I straightened my back, adjusting the collar of my silk shirt.
'Here it comes. The final boss battle of social interaction.'
Vlad stopped right in front of me.
He didn't look at the crowd.
He didn't look at the other Emperors.
His abyssal red eyes locked solely onto mine.
The silence stretched, tight as a bowstring.
"Sethius."
His voice rumbled, deep enough to vibrate in my chest.
"Father."
"You reek of anticipation," he stated flatly, his gaze boring into me. "You look at this gathering not as a celebration, but as a cage you are waiting to break out of."
"Is that a criticism?"
"It is just an observation."
Vlad raised his hand. The air distorted next to him, space warping and twisting until a long, dark shape materialized.
It was a case. Pitch black, made of wood that seemed to absorb the light around it.
*Clack.*
The lid popped open.
"Here. Use this from now on."
I looked inside, and my breath hitched.
It was a Miao Dao. But compared to the one I had been using for the past ten days, this was like comparing a nuclear warhead to a coughing baby.
The blade wasn't just black; it was Vantablack.
It had no sheen, no reflection.
It was a tear in reality shaped like a weapon.
The hilt was wrapped in the leather of some unknown beast, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic heartbeat.
"Your current blade," Vlad sneered, glancing at the ornamental sword at my waist, "is a toothpick. It has lost its purpose the moment your frame of mind… adjusted."
He grabbed the weapon and shoved it toward me.
"Take it. And don't you dare embarrass the name of Nevermore by being trash."
I reached out.
*Ziiiing—!*
The connection was instant. Violent. Perfect.
------| Item Details |------
[Name]: Night's Verdict
[Rank]: SS-
[Type]: Miao Dao
[Description]: Forged from the fang of an Abyssal Leviathan of the 81st Floor and quenched in the blood of a Fallen Ancient God. It does not cut flesh; it severs existence.
[Effect]: Ignores 40% of all physical defenses. Increases Dark Affinity potency by 50%.
[Use Restriction]: User must be at least S rank, else they could succumb to the influence of the Ancient Diety
"SS- Rank…"
A murmur rippled through the crowd. I could hear the sharp intake of breath from the Human Emperor.
An SS- Rank weapon given to a mere newbie? It was insanity.
And... It was a declaration of sheer power.
"I… accept this burden," I said, suppressing the feral grin that wanted to split my face.
Vlad merely grunted and started to step aside.
But he didn't get far.
*Thwack!*
A sound echoed through the silent ballroom.
It was the sound of a fan hitting someone's arm.
Hard.
"Is that it?"
The voice was sharp, cutting through the heavy atmosphere like a razor.
Vlad froze.
The Ruler of the Moros Empire, the strongest being in the room, slowly turned his head.
Beside him, Empress Verona stood with her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, her fan vibrating in her hand.
"Verona…" Vlad warned, his voice low.
"Don't you 'Verona' me, you emotionally constipated block of granite!" she hissed, loud enough for all the nobles to hear.
*Gasp.*
The crowd looked like they were watching a dragon slap a volcano.
"Our son is leaving for the Tower! He is going to a place full of monsters and savages!" Verona poked Vlad in the chest with the tip of her fan. "And all you give him is a sword and a command not to embarrass you? 'Don't be trash'? That's your goodbye?"
"He is a warrior," Vlad rumbled, looking uncomfortable as he adjusted his collar. "He needs a weapon, not a hug."
"He needs a father, not a drill sergeant, you moron!"
She scoffed, turning her back on the terrifying Emperor as if he were nothing more than a nuisance.
"Honestly, I don't know why I married you sometimes. You have the emotional range of a brick."
Vlad opened his mouth, then closed it.
He coughed into his hand, looking away.
He... had lost.
Then, the Ice Queen turned her gaze to me.
Her expression shifted instantly.
The fury melted away, replaced by a trembling, watery look that made my stomach drop.
"Oh, my baby!"
*Squish!*
Before I could even react, her hands shot out and clamped onto my cheeks.
"M-Mother?"
"Look at you! You're so thin! Have you been eating? Are the chefs starving you? I'll execute them. I'll execute all of them!"
Her voice wasn't cold. It was… high-pitched.
Wobbly.
Mushy.
"…"
The silence in the ballroom was deafening.
I saw the Human Emperor's jaw literally drop.
Empress Pluvia looked like she had swallowed a lemon.
"Mother… people are watching," I mumbled, my voice distorted by her squishing my cheeks.
"Let them watch!" She huffed, pulling me into a suffocating hug that smelled of winter roses.
"My little Sethy is leaving the nest! How can I be calm? Your father might be a stone, but I have a heart!"
She pulled back, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"I made this for you. You have to wear it. Always. Even in the bath."
She grabbed my hand and slapped a bracelet onto my wrist.
It was made of white gold, delicate and etched with runes that hurt my eyes to look at.
------| Item Details |------
[Name]: A Mother's Love
[Rank]: S-
[Type]: Accessory
[Effect]: Generates an absolute barrier capable of nullifying one attack of S- Rank or below.
[Cooldown]: 168 Hours (1 Week).
[Use Restriction]: None
"If anyone hits you," she whispered, her voice suddenly dropping back to that terrifying, lethal tone the world knew, "this will save you. And then I will come and turn their bloodline into ice sculptures."
She patted my cheek one last time, gave a dazzling, uncharacteristically warm smile to the stunned crowd, and stepped back to Vlad's side.
She glared at him once more for good measure.
Vlad actually took a half-step back.
'…She's batshit crazy. But... nice?.'
I touched the bracelet. S- Rank protection.
"Brother."
Mihail stepped up next.
The Crown Prince. He looked like a copy of Father, but with less oppressive gravity and more sharp, calculating coldness.
He smartly ignored the domestic dispute that had just occurred.
He didn't waste time with theatrics.
"The Academy is boring. The nights are short."
He flicked his finger.
*Ping.*
A small silver object flew through the air.
I caught it.
A simple silver stud earring.
"Don't collapse before the journey truly starts, Sethius. That would be sad."
------| Item Details |------
[Name]: Breath of the Wild
[Rank]: A+
[Type]: Accessory
[Effect]: Increases Stamina Regeneration by 50%. Reduces fatigue buildup during training.
[Use Restriction]: None
I looked at Mihail. He offered me a faint, almost imperceptible nod.
"Useful," I muttered.
"I know."
He walked away.
'I like him too.'
And then… There was one left.
Radu.
The little fucker.
He walked up to me, his small legs trembling slightly under the gaze of the entire room.
He was clutching something behind his back.
He stopped, looking up at me with those big, crimson eyes.
"B-Big Brother…"
"What is it?" I asked, my voice low.
Radu took a deep breath and whipped his hands out from behind his back.
"This… This is for you!"
"…"
I stared.
The crowd stared.
Even Vlad raised an eyebrow, clearly relieved the attention was off him.
It wasn't a sword. It wasn't an artifact. It wasn't a potion.
It was a bouquet.
A bunch of red and black Blood-Lilies, clumsily tied together with a velvet ribbon.
The stems were uneven, and there was still a bit of dirt on the petals.
"I… I grew them," Radu squeaked, his face turning red. "Since you… You stepped on the white one… I thought you liked the red ones better. Because they are strong. Like you!"
My eye twitched.
'Is he mocking me?'
I looked at the pathetic bundle of vegetation.
'I am going to fight. I am going into the Tower to slit throats and crush skulls. And you give me… flowers?'
Indignation rose in my chest.
Adam found it kinda cute.
Sethius found it insulting.
I wanted to crush them.
I wanted to throw them on the floor and grind them into paste just like I did in the garden.
But…
I felt the gazes. Hundreds of them.
If I crushed them now, I wouldn't look like a dominant predator.
I would look like a petulant child bullying a toddler.
'Fuck.'
I gritted my teeth.
I forced the corners of my mouth upward. It felt like I was lifting heavy weights with my facial muscles.
"Thank you… Radu."
The words tasted like ash.
I took the bouquet.
"They are… lovely."
Radu beamed.
It wasn't a normal smile. It was the kind, distorted, ecstatic grin a deranged person would have on their face.
"I knew it!" he whispered, his eyes gleaming with a terrifying adoration. "I knew you were kind, Big Brother! I'll grow more! I'll grow a whole garden of red ones just for you to step on!"
'…This kid is broken. Why the fuck is there not a single normal one in this family!?!'
I stepped back, holding the flowers like they were a bomb.
"Let the ceremony conclude!" Vlad's voice boomed, eager to end the night before his wife scolded him again.
The music swelled again. The nobles bowed.
I turned around, clutching the SS- Rank sword in one hand and the bouquet of flowers in the other.
'What a farce.'
But as I walked out of the ballroom, leaving the lights and the noise behind, a dark smirk settled on my face.
"Mr. Tower…"
I looked out the window at the broken moon one last time.
"Sorry, but I think you will be bathed in blood pretty soon~."