Vivienne and Hunter continued their journey. When they reached the middle of the forest, Hunter spoke, "We'll part ways here for a bit. I'll scout the area and make sure no one sneaks up from any direction."
Vivienne nodded, "Alright, but come back quickly." Hunter then leaped from tree to tree. While doing so, he spotted a massive monster, wielding a large sword and clad in armor.
The monster sensed someone's presence. With his incredible speed, Hunter immediately distanced himself. As he activated his speed, the world around him froze. No sound, no movement—just an overwhelming silence. Time stood still.
Hunter thought, "That was close."
He then muttered to himself, "I'd better get back to Vivienne." Moving swiftly, Hunter returned to her and saw her sitting under a tree. "Let's continue our journey. It's dangerous here. There's a heavily armored monster wielding a giant sword nearby."
Vivienne replied, "I see." She snapped her fingers, and suddenly, the monster—40 kilometers away—had its head split open, and its soul shattered.
The monster's body exploded. Hunter, standing beside Vivienne, felt the destruction ripple through the air. In his heart, he thought, The Genevieve family...
They continued their trek through the forest filled with monsters. Along the way, they found a book that read, "This forest was once beautiful, but the selfish monsters have made it terrifying..." The book then closed by itself, and they didn't know what came next.
Vivienne remarked, "I can feel life all around us. There are countless numbers here, beyond measure."
Hunter replied, "It must be the work of that monster."
Vivienne said, "Perhaps, but I'll eliminate it anyway."
As they journeyed through the forest searching for the monster, Vivienne mentioned that she could sense the creature nearby. During their walk, Vivienne began to share her story, "I come from a noble family, and in our kingdom, we have ranks. Each rank in the nobility comes with matching strength. The first rank is the lowest and has no resistance to the second rank's power. That's why during training academies, the first rank always loses. The second rank is strong but can't withstand the power of those ranked above them."
She continued, "This system persisted for a long time across 20 ranks. Ten years later, I was born, and immediately people began discussing me. The upper-class nobles of rank 20 asked, 'Do we need to kill this child to remain the strongest?' They were selfish, but they didn't realize that I could hear everything they said. They continued to hunt me in many ways—poisoning my food and drink, setting explosives, and more. I never even knew who my parents were. Thirty years later, when I turned 20, they realized that I was stronger than anyone in all 20 ranks, even beyond them. I was rank 21."
Vivienne explained further, "They became even more enraged, and they influenced everyone in the kingdom to come after me. I had no choice but to use my Arcana Veil and trap them within it. They were confused and tried using their powers inside the veil, but all their abilities vanished. They ran around, helpless. Even if they escaped the veil, they would always be pulled back into it. Even when they destroyed the veil, they'd keep returning, over and over, and lose their powers again."
She added, "I then created an enormous energy force, weighing 10 million tons, and unleashed it on them, obliterating the entire place."
Vivienne stood alone, gazing at the chaos she had wrought.
After finishing her story, she said, "Since we are husband and wife, Hunter, we can now share each other's powers. This is called Noble Sovereignty—the Connection of Power. We can use each other's abilities, all of them, without limit."
They finally reached the farthest part of the forest, where they saw a vast kingdom. Vivienne declared, "It's about to begin."
To be continued...