The sky above Nerulia Haven darkened unnaturally.
It wasn't storm clouds.
It was pressure.
Mana thickened until even ordinary citizens felt it in their bones, like standing at the edge of something vast and unknowable. Flags fluttered violently without wind. Spirit lamps flickered. The city's protective arrays hummed at low intensity, responding instinctively.
Yuto landed at the city gates with a muted thud.
Dust rolled outward.
Guards stiffened, then relaxed instantly when they recognized him.
"Lord Yuto!"
He didn't respond immediately.
His eyes were fixed on the horizon behind him, where the corrupted lands lay hidden beyond distance and terrain.
Something had changed.
Not just there.
Everywhere.
[ Advisor: "Mana fluctuations detected across multiple continents. Estimated cause: Ven'rael's partial awakening."]
"…So it wasn't just local."
[ "No. That thing doesn't exist locally. It exists globally."]
Yuto exhaled slowly and stepped inside the city....
People stopped what they were doing as he passed.
Craftsmen paused mid-hammer. Merchants lowered their voices. Children stared.
Not in fear.
In awareness.
Mimi spotted him first, sprinting across the street and nearly colliding into his side.
"Yuto! The ground shook! And then everyone felt weird and, hey why do you look like you fought a mountain?"
Zarek followed more calmly, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
"You went too deep, didn't you."
Yuto gave a dry smile. "Something like that."
Seraphina approached, her expression unusually tense.
"My barrier spells spiked all at once. I've never seen mana behave like that."
Elira arrived last.
She didn't speak.
She simply reached out and lightly gripped Yuto's sleeve, checking him with worried eyes.
He met her gaze.
"…I'm okay."
She didn't fully believe him, but she nodded anyway.
[ Advisor: "Emotional synchronization detected. Spirit stability increased by 2%."]
"…You didn't have to say that out loud."
[ "Yes I did."]
----
Later that day....
They gathered in the central hall, now far larger than when Nerulia Haven had first been founded. Maps covered the table, glowing faintly as mana flowed through them.
Lyra stood near the far end, already issuing instructions to medics preparing for potential casualties.
"Mana sickness reports are coming in from outer districts," she said calmly. "Nothing severe yet."
Yuto nodded. "That may change."
Every eye turned to him.
Zarek spoke first. "You saw it, didn't you."
Yuto placed both hands on the table.
"I found something sealed deep beneath the corrupted lands."
Silence fell.
"A dragon," Seraphina said quietly.
"Yes."
Mimi's ears flattened. "Like… dragon dragon?"
"Worse," Yuto said. "An original."
The air felt heavier.
[Advisor: "Correction: An original Dragon Overlord, sealed but not slain."]
Elira inhaled sharply.
"…Ven'rael."
Yuto turned to her. "You know that name?"
She nodded slowly. "Old spirit texts. Forbidden ones. They say Ven'rael was the first overlord corruption ever touched… and was controlled ."
Zarek's jaw tightened. "And it noticed you."
"Yes."
No one spoke for several seconds.
Then Seraphina asked the hardest question.
"…Can we fight it?"
Yuto didn't answer immediately.
He stared at the map, where corrupted zones slowly pulsed.
"…Not yet."
[Advisor: "Probability of survival in direct confrontation at current strength: 0.7%."]
Mimi blinked. "That's… less than one."
"Exactly," Yuto said calmly...
----
Far away from places no ordinary being could reach,
They felt it.
A massive crimson moonlit palace stirred as a vampire with ancient eyes rose from a throne carved of bone and gold.
"So… Ven'rael twitched."
In frozen peaks, a being sitting on a collosal dragon shifted beneath glacial clouds, golden eyes opening slowly.
"…The seal weakens.ha..., that weak old bastard"
Deep within a cursed forest, a towering werewolf figure exhaled steam into the night.
"The hunt begins again."
Across the world, Overlords turned their gaze, not toward Ven'rael.
Toward Yuto.
---
That night, Yuto stood alone atop the city wall.
Stars shimmered faintly, distorted by mana currents.
[Advisor: "Yuto. You need to understand something now, fully."]
He didn't turn. "Say it."
["You are already classified as a proto-overlord."]
Yuto's brow furrowed.
"A what?"
[ "You possess independent authority over spirit laws, scalable evolution, and purification influence. The only thing you lack is absolute dominion."]
"…Overlords rule their species."
["Correct."]
Yuto clenched his fist.
"And I'm the strongest spirit."
[ "Yes. But not yet acknowledged."]
Yuto looked down at the city, his city.
Nerulia Haven glowed softly, alive with people who trusted him.
"…Then I'll earn it."
[ Advisor: "That path involves facing beings far stronger than you."]
"I know."
[ "You will lose. Bleed. Break."]
"I know."
[ "You may even die."]
Yuto smiled faintly.
"…Then I'll get back up."
The evolution meter flickered quietly.
Evolution Progress: 73% → 73.5%
Stable.
Waiting.
---
Suddenly,
A presence appeared behind him.
Cold. Elegant. Ancient.
Yuto turned instantly.
A woman stood there, silver hair, crimson eyes, skin pale as moonlight.
A vampire, the first normal one he had seen since the overlord.
Not hostile.
Not friendly.
Curious.
"You're earlier than expected," she said.
Yuto didn't move. "And you're trespassing."
She smiled.
"I'm delivering a courtesy. From the vampire overlord Sir Vel' drat"
Her gaze sharpened.
"Do not challenge Ven'rael yet."
Yuto met her eyes without flinching.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good," she said. "Because if you die before becoming an Overlord…"
She vanished, leaving only her final words behind.
"…the world ends faster."
Silence returned.
Yuto exhaled.
[ Advisor: "That was from the Vampire Overlord."]
"…Yeah. I guessed."
[ "He just acknowledged you."]
" That cruel bastard ".....
Yuto looked back at the city.
"Then I guess…"
His aura flared faintly.
"…I'm on the board now."
---