—–

Louis’ soul stirred. A pair of blazing wings spread wide and fused with a fragmented Yin-Yang Heart and a bleeding fiery eye that glowed in vivid shades of red, orange, and yellow. The powers of Amaterasu’s divinity and the Vermillion Bird merged rapidly.

For some time now, Louis had believed his soul was special. Perhaps after dying so many times, it had begun to mutate into something entirely different. Whatever entered it was consumed and then transformed.

Just as Handy and the Gardener’s Memento had been created from fragments of two powerful beings, the same process was now occurring with the fragments of power he had extracted from Mikoto.

From Saizo, he had stolen the man’s strongest Soul Weapon, a bright red katana infused with the souls of powerful yokai and ancient oni, known as Muramasa, a national treasure. He had also taken half of Saizo’s Yin-Yang Heart and the head of his Cursed Spectral Oni Demon Soul. Similar to his sister, Saizo had harbored such a being within him.

Slowly, the demon fragment and the cracked katana, damaged when Saizo tried to fight back, merged with Louis’ fragmented Yin-Yang Heart. The result was a new fiery red katana infused with the terrifying demonic power of Zipangu, added to his growing collection.

Meanwhile, Mikoto’s remains transformed into a cyclops four-legged bird, a blazing demonic gryphon overflowing with divine power and sunlight.

While the House members discussed Mikoto and her rudeness, Louis suddenly summoned two powerful entities before him. Divine fire surged everywhere, surprising everyone, though it burned nothing.

A floating demonic katana and a new spirit appeared, both already bonded to him. He smirked lightly as everyone stared at what he had summoned out of nowhere.

“Huh? L-Lord Louis? What are those?” Zorba asked.

“New toys,” Louis replied with a light smirk. “Mikoto apologized to me through telepathy and gifted me these. She can be surprisingly nice deep down. I hope you can all forgive her rudeness today.”

“Ah, she did?! When?!” Anastasia wondered, tilting her head.

“Through Fantasy Heart speech,” Louis said, watching the small gryphon playfully circle his head. Its strange, oversized eye was the same one Mikoto had possessed.

“…” Zorba sensed something dreadful about these beings. They seemed born from despair and death. He smiled. “I see. My lord always moves several steps ahead of everyone else.”

“I don’t,” Louis shook his head. “She was simply kind.”

“Are they strong?” Mirai asked.

“Somewhat, but for now they are only Rank 1. They will grow with time and care,” Louis said. “Later I might acquire new gifts from Camelot or perhaps Mesopotamia.”

Louis had not planned to exploit others like this again, but seeing how well it worked, he could not deny the possibility. Still, he had to be careful. Perhaps they were hiding their true power. If Mikoto had not been openly hostile, she could have enjoyed a normal student life. He had never intended to harm her.

In the end, she had brought everything upon herself through her own foolishness. Her self-centered nature had driven her to mock strangers just to feel superior, something so pathetic that Louis would never stoop to it.

No. If Louis felt inferior, he would simply train until he bled, pushing himself for months until he grew strong enough.

That morning he had hoped to live more peacefully, simply enjoying school activities. But the encounter with Mikoto, and the suffering it caused, had sparked a dangerous flame in his heart.

Being careful was essential, yet while everyone around him remained weak, why should he not use force to take what he wanted?

Among everyone, Louis understood how the world, and worlds, truly worked. Yggdrasil existed only because his grandfather, the strongest, chose to be a benevolent ruler.

In the end, it always came down to one truth: the strongest decides. People had it easy only because his family was kind.

If a dragon at his grandfather’s level decided humans were no longer worth the effort, humanity and perhaps even Earth would end in an instant.

Humanity had it too easy. It was thanks to his mother’s sacrifice that these countries existed today. It was because she had insisted her siblings help her establish more nations to protect more humans.

And now they looked down on her? On Humanity’s Savior? On his mother’s beloved dream? They trampled over the woman who had allowed humanity to survive and protected them with love and compassion?

The more Louis thought about these people, the more he saw them as beneath him. They were no longer people. They were trash, garbage, animals.

They needed to be taught a lesson or eliminated so they would no longer stand in the way.

Lowly, weak, disgusting, pathetic creatures that deserved only to be crushed under his foot.

To protect his mother, her legacy, his family, and everyone he cared about…

“Perhaps taking care of problems before they emerge is the wisest option…”

Mirai noticed Louis muttering to himself. “Are you okay?”

“…I’m fine,” Louis smiled faintly and stood up. “Alright, shall we go to town? Later we can visit the academy to familiarize ourselves with the area.”

“Sure!” Mirai nodded. “Everyone, let’s go!”

Things continued normally. Louis walked to town with his friends, enjoying the medieval-looking streets and the surprising variety of races living together. They even spotted some oni and other intelligent yokai, such as kappa and yuki-onna, each with distinct cultures and appearances.

The market overflowed with excellent materials: divine herbs, spiritual roots, beast pelts, blood, meat, bones, and more from divine beasts hunted by workers or hunters. Stronger specimens were rare in these plains, and anything beyond the weakest divine beasts was usually too scarce for most people.

Still, Gungnir, Gram, and even his new sword Muramasa reacted to various materials. Using his wealth as a prince, Louis purchased several items to feed his Soul Weapons. They sometimes required constant nourishment, as if they were living beings, to remain in peak condition.

As for his spirits, the gryphon was named Phenix. It eyed everything with its large eye, which always made Louis smile faintly because it reminded him of that screaming woman.

“Wow, there are so many students here too,” Mirai said while eating a steamed meat bun. “Um, hi! We’ll be students tomorrow.” She greeted a few passersby. Some waved back, but most ignored her. “Aw, they’re ignoring me…”

“Of course they are. You’re walking with an entire House worth of students, Mirai. Plus, they don’t know you,” Louis said, scanning the crowd in silence and analyzing the students.

Besides the students from each Noble House, there were also “Houseless” students who could act independently or even form smaller Houses by gathering resources and followers. Those Houseless groups were usually weaker and easier to overpower.

Most Houseless students were not particularly strong or impressive. They served mostly as filler, with generic backgrounds, classes, and abilities. They were the true definition of NPCs.

However, this was now reality. It was impossible for all Houseless students to be identical. William still remembered a few such students who had been powerful units recruitable only during special events.

Thanks to his stronger bond with Andromeda, Louis could now analyze passing students to a limited extent, viewing a condensed status that revealed their potential talents and affinities.

Most appeared ordinary, with an interesting ability here and there but nothing truly unique. Even Sinners and Espers became boring when so many were the same.

As he walked, however, he encountered two students with strange status screens. They were blurry and glitched. When Louis tried to look deeper, a sharp headache struck him.

Somehow, the two students immediately sensed they were being observed. They glared back.

“Ah, to think we would meet here. You must be Prince Louis Drakeheart, yes?”

“Fufu, were you trying to look into our information? Please don’t do that, dear prince. It’s dangerous.”

“…? Who are you?” Louis asked, showing little respect for random commoners.

Their appearances were unique, however.

The first to speak was a tall, slender young man nearly as tall as Louis, with short black-and-red hair and glowing red eyes. He had pointed ears, pale skin, and a red horn protruding from his forehead.

The second was a girl with long curly white hair, golden eyes, white scales, a tail, and a golden horn on the left side of her head.

“A demon and a dragon?” Louis wondered. “Wait, who exactly are you?”

They seemed oddly familiar, yet he sensed nothing unusual within them. These were likely just Sinner mutations caused by Fantasium exposure. It was not rare to find people with horns, scales, wings, or tails from such mutations. Selene, who walked nearby, and even Mirai were examples.

“Who we are, I wonder?” the young man mused. “Just some students, Lord Louis. Nothing more.”

“Yeah~ Why are you so worried?” the girl chuckled. “Anyway, we’re on our way. See you tomorrow!”

“Wait, at least tell me your names…” Louis said, stopping them with telekinesis. “Is this how you speak to a prince?”

“Hahaha, come on now, don’t get angry,” the young man laughed. Using his own psychic power, which glowed red, he instantly freed himself. “Be patient, will you? Bye~”

“Byeee~” the girl waved, her tail wagging as she walked beside him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep