NOX took a moment to adjust to his newfound strength, inhaling deeply before exhaling slowly, as if calibrating his very being.
The four assassins, their eyes glinting with greed, watched him intently, but before they could make their move, NOX flickered and vanished.
In the next instant, he appeared behind one of the assassins, and without giving the man a chance to react, NOX plunged his hand into the assassin's body from behind.
Blood dripped from the assassin's lips as his horrified eyes slowly shifted to his chest.
There, NOX's hand protruded from his body, his palm holding the heart—the very core of his existence.
The assassin's expression morphed from horror to despair as he realized the full extent of his situation.
"NOOOO!… Don't!" the other three assassins shouted in unison, their voices filled with urgency, as they lunged toward NOX.
But before they could reach him, NOX leaned near the dying assassin's ear from behind and whispered coldly,
"Happy Afterlife."
In the very next moment, NOX's fist closed, crushing the fourth assassin's heart.
Simultaneously, the three assassins were in mid-air, their blades mere inches from NOX's neck. But as they struck, he flickered again, disappearing before their weapons could land.
In a flash, he reappeared a few meters away, his movements so fast they couldn't even register the change.
The assassins' blades passed through nothing but empty air, cutting the wind with a sharp hiss.
They stared at him in horror, their eyes wide with disbelief.
After a single breath, one of them finally spoke,
"That was the [Shadow Step] skill of the Dark Heaven Clan… How do you have it?"
They were terrified.
This kid was an Unranked Awakener, yet he had killed a Rank 2 Awakener with his bare hands. It didn't make sense.
Even more confusing was the lack of Aether fluctuations when NOX used the [Shadow Step] skill.
How could he perform a skill without using mana?
The three assassins were completely lost in thought, their minds spinning with questions.
And now, a far greater fear crept in—
If this "kid" belonged to the Dark Heaven Clan, then killing him might have triggered the wrath of an organization far more dangerous than they had imagined.
They suddenly realized—someone had set them up.
The information they had been given on NOX was false.
It was clear now: someone had wanted them to kill NOX, and in doing so, destroy their Silver Dagger Organization in the process.
The whole mission was a setup, one that was almost too obvious to miss.
At first, they thought it was a simple, high-paying job—assassinating an Unranked Awakener with no background. But now they understood…
They had opened the door to a deadly maze, with no way out.
With every passing moment, their horror deepened.
As the three assassins lost themselves in their thoughts, NOX too found himself lost in thought.
"Eek!… That's gross…" NOX muttered, tossing the crushed heart of the fourth assassin aside.
At first, crushing an enemy's heart had felt cool—both literally and metaphorically—but after the deed was done, he couldn't help but feel a bit grossed out.
However, his thoughts soon shifted to a more serious matter.
'It cost 1 EP to travel 1 meter using [Shadow Walk]… but 4 EP to travel 2 meters using the same skill? What's going on with this?'
NOX couldn't make sense of the EP consumption for his skills.
But he didn't dwell on it.
Turning back to the remaining three assassins, he realized they had mistaken his evolved [Shadow Walk] skill for its previous version, [Shadow Step]. But NOX didn't bother to correct them—they were already dead in his eyes.
"Let's end this quickly. It's dragged on long enough."
NOX declared, locking his gaze on the assassins.
With a swift motion, he commanded his system.
"Increase my Strength, Agility, and Constitution stats by another 200."
[Consuming 100 EP to increase Strength by 200]
[Consuming 100 EP to increase Agility by 200]
[Consuming 100 EP to increase Constitution by 200]
NOX felt his power surge again, his body humming with new strength.
The three assassins, realizing they had no choice, shouted in precise unison, "We wish to surrender!"
They were assassins, not mindless slaves. They didn't want to die—not like this.
But NOX simply nodded, his face radiating approval—almost as if he were graciously accepting their surrender.
For a brief moment, he almost looked like a kind demon, a devil with a twisted sense of mercy.
NOX nodded once more, smiling as he said, "I reject your surrender."
'You think I'll let you off after I spent my precious EP to kill you? You think I'll let you waste my time? No chance in hell.'
The assassins' smiles froze, their hopes dashed before they could react.
Before they could even make a move, NOX was already behind them again, his sword materializing in his hand.
With a single swift motion, he cleaved the heads off all three assassins, their bodies slumping as their heads rolled at his feet.
The sound of their bodies hitting the ground was followed by the soft thud of their heads, rolling in a grim circle around him.
NOX casually dropped the cheap sword he had used, the weapon already serving its purpose.
He then opened his status window to confirm something.
[Status Window]
[Nox Ashborn]
[Lifespan]: 17/32/??
[Race]: '????'
[Realm]: Unranked Awakener
[Strength]: 8 + 300 (28m)
[Agility]: 9 + 300 (28m)
[Constitution]: 7 + 300 (28m)
[Acuity]: 11
[Aether]: 0.00001
[Health]: 78/100
[Destiny]: A Variable
[Lineage]: '??' Bloodline
[Titles]: Child of Madness, The Reality Ender, Vritrahan, ******
[Emotion Points]: +1200
[Concepts] [Laws] [Dharmas] [Skills] [Physiques]
NOX glanced at his status screen, noting the temporary boost in his Strength, Agility, and Constitution. A 28-minute timer next to the stat increases indicated the boost would wear off soon.
'So, it's a temporary boost, not a permanent one,' NOX thought, feeling relieved that his strength hadn't increased permanently.
Though he trusted his Unrecorded Divinity, as it had helped him in every way it could, he didn't want to take shortcuts to increase his strength.
Strength for the sake of killing was meaningless. What he truly sought was awakening and evolution—not just in body, but in all aspects of his existence.
If he simply increased his strength with his system's help, he would eventually hit a limit.
Or worse—what if he encountered a being capable of countering his system's power?
NOX still remembered how, when his system was aiding him with changing his [Destiny], a Nameless being had intervened. That alone proved that beings powerful enough to render his system powerless existed.
Speaking of destiny, NOX's gaze immediately narrowed as he looked at his [Destiny] stat on the screen.
It had changed.
Before he regressed, his [Destiny] had been called—The Bringer of Ruination.
But now, it was different. Had his [Destiny] concluded when he fulfilled it by ending his Reality?
'What does this 'A Variable' mean?' NOX wondered. Raising his index finger, he tapped on 'A Variable' in his status window, hoping his system had a description for it.
In the next instant, information flooded his mind:
[A Variable]: "Creation is a stage. Destiny is its scripted play, written by the Heavens: a perfect, unending equation of balanced order and chaos. But 'A Variable' violently disrupts that script. Freed from the Heavens' predetermined control, Destiny's fate is shaped by Causality, a raw, unpredictable force. In a world of fixed destinies, 'A Variable' is chaotic freedom, able to rewrite their own script with each choice. What path does Destiny carve through this cosmic stage? And, are you strong enough to control your Causality?"
NOX frowned at the description, and his first thought was—
"Is… Is this indirectly hinting that I am the 'Divine Protagonist'?" he muttered to himself.
At first, he doubted his own interpretation. Then he reconsidered. And finally, he convinced himself.
"Hehehe… Good to know that my awesome character is finally being recognized." NOX laughed maniacally.
For a brief moment, he allowed himself to indulge in this absurd musing.
As if responding to NOX's growing arrogance, his Divinity reacted:
[The Unrecorded Divinity declines its wielder's self-proclaimed 'Divine Protagonist' title!]
"Excuse me?! Of course, I'm the Divine Protagonist! If not, how else do you explain my regression?" NOX argued righteously.
In the next moment, his eyes twitched uncontrollably. His divinity was clearly responding to his nonsense. Since his Evil Eyes were still assimilating with his Divinity, occasional twitches were normal, but now it seemed his Divinity was actively teaching him a lesson before he strayed too far into delusion.
Still twitching, NOX was about to retort when—
Suddenly, he felt something.
His gaze sharpened, fixating on the fallen assassins and the academy students scattered on the ground. Then, a strange vision unfolded: golden threads, unseen until now, connected him to them, radiating outward in a chaotic web.
[Your Causality is unbounded!]
[Your Causality is leaking!]
His Divinity issued a stark warning.
Perhaps it wanted him to understand his situation, as his crimson eyes glowed, granting him clarity.
The Weavings of Destiny.
It appeared as an intricate, densely woven network of interconnected threads, each representing a cause and its consequence, a destiny and its fulfillment. Infinite in number, these threads formed a tightly contained loop—a self-regulating system.
However, the golden threads—his Causality—linking him to the assassins and students, disrupted this established order.
These golden threads, manifestations of Karma and Causation, struggled to integrate into Destiny's loop. They were alien. Incompatible.
The Weavings of Destiny, designed for predetermined outcomes, could not process this new, unpredictable Causation. The golden threads, unable to connect, dangled freely, detached from the established network.
NOX immediately understood—
This was the effect of being A Variable.
His Causality, unrestrained by the Heavens, rendered his actions unpredictable, turning every deed into an undetermined factor.
This was freedom.
But… was it a good thing to have raw, unrestrained, leaking Causality?
NOX was both exhilarated and deeply concerned about his status as A Variable.
NOX: "It's Divine Protagonist, not 'A Variable.'"
He took comfort in his delusions, self-proclaiming himself as the Divine Protagonist, the one who wrote his own script.
Then, a thought struck him—
Something a protagonist must say. Something that would confirm, once and for all, his status as the Divine Protagonist.
His expression hardened with forced determination as he lifted his fist to the sky, as if challenging the very Heavens themselves.
"I WILL DEFY THE HEAVENS!" he declared, exuding the grandeur of a true Dragon Country protagonist.
And then, silence.
NOX's raised fist froze mid-air. His confident posture stiffened as the atmosphere remained eerily undisturbed.
Slowly, his fist retreated.
"…Shit. That was embarrassing." He muttered under his breath.
Where was the rumbling thunder?
Where was the classic divine punishment?
Were the Heavens scared of him because of his Divine Protagonist—ahem, A Variable status?
NOX had anticipated an epic first battle against the Heavens after making such a bold declaration, but now it seemed even the Heavens were too embarrassed to acknowledge his cringe.
In the end, NOX could only find solace in the idea that even the Heavens feared him.