Age of Cosmic Exploration - Chapter 399: Light and Darkness

In the grimy Black Hound Tavern, disgraced hunter Kael Veymar drowns his failures in ale, his father’s shattered crest a noose around his neck. When a Fallen beast attacks him—spewing acid and cryptic threats about the Harbinger—he’s saved by Lyria, a rogue huntress with a deadly smile and a glowing amulet: the Fractalis, stolen by Kael’s father.Their reunion is cut short by Dren, Kael’s former brother-in-arms, who slit Garrik’s throat for the Guild. After a vicious alley fight, Lyria helps Kael escape, but not before a Fallen’s ooze sears his flesh, leaving veins of corruption that **pulse with the Harbinger’s voice.Seeking answers, they flee to Ms. Miller, an old ally who gifts Kael a sword and a warning: “Find Torin. The skulls will whistle your name.” But the Guild is closing in. At Celestis Rise Dren is humiliated for his failure, while the Dozen Vanguards receive a bone-chilling letter—its author dead, its ink fresh.The stakes sharpen:- The Fractalis is not what it seems.- And Garrik Veymar’s shadow stretches long from the grave.Now, Kael and Lyria ride toward Godsgrave, where Hunter blades go to die—and where the Harbinger’s eclipse waits to rise.

“Special Admission, Rank 1.”That was the title on the golden invitation I threw into the trash three months ago.Back then, I was the Crime Lord of Oakhaven. I had money, territory, and an ego that touched the sky. Why would a King lower himself to attend a school?I was arrogant. I was foolish.And I paid the price.It took less than an hour for a single knight to turn my criminal empire into a graveyard. He didn't just defeat me; he ignored me. I was an ant beneath the boot of a god.Broken and desperate, I used my last asset: a golden letter granting me entry to Zenith Imperial Academy as “Special Admission Rank 1.”It’s a lie. I’m not a prodigy. I’m a fraud with no foundation, surrounded by the strongest heirs in the Empire who want to see me bleed. I can’t cast their spells. I can’t hold their weapons.But I can steal their lives.My Authority is [Usurper]. While they study theory, I steal reflexes. While they practice honor, I copy trauma. I am not here to learn. I am here to hunt.My targets are the “Four Calamities”—four women who hold powers strong enough to rewrite reality.They think I’m their peer. They don’t know I’m the parasite waiting to hollow them out.I’m going to make them mine.Discord: https://discord.gg/FK9GfrSjtb

There is no master god, no system, no exchange, and some are just source codes that are fused in the mind to open up the world, not to be forced or suppressed, but to constantly go through in order to become powerful Look at my infinitely powerful source code …

- Description from uukanshu

“...is that the end for me?”His eyes closed, accepting his fate. He thought it was the end. However, it was not.When Liam awoke from the endless darkness, he found himself in a world much different from his own―and in a body that was unfamiliar.“...[ The Golden Hero ] This is...”It seemed that he was given another chance at life. No longer as Liam, but as Rowen, a character from a novel.But, there was a slight problem.Rowen was a villain. A secondary villain at that.His fate was to be manipulated by the antagonist and killed by the hero.It was a tragedy. What could he possibly do?Of course, not wanting to let fate decide for him again, he took up his arms, stopping at nothing to prevent his tragic death.He had to survive in a cruel world where fate was not in his favour.If it meant killing the protagonist, the crown prince or even the main villain; he would do so.All so that he could live the life he wants.