t bother with that bullshit.”
“The third one is Deiderich the Revered. He’s the Anti-Christ of our time, and he has his own cult with over ten million members, all of whom are blindly devoted to him.
“To join his cult, a person would have to murder an innocent soul. So, he has over ten million murderers as his subordinates.
“I would have to slice through all of them to even catch a glimpse of Deiderich.”
“Whoo…” Ambrose took a deep breath. “How has this world not fallen yet?”
“The dark side is strong, but the light side is not something to scoff at either.” Reinhardt laughed, but then his red eyes widened in surprise as his senses alarmed him about something.
He drew his katana and slashed through the air, anticipating an attack from an unseen enemy.
Cling—the sound of metal meeting metal echoed through the air as Reinhardt’s katana collided with the talons of a hidden assailant.
“The hell…” Reinhardt looked at the attacker, surprised to see a disformed-looking figure with black-weathered wings on its back.
Its eyes glowed with an ominous aura, and instantly, Reinhardt realized what kind of creature had just attacked him.
It stunned him because it was a creature that should had perished alongside the Ancient Grounded Gods.
“Dark Angel…”