Chapter LXXI - Story (part 1)

"Have you guys heard about the sun's collapse?"

I asked them, and their faces suddenly changed.

"See!! I knew it! That must have something to do with her!!"

Cony suddenly shouted. Not just her, Barett, Valey, and Hod were all surprised. They didn't believe it at first, but apparently it's true. Hod shook his head, and tried really hard to accept this.

"That's..."

"Nearly as large as a capital city in size, and a depth as tall as a castle's tower. Sun's collapse is currently the world's biggest crater, and was turned into a lake due to the ocean's water flooding in. 

It is now a famous recreational spot for the kingdom of Veldonia."

"Woah! You know your stuff!"

Barett explained every detail about the sun's collapse, and it surprised Hod a little.

"And that incident had something to do with you?"

Valey asked me, and I nodded.

"That incident WAS me."

I explained to them from the beginning. How the Veldonia kingdom never wanted peace to begin with, and the rebellion group was actually good people. I also told them about how we fought an undead army, and how we somehow managed to fight the kingdom's strongest people, called the rankers.

"In our kingdom, adventurer ranks were divided into seven. From Red rank to White rank. But in their kingdom, it's divided into nine. It starts from rank 9 to rank 1. And somehow, we came across three of the strongest… the rank 1."

"This... Rank 1 people, what are they like?"

Hod asked out of curiosity, and I answered without hesitation.

"If you see them plainly at their strength, each of them is either as strong as Jonus or much stronger."

"So... like a White rank?"

"Yes. like a White rank."

I explained how I met a group called the Trio of Destruction. The trio had different abilities, and they are all very powerful. I described to them about the trio one by one.

"They are all... very powerful. Three White ranks… I can't even imagine. How did you even survive them?"

Cony asked me, and I had no choice but to answer blatantly.

"Well, I beat them."

""What!?""

I like their reactions. I started by telling them about the mission to exterminate the undead conjurer. 

"After defeating the conjurer who somehow killed himself, I went back up to meet my allies who came with me, but the trio was already there, so I had to lay low. Fighting them head on was suicide."

"We agree that much."

I nodded to Cony, then continued with the story.

"Luckily, the trio looked down on my new friends. One of them let his guard down and challenged a knight captain. He was bare chested, and not using any armour. Then again, with a skin that thick, he doesn't need one. 

When he let his guard down, I jumped in and kicked him across the room. I was able to get the trajectory right, and he flew towards his female friend. His weight was like... I don't know, two-three anvils? And he was quite large too, so his female friend was crushed underneath, afterwards."

Hearing that perfect planning, everyone clapped.

"Beating two White rankers in an instant. I'm so proud of you."

Cony said proudly, and I simply chuckled as a reaction.

"Thanks... But the real problem was with their leader, Prym."

"Lightning swordsman, right? I read the newspaper about him. It was said that he retired from being their ranker."

Hod said and everyone else stared at him.

"So you have read something, after all!?"

Cony said angrily, and Hod simply lifted both of his shoulders. Once the two of them were done arguing, they turned to me.

I let out a sigh before continuing.

"He was... Very powerful. I couldn't beat him... not normally, of course."

Everyone else understood that much. They saw the match between me and Jonus, it's fair to say I have the abilities as good as a White ranked adventurer or a rank 1 ranker.

"Then? How did you beat him?"

Barett asked. I simply answered.

"I... created the sun's collapse."

Both Cony and Valey shook their heads, while Hod facepalmed. Barett was too amazed to say anything. His face just stopped moving and expressionless.

"Is... Barett okay?"

"Don't mind him. Continue."

Valey said to me, but I still took a glance at Barett's soulless expression and decided to continue telling.

"Fighting him was... Very difficult. I ended up getting hit by an incredibly powerful attack, and I nearly died. My cover was blown away, and somehow... I got very angry."

"Oh dear. Never touch a girl when she's mad."

Hod commented, and the two other girls on the table stared at him with death glares.

Normally, I would have laughed. But the mood was already getting darker, and it will only get darker from here. I ended up not having any smiles on my face, and continued the story.

"So... I got angry, and somehow my... mind went blank. I believe Valey and Hod knows what I'm talking about."

I turned to Valey and Hod, who seemed to have an idea. After all, they were there when I was fighting Galar.

"Your... black eye thing..."

"Yes."

Hod's guess is on point, and Valey turned to him with a confused face.

"That red vision thing got activated… somehow, during the fight with Prym. Only this time, I couldn't control it."

"What happened?"

"My... mind was so consumed by the rage, and by the time I knew it, there's a huge explosion coming in front of me, and I was thrown super far away thanks to the blast."

"Could it be... possible that you weren't the one causing it?"

I shook my head when Cony asked.

"There was no one else there besides me and Prym, and Prym couldn't do an explosion that big. Lightning element focused solely on strikes and stuns, it explodes only at one sharp spot, not a size that large."

"Then..."

I created a small fireball on my hand, except it's not a normal fireball. Valey and Cony recognized it quickly.

"That's... The assassin's..."

"Yeah. I practiced it and perfected it. This is called a firebomb."

Firebombs look a lot like a fireball, except the air around it seemed warped and the colour is much darker. This is due to the giant force that is keeping the huge amount of flame inside it.