Chapter 205: Ashcroft Shocks The World

The first report appeared before dawn.

By breakfast, the news had spread across Awakener forums, business networks, and public information channels.

The Baal Family had fallen.

The organization that controlled a significant portion of Aurlieus’s Awakener industry had suffered a devastating defeat. Its surviving members were detained, its headquarters secured, and its connections to suspicious operations exposed.

But the name attached to the victory was what made people question the report.

The Ashcroft Family.

The Baals possessed multiple S-Rank Awakeners, while Xanxus Baal had been recognized as an SS-Rank powerhouse. Defeating such an organization should have required an alliance of major forces, not a family that had spent months rebuilding itself after Emily Ashcroft lost her Gnosis.

Yet the reports kept arriving.

The Ashcrofts had survived the confrontation.

The Baal Family had not.

Before the public could understand how it happened, another announcement appeared.

...

Inside an Awakener training center in Elyndor, students were arguing about the Baal Family’s defeat when the latest ranking announcement appeared across the main display.

Reinhard Ashcroft — S-Rank Awakener.

Yuna Ashcroft — S-Rank Awakener.

"Yuna reaching S-Rank makes sense," one instructor said. "She was already A-Rank. Extraordinary, certainly, but she had the foundation."

"Then explain Reinhard."

A young man pointed at Reinhard’s profile. "I saw him here. He was B-Rank, taking missions to climb the rankings and trying to reach the top five. Now he’s S-Rank, and apparently he helped bring down the Baal Family?"

"That was months ago," someone replied.

"That doesn’t make it any more believable."

An older examiner approached the display. After decades of evaluating Awakeners, he understood how difficult advancement became at the highest ranks. Talent mattered, but so did experience, Gnosis development, control, and the ability to survive increasingly dangerous encounters.

Some Awakeners spent years at A-Rank without achieving the breakthrough needed to advance.

"Reaching S-Rank isn’t simply a matter of gathering enough Mana," he explained. "Someone can defeat an opponent above their rank and still fail to make the advancement."

"Exactly. So how did Reinhard do it?"

"That is what we need to determine."

The answer only irritated the young man. He had spent years training and accepting dangerous missions, yet the ranking he wanted still seemed distant. Reinhard, who had only become an Awakener this year, had apparently crossed that distance in a fraction of the time.

Another student opened the historical ranking archive.

"Look at Emily Ashcroft. Her record was eight years from A-Rank to S-Rank. Eight years, and she was already considered an exceptional talent."

She placed Emily’s record beside Reinhard’s profile.

"Reinhard started as a B-Rank Awakener this year. Now he’s S-Rank. How is anyone supposed to explain that?"

"Perhaps the ranking is wrong," someone suggested.

"Would the authorities announce it alongside the fall of the Baal Family if it were wrong?"

The examiner closed the archive.

"The announcement has been verified. The question isn’t whether Reinhard is S-Rank. It’s what happened during the time we weren’t watching him."

The discussion shifted. Instead of arguing over whether the news was genuine, the Awakeners began searching for information about Reinhard’s recent missions and trying to understand what had enabled his advancement.

The young man who had questioned the announcement looked at his own ranking, then back at Reinhard’s.

He had treated the distance between B-Rank and S-Rank as something that required years of struggle. Reinhard’s achievement did not make the journey easy, but it forced him to reconsider whether his assumptions about his own limits were correct.

He reopened his mission schedule.

"I was going to take a break from advancement missions," he admitted.

His friend raised an eyebrow. "And now?"

"Now I want to see how far I can get before the end of the year."

The examiner heard him. "Learn from Reinhard’s achievement. Don’t assume you can reproduce his results without understanding what made them possible."

The young man nodded. He still had no idea how Reinhard had done it.

That was precisely why he wanted to find out.

...

Marvello received the news differently.

The first announcement about Baal’s fall caused confusion, but when reports connected Reinhard and Emily to the victory, residents gathered around public displays to discuss the family that had helped their city recover.

For Marvello, the Ashcroft name meant more than rankings.

People remembered the dangerous operations, the uncertainty surrounding the city’s future, and the work required to restore places that had once been considered unsafe. The Ashcrofts had helped Marvello recover from a disaster that many residents feared would leave permanent scars.

Now they were being credited with defeating one of the forces behind the growing conflict.

A vendor near a public plaza turned up his information screen.

"Listen to this! Reinhard Ashcroft and Yuna Ashcroft are both S-Rank!"

A customer stared at him. "Both of them?"

"That’s what it says. And there’s more."

The vendor refreshed the report.

Lily Ashcroft — B-Rank Awakener.

Maki Ashcroft — B-Rank Awakener.

"They became Awakeners only a few months ago!" the customer exclaimed.

"Almost three months," another resident corrected. "They started at D-Rank."

The news spread through the plaza. Lily and Maki had advanced from D-Rank to B-Rank so quickly that experienced Awakeners struggled to find a comparable record.

A group of young Awakeners gathered around the display. Most were still D-Rank, and one had nearly abandoned his advancement plan after failing an evaluation for the second time.

He stared at Lily’s profile.

"She started where we did?"

"Yes."

"And she’s B-Rank now?"

"Unless the report is a lie."

The young Awakener rubbed the back of his neck. "I don’t know whether to feel inspired or embarrassed."

"Both are acceptable," his friend replied.

Their group laughed, and the conversation shifted from the Ashcrofts’ achievements to their own plans. They discussed training partners, upcoming missions, and which instructors might help them improve. Lily and Maki’s advancement did not mean everyone could reach B-Rank in three months, but it made progress beyond their current limits feel less distant.

One of them reopened a mission he had planned to cancel.

"I want to see how far I can get before the end of the year."

The others began checking their schedules. Their excitement was not simply about watching the Ashcrofts become stronger. It was about imagining what their own lives might look like if they stopped treating their current rankings as permanent limits.

Across the plaza, an elderly shopkeeper watched the celebrations outside her reopened business. She remembered when customers had stopped coming regularly and the future of the district had seemed uncertain.

"I don’t care how high their rankings go," she told her neighbor. "I’ll remember what they did for this place."

Her neighbor nodded. "Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing them become even more famous."

"They’ve earned it."

Marvello had not merely watched the Ashcrofts become stronger. It had watched them help the city recover, and now its residents had a reason to celebrate their success as their own.

...

The announcement that changed Aurlieus came later.

Emily Ashcroft — S-Rank Awakener.

For a moment, the announcement seemed to stop the city.

"She’s really S-Rank again?"

"Her Gnosis was destroyed. Everyone knew she couldn’t continue as an Awakener."

"How did she recover?"

No one could provide a complete explanation, but the ranking had been verified. Emily Ashcroft had returned to S-Rank.

Older residents remembered her before her accident. She had been one of Aurlieus’s most celebrated Awakeners, admired for her strength and achievements. Then her Gnosis had been destroyed, taking away the foundation of the life she had built.

People gradually learned to speak about her as someone whose greatest achievements belonged to the past.

Now that past had become the present again.

A medical specialist watched the announcement in his office. He had treated injured Awakeners for more than twenty years and remembered reviewing Emily’s case after her Gnosis was destroyed.

He could still picture the scan on his desk: the damaged structure that had once supported her power, the gaps where functioning connections should have been, and the medical notes that had made her future appear so narrow.

He had explained to a colleague that even if Emily recovered enough to live comfortably, returning to active Awakener combat was beyond what he believed possible.

He had not wanted her to suffer. He had simply thought the damage was irreversible.

"I thought the best we could hope for was that she would recover enough to live comfortably," he said quietly. "I never thought she would stand among S-Ranks again."

He closed the old medical report.

"If she’s truly recovered, I hope she can live the life she wants. She’s already lost enough."

His response was not loud, and he did not share it with the public. But it was sincere.

Elsewhere, a former sponsor of Emily’s reviewed the reports with a very different expression.

Months earlier, the organization had withdrawn its support after concluding that Emily’s future as an Awakener was finished. Without her Gnosis, she could no longer provide the competitive results the sponsor expected.

Now Emily had returned to S-Rank, and the Ashcrofts had helped bring down the Baal Family.

"Prepare a message to the Ashcrofts," the sponsor instructed. "Congratulate Emily on her recovery and express our interest in rebuilding the relationship."

The assistant hesitated. "Should I mention that we withdrew our support when her Gnosis was destroyed?"

"There’s no need to begin a business message by reopening an old disagreement."

"But that was when she needed support most."

The sponsor’s expression tightened. "That decision was based on the information available at the time."

The assistant remained silent, making it clear that the explanation had not convinced her.

After a moment, the sponsor reconsidered.

"Don’t send anything yet. Find out whether the Ashcrofts are accepting new partners."

The organization could offer money, connections, and resources, but none of those things guaranteed the Ashcrofts would welcome it. Emily’s return did not erase the fact that they had abandoned her, and the family was no longer in a position where it needed to accept every offer.

The sponsor had recognized an opportunity.

She had not yet earned the right to be welcomed back.

Across Aurlieus, people searched for footage of Emily’s former battles and shared records of her achievements. Younger Awakeners who had only known her as the woman who lost her Gnosis began learning about the fighter she had once been.

To some, her return represented a legendary Awakener’s recovery. To others, it proved that a future everyone had considered closed could still open again.

For those who remembered Emily before her fall, the meaning was simpler.

The Ruler had returned.

...

As excitement spread, reports about the Baal Family became more detailed.

Evidence recovered from its headquarters indicated that the family had authorized operations against the Ashcrofts. The records included surveillance orders, attempts to capture family members, and plans connected to attacks on their residence.

Evidence presented during the confrontation had also revealed Xanxus Baal’s involvement in the escalating conflict.

The Ashcrofts had not attacked a powerful family without cause.

They had been targeted first.

Further records connected Baal personnel to the crimes in Marvello, including coercion, witness intimidation, and activities that had endangered civilians.

Aurlieus Security confirmed that the surviving Baal members would remain in custody while the investigation continued. Companies and organizations whose transactions appeared in the recovered records were also being examined.

The consequences became concrete when a major commercial association withdrew its public accusation that the Ashcrofts had launched an unjustified attack.

The association’s revised statement appeared across the same channels that had carried its original accusation.

Following an independent review of the evidence, we acknowledge that our previous statement omitted critical information regarding the Baal Family’s orders against the Ashcroft Family. Our earlier conclusion was premature. We will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation.

The statement was brief, but its implications were difficult to ignore. The association had publicly questioned the Ashcrofts before the evidence was complete. Now it had to admit that its accusation had been based on an incomplete account of events.

Within minutes, people began sharing both statements side by side. Those who had accused Reinhard of attacking the Baal Family without justification now had to confront evidence that the Ashcrofts themselves had been targeted.

Not every organization connected to Baal had acted willingly. Some had cooperated for profit, while others might have been acting under threats. Investigators would have to establish responsibility individually, but no organization could assume its involvement would remain hidden.

The surviving Baal members remained in custody, their records were being examined, and former partners were being forced to answer questions they could no longer ignore.

The Ashcrofts had done more than defeat a powerful family. They had exposed the network behind it, and the consequences were only beginning to unfold.

...

The Ashcroft name appeared in public reports, Awakener discussions, sponsor networks, and conversations among ordinary citizens who had never expected to care about the family’s fortunes.

[Fame Increases!]

[930,000 → 2,000,000]

[Current Fame: 2,000,000 / 1,000,000]

[Description:]

[Emily Ashcroft’s public recognition and influence have reached a new level. Her recovery, return to S-Rank, and the Ashcroft Family’s victory over the Baal Family have spread her name across multiple cities. Even those cities who have closed off most news cannot suppress her name being spoken in academies, billionaire circles, secret organizations, and even the strongest Awakeners in the world. She had exceeded her old reputation, reaching beyond elite Awakeners and former admirers, reaching ordinary citizens, aspiring Awakeners, and influential organizations. She has become a widely recognized figure whose achievements can shape public opinion and inspire others.]