"Who goes there?!"
Headmaster Ryze turned sharply, his eyes narrowing as he spotted a robed figure approaching from the misty edge of Longriver Valley.
He frowned. The man's presence immediately struck him as unnatural.
"Where's Link?" Ryze demanded coldly.
The black-robed figure chuckled and replied smugly,
"Link? If you want to know what happened to him, then you'd better kneel firs—"
Before the man could finish his sentence, a blinding flash of energy split the air.
Ryze's sword had already moved.
The impostor's body crumpled to the ground—cleanly severed at the waist.
Damn. Was Ryze always this fast?
Link's consciousness only made it to that moment before everything went black.
When he came to again, a new talent panel hovered in his vision.
[SSS-grade Talent: Soul Oath]
Soul Oath: Swear an oath upon your soul. For each tier of power, you may swear a soul-bound promise. Upon fulfilling the contents of the oath, you will receive a tremendous overall enhancement—boosting all aspects of your potential by 1x to 10x (including but not limited to training speed, skill effectiveness, spiritual growth, etc.).
However, breaking the oath will cause backlash. After three broken oaths, you will die.
Link rubbed his stomach.
The sensation of having his intestines spill across the ground? Yeah, not something he wanted to relive.
Still… unbelievable.
"So this is the power of a peak Tier-9 Esper…?"
He hadn't even seen Ryze move. One moment he was talking. The next, his body was cleaved in two.
Perhaps Ryze had been provoked by Link's earlier impersonation, which used Veil of the Impostor to mimic the aura of a T8 Esper.
Even so, Ryze's decisiveness in striking was terrifying in its clarity. He didn't hesitate for a heartbeat.
Link shook off the lingering discomfort, only to freeze as he saw the new SSS-grade talent appear before him.
Soul Oath? Are talents like this even allowed to exist!?
The description was almost too good to be true. By simply fulfilling a soul-sworn promise, he could gain a multiplier effect—boosting all aspects of his potential by up to tenfold.
Sure, on paper it might not seem as overwhelmingly powerful as something like Spiritual Powers Manipulation, but Soul Oath offered comprehensive, scalable, and stackable power.
The catch? The multiplier wasn't fixed. It ranged from 1x to 10x, and Link had no idea how to consistently hit the maximum.
"Lib, got any insight?"
"Master, based on available data, the multiplier is likely influenced by the weight of the oath—its ambition, difficulty, and magnitude."
Link frowned.
"So, if I vow to protect the human race and ensure its flame never dies out… I'd probably get the full 10x?"
It was an enticing thought.
But even so, there was no guarantee that any given oath would yield maximum returns. Without a method to reliably control the multiplier, it was a gamble.
Maybe I should ask Ryze about it…
The idea had merit.
And speaking of Ryze...
In the heart of Longriver Valley, the blood-soaked land that had devoured countless lives across centuries of war, Ryze appeared once again.
He looked older here, more reflective. His eyes swept across the barren cliffs and shattered ground, and his gaze softened with memories.
Once, he too had fought on these very fields.
Now, the battlefield remained unchanged—a grinding mill of blood and death, ever hungry.
Suddenly, Ryze turned. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Link. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
He stepped forward, studying the young man before him. A faint spark of surprise danced in his eyes.
"You always manage to surprise me. You've only been at the frontlines for a few days, and you're already brushing the boundary of Tier-1 Esper."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"If I'm not mistaken… your mind power has already broken through to Tier-1?"
Link grinned and gave a modest nod.
"You see through everything, Headmaster."
Ryze waved off the flattery and motioned for him to continue.
"Alright, let's get to the point. What happened that made you stake your entire future to bring me here personally?"
As he spoke, his gaze remained steady on Link, calm yet unreadable.
"And… to think, you're hiding talents of this caliber. I dare say your name will be known throughout the human race in just a few years."
Link chuckled and coughed awkwardly. Being praised so directly felt great—but also a little embarrassing.
"There are two things I need your help with, Headmaster. Let me start with the important one… This concerns the entire Northern Front."
And with that, he told Ryze everything—no holding back.
He recounted what he had overheard and witnessed: the treasonous pact between General Adamu and the Brain Swarm, their plan to destroy the Legion of Elites, and their infiltration strategy.
Ryze's face, initially calm and gentle, slowly hardened. By the time Link mentioned Adamu's betrayal, his expression was cold as iron.
But then something flickered in his eyes—a moment of distant thought. His features softened once again.
"Tell me, Link… why did you choose to come to me with this?"
Link didn't hesitate.
"Because I know my limits."
"I'm just a student. And General Adamu… he's a war hero. If I reported this through official channels, there's a good chance it wouldn't even reach command. And if it did, he'd be alerted—and I'd be the first target."
"Even if they did believe me, would they risk undermining a legend's reputation for the word of a nobody?"
He paused, his expression firm.
"I don't want to see our people butchered by traitors. I thought about it for a long time. And in the end, I realized—you're the only one who might believe me, and have the power to act."
Ryze looked at him, deep admiration flashing in his eyes.
"Smart boy," he said quietly.
"We don't lack powerful talents among our kind. What we lack… is wisdom. You, Link, are showing me both."
Then, for a brief moment, Ryze's face darkened—his eyes clouded with memory.
"I had hoped… after the Seven Sages Purge, these lunatics would learn their lesson. I never expected they'd grow bolder—bold enough to penetrate the highest levels of the Northern Front."
Link's eyes narrowed.
There was a single word that caught his attention.
"Also."
That meant it wasn't just the Northern Front.
"Headmaster," he asked cautiously, "have the other military regions been infiltrated too?"
Ryze let out a heavy sigh, his expression suddenly very serious.
"You're not ready to know all the answers just yet."
"But you must remember one thing: on the frontlines, you can't fully trust anyone. Not even me."
"The truth is… I don't know all the details myself. I only have suspicions."
"So listen well: Be careful. Always."
Link nodded solemnly.
Then, after a moment of silence, he asked one more question—softly, almost hesitantly.
"Ryze… can I trust you?"