Chapter 92: Saint E: Elyndor

The Mega City known as Saint E, Elyndor came into view before Emily and Reinhard even reached the city gates.

The skyline stretched across the horizon, filled with enormous buildings, towering screens, and massive arenas that looked large enough to hold entire districts.

Advertisements covered the sides of buildings, promoting tournaments, professional Awakener teams, relic manufacturers, training facilities, and upcoming ranking trials.

Even the streets felt different.

Awakeners openly walked around wearing team uniforms and specialized equipment. Some practiced Mana control in designated areas while others gathered around public combat demonstrations.

Recruiters watched young Awakeners near training facilities, while large displays continuously updated professional rankings.

Emily slowed down as she looked across the city.

She hadn’t been here in years.

Reinhard noticed immediately. "Memories?"

"A lot of them." Emily smiled faintly. "I used to spend more time here than at home."

Maki looked around with interest. "So this was basically your second home?"

"Something like that."

Lily stared at the enormous arena rising above the buildings. "You actually fought in places like that?"

Emily nodded. "Quite a few times."

Yuna looked toward the endless advertisements and ranking displays. "Aurlieus feels completely different from this."

"It is," Emily said. "Elyndor has always been built around Awakeners."

Here, strength wasn’t simply something people possessed. It had become a profession, entertainment, reputation, and business. An Awakener’s strength could determine which team recruited them, which organization sponsored them, which company wanted their name on an advertisement, and how many people recognized them when they walked through the streets.

Large screens displayed tournament results beside current rankings, while relic companies competed for attention with advertisements showing their newest weapons and defensive equipment.

Elyndor didn’t merely measure strength.

It had turned strength into an entire industry.

Reinhard looked around with interest. "So this is where everyone comes to make money from beating each other up."

Emily laughed. "When you say it like that, it sounds much worse."

"Is it inaccurate?"

Emily thought about it before smiling. "Not entirely."

"I like this place already."

Maki shook her head. "You would."

They continued deeper into the city, and Emily began recognizing places she hadn’t seen in years.

A training facility appeared on the corner of a large avenue.

"I used to train there," Emily said.

Yuna looked at the building. "How often?"

"Almost every morning."

"Even after you became famous?" Lily asked.

"Especially after I became famous." Emily smiled. "If I stopped training just because people knew my name, someone would eventually beat me."

Maki nodded approvingly. "At least that part of you hasn’t changed."

They continued until another building came into view, this one far larger than the others.

Emily stopped.

It was a massive combat arena.

Reinhard looked at her. "You fought there?"

"Three times."

"How did you do?"

Emily’s smile became slightly more confident. "I won all three."

Reinhard glanced at the arena. "Not bad."

Emily gave him an amused look. "Not bad?"

"I didn’t want to inflate your ego."

"My ego was already inflated before I met you."

Lily laughed. "I believe her."

Reinhard chuckled. "Fair enough."

Emily looked at the arena again.

For a moment, she remembered standing inside it, surrounded by thousands of people, feeling every eye following her movements.

Then she continued walking.

She didn’t look back.

...

They hadn’t gone much farther when a young Awakener near a ranking display suddenly stopped.

His friend noticed. "What?"

The young man stared at Emily for several seconds before his expression changed. "Wait. Is that Emily Ashcroft?"

His friend frowned. "Emily Ashcroft?"

"The Emily Ashcroft."

Emily heard her name and stopped.

She didn’t hide.

She simply turned around.

The young Awakener’s eyes widened. "No way."

Another person nearby heard the name and turned as well.

"Emily Ashcroft?"

"Is that really her?"

"I thought she disappeared."

"Didn’t her Gnosis shatter?"

"Look at the sword."

Someone pointed toward Aeon.

"That’s Aeon."

The recognition spread through the street almost immediately. People pulled out their phones, searched through old records, and began comparing the woman standing in front of them with the legendary Awakener they remembered.

"She really is Emily Ashcroft."

"She was one of the youngest champions."

"I remember her national final."

"She won it."

Reinhard glanced toward Emily. "You’re popular."

Emily gave him a small smile. "Apparently I still am."

Then someone checked the current Awakener registry.

Their expression changed.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Her classification."

Several people looked over.

The registry displayed Emily’s current information.

[Emily Ashcroft]

[Current Classification: D-Rank]

The excitement immediately changed.

"D-Rank?"

"But she’s Emily Ashcroft."

"She hasn’t fought professionally in years."

"Her Gnosis was destroyed."

"So she really came back as a D-Rank?"

Emily wasn’t offended because the classification was simply a fact. She was D-Rank for now at least.

A young Awakener looked at her curiously. "If she’s really back, how long do you think it’ll take her to reach C-Rank?"

Someone nearby scoffed. "You think she can actually get that far?"

Another person frowned. "You’re talking about Emily Ashcroft."

The first person pointed toward the registry. "She’s still D-Rank."

Nobody had an answer to that as the contradiction was almost too strange. The name belonged to a legend. The registry belonged to a beginner and both belonged to the same person.

Maki glanced toward Emily, but Emily remained calm.

Some people looked excited to see her return. Others were skeptical, while a few were already wondering whether her restored Gnosis actually worked.

Nobody knew what she could do.

That was exactly what made her return so interesting.

...

The crowd had barely begun to settle when reporters arrived.

A camera was raised and then another.

One reporter spoke rapidly into a phone. "Confirmed. Emily Ashcroft has arrived in Elyndor."

A headline appeared on a nearby news feed.

[BREAKING: EMILY ASHCROFT SPOTTED IN ELYNDOR]

Another followed.

[FORMER ELITE AWAKENER RETURNS AFTER YEARS OF ABSENCE]

Then another.

[WHY IS EMILY ASHCROFT CURRENTLY CLASSIFIED AS D-RANK?]

Lily leaned toward Reinhard. "That was fast."

Yuna looked at the growing crowd. "Everyone is already watching her."

Emily sighed softly. "Elyndor hasn’t changed much."

"Apparently not," Maki said.

Before they could continue, an older man approached from the edge of the crowd.

Several people immediately recognized him.

"Isn’t that Director Halden?"

"He worked with the Awakener Authority years ago."

"He was here during Emily’s championship period."

Halden stopped in front of Emily and looked at her for several seconds.

His eyes moved toward Aeon before returning to her face.

Then he gave a small bow.

"Welcome home, Emily."

Emily froze.

The words were simple, but they struck harder than the whispers had.

She had expected questions, doubt, curiosity, and people comparing her current D-Rank classification with the woman she used to be.

She hadn’t expected someone to simply welcome her back.

Emily smiled. "It’s good to be back."

Halden straightened. "I heard the news this morning, but seeing you here is different. And apparently some things have returned with you."

His gaze shifted toward Aeon.

Emily looked down at the sword. "Yeah."

Halden smiled. "Your old records are still here, you know."

Emily looked surprised. "Some of them?"

"More than you probably expect." He pointed toward the arena. "Your old damage record has been challenged dozens of times."

Emily’s expression sharpened. "And?"

"Nobody has beaten it."

Reinhard glanced toward her.

There was no arrogance in Emily’s expression, but there was something he hadn’t seen a few seconds earlier.

Anticipation.

Halden noticed it as well.

"Your record was unusual even for a D-Rank."

He gestured toward the arena. "The damage test measures the maximum destructive threshold an Awakener can produce. A normal D-Rank result is roughly comparable to a powerful tank shell capable of pulverizing a building. C-Rank moves into the range of a bomb capable of destroying multiple buildings. B-Rank reaches the destructive force of a speeding crystal train tearing through several city blocks. A-Rank can destroy an entire town, while S-Rank output is powerful enough to erase roughly half a city."

Lily’s eyes widened. "That’s the scale they use?"

Halden nodded.

Emily looked toward the arena.

"And mine?"

Halden smiled. "Your old D-Rank record was enough to pulverize an entire building."

A few nearby Awakeners immediately reacted.

"That was her record?"

"The Young Devil King record?"

Emily’s expression tightened slightly.

Maki noticed. "You hated that title, didn’t you?"

"I did."

Lily looked confused. "Why?"

"Because I wasn’t trying to become a devil."

Reinhard smiled faintly. "You were just destroying buildings."

Emily gave him a look. "That isn’t helping."

Halden laughed.

"The name stuck because of the record. The Authority even kept the holographic reconstruction of the test result inside the arena. It shows exactly what that level of destructive force would do to a building."

Someone in the crowd overheard him.

"The Young Devil King is really back?"

Another Awakener looked at Emily skeptically. "She doesn’t exactly look like a Devil King now."

A few people laughed.

Emily didn’t react.

She simply looked toward the enormous arena.

"Let them remember whatever they want," she said calmly. "Today, they’ll see who I am now."

Yuna smiled. "That’s the Emily I remember."

Maki nodded. "You were difficult to forget."

Lily grinned. "Just try not to destroy the whole arena."

"No promises."

...

The family finally continued toward the Awakener Authority.

The crowd slowly dispersed, but the news had already spread through Elyndor.

Emily Ashcroft was back.

The former champion had returned.

Her Gnosis had supposedly recovered.

She was carrying Aeon again.

And somehow, despite everything she had accomplished in the past, she was officially D-Rank.

Reinhard’s phone suddenly chimed and he checked the notification. His expression changed slightly.

"What is it?" Yuna asked.

"The evaluation notice was updated."

He displayed the message for everyone.

[Evaluation Notice Updated.]

[Due to increased public interest surrounding Emily Ashcroft’s return, the upcoming evaluation will be conducted in the Central Combat Arena.]

[Additional Authority officials, professional teams, registered organizations, and media representatives have requested observation access.]

Maki stared at the message. "So tomorrow won’t be a normal evaluation."

"No," Reinhard said. "Apparently everyone wants to watch."

Yuna looked toward Emily.

"They’re all going to be there."

Emily looked at the arena in the distance.

Lily grinned. "Good. Let them watch."

Emily rested her hand against Aeon’s hilt. She wasn’t angry or nervous. She was simply ready. Today, she would stand in front of the same world that had once watched her rise.

Only this time, she wouldn’t be returning as the woman they remembered. She would be showing them who she had become.