CHAPTER 265: HER STORY [6]

Thinking of the long term, there was a silent agreement between her and the prince; Sophia had decided to help Lucien Suncrest ascend to the throne, and the prince would free her from the binding effect of the summoning ritual. He never looked at her with obvious lust, but rather apprehension and a calculating glint. He was honest about his aspirations to become the king. Of course, she did not make any verbal promise on that agreement, as it was something that would bind her to keep that vow.

They both agreed that when the time came, they would draw up a proper contract so that both sides would fulfill their end of the bargain.

To become the king, he had to become one to protect and save his mother and sister. He was not chasing glory and power; instead, it was the desire to protect the two people he loved most in this world. And she respected that notion of thought very much.

As they left for the academy, she heaved a profound sigh of relief. She had finally escaped the accursed grounds of the royal palace, an area she was not allowed to leave, as commanded by the king himself. Just like she could not kill or intentionally harm herself. Although there was one instance when she was allowed to go out, during the masked competition, that was the first time she had appeared in front of the other descendants of high society, including the highest families and merchant organizations.

All gathered there to watch the masked competition, which they viewed as an amusement. But of course, when they saw her divine figure, with its red eyes and uncommon black hair, they were struck by lightning. The boys were stunned by her beauty, and the girls were jealous. But they remained very respectful outwardly. Most of the boys madly fell in love with her.

Ken Dusker was the same; many of them did not know the inner details of how the valkyrie could not form any relationship with anyone unless they carried the royal blood. Sophia kept her expression and tone neutral as she greeted them all. Lucien helped her so that no male would come near her since she abhorred that very much.

For the first time, seeing the world outside and seeing such an interesting competition, she was internally elated. A part of her wanted to take part in it, but she knew it was impossible. If she did take part in it, though, it would be too one-sided, after all. She had become so strong, even without becoming a seeker, that she had far surpassed the standard limit of humans and beyond. She was a genius in all sorts of combat and strategy. Her strength is utterly monstrous for her level. The one named Salazar caught her attention within the competition. His strength was also great, not as equal as Lucien’s, but just a bit less.

After a month of the competition, the individuals from the Suncrest kingdom who would be attending the academy were selected. She, alongside the elite group of descendants, stepped foot into a large and luxurious ship.

Lucien and Lumina were both standing close to her. They were all on a luxurious ship. There was a teleport gateway in the middle of an ocean at a certain point, as the boat went through the dangerous-looking wormhole of a doorway. Everyone operating the ship was a staff member of the academy, as it was built in a secret location at sea, an area that no one was allowed to know, except for the three kings themselves, which is why all this hassle occurred.

The moment the gigantic ship slipped through the white swirling wormhole, everyone felt their bodies being pulled at an impossible speed and twisted at an impossible angle. It was a sensation utterly alien to describe. It was like traveling between different planes of existence. From what she could see, everyone else had previous experience in going through these teleportation gates. Yes, they all refer to these spatial paths as teleportation gates.

Though all noble heirs did have experience with this, this seemed to put an obvious strain on their existence. Even the strong 4th prince was not immune to this. But Sophia did not feel any such strain; of course, she did feel weird about this whole ordeal, yet she could not call it a ’strain’. She shrugged and attributed it to her boon of being a valkyrie. She had learned to accept this nature about herself over time.

No matter what she tried, she would show monstrous talent in almost every single one of those fields without exception. Every single type of close or long-range combat. Battle strategies, tactical mindset, medical expertise, and leadership. She somehow found herself to be highly talented at almost everything. From what she read in certain stories, it seems that after death, you would be summoned to meet the mighty being who summoned you. This being could then grant you a grand mission and offer you specific divine skills to choose from. You would then embark on a mission to kill the demon lord or demon king, aiming to save the world.

But here it was the exact opposite, at least in some ways; no divine-like being summoned her here; instead, it was the king of a human kingdom who did so, though that 6th phase powerhouse who summoned her was no joke himself. Then she was extremely talented at everything, as if she had been given countless SSS rank skills at once. As long as she tried hard enough, she could become an expert in almost every profession.

Soon, the luxurious ship exited the spatial gateway, and what they all saw made their jaws drop involuntarily. An enormous island lay right in front of them, in the middle of the ocean; one could only imagine how far out into the sea they were. On one side of the gigantic island lies a deep, dark forest filled with powerful creatures, beasts, and monsters. At the same time, the other half appeared to be a modern and civilized area, filled with buildings and various complex, tall structures.

It was a work of wonder; a trace of ancient air lingered throughout the entire island campus as they all set foot on the ground. The vice principal, Selwyn Brown, was there to greet them and guided them to the central field. She promptly revealed, "Please wait just a minute here, as the rest of the students will arrive within the timeframe. After which, I will give more details, then the principal will come and give a speech."

Then the events followed as usual. She did not notice Axel’s existence at that time, and perhaps it was a good thing that she did not. Eventually, two days later, everyone entered their pods through the nexus stone; the nexus rune was imprinted on the back of everyone’s hand. The scorching pain was terrible, yes, but to her it was nothing. She went through the worst tortures at the hands of her so-called combat trainers, so the pain of this could be called a joke.

Her vision darkened, and multiple streams of emotionless voices spoke one after another. Bloody red-colored glyphs appeared in written format, one after another.

[Verifying connection through the Nexus Rune]

[Connection established]

[Congratulations to user Sophia Evercrest for connecting with Prime Nexus]

[Identifying....]

[Basic information and background have been identified.]

[Creating.....]

[Trial creation has been completed]

[Please find a trace of your true self within the trials]

[Your Aspect Awakening Trial shall now commence.]

So, this was the so-called prime nexus, she thought. This was essentially the ’system’ of this world, directly responsible for helping beings grow stronger throughout the entire continent. Then there was a long stretch of silence, in which nothing happened. Then the emotionless voice of Prime Nexus became alive as if waking up from the dead. It was stated in a tone of lingering amusement that sent chills down the spine of Sophia.

[May you find what you truly wish for, oh Divine Valkyrie.]

Before she could process what she heard, she went unconscious; no one knew how long had passed, or why the Prime Nexus said the words it spoke.

After an unknown amount of time, Sophia’s eyes shot wide open. A massive skull-splitting headache was assaulting her head, and she clutched her forehead in pain. However, she realized that something was wrong. Her hands felt wet, and drops of some liquid were running down her face from her head. She looked at her hands again. She was horrified; both of her hands were utterly drenched in blood.

Her face was bloody, and some cloth was loosely tied to her wound, from which blood was still gushing out. There was a deep gash on her head, as if a rock had been smashed there. She finally came to her senses, paying attention to her surroundings only now. What she saw made her blood run cold. Hundreds of people were critically injured and lay on open grass at night. There were Men, Women, and even children. So many of them badly injured, in the dead of the night. They all seem to be close to death. Barely breathing, barely clinging to life.