Ethan remained motionless before the graves, the morning mist clinging to his black coat. For the first time since the night of the fire, the screaming in the back of his mind had stopped. He felt light—almost dangerously so—as if the gravity of the world no longer had a grip on his soul. He had cut the final anchor.

Suddenly, a flicker of light disturbed the peaceful silence. A translucent window materialized in his vision, shimmering with a nostalgic, violet hue. It was an old system notification, one he hadn’t seen in months.

[MISSION: MAN’S DIGNITY]

Objective: Destroy the Halbert family, the architects of your father’s ruin and death.

Time Limit: 180 Days.

Ethan let out a soft, hollow laugh. "I remember that mission... but the 180 days passed a long time ago, Crul. I failed that quest before I even reached the pinnacle."

[[ The timer was merely a psychological catalyst, Master, ]] Crul’s voice resonated with a strange, newfound warmth. [[ I watched you every step of the way. I saw that you never stopped planning, never stopped sharpening your blade. You didn’t want a quick kill; you wanted to erase every trace of their dignity until there was nothing left but dust. You have not failed. In fact, you have exceeded the system’s wildest projections. ]]

Ethan stood up, dusting the grass from his knees. "So, what now? Is there another quest? Another target?"

[[ There is something I must tell you, ]] Crul said, her voice turning solemn. [[ Officially, you can finally consider yourself worthy. The Amethyst System was divided into two Great Rewards. The first you have already claimed: the Amethyst Body and the bloodline that carried Lord Amethyst to the throne of the universe. But there is a second reward—the reason I have withheld a true cultivation technique for your new body until this very moment. ]]

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Specific requirements?"

[[ Yes. To cultivate the true path, you must be free of all worldly chains. When the system first scanned you, it identified four great shackles upon your heart: your poverty, your appearance, your failure with women, and the heaviest of all—the death of your parents and your perceived impotence in the face of their murderers. ]]

Crul’s image flickered in his mind, like a nebula taking shape.

[[ The first three were easy. The system provided wealth, beauty, and the confidence to claim your harem. But the last knot... that was a knot only you could untie. And you have done so with absolute perfection. Now, I grant you the true legacy of Lord Amethyst: ]]

[TECHNIQUE UNLOCKED: GREAT AMETHYST DEVOURER OF THE NINE YIN BODIES]

[[ I am transmitting the foundation to you now, but heed my warning, Master: I cannot interfere. Unlike before, when I could pour knowledge directly into your mind and make it instinct, this technique must be developed by you alone. I cannot influence your conception of this power. You must carve your own path through the void. ]]

Ethan felt a massive influx of raw, untamed data hitting his spiritual sea. It wasn’t instructions; it was a map of possibilities, a cold and hungry energy that yearned to consume.

"It feels... incomplete," Ethan whispered, clutching his chest as his core pulsed.

[[ Your intuition is sharp, ]] Crul replied. [[ In my estimation, it is only half a technique. It covers your Amethyst blood, but your Void Bloodline is based on the concept of Devouring. You must fuse them yourself. But Master... why do you look at me with such concern? ]]

"You sound like you’re saying goodbye," Ethan said, his voice tightening. "Are you going to abandon me like the old HUD?"

[[ No, of course not. I am not going anywhere. But my function as a ’Guide’ has reached its end. I am no longer your tutor; I am an embryo of a consciousness, a second mind to help you process and think. But your path now diverges from the records Lord Amethyst left behind. I will provide any information you request, and I will be your shield and your strategist... but in the path of cultivation, you are now the Master. I can no longer lead you by the hand. ]]

"What should I do now?" Ethan asked, his voice barely more than a breath against the morning wind.

[You are free, Master. The chains are gone, and the world is your canvas. What do you feel you should do?] 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ethan looked up at the sky. Above the clouds, far beyond the reach of human flight, he could feel it—a faint, shimmering tension in the atmosphere. The Great Dome. The invisible cage that had kept humanity penned in like cattle for generations.

"I feel like this place is too small for me now," Ethan said, his violet eyes glowing with a cold, piercing light. "I want to see what lies beyond the dome. I want to see the real world."

[A noble ambition] Crul replied, her voice echoing with a mechanical hum. [However, physically shattering the dome with your current power level is a logistical impossibility. Even with your Amethyst Body, the energy recoil would likely level the continent before the barrier gave way. If you wish to cross the threshold, a more surgical approach is required.]

"A jump?" Ethan mused. "Like a teleportation matrix?"

[Exactly. And luckily for us, the technology already exists. The Leader of the Union was using a network of ancient, pre-collapse relays to move across the globe instantaneously. They are relics of a lost age, but they still function.]

Ethan’s interest sharpened. "How do I get my hands on one?"

[My sensors have mapped three intact units remaining in the world. One is deep within the ruins of the Kremlin you just leveled; the others are scattered in high-security vaults across Europe and Asia. We don’t need to break them. We simply need to desmantle the core components and bring them back here, to Royal HQ.]

A dark, expectant smile spread across Ethan’s face. He looked down at the graves of his parents one last time, then turned his back on the past.

"Then it’s settled. We’re building a mid-range jump platform," Ethan commanded, his aura flaring as he began to hover off the ground. "If the world outside thinks they’re safe behind that glass wall, they’re in for a very rude awakening."

[Understood, Master. Coordinating the extraction teams now. The conquest... begins today.]