Time dissolved as Ash drowned in thirty thousand years of another person's life.
He watched a four-year-old girl with four shimmering tails stumble through training that could break seasoned warriors, tears frozen on her cheeks as elders bowed like she was already a goddess.
He felt the weight of every gift piled on her, every smile that never quite touched anyone's eyes, every whispered prayer that sounded more like fear than love.
He saw her grow into a beauty that stopped hearts across continents, heard her laugh at her reflection and call herself a pretty monster because at least the mirror never lied.
He walked beside her through rivers of blood she carved herself, missions that left kingdoms in ruins and her name a curse on dying lips.
And he witnessed how, at just 22, she left her clan behind to fully join the court, at A rank.
For seven thousand years, she was the Last Sovereign, the unmatched blade of the Silver Court.
Along her path, factions and even the mightiest beings fell before her. Eventually, she ascended to S rank, reaching the mortal peak.
Yet with power secured, her clan untouchable, and her name forever written in blood, life began to feel dull. It was the same sensation she'd known back home with her clan, like being trapped in another gilded cage.
Time moved on as Ash stood beside her in silent libraries older than mountains, watching her search for a way forward.
In that time, he learned so much—details about the power system the novel had never even hinted at. Yet, despite everything, he still couldn't grasp why Vaeloria clung so tightly to her obsession.
He remembered vividly the moment she reached S rank and made the vow that defined her path.
Now, as he watched her eyes shimmer in the night, a sense of dread settled over him. She had found a forbidden scroll about forging a bond with the moon itself.
In her gaze, he saw hope, fear, and the desperate conviction that this was the only road left to take.
In this moment he wished he could talk some sense into her, but he couldn't, as he was just a silent observer.
And then he felt the betrayal when the moon answered, chains of starless night snapping shut around her soul, dragging her into an eternity of screams no one would ever hear.
After that the memories ended.
Ash jolted back to awareness with a sharp gasp, chest rising and falling as if he'd been the one alive for thirty thousand years.
The violet grass under him was damp, and he barely registered the tears tracing paths through the mix of sweat and starlight on his face.
Thirty thousand years of Vaeloria's memories and emotions hit him all at once.
He glanced down at the sleeping fox curled against his side, nine tails spilling over them both, her face at peace for the first time in ages.
"Shit…" he murmured, voice rough. "The Silver Court… the world back then… it was all so different."
A shaky laugh slipped out as he brushed a strand of silver hair from her cheek, his thumb lingering on skin that had once brought gods to their knees.
'Beauty was the obsession you chose to mask your true self....' He thought to himself as he smiled and spoke.
"Hehe… I'll just make you the most beautiful monster then." His fingers tightened possessively in her hair.
"My beautiful monster."
After finally settling his emotions a bit, only then did he turn to the panels still glowing in the air.
[Talents Acquired: Sovereign Dreamweave (S), Ninefold Starlight Veil (S), Eclipse Sovereign's Gaze (A), Moon Devouring Regeneration (SS), Eternal Night Dominion (SS)]
[Affinities Acquired: Lunar, Dreams, Illusions]
[Bloodline Acquired: Ten Tailed Sovereign – SS]
[MP Acquired: 250,000,000]
[Choose three for enhancements.]
His voice was steady again, but softer than before.
"Ten Tailed Sovereign Bloodline, MP, and Eternal Night Dominion."
The world shuddered as the enhancements locked in.
[Abyssal Selene Bloodline (SSS) - This bloodline holds a fragment of the moon's authority. It grants regeneration of mana and health under the moonlight.
-The User can manifest 1–10 spectral void-moon tails (×10 in MP when all tails are manifested. Battle Prowess is also boosted 1 Rank.).
-Upon reaching completion (Ten Tails), the user can activate Eclipse Sovereign Overdrive in any form for nine minutes. This transformation turns their humanoid form into a 300-meter-tall void fox with ten spectral tails made of pure night. In its base fox form, the user becomes a living lunar eclipse, engulfing entire continents in darkness.
-Ten Tailed Apocalypse Transformation (Full Fox Form.)]
[Eternal Night Dominion (SSS) - Blanket any region in starless, mana-dead night. Within the domain, all non-lunar affinities are crushed, enemies fall into inescapable dream-prison, and bearer becomes absolute ruler of darkness and sleep. Strength multiplies exponentially in true darkness.]
Ash closed the panels with a quiet exhale.
He rose carefully so he wouldn't wake her, rolled his shoulders, and faced the endless meadow.
"Good," he murmured, voice low and dangerous. "Now let's continue with my training."
If she slept too long, he decided with a faint, possessive smile, he would wake her himself.
And it seemed, the moon itself would have to learn what happens when someone tried to take what belonged to him.