Odyssey of the Renegade Sovereign
Chapter 25: Return

Chapter 25: Return

Astrael’s jaw dropped

His eyes scanned the description again, word by word, just to make sure he wasn’t misreading it.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t surprised. He had known, from the moment the system pinged with the skill notification, that it would be powerful.

But this?

This wasn’t just powerful.

It was monstrous. Blood recovery... power scaling with pain...

It was the kind of skill veterans would kill for. Mostly masochistic people. But then his eyes landed on the last line.

"Memory loss."

His expression shifted. The idea of losing pieces of himself, of not remembering what he’d done, or who he’d become, or forgetting about his loved ones, that disturbed him more than any pain.

He already had a gap in his memory. From the moment the goblin horde closed in... to standing over Gorthak’s corpse.

"Memory loss..." Astrael repeated under his breath, frowning. But what choice did he have?

In a world where strength was everything. Power wasn’t a luxury, it was survival.

If forgetting parts of himself was the cost of staying alive...

Then so be it.

He clenched his fists.

I’ll just get strong enough that no one dares make me forget who I am.

Pushing aside the flicker of unease, Astrael opened his inventory tab. Time to check the loot.

[Bloodfang (unique):

Said to be the remnant of an ancient key lost to time. It is believed to have originated from the ??? that once ruled the ???. No records exist of its original form, but legends tell that when reunited with its missing counterparts, it may unlock a seal older than the ???, one that even the gids feared to break.

Though incomplete, it draws itself toward sealed paths and the forgotten Gate. Some claim it has a will of its own, subtly guiding its bearer toward places long buried or best left forgotten.

Effect:

[1]Serves as 1 of 9 key fragments required to unlock the ???.

[2] Increases Intelligence by 10%

[3] Reacts when other fragments are within 100 meters.

Note: This item cannot be discarded, destroyed, or duplicated. It cannot be appraised by normal means. Bound to Astrael Ravenastra.]

...

"Oh?" Astrael raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled.

He studied the item in his hand. The fang was long and jagged, shaped like a dagger from bone, and pulsing with a slow, rhythmic crimson glow. Despite its worn and ancient appearance, it radiated power.

Astrael wasn’t sure how item ranks worked exactly but even a idot could guess that anything that boosted Intelligence by 10 percent, especially passively, was rare. And it was only a fragment?

A shard of something much, much larger.

Still... the description, though vague and unnerving, didn’t tell him much yet. Mentions of ancient key, forbidden seals, and even gods—it sounded like something from a storybook. He frowned slightly, then let out a breath.

Too early to worry about it.

He closed the tab and moved on.

With a quick flick, he tapped the next glowing icon.

The interface shifted.

The item was in jagged fang shape like a dagger, pulsating with crimson light. And the grade is unique. He doesn’t know about the classification of item grades, but an item that increases by 10% of intelligence is definitely of high grade.

And it is a fragment of a complete artefact. Though the description is somewhat cryptic and mysterious, he didn’t dwell on that.

He tapped another item, and the screen shifted.

[Return Stone (unique): A one-time-use stone forged from spatial mana. Dropped upon defeating a dungeon floor boss. Allows the user to instantly exit the dungeon and return to the last anchor point. Cannot be activated during combat. Breaks after use.]

...

"W-Wha..."

Astrael’s voice cracked.

He stared at his trembling hands, bloodstained and twitching, blinking as if the glowing screen in front of him might vanish if he dared look away.

His body trembled, not from pain or fear, but from relief.

He had his earlier guess, but after seeing stone on his hand and reading the description, he couldn’t help but a look of joy appeared.

His chest rose and fell with uneven breaths as the weight of it all settled on him. For the first time since he’d arrived, the possibility of living... of winning... felt real.

Now he can leave this hell called a dungeon.

His mother’s hands brushing through his hair. His father’s warm smile. The comfort of home. The kind of peace he could only remember in pieces now.

He didn’t know how long he’d been trapped down here. Hours? Days? Time had become slippery, meaningless.

But to him, it felt like a lifetime.

He missed them. So much it hurt in places no stat or skill could ever touch.

Memories of his loved ones flashed before his eyes. He doesn’t know how much time had passed, but to him, it’s felt like a long time.

They weren’t just his past. They were his reason. The only reason he hadn’t let himself fall into the madness.

They were his fuel. His fire.

From shock to joy... from disbelief to something near euphoria.

And then, without realising it, a single tear slid down Astrael’s cheek.

He didn’t wipe it away.

With any hesitation, Astrael gripped the dark stone. He commanded the stone in his mind while holding it. The stone responded instantly.

A pulse of energy rippled through the air. Shadows twisted around him, bending unnaturally as a swirling rift tore open before him. The same portal, black edged with violet flam,e formed before him.

Astrael narrowed his eyes. He didn’t flinch. There was no room for second thoughts now.

Without another word, he stepped forward and disappeared into the portal. The moment he crossed the threshold, the portal snapped shut behind him with a sound. The cavern again descended into silence, the same suffocating quiet that had followed the massacre.

Dozens of goblin corpses lay dead across the blood-soaked stone floor. Some had fallen mid-scream, their jaws still open in frozen terror. Others were little more than torn meat, cleaved clean through by Astrael’s blade just moments ago.

Then, after some time, something stirred.

From the shadows near the far wall, where the cavern walls were the blackest like the ink, a pair of crimson eyes blinked open. They glowed faintly.

The creature, whatever it was, didn’t move. It simply observed the massacre happened. Its gaze swept over the corpses, then slowly traced the space where the portal appeared. The residual energy still lingered there like a ghost.

Then a portal, the same purple-black portal, appeared in front of him. Without wasting any time, he went inside.

The eyes narrowed.

And then, just as silently as they had appeared... they vanished.

...

Astrael wasn’t sure when the falling started. At first, there was only weightlessness. No ground or sky. Just endless, oppressive void.

He was floating and drifting like a speck of dust in an ocean of void. After some time, the head started spinning, and nausea hit. His stomach twisted violently. Suddenly, his vision blurred.

After entering the portal, Astrael don’t know how much time passed. He was floating in the void, his head was spinning before losing consciousness.

His eyes rolled back. The last thing he saw before his world went completely black... was a pale violet light, pulsing far in the distance

And then, Astrael lost consciousness.

.

.