PART—1
Sunlight filtered through the canopy in ribbons of gold, scattering across the forest floor.
A cool breeze brushed my cheek, crisp and gentle, almost tender.
On any other day, it might have felt peaceful.
But not now. Not after what I had endured.
The screams. The stench of blood. Steel colliding, bodies breaking, the endless chorus of agony. They still echoed inside me, burned into my bones.
I jolted awake with a sharp gasp and clutched my head as pain stabbed through my skull.
The world around me spun, too bright, too calm, too perfect. It felt like reality had been ripped apart and clumsily stitched back together.
And then I saw them.
My arms. Thin. Frail. Useless.
"…Ah. Right. No shit." My voice cracked into a bitter laugh as I whispered the words.
I dropped to my knees and clawed at the ground, dirt caking under my nails as I searched with frantic desperation.
My fingers closed around something sharp. A rock.
The same rock, lying in the same spot as before. Just like last time. Just like the second walkthrough.
I gripped it until the jagged edge dug into my palm and lifted it toward my throat.
"I'll fuck you up, you bastard of a Demon King," I muttered, my voice low and shaking. "Just wait for me."
I pressed the rock closer, ready to end it right there.
And then it appeared.
A faint shimmer of light blinked into view, freezing my hand mid-strike.
My eyes widened as the glow pulsed, flickering faster until it burst open into a translucent blue window.
[…No. No, no, no. Wai–wai–wait—]
My lips twitched into a trembling smirk. "…Nexar?"
The letters on the screen shifted.
[Huff… I was worried you would kill yourself before you got to see me.]
My chest tightened and then broke open into laughter, raw and shaky, half relief and half madness.
"You… you came back with me?"
The words rearranged themselves again.
[Of course. I am bound to your soul, just as your Divine Blessing is.]
I could feel my grin stretching wider.
Right. In my first walkthrough I had been butchered before the System even awakened. That was why Nexar had never been with me at the start of the second one.
But now… this was different.
The memories clawed their way back into me.
Chains cutting into flesh. Screams ripped from my throat. The Seraphic Order branding me with lies, breaking me, torturing me until death felt like mercy.
My blood burned with fury. Yet under the rage, there was something else. A rush of pleasure. A sweet intoxication that curled around my thoughts.
This time I could return the favor. I could make them suffer again. Slowly. Painfully.
I would not grant them the swift death I had foolishly allowed in my second life.
My smile twisted into something vile, caught between pleasure and malice.
"They'll beg for death," I whispered, trembling with hunger. "And I'll never give it to them."
The words lit up beside me again.
[During my reincarnation into your third walkthrough, there was a moment. An endless, suffocating moment, where my consciousness slipped into a blank void. And in that emptiness… something else appeared.]
[A towering presence, massive and incomprehensible, drifted near. I couldn't see its form, but I felt it pressing into my soul, reshaping something deep within me.And in that instant… I caught a glimpse of the future.]
The blue window blinked, words flickering across it.
"A being?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes. "You… saw the future?"
The text glitched, breaking into shards of nonsense:
[Futu—/rrr… pr/ohibi……wa//tch the m/oon ble—---consequen///shhsshh…]
The letters bled together before vanishing into static.
"Damn it," I snapped. "Hey! I can't read a thing."
The words reformed, shaky but coherent.
[Woah… my consciousness almost drifted.]
"Drifted?" I asked, frowning.
[Yes. Seems like I can't speak of the future. But that's the least of our concerns.Now… I can make you a lot stronger.]
A grin crept onto my lips. "Well then… let's start."
I clenched the rock tighter, knuckles whitening as I lifted it back to my throat.
Before I could press it in, the light beside me pulsed violently, flashing across my face.
I snarled. "What now?!"
New words carved themselves into the screen, cold and sharp.
[Listen to me, you fucker!! If you do that… you will lose again.]
"…Huh?" I frowned at the glowing pane, my grip tightening around the rock.
"Don't joke with me. I can defeat the Demon Lord any day. You know that. If not for Galad betraying me, driving his damned spear into my Dawn Astral Spine."
Even saying his name filled my mouth with bile.
I could still see him clearly, the smug traitor who would one day be known as the Spear King.
I could already hear the screams he'd make when I tore him apart, slowly, piece by piece, until even his pride begged for release.
The words shimmered again.
[Tsk. Do you think defeating the Demon Lord is the end of Ninth Dawn?]
I narrowed my eyes. "Isn't it…?"
The letters glowed faintly.
[Do you know how much of the story you actually completed in your second walkthrough?]
I snorted. "What, if it's not the end… eighty percent?"
The text blinked, steady and merciless.
[Twenty percent.]
My eyes went wide. "…What?!"
[Sigh…]
Before I could curse, the world around me warped.
Invisible chains hooked into my flesh and dragged me upward. My body lurched, my consciousness ripped out and hurled into the sky.
In an instant, I was watching myself from above like a puppet on strings.
[Ding! New Quest.]
I groaned. "Perfect. A cutscene. Nexar, this is your fault. I could have just killed myself and skipped to tomorrow when the main plot starts."
The reply was immediate, carved with certainty.
[That's the problem. In your second walkthrough, you killed yourself out of frustration and jumped ahead with me. Since my activation condition is 'First Kill,' I appeared right then. But that caused you to skip the most important part… the foundation that lets me give you quests and rewards.]
"Quests?" I muttered, raising a brow. "I thought you were just the system that spat out stat points for every kill, based on difficulty."
The screen flashed furiously.
[Do you think I, the great Nexar, the Warlord's System, am nothing more than a point dispenser?!]
I couldn't help but smirk. "You only figured that out in that blank space, didn't you?"
The window pulsed once, and then reluctantly displayed:
[…Well. The point still stands.]
I watched my body sprint toward the village, feet pounding against the dirt road.
My perspective floated above, like a ghost tethered to its own corpse.
"So… what's this quest thing about?" I muttered, glaring down at myself rushing toward the counter before the cathedral.
Blue words flickered into view.
[Well… you finish the quests, and the rewards are granted.]
"Wow. Thanks, Captain Obvious," I sneered. "I meant that glowing message hovering beside you."
The text paused, then scrawled across the window again.
[Tsk… so you noticed!]
[Fine. Read it yourself.]
The smaller pane pulsed and merged into the main window. A fresh set of words carved themselves across it:
Quest: Protect Sera
Difficulty: ½ Star
Reward: +10 Stat Points
My breath caught the instant I saw her name. My pupils narrowed as a familiar rage twisted through my chest.
Sera.
The girl I had been falsely accused of raping and murdering. The reason the SBV Bastards chained me, tore me apart, and executed me in my first life.
I clenched my jaw until it hurt. "Is this a joke? Ten stat points? And not even a full star?"
Nexar's reply was maddeningly calm.
[Well… this is the first quest of the Ninth Dawn.]
A harsh voice cut through the moment below.
"Oh, right… this scene," I muttered bitterly.
At the cathedral counter, a middle-aged fatty sneered, then smacked Rune across the face.
Pain lanced through my cheek too, echoing in my tethered body.
"Tch! You can't even get ten coppers for registration? Hunt an animal and you'd have it! Get out, you filth!"
I winced, then glanced at the glowing window. "Honestly? I kind of agree. Not even ten copper? Pathetic."
The words pulsed with smug rhythm.
[That's on you.]
I frowned. "The hell do you mean, my fault?"
[The time before this cutscene isn't meant for killing yourself. It's for killing a monster, completing your 'First Kill,' unlocking me, and accessing the first quest.]
Realization dug into me like claws.
"…So instead of following the script, I triggered 'First Kill' by killing myself. You appeared, but outside the quest system. Which means you couldn't grant quests in the second walkthrough."
The window blinked in agreement.
[Pretty much sums it up.]
[Oh! Here comes the subject of the quest.]
I turned my gaze back down. And there she was.
Sera.
Standing firm between Rune and that sneering clerk, hands planted at her waist, her voice steady as she defended him.
"Here is the twenty copper. Register us both," she said, gentle but unyielding.
Her white hair shimmered in the sunlight, strands catching the breeze like threads of silver.
Her blue skirt swayed softly, as though even the wind obeyed her presence.
"It's white…" I mumbled.
[What is?]
The fatty grumbled but shuffled his stubby hands across the table, filling the forms.
Sera bent down and brushed Rune's shoulder with delicate fingers, lifting him gently to his feet.
"Rune… sorry I was late. Don't worry, no one will hurt you anymore."
Then, without hesitation, she pulled him into her arms.
Her warmth pressed against my frame — particularly her chest.
"Igg…" I muttered, stiffening.
The window blinked.
[What happened?]
"…They were soft," I said through gritted teeth.
[What were?]
I ignored him, my eyes locked on the scene below. Sera took Rune's hand and guided him into the cathedral.
Inside, the great crystal pulsed with a faint radiance, scattering divine light across the hall.
One by one, those who had crossed the age of eighteen would step forward and reveal their "Divine Gift."
"Nexar," I whispered coldly, "show me my stats."
The blue window spread open in front of me:
HP: 20/20
MP: 5/5
Attack: 20
Defense: 10
Speed: 12
Stamina: 8
Total Combat Power: F–
Divine Gift: Soft Touch (F)
I clicked my tongue in disgust. "So my so-called Divine Gift is still this useless crap."
[Live with it. That's the only thing that doesn't change in the stat window.]
"Tch. Then show me Sera's. Better to know what I'm working with."
The screen shifted, and her stats unfolded:
HP: 80/80
MP: 5/5
Attack: 43
Defense: 104
Speed: 22
Stamina: 84
Combat Power: E–
Divine Gift: Guardian Knight (S)
Weakness: Diminished Peripheral Vision
My breath caught. My eyes widened. "…What?! Guardian Knight? That's the second-best defensive gift in existence… second only to Shield King."
[And you're supposed to protect her?]
************
PART—2
The cathedral hummed with life.
A line of nervous eighteen-year-olds stretched across the hall, each waiting their turn to place a hand on the crystal and discover their Divine Gift.
Their fate, their career, their worth.
At the center stood the massive shard itself, radiating divine light so bright it seemed alive. Its glow filled the hall, spilling against the stone walls.
Even the heavy stained-glass windows rattled as wind curled through the cracks, flapping them like battered flags.
Then I heard the whispers.
"Look there…" "Is it… him?"
My stomach turned to lead. I clenched my fists, my teeth grinding. "It's him," I muttered. "Vorrak."
The man who had orchestrated every moment of my torment. Every chain, every lash, every accusation that carved into my soul. All his doing.
[Seems like he has Berserk, A-rank. Weakness: Loss of Reasoning.]
I scoffed. "Everyone with a gift above A– has a weakness."
Vorrak strolled down from the stage, smug grin plastered across his face.
He shoved his hands in his pockets as if he owned the entire cathedral.
"Laugh while you can," I muttered darkly. "You've only got a few hours left."
Then it was Rune's turn.
He climbed the steps, hand trembling as it pressed against the crystal.
A dim glow spilled out, weak, pale, almost laughable.
Soft Touch.(F)
The hall erupted with hollow laughter. My jaw ached from clenching my teeth, humiliation and fury boiling inside me.
Rune stepped down, head low, flames of shame burning through him.
Sera tried to follow, but her name was called. She walked to the stage, placed her hand against the crystal, and in an instant the hall exploded with light.
A storm of brilliance erupted. Wind roared like a tempest, tearing through the cathedral.
Sera's white hair whipped wildly, silver strands scattering light in every direction. Her blue skirt nearly betrayed her, forcing her to hold it down quickly, cheeks faintly pink.
[Oh! That's what you meant.. it is white.]
The crystal flared with words:
Guardian Knight (S).
The crowd gasped. My jaw tightened. She was already blessed with overwhelming strength.
But before I could process it further, a sharp pain ripped through my gut.
"Ugh…" I hunched over, clutching my stomach.
The window blinked in alarm.
[What happened?]
"I… don't know…" I muttered, forcing my gaze downward.
Outside the cathedral, Vorrak's boot had just driven into Rune's stomach with vicious force.
The same pain coursed through me.
[You okay..?]
I hissed between my teeth. "What do you think?"
Another one of Vorrak's lackeys stepped forward, veins glowing faintly as his Armament Augmentation (C-rank) spread across his body.
His muscles bulged, skin hardening like tempered steel. With a grunt, he launched himself at Rune, his foot digging deep into the earth.
If that hit landed, Rune's ribs would shatter like glass.
"I'd be in a world of pain if that blow touched me," I muttered grimly.
[I'll close my ears. Scream all you want.]
I almost laughed. "You should know… I've borne far worse pain in my life as a warlord. And besides..."
My hands clenched, a faint grin tugging at my lips. "...the hit won't land."
[It won't?]
And then it happened.
BOOM!
The lackey's body snapped sideways mid-strike as though an invisible wall had slammed into him.
His augmented frame hurtled through the air, bones cracking like splintered wood, before smashing into the stone wall by the village well.
His body twitched on the ground, broken and useless.
The crowd fell silent, gasping in shock.
And there she was.
Sera.
Whispers rippled, swelling into excited chatter."Vorrak is done for.""She's here!"
Sera stood tall, eyes blazing like steel drawn from the forge. She cast a single glare at Vorrak. Just one. And the bastard stiffened, smirk fading from his lips like he'd been splashed with cold water.
She bent down, sliding her hand under Rune's arm, trying to help him up gently."Get up slowl—"
"Sera…" Rune croaked, but before he could finish—
CRACK!
A log, thick, jagged, slammed into Sera's left waist from behind.
The wood splintered instantly, shards exploding in the air as though it had struck stone.
"Ughhh..!"
The groan that escaped her was raw, guttural, and filled with pain as her body was launched a few feet, crashing onto the cobbled ground.
Gunther. Vorrak's right hand. A hulking tank of a man with the Fortification (B-) gift.
His shadow loomed like a fortress wall collapsing over her.
["Uff, solid hit."]
I glanced at her health bar. Dropped to 73.
[Just seven points for that solid hit?]
Sera pushed herself up, left hand clutching her ribs.
Her breaths were short, sharp, but her eyes… they burned hotter than ever.
Gunther didn't wait. He roared like a bull, massive frame charging at her, the air splitting with the force of his steps. His shadow swallowed her whole.
But Sera didn't flinch.
She caught him. Her slender arms locking against his massive forearms.
The impact dug her feet into the ground, stones cracking beneath her boots.
For a heartbeat she slid back, almost toppled, but then her stance solidified.
And with a single, vicious strike, she drove her knee into his face.
THWACK!
Blood burst out of Gunther's nose like a smashed wineskin. His head snapped back violently, spit and teeth flying as his body fell limp, crashing on his back.
The ground trembled with his weight. He didn't move. Unconscious.
Sera's stamina ticked down to 80, but her glare never wavered.
Vorrak's jaw tightened. He snapped his fingers. His two remaining lackeys peeled out of the crowd, circling her.
Vorrak slid into the crowd, unnoticed.
One, wiry and quick. The Thief (C+). The other, tall and broad-shouldered, his grip firm on a wooden spear. The Spear Thrust (C) user.
They didn't waste time. Both charged.
The thief's fingers darted like daggers, aiming for her solar plexus. At the same moment, the spear lunged low, driving straight into her stomach.
She blocked the theif's attack but the spear landed.
The spear's tip connected with her abdomen, but barely sank in. She gritted her teeth, not even staggering.
Her HP bar flickered. 73 → 72.
["That's it? Just one point? Damn, solid defense."]
Sera's hand shot out like a viper, seizing the thief by the back of his skull.
CRASH!
She slammed his head into the cobblestones. His skull bounced off the ground with a sickening crack, then smashed again from the recoil.
The crowd gasped. Half in horror, half in awe.
She pivoted, eyes locked on the spear wielder. He barely had time to raise his weapon before her knee rocketed into his stomach.
HOOOF!
Air exploded from his lungs. His spear clattered to the ground as vomit splattered from his lips. He dropped to his knees, choking.
And then her boot descended.
THUMP!
The impact was wet, final. His head was crushed against the ground, cheek grinding into stone as he collapsed, unmoving, hugging the floor like he belonged there.
The square went silent for a heartbeat. Then—
Cheers. Roars. The sound of Sera's name echoing across the crowd, shaking the air.
The crowd roared for her. Sera, standing tall, blood on her lips, body trembling but unbroken.
For a moment, it looked like she'd stolen the entire hall.
But then… he moved.
Like a beast unchained, Vorrak lunged behind her and clamped his arm across her breasts, crushing them in his grip.
"Huh?" is all she managed to say, before Vorrak with his other arm hooked her waist and drove his knee up, smashing into her lower back.
"Ghh..!" Sera's groan ripped through clenched teeth, her body folding from the force.
Her HP plummeted from 73 down to 59.
The crowd gasped. Whispers hissed in every corner:
"That's cowardly…""Vorrak's lost it… look at his eyes."
That crimson glint flashing like a predator's. His tongue darted across his lips.
A clear sign: Berserk(A).
Sera staggered forward, hand on her side, breath ragged.
She tried to swing at him, a desperate backfist to break free, but Vorrak dropped low, crouching like a feral animal.
His fist shot up like a piston, burying itself under her skirt, between her thighs.
Her body jolted. "Ahhh..hhhnnn!" the pained cry cracked through her throat as she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach.
Her back arched, her breath torn from her lungs, her eyes swimming from the impact.
Vorrak sneered, planting his boot between her shoulder blades and pressing down like she was nothing more than a beaten dog.
He lifted his chin at the crowd, smirking, savoring the humiliation.
Gasps. Some disgust. Others… fear. Even those who once whispered his name in awe now muttered in unease.
"He's brutal…""This… this is supposed to be a gift ceremony…"
But Sera wasn't done. Not yet.
Her arm trembled, then her fingers dug into the dirt.
She pushed against the pressure of his boot, forcing herself upright. Shaking. Bleeding. Barely standing.
Vorrak's grin widened, feral and unhinged, as he charged again. But when his eyes locked on hers… he froze.
Cold. Deadpan. Her gaze didn't flinch.
For the first time, Vorrak faltered.
He tried to slip back into the crowd, retreat hidden behind his lackeys' chaos.
But Sera's hand snapped forward, seizing his hair in a brutal fistful.
"Gghhh..aaaghhh!!" His scream tore through the cathedral as she yanked his head back and drove her knee into his spine.
His body folded awkwardly before she kicked him across the corridor, slamming him into the wall with a sickening crack.
He coughed blood. Tried to crawl up. Desperate.
When she advanced, he lunged one last time, wild fists swinging from the floor. A pitiful, desperate beast.
She caught his arm mid-swing. Twisted. Then with a roar, she swung him into the stone wall, the impact splintering the surface and leaving him dangling, broken.
Still in his madness, he tried to throw himself on her, head down, teeth bared.
Sera didn't hesitate.
Her boot snapped up, drilling him between the legs with crushing force.
"GGGUAAAHHHHHH!"
The sound wasn't human.
His body collapsed to the ground, tears, spit, and blood streaming from every hole in his face.
He writhed, clutching himself, the proud "number one" reduced to a whimpering wreck.
"I can... do it too.." Sera said, smirking and panting.
The crowd exploded, gasps, then laughter, then thunderous cheers.
And in the silence that followed, Nexar's words burned beside me:
["This is the plot point of the quest."]
"Plot point?" I muttered.
["Yes,"] Nexar wrote.
["Humiliated, Vorrak and his lackeys will beg his father for revenge. They'll bait Sera into the cattle house, under the guise of saving you. That's where they'll kill her, pinning the blame on you. But Rune takes his own life tonight too. And as quest demands, you will take over his body and save sera tonight.]
"I see.. and since I never had this quest in my first walkthrough, I didn't know about this and was framed, as Sera was last seen around me."
I clenched my fists, watching Sera, battered but victorious, take Rune's arm and steady him.
She whispered softly to him, "We might be orphans, but you have me… and I have you."
Then, hiding her pain, she leaned against him, rubbing herself against his arm, guiding him home.
I muttered through my teeth, "This bastard… he still decided to end it tonight? Leaving her all alone?"