Chapter 1: Lord Chester, Jun Chester!
In the depths of Bastille Highs, and upon the frozen top of the ridges…
A castle made of iron was standing between four towering, cloud-reaching snow mountains.
It was called the Illusory Hall.
It was constructed using all the resources that the world’s most powerful organization could muster from their nation.
They claimed that this castle was to reform young devotees, but in reality, it was a prison for the world’s strongest fighters.
Every single one in this castle was once a warlord who had once wreaked havoc in the world and taken countless lives!
The area surrounding the castle spanned three hundred miles, all covered in snow, with no vegetation.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
On the four large snow mountains, there stood twelve giant dragon pillars reaching into the sky, like twelve giant towers.
Numerous iron chains had crawled around the dragon pillars, with arcs of electricity constantly leaping and shuttling between them, extending around every corner of the castle like a giant net.
In short, no one had ever escaped from here alive.
But today, the prisoners of this castle had thirteen unexpected guests.
Clad in armor and wearing masks, they looked quite imposing!
The one in front wore crimson armor and a silver mask, and his codename was Hollow!
They were all once trapped in this place, and eventually, they chose to submit to the Cinder Chapel because they couldn’t withstand the pain of having nothing but some freezing cold walls here!
Today was not a day for reminiscing, however.
It was for a young man! His name was Lord Chester.
They hurriedly entered the castle and finally stopped in front of a dungeon.
At that moment, the young man in the dungeon had a calm expression on his face, as he continuously threw pieces of metal into a blazing cauldron in front of him to keep the place warm!
The leader, Hollow, clad in crimson armor, spoke coldly.
“Jun Chester, the ministers of the Cinder Chapel have made their verdict. If you join us and accept our mask, they will acquit you, and you can leave this place!”
Jun Chester’s expression remained indifferent, and he scoffed.
“When I broke into Cinder Chapel and killed those twelve shameless old men who called themselves Lords, I didn’t consider it a crime! On the contrary, they tried to hunt me down and eventually hurt my fiancée, and now she’s still in a coma. That’s the real crime!”
Hollow sighed.
“Jun Chester, you’re still as arrogant as ever. You should know that seven years have passed. If you don’t confess, even if we are not authorized to kill you, you won’t have much time left trapped in this perpetual cold!”
“Hollow, I think you might have misunderstood something!”
Jun Chester finally raised his head slowly, and a cold light suddenly flashed in his eyes.
“That is… I’m not trapped here, but rather, I chose to stay here. If I want to leave, I can leave!”
At that, he turned slightly.
Boom!
The entire dungeon suddenly started spinning rapidly, and shot up to the sky along with the layers of ice below it for a thousand feet, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a giant ice dragon with outspread wings!
Hollow and the others didn’t even have time to be shocked!
The twelve dragon pillars on the four snow mountains surrounding the Illusory Hall collapsed with a loud crash!
The entire mountain range shattered, with arcs of electricity flashing everywhere in the air, and countless iron chains breaking apart!
The dungeon, enveloped in countless fragments of ice, continued to rise rapidly, until it soared above the surrounding four snow-capped mountains!
Moreover, the walls and floor of the dungeon began to crack!
With a light snap of his fingers, the dungeon exploded, and countless fragments of prison walls then shot straight out towards the four great snowy mountains. The fragments crushed everything they touched. The aura of terror was so overwhelming that everyone present was seized with panic.
Jun Chester landed in front of Hollow, who had just been sent flying and slammed into the great snowy mountain. A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, “Now, do you still think I’m arrogant?” The silver mask was shattered, and the crimson armor on his body was in tatters. Blood flowed from his nostrils, and his mind was a complete blank. It took him a long time to come back to his senses.
“You… you dare to defy Cinder Chapel! You are… you’re hopeless!” Finally, Hollow angrily spat out his loser’s statement.
“Defy? Are you even worthy?” Jun Chester suddenly extended a finger, pointing at Hollow’s chest. A torrent of rampant energy then rapidly drilled into Hollow’s body, as if an explosion were taking place inside his chest. Hollow violently spat out a mouthful of black blood, looking at Jun Chester in utter horror. Unbelievably, the seven years spent in the dungeon and all the cold toxins had no effect on Jun Chester at all!
Jun Chester seemed to see through Hollow’s confusion and calmly explained, “I was born a Pyrokinetic. This wretched dungeon is the best place for me in the world. For the past seven years, I have been using its bitter cold to temper my strength!”
“More importantly, I want to use this place to reach the level where I can awaken my fiancée!”
“What? You… you’re a Pyrokinetic?” Hollow was terrified to the extreme and cried out in despair, “The most likely people to break through the Luminescence limit in the world?”
Up until now, science had discovered the existence of the cultivation limit for humans, known as Luminescence. For all human beings alike, they were destined to be unable to break through this boundary, even if they were Pyrokinetics!
“Luminescence?” Jun Chester gave another indifferent smile, “You’re not entirely wrong. I indeed reached that stage, but… that was already seven years ago.”
Hollow’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Seven years ago… You had already reached the Luminescence limit…” He muttered to himself. His eyes were filled with utter despair. In the end, he took a look around him, and a faint smile appeared on his hideous face! “To witness such terrifying power before my death, I truly die without regret! Moreover… to die at the hands of such an unparalleled force like you is an honor! People will remember my name!”
However, after Hollow finished his last words and waited for a while, the anticipated death did not come to him. Jun Chester slowly said, “Since its establishment, Cinder Chapel has been searching for gifted children from everywhere. After finding those children, those demons would feed them Blood Pellets to enhance their cultivation, turning them into their slaves!”
“Just now, although I erased your cultivation, I also removed all the toxins that have been accumulating in your body for years! Before you came, you had only two years left to live, but from now on, if you start your cultivation all over, you can live another sixty years!”
“These years should have been very hard for you all. You kept transporting those precious metals to this dungeon. Although they were of no use to me, I still want to thank you!” Just like Jun Chester said, whether it was Hollow or the twelve black-armored soldiers, they were all raised as slaves of the Cinder Chapel since childhood. If they dared to defy Cinder Chapel, they would suffer a fate worse than death!
Now, with just a light touch from Jun Chester, Hollow had achieved his long-held desire. Hollow was both shocked and overjoyed, and after checking himself, he blurted out, “It’s true! I feel so much better!” He suddenly remembered Jun Chester’s another title, Jun the Accursed Healer. He was not only a decisive Accursed Lord but also a Healer! Others might fear Jun Chester, but had he ever killed a single good person? All he wanted was to bear the burden of this chaotic world on his own shoulders.
With one touch, he could eliminate the evils of the world, and with one touch, he could bring a dying person back to life! Since Jun Chester said that if he could restart his cultivation, he could live for another sixty years, then it must be true!
“I owe you so much already, and I have no way to repay you! But rest assured, I will report today’s events to the higher-ups properly! No more trouble will come your way, Lord Chester!” With a solemn expression, Hollow knelt before Jun Chester. Jun Chester waved his hand, left him a prescription, and spoke indifferently, “Follow the instructions of this prescription, and you will no longer have to worry about the toxins in your bodies!”
With that, Jun Chester turned to leave. However, at that moment, Hollow suddenly spoke, “Lord Chester! There’s one more thing I need to report to you! Actually, I suspect that the person who was accidentally injured in that incident years ago was not your fiancée…”
“What?” The usually calm Jun Chester couldn’t help but be taken aback by this revelation. How could this be possible?!