The celebration of Yuto's victory had ended, but Nerulia Haven didn't sleep.
Builders worked. Spirits hummed through trees. Magical lamps danced in the air.
Yuto stood alone on a high balcony overlooking his growing city.
Wind brushed his hair. The moon reflected in his eyes like silver flame.
He looked at his palms.
"…I won. But it didn't feel like enough."
The corrupted werewolf had nearly killed him.
If Elira hadn't...
He shivered.
Power.
He needed more.
He needed to be ready.
[Advisor: Emotional Spark Detected: "Resolve." System recommends accelerated growth path.]
"You read my mood too well."
[ I am literally inside your soul. Sometimes I wish I wasn't.]
He snorted. "Fair."
---
Lights in the sky suddenly flickered...
No… they shook.
Yuto's instincts screamed.
The world grew still, as if the air was holding its breath.
A tremor cut through the night.
Elira rushed out, panting.
"Yuto..., do you feel that?!"
Zarek and Mimi arrived. Seraphina floated behind them with wings of mana.
"What kind of monster?" Mimi whispered.
Seraphina's face was pale.
"…Not a monster. Something far worse."
A voice split the sky, smooth and ancient.
"So this is the newborn kingdom."
A rift tore open like paper.
A dark throne emerged, floating.
On it sat a man with silver hair, pale skin, eyes red like drowning moons.
Wearing a blood-threaded coat. Handsomely terrifying.
Vampiric aura crashed like a mountain.
Every spirit lamp shattered.
People collapsed. Children cried.
Trees trembled. Mana itself bent.
Seraphina whispered, terrified,
"V–Vampire Overlord. Lord Dracul Morhaven."
" Overlord..., what's that?"
Yuto instinctively asked .
Elira's knees shook. Zarek instinctively shielded Mimi.
Yuto stepped forward.
"Why are you here."
Dracul's eyes drifted lazily to him, as if examining an ant trying to roar.
"Spirit hatchling… I came to see what insect dared claim a new territory."
Yuto's fists clenched hard enough to bleed.
His aura flared.
"I lead a city, not a territory. And no one here is your insect."
Dracul smirked.
"So bold. So new."
He stood. Air ripped under his presence.
"If you desire the path of power, you must understand your insignificance."
Yuto felt his core tremble like glass cracking.
[ Advisor: Warning. Host may die. Recommend retreat.]
---
"…No."
Elira grabbed Yuto's arm. "Don't! He's..."
Yuto smiled faintly at her.
"I have to know how far I still am."
He stepped forward.
---
"I challenge you," Yuto said quietly, voice steady.
"To show you what I am made of, I don't care about any overlord."
Dracul chuckled softly.
"You? Challenge me?"
The air froze.
Then...
BOOM
Dracul vanished.
And reappeared with his finger touching Yuto's chest.
Yuto didn't even see the movement.
A shockwave blasted him backward, shattering stone.
He hit a tower. Crashed through it.
Dust swallowed him.
Elira screamed his name.
But Yuto forced himself up, body shaking.
Blood dripped down his chin.
He rushed forward in a dash,
Speed breaking sound...
Dracul didn't move.
Yuto's fist hit nothing, then Dracul's hand slapped him aside casually, like brushing dust.
BOOM!!
Earth cratered. Yuto was fast but this guy was on another level of speed.
Yuto coughed blood, bones cracking.
He rose again.
"You fight with spirit. Admirable. Futile. But it seems like no one told you about people like me didn't they, what are you?, a reborn?."
Dark mist wrapped Dracul's arm.
He struck.
And the world went black for Yuto.
---
When his eyes reopened, he floated,
as shimmering white flame.
Elira gasped. "He...He transformed!"
His spirit core pulsed wildly, instinct saving him.
Dracul tilted his head.
"…Spirit Overlord seed confirmed. Interesting."
Yuto in spirit form gathered force..
A surge of raw Mana creation magic.
The air thickened, ground glowing.
He fired a blast.
Dracul raised one finger.
The blast shattered like glass.
Then a hand of blood-mist grabbed Yuto's spirit form and slammed him down.
CRACK!
Pain clawed through his soul.
[ Advisor: Host damage: critical. Suggest surrender.]
Never....
Dracul walked toward him, aura crushing.
"You are centuries too early."
He placed a hand lightly on Yuto's chest.
Spirit form flickered violently.
Elira tried to run to him...
But fell to her knees, unable to move.
Everyone else lay gasping on ground, pinned by power.
"Grow, little spirit," Dracul whispered like a death sentence.
"And maybe one day, you will amuse me again."
With a snap of his fingers, space tore...
He vanished.
Power released like a sigh.
Everyone gasped air.
Yuto collapsed, unconscious, returning to human form, body broken.
Elira caught him, tears trembling.
"You idiot… why push so far…"
Yuto coughed blood.
" Why did no one tell me about anything called an overlord?"
" I thought you'd know already!, Maybe where you grew up wasn't as civilized".
Elira said, trying to hold him up , Mimi, Zarek and Serphina rushed forward.
Serphina started explaining.
" You see Zack, the being you just encountered is the vampire overlord. Overlords are one of the most powerful beings In this world, they are said to be the strongest of their specie of monsters"
" No wonder, a vampire is already strong enough. Talk of the strongest...."
He passed out...
---
Yuto awoke bandaged, aura fragile, unable to sit up.
His allies stood around him, eyes mixed with fear, awe, worry, admiration.
Elira sat closest, holding his hand unknowingly.
"You're awake... stupid."
He looked up. "Did I win?"
Mimi sniffled. "You got murdered."
Zarek nodded solemnly. "He clapped you like a fly."
Seraphina: "You lasted four seconds. Impressive, actually."
Yuto smiled weakly.
"…I saw it. The gap."
Elira's eyes glimmered. "You scared me."
He squeezed her hand gently.
----
"I'll never lose like that again.
He stared at the ceiling.
"I'm going to reach them. The Overlords."
His voice vibrated, not loud, but heavy like fate.
"And when I meet him again… I won't break. I won't kneel."
Elira whispered, tears shining but smiling with pride:
"We'll walk that road with you."
[Advisor: New System Goal generated [Ascend to True Overlord]
[ Sub-quests unlocked:
Hunt ultra-corrupted beasts
Unlock Spirit Domain
Evolve core to Divine Class
Establish Overlord Sanctuary territory
Recruit elite guardians
Earn recognition of world powers
???
[Warning: Difficult--absurd.]
Yuto grinned despite pain.
"Good. I like absurd."
His path had changed.
This was no longer a survival journey.
This was the rise of a king...