CHAPTER 426: THE MEETUP - PART 2

Lucien looked toward me for a moment, then smiled faintly before speaking.

"What would the boy even gain from turning against us? If he wanted this throne, I could hand it to him myself. But does he look interested in it?"

Cassian bowed his head in agreement. "No, Majesty. It doesn’t seem to be the case."

Lucien leaned back against the throne, his smile deepening. "Then it looks like our bets were well placed. And it’s all thanks to you, Dante." His sharp eyes shifted to me.

I only nodded in response.

It was then that Damian’s voice cut in, sharp and curious. "How did you know?"

His words struck deeper than I had expected. I looked down at the floor, my mind filling with memories I had buried for years—the life I once lived, the knowledge I once carried. A sigh escaped me before I finally answered.

"It isn’t hard to see... not if you actually know what to look for," I said quietly. My voice echoed slightly in the vast throne room. "I first met the boy in the elemental zone. I had gone there after hearing rumors that Arkas himself had taken an interest in another child. Curiosity led me, but what I found was far more than I expected."

I raised my head slowly, my eyes locking with Damian’s for a moment before shifting back toward Lucien and Cassian.

"That’s when I saw Billion," I continued. "I saw his movements, his focus, and most importantly, his potential. You must understand, the place I come from... it holds far greater knowledge about awakened gifts than this empire does. Back there, what you call talents are not just talents. They are blessings. Blessings granted or perhaps chosen by the System itself."

The moment I spoke those words, the room shifted. Cassian’s brow furrowed, Damian leaned forward, and even Lucien’s usual calm grew sharper, more attentive.

"This is one of the ways the System interferes with our world," I explained slowly. "Those with talents, no matter how weak, are people the System has already marked. It saw their potential before they even awakened. It favored them... or perhaps believed in them. And so, when they awaken, they carry that mark forward."

I could see the three of them processing this truth, and for a moment, silence filled the throne room.

I pressed on. "Talents are divided into five categories. Each carries its own color and its own frequency. Violet is the weakest, then indigo, then blue, then green. And finally, the strongest yellow."

I paused to make sure they were following, then said firmly, "When I saw Billion back then, he could not control the aura of his talent. It leaked freely from him. And what I saw... was yellow."

Lucien leaned forward, his voice carrying an edge of excitement. "So the boy has a talent from the strongest category."

I nodded once. "Yes. And if he truly grows, if he reaches the higher ranks, he will not just be powerful. He could become something more. A bridge. A link between the System and this universe itself, just like the ones before him, the predecessors who bore yellow."

I took a slow breath, steadying myself before continuing. "But something changed in between."

Lucien’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"When I met Billion again," I said, my voice lower now, "the aura was no longer yellow. The glow that had once surrounded him, it had transformed. Now, his talent shines black."

The words hung heavy in the air.

Cassian’s eyes widened, his voice urgent. "Black? What does black stand for?"

I shook my head slowly. "I don’t know. I’ve never heard of it. Never read about it. Not in any records. Not in any old teaching. To me, it is completely unknown."

Lucien’s gaze sharpened on me, his tone heavy with unspoken calculation. "Is it good or bad?"

Once again, all I could do was shake my head. "I am not sure," I admitted. "It could mean something greater than yellow... or something worse. Perhaps both."

A hush fell over us after that. I could see Lucien’s mind working, Cassian’s shoulders tense, and Damian’s sharp eyes studying me as if trying to pull more secrets out of me.

Inside, though, I felt the same as when I had first seen it: unsettled. Because for the first time in a long while, I was staring at something I did not understand.

And in this universe, the unknown was often the most dangerous of all.

I let the silence linger for a moment, their eyes fixed on me, waiting for more. Finally, I spoke again.

"But no need to worry," I said slowly, letting the words sink in. "One thing is certain, his talent is powerful. Really, really powerful. I’ve seen his strength firsthand. If we want to truly push him to his limit, we’d need someone above level 280, maybe even 290, and not just any ordinary fighter, someone with more than three laws. That’s only if he fights alone, without using the summons he keeps hidden. With those, the challenge becomes even more unpredictable."

Lucien leaned forward, his expression thoughtful. "Among the youngsters you’ve seen in your life, from that world you came from, how does this Billion compare?"

I paused, thinking carefully. Faces from my past came to mind, flashes of battles and rivalries that had shaped the youth of that world.

"He’d be among the top," I admitted at last. "But... there might still be a few who could outdo him. Not because of lack of talent, but because they came from special races, born with gifts that bent the rules themselves.

Some of them were raised in families where knowledge and resources flowed endlessly. Against that kind of advantage, even a prodigy like Billion would face a difficult climb."

I remembered one youth in particular. A chill ran through me as the memory surfaced. "There was one boy," I said quietly, "whose talent let him take thirty percent of his enemy’s strength for himself—stats, comprehension, even anything related to laws.

"Whatever his opponent had, a part of it became his. He grew fast. Too fast. Before long, he was far ahead of anyone else. But then one day, word spread that he’d been captured. After that... nothing. He vanished. Gone, as if he had never existed."

I lifted my gaze, meeting Lucien’s eyes.

"If he continues to grow at that pace, he’ll become a walking apocalypse for the universe itself. And when that happens, people will come for him. But unlike the other one, he won’t be caged. He’ll remain free."