Chapter 57: A Fate Rewritten!

’Fireball!’

It was one of the skills he had only recently acquired. Compared to his overwhelming physical strength, its power was considerably weaker.

But against helpless trash like this, it was more than enough.

Aiden stared down at the trembling man.

"In your next life..." His voice was as cold as ever. "...keep your eyes open."

The instant his final word fell...

Whoosh!

The Fireball shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.

BOOM!

It slammed directly into the hooligan’s chest. For a split second, there was nothing but a flash of blinding orange. Then the Fireball detonated.

The hooligan’s chest was torn apart by the explosion, flesh violently burned and blasted outward as blood sprayed across the stone wall behind him. The force of the detonation hurled what remained of his body backward like a rag doll.

CRASH!

His mangled body smashed into the wall hard enough to leave a dark, bloodied mark before sliding down it. He hit the floor with a heavy thud. Lifeless.

[Successfully killed Player...]

[Soul Essence absorbed.]

[Agility +1.]

In less than a minute, three hooligan players who had once considered themselves strong had been completely annihilated. To Aiden Cross, their deaths had been no different from crushing three bedbugs.

The church fell silent once more. Only the faint crackling of burning wood and the lingering smell of blood and scorched flesh disturbed the silence.

Aiden didn’t spare the three bodies another glance. Their remains would soon dissipate anyway.

He turned and quickly approached the corner of the church. Then he crouched beside the battered girl. Only now did he finally get a clear look at her.

The girl who would one day become the strongest support in the world.

The owner of the SSS-Rank Class Heavenly Karmic Dice... Luna Everhart.

She looked no older than nineteen or twenty.

Her face was deathly pale, utterly devoid of color. Her cracked lips trembled faintly, while crystal-clear tears still clung to her long eyelashes. She was pitifully thin, her fragile body bearing the unmistakable signs of prolonged malnutrition.

Now, weakened further by the backlash of [Great Misfortune] and the terror she had endured, her breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible. Her HP had already fallen to a dangerously low level.

Aiden Cross reached out and gently placed a hand against her forehead.

The instant he felt the ice-cold, his expression darkened.

He could clearly sense the chaotic, sinister force of misfortune rampaging through her body. It was like a ravenous beast, gnawing away at her vitality with every passing second.

He had to save her immediately.

Without hesitation, Aiden retrieved a precious Minor Health Potion from the Damaged Ring of Greed. Carefully prying apart her tightly clenched teeth, he slowly poured the potion into her mouth.

At the same time, he circulated his mental power and pushed it into her body, attempting to suppress or neutralize the lingering aura of misfortune.

His mental power was nowhere near the pinnacle. But it was solid. And more importantly, it carried a faint trace of the domineering nature belonging to the Sovereign of Souls.

As the potion took effect, a faint trace of color finally returned to Luna Everhart’s pale face. Her life force stabilized, no longer plummeting toward death.

At the same time, the suffocating aura of [Great Misfortune] surrounding her weakened slightly under the pressure of Aiden’s mental power.

It wasn’t much. But it was enough. Her long eyelashes fluttered.

It flattered once, twice. Then, as though it had taken every ounce of strength she possessed, her eyelids slowly parted.

A pair of extraordinarily beautiful eyes emerged. They were clear and pure, like flawless amethyst purple.

Yet beneath that purity was something that made Aiden’s heart tighten.

Fear. Confusion. And a bottomless sorrow, as though she had already glimpsed the cruel impermanence of fate far too many times for someone her age.

Her gaze landed on Aiden’s unfamiliar face hovering above her.

Terror immediately flashed through her eyes. But then she noticed something.

The three hooligans who had surrounded her were gone, their bodies having already turning into particles of light.

She could also feel the warm energy of the health potion spreading through her body.

And beneath it, she could sense another power, steady, domineering, yet strangely gentle, attempting to suppress the terrible misfortune tormenting her.

The terror in her eyes slowly faded. In its place appeared a faint, almost unbelievable glimmer of hope.

"...Was... was it you... who saved me?"

Her voice was so weak it was barely more than a whisper. It trembled with the fragility of someone who had just escaped death, yet beneath that weakness was a trace of disbelief, as though she couldn’t understand why anyone would have chosen to save her.

Aiden looked into her eyes. For a brief moment, the hard ice of vengeance buried within his heart seemed to crack at its edges.

Only slightly. He immediately suppressed it. He reined in his killing intent and softened his expression, forcing his voice to sound as gentle as possible.

"Yeah." He nodded. "It’s okay now."

His voice was quiet and reassuring. "Those bad guys have already been taken care of."

Luna stared at him blankly. Then her amethyst eyes began to mist over. A tear rolled down her cheek. Then another and another.

Soon, large, heavy tears were falling silently from her eyes.

She didn’t wail. She didn’t scream. She simply lay there and cried quietly. As if she had spent so long enduring her fear, pain, and despair alone that she no longer even remembered how to cry out for help.

Aiden said nothing. He merely squatted beside her in silence, allowing her to release everything she had been forced to keep buried.

He understood. She had been alone for far too long.

And at that moment, Aiden realized something. From this very instant, Luna Everhart’s fate had been completely twisted. Not merely because he had saved her life. But because he had found her.

The girl before him was not simply a helpless victim. She was the most important piece of the puzzle he had been desperately searching for.

A piece capable of disrupting Damien Bale’s Mandate of Heaven.

A piece that might one day allow him to defy the destiny that had once been written for him.

And perhaps... even give him a chance to stand against the cruel apocalypse itself.