Chapter 132: Label’s Vengeful Promise

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Ryujin continued calmly retelling what had happened, speaking to both Label and Riven as if the entire matter were nothing more than an old business report.

"We were told to kill him after that and cover everything up. We made sure you never learned the truth about what he created, and we lied to you the entire time.

And that’s about it. Yeah. We were also told that you had a unique class — one that could grow endlessly — so we had to keep you from getting any funny ideas.

Or well... we would have simply killed you instead. We were actually quite merciful with you, girl. A lot worse could have happened to you."

Label’s hands began to tremble violently. It was not even some personal grudge from Ryujin himself. The bastard had simply done exactly what he was ordered to do.

In the end, those who had stolen her father’s work, hidden it from the public, and paid someone to kill him were the true culprits.

The real bastards.

Still...

"I’ll kill you."

"...Oh?"

Label left behind every trace of fear as her eyes became cold and completely calculative.

"I’ll fucking kill you."

"..."

Her hands suddenly grew long and sharp like claws, blazing with intense blue fire. The sight surprised even Riven.

Since when had she learned how to do that?

He noticed a small bottle lying next to her, still leaking a glowing blue liquid onto the ground.

She had just created and drunk a potion that allowed her to conjure phantasmal fire — the kind capable of burning and directly hurting souls.

"Hah... Hahah... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ryujin laughed loudly at what he considered her "cute" attempt at intimidating him.

"You’re like sixteen, and just a little girl! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?! Don’t be ridiculous, Label! You couldn’t even kill a damn fly—"

Her blazing claws dug deep into his spectral avatar and tore through the remaining cores, destroying them as she injected deadly phantasmal flames directly into the spirit’s body.

"Nngh?! T-This is... AAGH!"

For a single terrifying moment, Ryujin felt as if his soul had been grabbed by something far greater than Label alone...

A vast being, a true goddess, was staring at him through her blazing green eyes.

"I won’t stop until you all go down... Every... single... one... of you!"

"Nnngh! Let go of me!!!"

FLASH!

"Label!"

The spectral spirit’s body suddenly blazed with unstable energy. Riven quickly hugged Label and pushed her away just as a massive explosion erupted around them.

BOOOMMM!!!

The explosion tore through the surrounding trees, consuming a large portion of the forest and leaving a massive smoking crater in its place.

Riven was slowly dragged out of the blast zone by Noir, who managed to pull him into the safety of its shadows while he still carried Label in his arms.

He gently placed her on the ground once they were clear.

"Label, are you okay?" Riven asked as he carefully checked her for any new wounds. Thankfully she appeared fine.

She nodded weakly. "Yeah... sorry. I-I got carried away. I don’t know what got into me." Label apologized quietly. "It was as if something deep within me... awakened and spoke through me..."

"Hm..." Riven nodded thoughtfully.

He had little personal experience with those who possessed Unranked Classes, but he had heard certain rumors. Those rare individuals carried something else within them — the Authority they grew and cultivated inside their souls often acted like a second "self."

A dormant god.

And the stronger they became, the more this dormant god would take over in critical moments, helping them overcome obstacles or say the things they could not express alone. These inner beings usually served as helpers or allies that might even speak the words their vessels were too afraid to say.

Sometimes they also possessed forbidden knowledge that no ordinary human — let alone their vessels — should ever be capable of knowing.

"Well, you’re alright, so it’s fine," he said after a moment. "About what just happened..."

Label shook her head and sat down with a heavy sigh. "It’s fine. I’m glad you brought me here, Riven... It’s still a little overwhelming... but I’m alright now."

Riven nodded and stood up. He took out several recovery potions and shared them with her before drinking some himself. Then he walked back to rejoin the rest of the group.

The ninjas were exhausted but otherwise fine. Kagehisa shared a special healing drug in the form of small pills with everyone, helping them recover from their exhaustion and heal their minor wounds.

"So that’s what happened..." Kagehisa nodded after listening carefully to Riven and Label’s story. "And that’s why you’re here... Huh. I see. It’s really sad. I’m sorry about all of this."

"..." Label sighed and averted her gaze from him. There were moments when she still did not even want to look at Kagehisa.

"What now?" Kagehisa asked, turning toward Riven.

"Do you know the terrain around here?" Riven asked while standing up and surveying their surroundings. He pulled a fresh shirt from his storage ring and put it on.

"Kinda," Kagehisa nodded. "It’s not as big as it looks from the outside. There are two other main buildings, both shaped like castles... I’m guessing Ryujin is currently hiding inside the Imperial Palace he built for himself. It’s heavily guarded."

"What about the other one?" Riven asked.

"The other is a fortress where the Yakuza and his so-called ’Soldiers’ live," Kagehisa explained. "It’s much closer to where we are right now. There’s a real chance he might try to run there if we attack the Imperial Palace first... How about this? Let’s smash that fortress down completely and leave him no other escape route. That way he’ll have no choice but to face us head-on. Plus, we’ll reduce the number of soldiers he can bring into the final fight."

"Sounds good to me," Riven stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. Then, unexpectedly, he sat cross-legged on the ground again. "But first, I have to eat lunch."

"Oh? You’re hungry— Woah?!" Kagehisa and the ninjas gasped in shock as they watched Riven’s Aura suddenly transform. Dozens of massive spectral jaws appeared and began biting down on the corpses of the fallen monsters, even devouring the cracked cores of Ryujin’s spectral avatar. "What the hell are you doing...?!"

"I’m eating," Riven smiled calmly as his vitality rapidly recovered with every bite. "I’ll be done in a minute."

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