'That voice?' Modret knew it could only belong to one person. He raised his head to glance at Axel, who was standing not too far away.
At the same time, a line of words from the system danced in front of his eyes.
[Congratulations on obtaining a Shadow.]
[Congratulations on receiving the SSS-grade Lightning from your Shadow.]
'What?' Modret quickly sprang to his feet.
"Axel, how are you alive?" he raised his brow.
Axel furrowed his brows, seemingly in deep thought.
"Young Master. Based on my analysis, my body possesses no lifeforce, and I have a connection to you. I don't think I am alive. Rather, it might have something to do with you…" Axel gave Modret a knowing look.
'To do with me?' Modret was alarmed and quickly glanced at his system. Only then did he notice the line of words. The description of the Shadow, along with a few other pieces of information, appeared in front of him.
[Shadow: A unique subordinate that can only be obtained when one completely devotes their life to the Lord of Shadows, passing the ultimate trial and sacrificing themselves for their lord.]
[Note: A Shadow can devour other Shadow servants to evolve in strength. The master can bestow a Shadow with corresponding abilities as they constantly evolve.]
[Second Note: A Shadow can be resurrected by gathering the corresponding Shadow fragments.]
[You can view the information of your Shadow servant below.]
[Name: Axel Devon]
[Remark: Is he the protagonist or is it the Young Master? Born in a servant household, he had always strived to increase his strength and topple the world order.]
[Ability: Lightning (SSS-grade)]
[System Remark: He is an innate awakened, born with the SSS-grade Lightning ability. He realised his ability early on and chose to keep it a secret, training in it all the way until he reached the Cosmos Realm. He was truly grateful to you and was completely devoted, having no alternative motives.]
[During the awakening, he chose to keep his ability a secret to avoid bringing trouble to the Young Master. However, the Young Master just had to bring trouble to himself.]
[Monthly Remark: He is cool. He is strong. He is slightly dreamy and he is the overprotective type. Give him a raise!]
'Damn!' Modret cursed silently at the system's snarky remarks.
'Is Axel the owner of the system or is it me?' If the system were a living thing, he would not hesitate to give it a playful slap. What the hell?
Modret read through the information once again just to confirm. 'The system is truly shameless.'
He closed the panel and felt he now understood Axel better. He glanced at him curiously. "An innate awakened? SSS-grade Lightning?"
Axel's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and did it again. After a short while, he finally opened his mouth to speak. "I'm sorry for lying to you, Young Master."
He apologised, causing Modret to shrug nonchalantly.
"Everyone has their secrets. It's nothing." After he finished speaking, he turned slightly to the side. "What you said while you were about... uh, dying, was it true?"
Axel exhaled in relief. "Yes, Young Master. It was true. Back then, I didn't completely know how to use my ability, so I wasn't able to hunt. Only after that time did I start fiercely training and increasing my strength.
"Over the years, you also had a few assassination attempts, which I have resolved." Axel bowed slightly, his voice low as he spoke.
Modret stared at him.
"Thank you." He said it this time with his heart filled with complete warmth.
Axel smiled lightly. "It's what I should do as your lifeguard."
"How about Aeron?" Modret asked, referring to the Shadow servant.
"He is outside gathering animals for our meal."
Modret nodded and then glanced around at the ice-filled world. "Where are we?"
He noticed that he couldn't recall reading about anywhere like this from the books he had read previously.
"This is the Extreme North. A place filled with ice and chill. It is no different from a world of ice," Axel said with a smile as he watched Modret stand up.
Modret stretched lightly, then stared over the horizon.
Everywhere was iced up, and even at a distance not too far away, there were a few ice sculptures. The whole place was filled with white and pale blue. The slightly clouded sun did nothing to bring warmth to the surroundings. The air was thin and biting, and every breath left a trail of mist.
Modret smiled faintly. "A new chapter to our life, huh…" he muttered silently.
Axel glanced at the Young Master, then also let a smile curve his lips. "Of course…"
As Modret and Axel were gazing into the distant horizon, they suddenly felt the mana increase slightly once more. They shrugged it off, as this had become a common occurrence over the years.
Just then, in the skies, a line of glowing numbers appeared.
[100%]
"This…" Modret's mouth dropped open.
Bang!
A loud crash echoed faintly through the surroundings, drawing the attention of Modret and Axel. They turned around and realised that a gate made of ice had appeared not too far from them.
"Young Master, what is that?" Axel's face showed an uneasy expression as he stared at the gate.
"I don't—" Modret murmured, but his words were cut short as a figure stepped through the gate.
The figure had two wings and appeared to be made entirely of ice. Its skin was transparent, and it looked as though its entire body had been sculpted from glass. It raised its head, which contained four glowing eyes, and stared directly at Modret and Axel. Then it let out a piercing shriek that echoed across the frozen landscape.
…
All around the world, a strange phenomenon had begun occurring the moment the glowing numbers in the sky reached one hundred percent.
Many had been speculating about what the number could mean. However, seeing the terrifying monsters stepping out of the gates, which exuded an otherworldly pressure, they could not help but feel a wave of horror.
With multiple gates spreading worldwide, the entire world was soon plunged into chaos.
At the same time, upon entering into the gates, the awakeners were greeted with a line of words.
[Welcome to the Celestial Descent.]