One Last System

Once again, everyone froze in place. But amongst everyone, I had to be the one shocked the most.

The guy that I took for a kind person, for someone who came here to be my support after what happened...

He turned out to be yet another assassin, yet another person trying his best to get rid of me!

This attempt was once again so simple that I failed to recognize it as an attack in the first place. And here I was, with my guard lowered and Vaner trying to pretend to be a hero.

At this point, I already knew better than to trust in this fucker. Just like before, he used my naivete, my trust in him, to put me in a disastrous situation.

And I wasn't going to fall for his manipulations twice.

"BURN!" I shouted, pushing all the energy that I retracted before to the outside.

In an instant, my flames exploded again. They consumed the assassin in a flash.

He was never strong to begin with, the only reason why I dared to lower my guard around him. But now, this cover that allowed him to get closer to me was his undoing.

That fucker died before he could even scream out in pain or terror.

'Serves him right,' I thought with a wild satisfaction, moving my eyes on the traitor amongst the traitors. The man behind all my misfortune.

The Vaner himself.

Btu Vaner didn't wait for the opportunity to pass.

He rushed forward before my flames could reach the previous intensity. Before, they were fueled by my emotions and the raging mana that had already gained its momentum. Right now, they could still burn through a third-stage cultivator... but that was it.

"STOP IT!" Vaner shouted, sending a powerful slap towards my face. My flames failed to burn his hand, resulting in a crispy slap sending me flying to the back.

'This fucker,' I thought while still mid-air, doing my absolute best to regain my footing.

In the end, I was never trained how to fight. I only knew a single combo. If not for the fact that I somehow absorbed the ability of those that I burned, I would simply crush right back into the rubble that I came out of a few moments before.

Thankfully, I managed to regain my footing. My body moved on its own, powered by the muscle memory of someone else.

My body twisted. I kicked with my legs, burying them into the ground.

The momentum was too great for something like this to stop me, causing me to instantly start rolling. My hands moved up, making me do a flip instead of burying my face into the ground. In the end, I had to flip myself twice before I finally managed to regain a proper footing.

In an instant, I raised my head, ready to intercept another attack...

But Vaner didn't attack. Instead, he just stood where he was before, not even bothered to look at me.

I opened my mouth, about to taunt him into a proper fight.

"Is this how the lower sects are trying to cover their tracks?!" Vaner shouted; his voice was filled with genuine anger, making his words tremble on the air. "You drug and rape my direct disciple, and now you are trying to pin all the blame on him, just so you can kill him and get rid of his testimony?!" he shouted out my own grief, my own anger at the injustice of this situation.

For the first time since I realized who was before all my problems, I stopped. For the first time since I assumed it was all Vaner's fault, I started to think.

I wasn't going to just assume that since he said what he did, he was actually on my side. Everything that pointed me out to blaming him before still stood.

But it appeared that the situation wasn't anywhere as simple as I initially assumed it to be.

"This disciple of mine stood against four different sects, all of which attempted to claim his life!" Vaner shouted, not going to let the others even a second to form a response to his accusations. "And while all of that happened, even his own sect turned against him, unwilling to properly investigate the matter!"

'Eh?' My confusion only deepened.

Everything that Vaner said was true; there was no denying it. But what the fuck was he trying to achieve by rubbing this uncomfortable truth in the face of not only the entire Skyladder's sect but also the auditors from bigger places?

"He killed a lot of people," a middle-aged man suddenly lowered his position in the sky. It made him feel like if he was entering a space where he could have a proper discussion with Vaner.

"In a righteous self-defense," Vaner replied, calming down in an instant. "I believe you all seen his capability and talent," he added as he squinted his eyes, taking a furious look on his face. "The best you can do is offer him a promotion. This is the only way for you to apologize for not stepping in earlier!" Vaner raised his hand and pointed it at the man as if accusing him of something.

"He killed a lot of people," the man repeated. "No matter what grief of his caused it, no matter if he was wronged..." the man shook his head, "he crossed the line. Right now, I cannot offer him my promotion," he said.

'Is this what this was all about?' I thought, finally realizing what was the real reason for everything that happened. 'All just to push me towards the promotion?' I asked myself, tightening my hands into fists.

I wasn't happy. If that was the cost of entering the higher sects... Then I wasn't willing to pay it!

Sadly, no one bothered to fucking ask me beforehand!

"The most I can do," the man's face changed, and so did his aura. For a second, he appeared like a God that was bored enough to descend amongst mortals. "is to propose him a contractor's role."