Chapter Thirty: The Ruin Architect
As the floating Sky Fortress steadily drifted through the skies, Crow leaned lazily against the command balcony, gazing out across the endless horizon.
Suddenly, a sharp memory surged back into his mind — another secret few players ever discovered.
A new hero was about to be added to the System Shop.
A rare one — an SS-Rank Ruin Hero.
Unlike others who fought head-on, this hero specialized in something even more dangerous:
[Hero Type: Ruin Architect]
[Skill Specialty: Array Construction, Rune Engineering, Barrier Domination.]
She could build defenses, traps, barriers, and enhancement arrays — things that could multiply the strength of Crow's growing army many times over.
In wars of conquest, such a hero was worth far more than brute strength.
And Crow was not going to let anyone else have her.
Without hesitation, he opened the System Shop panel.
Sure enough, just as his memory warned, a new listing appeared:
[Hero for Sale: Seloria, Ruin Architect (SS-Rank)]
[Price: 50,000 Gold]
For any normal player, this price would be insane —
a king's ransom.
But Crow?
He barely blinked.
He pressed [Buy].
[Purchase Successful!]
[New Hero Contracted: Seloria (SS-Rank Ruin Hero).]
A dazzling golden magic circle materialized in front of him.
From it stepped a graceful young woman clad in ancient silver and blue robes, her body adorned with tattoos of intricate runes that shimmered faintly with power.
Her eyes, like molten silver, immediately locked onto Crow.
She dropped to one knee, bowing her head respectfully.
"Master. I await your commands. My arrays will make your dominion... absolute."
Crow studied her calmly.
Seloria was beautiful — but more importantly, she radiated an aura of cold precision.
Where Seraphina was playful and Lyravex was affectionate,
Seloria was focused —
like a blade honed solely for engineering war and conquest.
Exactly what he needed.
The other girls, still lingering nearby, reacted immediately.
Seraphina frowned deeply, floating a little closer to Crow's side. Lyravex clung tighter to Crow's arm, shooting a wary glance at the newcomer. Selene simply scoffed, as if unimpressed, but her eyes flicked to Seloria's intricate rune tattoos more than once. Aeris crossed her arms and quietly studied the new hero's aura.
Even Sasha, usually stoic, gave Seloria a rare look of genuine curiosity.
Crow didn't say much.
He simply extended his hand.
Seloria gently placed her hand in his without hesitation, sealing their contract completely.
Golden runes shimmered briefly between them —
a pact stronger than blood.
With Seloria added to his growing army, Crow's military capability surged.
Now he could:
Build rune barriers across entire cities Trap dungeons and fortresses Enhance his undead legions' strength passively Lay ambushes even divine-ranked enemies couldn't easily detect
His dominion would no longer just be about raw power —
it would be inescapable.
And the world wouldn't even realize it until it was far, far too late.
Chapter Thirty End