Gray still remembered the process of being reborn back in the forest; the effect of the title was absolute and might become one of his closely guarded secrets in the future.
Thinking along these lines, Gray expression grew solemn. The title had been bestowed upon by the system--just how powerful was this system? The thought sent a tingling sensation down his spine, a mix of anticipation and unease.
While he was thinking, Gray's hand unconsciously moved, and he clicked on the '+' sign beside the tittle.
Immediately, the window rippled, and the characters rearranged themselves. A new window filled with information appeared before Gray's eyes.
[Ultimate Defier - A unique SSS-Grade title bestowed upon those who had managed to successfully defied one of the Nine Eternal Laws of True Origin.
[There exist Eight other such titles. According to the first-generation holders of these titles, anyone who can collect all of these Nine Titles can become the strongest existence through the past and present.
[Please be really careful as the other title holders can sense your presence and might show extreme hostility.
Title Effect - By sacrificing 90-99% of the stat points, the holder can be reborn again.]
Gray's eyes shook, and he sucked in a breath of cold air; the effect was too overpowered.
He could essentially cheat death at the cost of most of his stats. Losing upto 99.9% of his power was a steep price, but it was infinitely better than dying.
"First generation title holders..." Gray muttered, his brows furrowing. The tittle Ultimate Defier, had belonged to someone else in the past, Yet by the looks of it, the previous holder had also somehow fallen.
But how was this possible as the tittle allowed its holder to reborn, however after some thought Gray found his answer.
This time, instead of feeling happy or jubilant, a solemn expression appeared on his face. Gray felt a sense of strong crisis enveloping his body. First an overpowered skill, now this broken title—he felt as if he was being groomed for a specific purpose.
His heart unconsciously grew heavy, and his serene blue eyes turned a shade colder.
Roar!
Suddenly, he heard a loud commotion from outside; somebody seemed to have noticed the carnage he caused.
"My god! So many Phantom Tiger corpses!"
"Which Earthly Knight killed all these beasts?"
Gray peered out cautiously. Below the wall,
A group of fully equipped soldiers were standing below the wall, examining the lifeless bodies of Phantom Tigers ruthlessly killed by Gray after an intense struggle.
"Quiet! Stop wasting time here and move fast. We have to quickly deliver the supplies to the main battlefield."
A sudden, cold, but aged voice harshly sounded, silencing the excited soldiers.
Following the aged voice, the commotion died down, and Gray heard the sound of footsteps quickly moving away from his direction.
Once he could no longer hear their footsteps, Gray walked out of the outpost, carrying the bloodstained sword in his hand. The sword looked slightly weary; after the earlier fight, it seemed to have bent slightly, and its sharp edges were also slightly chipped.
Gray examined the sword's edge with a worried look in his blue eyes; the sword might not be able to accompany him for long.
Suddenly, the thoughts of turning back and heading home appeared in his head. However, Gray shook his head to forcefully get rid of the thoughts.
He could not afford to miss this chance to grow stronger, especially after all these warning signs. Although the situation was risky, this was a risk he was willing to take.
…..
Three moons ominously hung in the sky, making the scene look increasingly desolate. A cold wind blew, causing Gray's body to shiver slightly.
Gray walked alone, covering hundreds of meters of distance in a matter of minutes.
The scenery became desperate and grim with each step forward. Every few meters, he would find broken, human bodies badly mutilated by beast attacks. Not just that, he would even find scattered weapons. Initially excited at the sight of weapons, his hope soon turned gloomy; the condition of these weapons was even worse than his sword—they were not usable at all.
Gray threw the sword he had just examined and continued forward.
Of all the bodies encountered in succession, only some were in a single piece. Gray couldn't even bear to look at some directly.
In addition to these broken bodies, Gray also found Phantom Tiger corpses again, some as big as elephants. These Phantom Tigers, although dead, still looked extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty, making people shiver just by their appearance.
Then he went all the way, passing by a couple more bodies, and kept going deeper into the Bloodbath.
Suddenly, Gray stopped and frowned; he heard a loud commotion from the front.
Sounds of bestial roars and intense fighting came from ahead.
Somebody was fighting to death ahead.
In the next moment, Gray became increasingly vigilant and hurriedly took cover behind a tree.
Hundreds of meters ahead, a group of completely armed soldiers were fighting to death, and from the looks of it, their situation wasn't good.
"Soldiers of Blue Swan family," Gray muttered with narrowed eyes. He had no intention of helping them, nor was he in a position to help.
"Damn it! Why aren't the reinforcements here yet?"
"Do they want us to die?" One of the men cried out in frustration. The situation was not looking good for them; at this rate, they would not live for long.
"Watch out, you fucking bastard!" Suddenly, a panicked sound reverberated throughout the surroundings.
"Huh!" The man realized something was wrong. The supposedly dead monster had suddenly started to move. Before the man could process the changes, the tiger opened its mouth and tore the man's body into two pieces.
"You mindless beast!" The man's companion furiously shouted and attacked the Phantom Tiger with bloodshot eyes.
…..
Gray, hiding behind a thick tree trunk, watched this scene with frightening calmness.
"Strange, why are these monsters so strong?" Gray muttered with a thoughfuk look in his eyes. The tigers which the group was fighting against were stronger than the monsters he encountered near the wall.
Gray decided to wait and observe. He needed to assess the strength of thesw beasts before making a move.
For now, he stayed in the shadows, his sharp blue eyes fixed on the battle ahead.