CHAPTER 242: THE TRUTH

After a while, the banquet had shifted into a different mood. All eleven of the top ten stood shoulder to shoulder with each other, facing the king and the queen, their hands behind their backs and their heads raised high.

The king stood before them, his demeanor calm. He looked at all of them with pride on his face. After a few seconds, he smiled, a soft one, but nonetheless a good smile.

"The eleven of you have shown greatness in the short time you have been in the academy, with talent, grit, and hard work.

You stood against the demonized that have threatened many above you in strength, and you saved your mates and your school on several different occasions.

So tonight, all of you will become the next golden set, a prestige that’s beyond many. As one of the golden set, you have the power and importance of a marquis, but you’ll also serve the kingdom to the extent of your ability.

But beyond the benefits, you are the ones that stand as the pivot of your generation. Everyone in your age group will look up to you," the king said.

A tall guard walked in with a tray, and there was a total of ten rings on it, each with some runes and a Vermilion seal.

The king picked them one after the other and placed them on their fingers. The runes glowed, and the rings fit to size.

He did it for everyone and then finally Lance and Riven. Riven looked at the ring; he felt there was more to it, but checking it now would be improper.

"That ring, it carries traces of arcane blacksmithing. This ring is special," Twilight suddenly spoke. She had been quiet for most of the time, so speaking now meant that the ring was very special.

After the king handed it to them, they bowed their heads and then walked away. The banquet continued with drinking, and soon dancing started.

Riven made his way out of the main hall and into a balcony. He walked into the corner at the side of the door and stood there.

His gaze was calm as the breeze brushed against his skin. He looked at the ring on his finger and then tried to access it with mana. Immediately his mind was pulled in, a space deeper than what he had in his finer ring, and inside was a small pile of coins, gold coins.

His eyes widened when he saw the amount. A smile formed from ear to ear. With that, he was about to get enough materials for what he needed in blacksmithing.

"Seems being one of the golden set comes with its own benefits," Twilight said.

"Yeah, but the troubles that come with it are too much. Having the authority of a marquis, no one wants that, it unsettles the balance that is created.

The rest all have manor backing behind them that makes sure they can’t be targeted as I can. But for me, I have to defend myself.

Grandfather might be strong, but I can’t be with him always, and his name doesn’t drive away the enemies. I’ll have to get stronger for myself," Riven said.

He looked at the ring, his gaze lingering on it. "There was a golden set before ours, yet they were broken apart and many left.

What makes ours different, and why would they decide to make us a golden set out of nowhere, set us on a pedestal, and watch us fall or struggle to survive?

Tsk, I feel like this is one big elaborate plot of some sort, but I have no control over it, and it hurts my gut to the core," Riven said.

"Doesn’t matter now, does it? You have your own agenda, so you should seek it out," Twilight said.

Riven nodded. It didn’t matter what the kingdom wanted from them by making them into the golden set, he would still do what he needed to.

Riven was about to head back inside when suddenly, Lance walked out, head high and eyes cold. He turned to the side slowly and locked eyes with Riven.

There was a tense five seconds of silence. Riven stared at Lance; Lance finally looked away and walked to the edge of the balcony.

"I said I would kill you if I got you one on one," Riven said and pulled out his sword.

"Tch, I’m not in the mood to fight, Riven. I’m here to talk," Lance said. He turned to look at Riven.

Riven could tell from the look on his face that he seriously wasn’t here to fight.

"That doesn’t matter," Riven stated and pointed his sword at Lance. "You killed Noel, and to me, there is no mercy for you, and I’ll never forgive you for that, even if it means I burn in the flames of hell to make sure that you die." Riven spat, every word heavy and dragged out to make sure that he was heard.

"Yeah, and somehow you didn’t die. That day in the forest should have been the last day that I had to deal with being second, yet somehow you managed to fuck that up," Lance said. He took a few steps toward Riven.

"I have accommodated you for far too long. I have allowed you to take my shine for far too long," Lance said and then pointed at Riven. "I’m not having it anymore.

I AM THE CHOSEN OF LUMIS—the one set to be the hero that saves this world from the demon. I should be the best at everything I do, not playing second position to the son of a baron," Lance said, veins bulging on his head.

"I thought about it for hours and hours and hours. It didn’t make sense, none of it did. Now you cheated death, and yet you are still a pain in my back.

So I looked into you, tried to find out everything. I did my research and I realized that you only started system training a few months ago.

That was the final straw. I realized then and there that you weren’t normal. No, no, calling you a monster would be a grand underestimation of what you really are.

I looked into the Riven that was before a few months ago, the hated prankster and pigheaded kid. That was the you everyone knew. And then, all of a sudden, you changed and started carrying out miracles.

Such a random and crazy change. Others may not see it, they may not know, but I see and I know," Lance said and walked forward, the tip of Riven’s sword pressed against his chest.

"You are like me, a transmigrator."

The moment those words left Lance’s mouth, the air became heavy. Riven gripped the sword tighter.

"Hahahaha, I saw you twitch. You really are one, a transmigrator like me. Hahahaha, this is hilarious," he said.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Riven said.

"Oh you do, you definitely do know what I am talking about, RIVEN.

You were sent after me. Why? The question is why? Why would Lumis choose you after choosing me?" Lance asked.

"I don’t know who Lumis is," Riven stated.

"Still hanging onto the lies, I guess. Lumis is the only one that could have brought you here. She is the goddess, she alone has the power to bring someone here, so you must have come through her," Lance stated.

’Could it be that Frozen Fish is also Lumis? No, that doesn’t make sense. Lumis is written in the story as a character as well, and though she is the one that brought Lance here, there is no way that she is Frozen Fish.

So just who is Frozen Fish, and why did he bring me here without the notice of Lumis? Tsk, that’s not important now. I need to get more information out of Lance.

"Lumis told me that I was the one to save the world. I was the one to make it right, to defeat the demon lord and thereby bring back balance.

It was my goal, my dream, my everything. I worked day and night to ensure that my goal came to pass.

Then you come around and you want to change all of that. You want to shatter it. She brought you as well, basically telling me that I’m not good enough, that I won’t be able to do it.

Thinking of that heavily pisses me off," Lance said, and a sudden golden glow started emanating from his body, but suddenly wisps of black started showing in the glow.

’Oh shit, it’s finally happening,’ Riven thought. He recalled the logic that made up Lance’s power: the law of justice, by which Lance gets stronger as he upholds justice.

And if he ever stopped upholding justice, his power would cease. But justice was subjective to the mind of the user, and whatever Lance believed was justice would become justice.

This allowed him to keep his power despite the acts that he had been committing. But evil remained evil, and even in the belief that it was justice, its true form started taking over the power and changing it into something different.