Tyrant's return: Reborn as a Good-For-Nothing Young Master

The stone gateway to Floor 18 hissed open, revealing a long stretch of barren land that felt too still. Too quiet.

Anna let out a long sigh and kicked a small pebble forward.

"Seriously, what's going on? It's almost boring. Last time we climbed, it was chaos every floor. Assassins, traps, insane cults. Now we're at Floor 18 without even breaking a sweat."

Zerg let out a booming laugh.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"No, I say that like it's suspicious."

Anna narrowed her eyes at the empty landscape.

"This feels like someone wants us to make it to the top."

"It is a trap."

Fenrir said plainly, his voice calm as always.

"You don't have to guess. They're waiting for us."

Zerg tilted his head.

"And you're okay with that?"

"I expected this the moment I confirmed my identity had been leaked."

Fenrir replied.

"They're luring us in, giving us false confidence. But that doesn't change anything. We keep moving forward."

Anna folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Even knowing it's a trap?"

"Especially because it's a trap. That means they're running out of options."

Fenrir replied.

Valis, who had been quiet for most of the climb, stopped walking. His gaze swept over the barren land of Floor 18.

"Wait. Something's wrong here. This floor… it feels off."

He crouched, touching the dry soil beneath his feet.

"There's no wind. No ambient mana. It's like this entire space is sealed."

Fenrir turned his eyes toward the hazy horizon, unmoved.

"That's because this part is mine alone."

"What? What do you mean?"

Shelly asked, stepping closer.

"I'm staying here. You three—go ahead. Get to Floor 19. Korina's prison should be located near the central fortress. Free her and start your fight with the council."

Fenrir said.

"No way. We've come this far together. We're not leaving you behind."

Zerg said instantly.

"This is not a request. I can feel it. They're watching me. This floor is specifically tuned for me… likely set to reactivate the binding ritual they used last time. If all four of us are here, they'll use you to anchor the seal again."

Fenrir said, his voice harder now.

Shelly opened her mouth to argue, but Fenrir raised a hand.

"Let me handle this floor. Alone. I'll catch up."

Valis narrowed his eyes.

"You sure you can win?"

"I don't need to win. I just need to survive long enough."

Fenrir said with a smirk.

The group fell into a reluctant silence. Then, without another word, Fenrir walked a few steps ahead and looked over his shoulder.

"Go."

The tension held for a few seconds longer—then Shelly exhaled sharply.

"Fine. But if you don't show up in one piece, I'll drag you back from the afterlife just to punch you."

Zerg nodded, his expression unusually serious.

"Don't take too long, boss."

Valis lingered a moment longer, his eyes quietly analyzing Fenrir's aura.

"Don't lose yourself again."

Fenrir gave no reply, only a quiet, firm nod.

The three of them stepped onto the teleport pad leading to Floor 19 and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Fenrir turned back toward the empty expanse. For a long moment, he stood in silence, the windless air pressing down on him like a weight.

Then, the landscape shifted.

Dark clouds rolled over the sky. A golden circle of runes flared to life beneath Fenrir's feet.

And above, descending slowly, was a group of robed figures—members of the Divine Council.

The moment the Divine Council figures touched the ground, the entire floor shifted.

Massive stone pillars erupted from the barren earth, forming a crude arena. Blades of obsidian jutted from the ground, and distorted shadows danced across the horizon.

The world twisted around Fenrir as if reacting to his presence — or resisting it.

A heavy, familiar pressure fell over him, and a voice echoed in his mind.

[System Notification: "Boundless Authority" has initiated Final Recognition.]

[You are being tested by your own sealed power.]

Fenrir's eyes narrowed. So it had come to this.

He wasn't being hunted just by the Divine Council. His last sealed power—his ultimate skill, the source of his dominance—was challenging him, testing if he was still worthy of wielding it.

[Boundless Authority.]

A power that bent all laws, crushed rules, and stood above even divinity. The skill that had made him too dangerous to exist. The reason the Divine Council feared him.

The system's voice returned, calm and clinical.

[Trial Commencement: Reach the Core Crystal of "Boundless Authority." Doing so will grant full restoration of former strength, abilities, and dominion over tower mechanics.]

[Warning: The manifestation will fight you with everything it has.]

"Good. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Fenrir muttered, flexing his fingers.

The air warped, and enemies began to spawn. Dozens at first—humanoids, twisted clones of himself, past generals, divine beasts.

He crushed the first wave with ease, shattering them with stone lances and illusions so thick they screamed themselves into madness. But the wave never ended.

Each time he cleared one, another formed. They grew faster, stronger, smarter. Illusions stopped working. Earth manipulation met resistance. He was adapting—and so was the challenge.

A spectral version of himself emerged from the shadows—cloaked in divine light, wielding all his former might.

"So, this is what you think I need to beat to be worthy."

Fenrir muttered, staring down the glowing double.

"Fine."

Their battle tore through the floor. Earth quaked, winds shattered the pillars, and magical aftershocks disintegrated everything nearby.

Fenrir's illusions twisted the space, but his mirror-self countered with divine clarity, cutting through the deception with unsettling precision.

Every attack he made was met with his own power—deflected, absorbed, mirrored.

He was, for the first time in years, pushed.

Bleeding, breathing hard, Fenrir clenched his fists.

[System Notification: Trial Intensity Increased. "Boundless Authority" deems you 78% compatible.]

"Then let me show you why I'm more than compatible."

He struck the ground, causing the very fabric of the floor to tremble.

A wall of stone crashed into the doppelgänger, followed by a field of darkness—illusions layered a thousandfold. Then came a barrage of spears, blades, and crushing fists of earth.

He refused to let up. Not now.

Not when he was this close.

"Give it back. My power, my body, my fate."

He growled, voice low and thunderous.

[System Notification: You are approaching the Core Crystal.]

In the distance, a beam of light shot up from the center of the floor—a glowing gem the size of a heart, pulsating with divine and chaotic energy. It floated above a pedestal surrounded by black fire.

Fenrir dashed toward it, dodging his clone's final attack—a beam of light that vaporized half the battlefield.

He lunged forward.

The crystal shimmered as his hand reached for it.

And then—

Silence.

A weightlessness overtook him. The floor, the system, the arena—all disappeared.

He stood in a blank space, face to face with a vision of himself—not a clone, but a younger version.

The Fenrir who was sealed, chained, mocked by the gods. The version that held rage and ambition, but also fear.

"You think you're ready?"

The vision asked.

Fenrir didn't respond.

"You lost once. Sealed by those you swore to destroy. How can you reclaim this authority when even you feared what it would do to you?"

"I don't fear it anymore. I am it."

Fenrir replied coldly.

The younger version smiled.

"Then take it."

The crystal appeared before him once again.

[System Notification: Recognition Successful.]

["Boundless Authority" has returned to its rightful owner.]

[All restrictions lifted.]

[You have regained your true form.]