Infernal Ascendancy - Chapter 10: "What Azreal Hides"

"There was a time in my life where I struggled to breathe. A time where I felt suffocated everyday, but then I met you."

-Turning the gears of fate.

A drop of ink can penetrate the walls, even the walls you took too long to build.

After losing her first love due to a traffic accident, Ibuki Sumire transfers to Tokyo. She wanted to escape, to run away from everything that happened. To start over in a place that didn't have him. But a series of clues lead her to investigating the case behind the accident.

In that place she learns about the masks people wear. The masks people wear to disgui se their feelings. Sometimes you have to look past what you see on the surface.

There she meets him, the person who helps her move forward. But Sumire quickly learns how alike they are. His cold personality is different than the kindness she is used to. However, he is the only one who understands her feelings.

It keeps going around in circles, like a drop of paint. Round and round - an endless stream of pain and lies. But, that stream ended the moment she laid her eyes on his paintings.

Such rich and vibrant colors, it felt like his emotions exploded. Yet, in the corner of his studio, she found it. The real him, a sakura painting of two people walking hand in hand.

A gentle and sweet feeling, something she has never felt before.

[Commissioned Cover by: Vatarison]

From humble beginnings, he ascended, overcoming every obstacle and living life on his own terms—until death took its toll. Yet destiny had a different design. Reborn into a world of greater splendor and majesty, he is granted a fresh start and boundless opportunities to rise again. This time, his journey begins from an entirely new vantage point, as he is reincarnated as the son of the most powerful woman in the universe. Follow his path of ambition and indulgence as he forges a new legacy and leaves his mark on an even grander stage.

I had finally done it—achieved the ultimate Paladin build. Maxed stats, impenetrable armor, and so many resistances that death itself had given up on me. I was an unkillable tank, an indomitable force. Nothing could stop me.And then my PC exploded.I died.Irony, thou art a cruel mistress.But instead of the afterlife, I woke up as my Paladin character… in the wrong freaking genre. Instead of castles and dungeons, there were people flying around on swords, shooting qi beams like fantasy laser guns.“This is definitely the wrong genre,” I muttered, watching a pompous young master sneer at me.“Kowtow, kiss my foot, and beg for forgiveness!” he declared.I looked at my imaginary maxed-out health bar, then at his flimsy silk robes.Oh, this was going to be fun.

Time back to 1981…

This year, the famous President Ronald Reagan officially took office as President of the United States…

This year, the world’s first personal computer officially appeared, and the era of Internet technology officially kicked off…

This year, the ten-year stock market crash has once again come to Hong Kong, the future Asian financial center, and an international metropolis alongside New York and London…

This year, the Cold War continued, the contest between the world’s two superpowers, the polar bear and the bald eagle, still has no winner, and peace is still far away…

This is the best and worst era…

It was also this year that he came…

- Description from novelbuddy