Crudele Valerius

In the wasteland of abandoned broken buildings which look like the aftermath of war where no trace of life can be seen.

But within the madness of chaos, a lone figure stands in the distance with a tremendous aura radiating around him, which can be felt from miles away. The figure is clad in black-coated knight armor, with a blood-red panache on the helmet, He wields a massive greatsword, 1.5 times larger than his body.

"Hiding in the shadows like a coward again, huh?"

After he spoke those words, another figure emerged from behind him, wielding a sharp pair of daggers aimed at the knight's neck. The sneak attack was so fast that it couldn't be seen by human eyes.

Claaang!

But the knight stopped the attack without even looking at it. The force of the collision was so strong that it created a massive shockwave throughout the vicinity, separating them and causing both to land 100 feet apart from each other.

"Enough with your cute little tricks. Fight like a man, you bastard!"

"Enough? It's only starting to get interesting," the other person replied to the knight's comment with a wide, creepy grin.

This malicious person has black messy hair and wears a bandana over his eyes. His entire body is covered in bandages, except for his mouth and a dark, empty void in his chest.

After hearing those words, the knight appeared in front of the assassin almost instantly. To a normal human, it would seem like teleportation, but it was actually the knight's incredible speed despite his heavy armor.

"What the-"

While the assassin was still amused, the knight swung his greatsword horizontally, slicing the assassin into two pieces. The assassin's body fell to the ground.

While it looked like the knight had won, insects began to spout from the assassin's body until it was nothing but an empty husk.

"You are really interesting, not gonna lie," came a voice from above the knight. When the knight looked up, he saw the assassin falling from above, releasing an X-shaped attack with his daggers.

"Child's play"

The knight swung his great sword upward, unleashing a crescent-shaped attack that collided with the assassin's X-shaped strike. Though both attacks were powerful, the knight's strike prevailed, shattering the assassin's attack. The knight's attack now headed directly toward the assassin.

The assassin deflected the attack with his daggers, but as his point of view cleared, he saw another identical attack heading toward him while he was off guard.

"Shit—" he cursed as the darkness in his chest began to spread. In the blink of an eye, the darkness surrounded and consumed the knight's attack. As the attack was engulfed, the assassin slid through the air and landed 50 feet from the knight.

They both glared at each other as the knight's aura and the assassin's killing intent clashed. The energy from their confrontation was so intense that the rubble from the buildings was shattered into much smaller pieces, pushed away by the force.

The bubble of darkness above the knight expanded, catching him off guard and consuming him as well. "Hahaha, you should not have let your guard down, brat," the assassin taunted.

As the assassin taunted the knight, a loud cracking sound emerged from the bubble of darkness. "*Sigh* You leave me with no choice," a voice echoed from within the bubble. The assassin's face fell, not just because of the words but due to the tremendous energy emanating from the bubble.

The bubble shattered into pieces and disappeared, revealing the source of the breakage: a long, purple-tinted katana with a dragon intricately engraved on its blade. Strong red sparks of lightning energy swirled around it.

"Stand proud; you are strong." The assassin's expression turned serious upon hearing these words. Before he could react, a red crescent-shaped energy appeared in front of his eyes. He barely managed to dodge it by bending backward.

The ground beneath the assassin transformed into a dark, swamp-like pit, pulling him into it. Meanwhile, another portal opened beneath the knight, and he was instantly transported 60 feet away from the pit. From the darkness emerged a shadowy figure resembling the assassin but entirely dark in color, holding a mysterious kunai knife. The knight prepared for any incoming attack, but the dark figure seemed to have other intentions.

The shadowy figure attacked his own right arm with the kunai, causing a dark, liquid-like substance to pour into the pit. As the kunai made contact, the knight was also paralyzed by the effect. "A cursed technique. I should have expected this from you," the knight said.

"So sad you didn't," the assassin said with a smile on his face, appearing behind the knight and swinging his daggers to penetrate the armor. To his surprise, the attack didn't even make a dent.

As the paralyzing effect weakened, the knight kicked the assassin in the face, sending him catapulting hundreds of feet. The assassin landed on an iron rod protruding from a building, which impaled him through the heart. Once everything settled, the assassin murmured, "How did the effect fade away so quickly?"

"Do you know why you lost? Because you're an idiot," the knight said, approaching the fallen assassin. He placed his foot on the assassin's chest, driving the iron bars deeper into his body.

"Rest in piss, you little shit," the knight said, swinging his sword to slice the assassin's head into two.

But suddenly, everything turned black.

"Brooottthhheeer, Mom is calling you," a voice said.

"What the fu—" Everything around him began to fade away as he snapped back to reality."Mother is calling you, brother," the voice of a young girl echoed repeatedly in his mind.

He suddenly removed his headgear, which resembled a futuristic VR headset.

"What's your problem? Just when I get to the good part, why does the entire universe decide to disturb me?" the brother of the little girl said with a disappointed and angry look, staring at the scoreboard on his screen.

Sovereign of Kings VS Maip - The Shadow of Death

Score: 0-1

Maip - The Shadow of Death - Wins

"That idiot really won because of technical problems. Lucky bastard," he muttered.

The little girl pouted, tears starting to fall from her face. "Moooom, brother is using bad words!"

thud! Thud! THUD!

Each step grew increasingly loud and violent, echoing audibly throughout the room.

"Crudele!!! Is this what you learn in school—to make your little sister cry?"

A young woman with black and bluish hair appeared in the doorway, completely enraged. It looked as if her hair could defy gravity, straighten, and turn golden at any moment.

"Say sorry to your little sister, you little maggot," she demanded, her eyes blazing with fury.

Having no choice, Crudele sat respectfully and bowed to his little sister. "Sorry, my majesty, please forgive me. From now on, I will never show this disrespectful behavior."

"Tehehe, as the princess of this kingdom, I also forgive my big brother," the little girl said with joy in her eyes.

"Kids are really idiots, just a little roleplay and they become completely invested in it," Crudele thought to himself. "But of course, I'm not the type of guy who convinces his little sister to bring a glass of water and calls himself a manipulator."

"Mia, my baby, you feel good now, right? I made a chocolate pudding just for you. Go downstairs and eat it," her mother said with a smile on her face. She swiftly ran to the stairs, heading downward while saying, "Yaaaay, pudding!"

"Hey, go slowly or you'll fall downstairs. Now it's your turn." Her smile faded as she turned to Crudele, her expression shifting to one of mild disgust as she looked at him.

"Could you explain why the first thing you do in the morning is gaming? Look, you didn't even wash your face," she said with a cold voice that sent shivers down his spine. "You've turned 16. Do you still want me to smack you like I did in the old days? It's not like I have a problem with it," she added, cracking her knuckles.

"Why do you have to make a big deal out of this? Do I look like someone who would let his mother take out her frustrations by, I mean, smacking her kid down?" he said, trembling."Your sweet talk doesn't work on me. Quickly get up and come downstairs for breakfast," she said, leaving his room and heading downstairs.

"Dealing with family is really tiresome," he said, inhaling deeply.

His mind snapped, and he rushed to the TV screen:

Sovereign of Kings

Level - 53

Total Games - 49,019

Wins - 42,021

Losses - 6,998

As he looked at the screen, he became a bit enraged, but he couldn't do anything about it. He knew he had to go downstairs; otherwise, another harsh lesson in life could be coming his way.

Crudele started to stretch, preparing himself to mentally endure his family. It wasn't that he hated it, but he didn't love it either. However, he held the utmost respect for them because he now understood that most of the problem was him rather than his family.

But he didn't view these interactions negatively and started heading toward the stairs to go down. These houses were not very advanced, but they weren't old enough to be called normal either.

When he got downstairs, he saw his father watching the news on TV and his older sister texting someone on her mobile while waiting for her breakfast. The delicious smell from the kitchen suggested his mother was cooking something very good, and his cute little sister was trying to help her, even though she couldn't do much but still looked eager to assist.

Breaking News

The appearance of misfits from Elamar Town has increased by 77% compared to last year. Additionally, there has been a significant rise in the number of misfits appearing in neighboring towns.

"It's really getting dangerous out here," the father said with a worried tone.

"Don't worry, dear. The patrolling of NSHO in this town is pretty high, and we also have Victor on our side, protecting us from any danger," the mother said to reassure her husband, Julius.

Julius turned off the TV and said, "You know what, you're right. I shouldn't be so worried about this situation. Anyway, how much longer will you need to cook? I'm getting late."

"Speaking of being late, look who's coming," she said. The words alone sent shivers down Crudele's spine, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Anyway, how's your selection test going, Crudele? I heard you're in the top 5 of your class," Julius said, trying to lighten the mood. He knew how it felt when his wife, Aurora, was in a bad mood.

Crudele sat in his chair beside his older sister, Alessia, while looking at his father's face. His father was a normal-looking salesman with small bags under his eyes, a sign of the hard work he had put in for his family.

"It's quite easy. I don't know why many of my classmates fail it," Crudele said with a confident look.

"I think you're strong because you can pull that off, which means you'll be going to high school next month with your big sis," Julius said with a smile on his face.

"Aww, come on. With her, really? Didn't I say I didn't want to go to high school, but now you want me to go with her?" he said, pointing at his sister.

Alessia glanced at him with side eyes and an emotionless face, the only visible expression being her disgust toward her brother.

THUD!!!

"Breakfast is ready," Aurora said with an eerie smile. While everyone's breakfast looked extremely delicious, Crudele only got soup—just soup. "Mom, why did I get the leftover soup from last night?" he asked with a forced smile on his face.

Aurora didn't respond and continued feeding Mia her food. Crudele, growing a little frustrated, got up from his chair and proceeded toward the main gate of the house, heading out.

"Mom, can you please stop recalling that event in every conversation?" Alessia said with an embarrassed look.

"But still, I hope he's okay,"