THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR

David plummeted from the darkness above, his body limp as a discarded doll. The force of Winter's fierce, merciless attack had shattered him completely—every bone sang with agony, internal organs crushed, blood vessels burst.

He couldn't even scream, a muted cry caught somewhere within the wreckage of his body. Each breath felt like it was being ripped from him, his vision blurring at the edges of consciousness.

Obsidian titans lunged to intercept his falling form, their blades eager for the kill. But Vespera was faster. Ice exploded beneath her feet as she skated forward, her movements fluid and precise.

Each graceful step left crystalline patterns that spread like frozen lightning across the chamber floor. She twisted between the titans' attacks, their massive weapons finding only air as she danced through their formation, her determination a silent roar against the chaos surrounding them.
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With every gliding motion, she became a beacon of hope, cutting through despair as her icy magic crackled with the promise of defiance.

The temperature plummeted with each movement, her desperation manifesting as sheets of black ice that created a pathway through the chaos. Her voice carried both fury and fear: "My lord, hold on!"

Vespera reached him just before he struck the ground, cradling his broken, fragile form with surprising gentleness. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, his eyes unfocused. He tried to speak, but only managed to cough up more blood.

That's when it happened.

[Aurumaris Empyreal Core] activated with a golden pulse that lit up the entire chamber. The light seemed to come from within David's very cells, each one blazing as his physique fought to restore what was lost. Bones knit themselves back together with sickening cracks. Ruptured organs reformed. Torn muscles rewove themselves strand by strand.

The process was excruciating. David's back arched in Vespera's arms, a scream finally tearing from his throat as his body rebuilt itself. He could feel his energy draining rapidly, mana reserves depleting as the core demanded more and more power to fuel the restoration.

"Fascinating," Winter's voice carried across the chamber, genuine curiosity in his childlike tone. "To think a mortal could possess such regenerative abilities."

The cracked obsidian sword hummed in David's grip as he exploded into motion. His enhanced agility made him almost invisible to the naked eye, leaving only afterimages as he weaved between the Titans.

[Celestial Wheel] blazed in his vision, mapping every attack pattern, every vulnerability.

Behind him, Vespera's ice magic created a symphony of destruction. Waves of midnight-blue frost erupted in precise patterns, slowing the Titans' movements and creating openings for David's strikes. Their coordination was perfect—until Winter decided to end their resistance.

"Enough of this dance." The boy-king raised one small hand, and reality bent.

[System Notification]

Warning: Timeline Analysis Complete

Probability of Survival: 0%

Fate: Death by Winter's Hand is Absolute

The message burned in David's vision as space itself twisted. Titans melted and reformed at impossible angles, their weapons striking from directions that shouldn't exist. Even with [Celestial Wheel]'s enhanced perception, David could barely track the attacks.

Vespera screamed as a blade of pure darkness pierced her shoulder. David tried to reach her, but Winter's power had turned the very air into a maze of shifting shadows.

"How entertaining," Winter mused, watching them struggle. "The mortal and my former servant, thinking they could challenge divinity."

[System Alert]

Critical Warning: Host HP at 15%

Death Imminent

Blood poured from countless wounds as David's [Aurumaris Empyreal Core] struggled to keep pace with the damage. Then he remembered—not all his skills had been exhausted.

Diving into his system interface, he found it: [Temporal Sanctuary], a sub-skill of his Chronomancer role. But the system's message was clear: his current race and class couldn't fully utilize its power.

Perfect.

David smiled through bloodied teeth as he activated the skill. Not because he expected it to work, but because it was never meant to. It was just the setup for what came next.

[Bookmark] activated in the background, its subtle manipulation of time beginning to take effect. But he needed seconds—precious seconds he didn't have.

"Vespera!" he called out. "Everything we have! Now!"

Understanding flashed in her eyes. Ice erupted everywhere as David poured his remaining 50 million DC into the system shop. The roof above began to crack as golden light surrounded his form.

Winter's childlike features showed surprise for the first time. "What are you—"

The ceiling exploded inward as a figure wreathed in radiance descended into the chamber.

The Hero had arrived.

The golden light parted like a curtain, revealing a figure that seemed to exist between realms. He floated above them all, a being that radiated both divine grace and infernal might. His hair—a crown of crimson and white—moved like living flame, each strand catching the light of his own radiance.

Azure eyes, sharp enough to cut through deception itself, surveyed the chamber. The figure's armor was a masterwork of opposing forces: void-black plate interwoven with veins of molten gold that pulsed with living energy. At its center, a ruby blazed like a captured star, its light throwing shadows that seemed to dance with purpose.

In his hand, he held a staff crowned with an intricate halo design. Power rolled off it in waves, neither holy nor cursed but something more primordial—as if it channeled the very essence of creation and destruction.

The air itself grew heavy with his presence, reality bending not from force but from the sheer weight of what he was. This was no mere warrior or mage. This was something that walked the line between mortal and divine, a paradox given form and purpose.

For the first time since the battle began, Winter's composure cracked. His childlike features twisted with genuine shock as he stared at the floating figure. "You—" his voice carried both awe and fury, "You fucking summoned a Demi-God!"

[System Notification] Hero Purchase Successful Summoned: Kaelith Solvrae – "The Crimson Luminary" Status: Temporarily Bound Warning: Dimension Coins Depleted (0 DC Remaining)