Chapter 76: The Child of War

The transport moved toward the ship and landed as they moved Orson out. As he was moved toward the Graves ship, his mind was numbing to the pain as another memory continued to flash in his mind.

The fight was playing like a loop in his head as he heard a young woman’s voice.

Child of War, child of War. Why is it that everywhere you go, ruin and war follows?

Orson looked at the woman in front of him as his mind tried to recall the conversation.

"Hi, Rain," Orson said softly, his voice carrying the gentle weight of a brother who had missed her. "Long time no see."

Rain froze, completely speechless. The icy, murderous rage in her eyes fractured, and a faint, undeniable blush flushed across her cheeks as she stared down at her reincarnated brother. A wave of shock washed over her, but she quickly snapped back. Her expression hardened into a bitter, freezing glare, and she slapped his hand away.

"Wow, War God... what do you think you’re doing?" her voice snapped, sharp as cracked glass. "What, are you planning to just brush me off? You don’t get to kill me in our past life and now just casually greet me. I don’t play games that way."

Orson said nothing, merely holding her gaze with quiet, heavy eyes. Rain stared right back, the skin on her palms tingling with raw electrical current. Even though her clothes were torn, wet, and charred from the breach’s hellfire, it did nothing to lessen the cold threat radiating off her stance.

---

Meanwhile, on the highest peak of the Temple Island, Steven was in a fantastic mood.

Having just activated the light-array that pierced the sky, he felt the thrill of his master plan finally snapping into place. All he needed was an endless supply of contractors to build his army—the bigger, the better. That soaring pillar of light would act as a beacon, drawing thousands of desperate contractors directly toward the temple grounds.

With a dark smirk, Steven turned and strolled out of the main hall, leaving the glowing altar behind. The stone surface was smeared with dark, dried blood—a quiet sacrifice to anchor the array. As he walked, his boots stepped over the butchered remains of a Dread Wolf he had slaughtered on his way inside.

There was still work to be done. He had fulfilled his part of the bargain; the seal on the breach was set, and the next phase of the operation was officially underway.

Out on the surrounding island, two members of the Silver Rain Guild were rapidly approaching the main grounds. They were only one island away from the temple, surrounded by a chaotic swarm of over a hundred Awakened contractors—some locked in desperate life-or-death battles, others frantically trying to reach the central island.

When the Titan’s massive hand had slammed down earlier, it had completely obliterated the floating island leading to the temple. Now, the survivors were forced to improvise. Those with flight-type abilities or specialized artifacts were already leaping off the jagged cliff edges, soaring through the mist toward the temple’s island.

Steven stepped out onto the temple’s outer balcony, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He didn’t venture any further, sheltered beneath the massive defensive dome array he had previously set up. The barrier completely sealed off the inner sanctum—no one could enter, no matter how hard they hammered against the barrier.

On a neighboring landmass, Lucas and his squad were locked in a brutal fight against a Gold-Class Dread Wolf, struggling against its blazing Sunlight ability.

"Block its path!" Lucas barked, sweeping his hand forward to spread a thick sheet of ice across the wolf’s predicted trajectory.

The remaining squad members lunged in, trying to sever the beast’s limbs, but their weapons skidded off its dense, reinforced fur. The Gold-Class wolf snarled, bursting through the ice and lunging straight for one of Lucas’s vanguards. The man barely dove out of the way in time, the monster’s jaws snapping on empty air.

Lucas surged forward to strike while the beast was recovering—

CRUNCH.

Without warning, the entire environment shifted violently.

An overwhelming, suffocating pressure slammed down on Lucas and his team, crushing them toward the earth. It felt as though they had instantly been dropped to the absolute bottom of the abyssal ocean, their lungs collapsing under thousands of pounds of phantom water pressure.

How is this possible?! We’re supposed to be inside the Golden Sun Realm!

Horrified screams echoed across the region as Lucas and the rest of the contractors collapsed to their knees, pinned under the terrifying atmospheric weight.

High above them, a burning Leviathan stared down at the realm. Massive, glowing chains wrapped around its titanic, molten body hummed with primordial force as three colossal, unknown islands materialized out of absolute nothingness right beside it.

The Titan was looking down at them.

The three phantom islands hovered eerily submerged in the abyssal ocean, pinned beneath the suffocating gaze of the chained Titan. Hundreds of Awakened contractors trapped on the terrain fell to their knees, their lungs screaming as the crushing pressure of the deep sea threatened to snap their bones and drive them into unconsciousness.

Before the ocean could claim them, the Temple Island—miraculously suspended in the depths—flared with brilliant light. The massive barrier array surrounding it expanded violently, stretching out across the dark water to encompass all three islands and the chained beast above.

The moment the translucent barrier swept past, the immense water pressure vanished.

Contractors gasped, pulling air back into their lungs as they scrambled to their feet. But relief was short-lived. High above, the burning Titan shifted. Chains of primordial force rattled as two miniature suns—its blazing eyes—locked onto the tiny humans sheltered inside the dome.

One contractor made the fatal mistake of looking directly into the Titan’s gaze.

FSHHH!

Without warning, the man erupted into white-hot flames. His terrifying screams echoed across the island as the fire consumed him from the inside out. Then, like a horrifying line of dominoes, contractors with weaker class tethers began bursting into flames one after another, their frantic cries filling the dark cavern of the dome.

Their bodies didn’t just burn—they began to mutate.

Veins bulged against scorching skin, pulsing with raw, liquid light. The flames engulfing their backs coalesced into twin wings of light-fire. Their fingers elongated, snapping into jagged, avian talons. Monstrous growls tore from the throats of what used to be human beings.

With a burst of sickening speed, one of the newly transformed husks lunged at a nearby survivor, tearing through flesh in a blur of light-fire.

A sharp warning flashed red in front of Lucas’s vision as oppressive killing intent washed over his squad:

[ WARNING ]

Killing intent detected.

Target: Crimson Aberrant Beast (The Burning Man’s Mini-Creation)

Total chaos erupted across the three islands as transformed contractors turned on the survivors.

---

Far outside the immediate breach zone, Saint Barnabas paused mid-step. A strange, unnatural spike in spatial energy rippled through the air, sending a chill down his spine. He looked up at the overcast sky, scanning the horizon, but saw nothing unusual.

Weird, Barnabas thought, shaking his head. He turned his attention back to the high-ranking strike team preparing to deploy toward the second floating landmass. "Maintain formation. We move on my mark."

---

Meanwhile, on the same main island, Orson stood face-to-face with Rain.

Pure, unfiltered killing intent rolled off her in waves. Her icy eyes flickered with a smile—a cold, empty expression that instantly dragged Orson’s mind back to his past life, reminding him exactly why she had earned the terrifying title of the Lightning Immortal.

Rain tapped the hilt of her blade, her voice smooth and devoid of any warmth.

"Your move... Child of War."

Before Orson could even draw a breath, the crimson interface materialized violently between them:

[ WARNING ]

Killing intent detected.

Target: Unknown-Class Eclipser