[Check Out My P4treon For +50 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/roaverse]
===
While 'Ruan Mei' was being "arrested" by the two geniuses, and Zero-I along with several other Giants of Light headed toward the Talac Federation, certain changes had already begun to occur quietly within that nation.
On an ordinary inhabited planet belonging to the borders of the Talac Federation, layers upon layers of skyscrapers crowded all living space. Specialized equipment expanded across the rooftops, blocking the sunlight from reaching the lower levels.
In the Talac Federation, ever since its founding, sunlight had become a service that one had to pay for to enjoy.
And in the very bottom layer, in a cramped space as dingy as a sewer, all illumination came from the dense clusters of virtual billboards.
In a tiny, stifling room, a teenage boy stared intently at a virtual screen. He was watching a special effects hero show from some unknown civilization filmed many years ago—a show with almost zero popularity.
Born and raised in the bottom layer, he had never seen true sunlight. Nor could he afford the popular hero shows that required a fee to watch. It wasn't until one day that he found this free series.
The hero in the show was set as the incarnation of the sun, Helis. He had a bright red body and silver-white chest armor. He carried scorching flames and radiance, capable of dispersing countless enemies and bringing dawn to the worlds he protected.
It was a cliché story with unoriginal settings and an intimidatingly high number of episodes. Yet, he fell in love with this unpopular hero because he could bring "sunlight."
The boy often prayed: if Helis could come here, could he bring sunlight to him and everyone living here? He wanted to see what real sunlight was like, to see if it was as warm as the Interastral Network claimed. If he could be bathed in the sun, perhaps it could help his mother defeat her illness and help his father defeat the villains who stole his smile.
With such simple longing, he finished his free viewing limit for today. What followed was a "chicken soup" advertisement boasting about the continuous growth of their planet's economic output this year. He exited the screen with regret and stood up to tend to his mother.
This was his routine, a routine that began when he was eight years old and his mother collapsed. It had lasted for seven years. As for studying? Education also required payment and was extremely expensive. The Federation didn't even allow anyone to privately teach their knowledge to others.
Just when he thought today would be the same as always—caring for his mother, waiting for his working father to come home for dinner, and then going out to discuss the day's episodes with his friends—
Bang!
The worn iron door was brutally kicked open. Clean, stiff uniforms—the kind he had only ever seen on television—appeared before him. Behind the Peacekeeper was his father, hunched over and looking incredibly nervous.
"Ha, peasants. Aren't there two more here? Three portions of 'breathing rights,' hand them over now! Otherwise, heh... you'd better pray your wife and child can live without breathing."
As the officer spoke, he pulled out three expensive-looking collars and tossed them casually onto the floor.
"These collars will automatically tighten if you don't top them up with credits, making it impossible for you to breathe. Put them on yourselves. They cost one hundred credits each, of course."
"What?! But... but I don't have that much money left!"
Hearing the man's words, the officer impatiently kicked him!
Thud!!
How could a thin, sickly man withstand the strength of a Peacekeeper? He flew backward, crashing into the junk in the hallway.
The officer suddenly shouted in a rage:
"If you don't have it, then go die!! Scum! Who gave you permission to raise your voice at me? Of course, it doesn't matter if you die. We'll collect the body disposal fees and today's breathing rights fee from your wife and child. If they die too, we'll collect it from everyone in this building!"
At this, he suddenly looked up at the neighbors peeking from behind their doors and snarled:
"Did you hear that! If any of you dare to die, you are the sinners of everyone!! Those who want to die are just adding to your debt!"
The hallway fell into a deathly silence. Only the man's constant pleading and apologies echoed through the cramped space as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Above the man, a billboard showed a plump Lord smiling broadly, boasting about how much economic value his people had created.
The contrast made the thin, hunched man on the floor look absurd and pathetic. The boy watched this in disbelief, unable to speak.
But the officer grew impatient. He strode into the room, looked at the bedridden, unconscious mother, and let out a cruel grin. He shoved a collar into the boy's hand.
"Hey, you. Go put the collar on her!"
If I make the child kill his own mother, the expression on this scum's face will surely be interesting. He looked down at the boy with a twisted, delighted smile.
The boy stared blankly at the exquisite collar in his hand. Suddenly, he realized one thing: Papa had no money. This high-tech device would take Mama's life!
He instinctively thought of Helis and everything he had taught.
"...No."
"Ah—?" The officer grabbed the boy's collar and lifted him up. "Say that again?"
Looking at the hideous face of the officer, the boy found courage from somewhere. He suddenly raised the collar and smashed it into the man's face:
"I said I won't!! You're a bad guy! Stay away from my mama!!"
The collar failed to cause even a scratch, being deflected by the officer's built-in force field.
However, the officer suddenly became calm. He pulled out his sidearm and pointed it at the mother on the bed. He pulled the trigger with as much ease as if he were flicking a lighter.
Bang—!
With a gunshot, the bullet tore through the mother's chest. It also completely tore the boy's world apart.
Instinct drove him to cry and raise his fists, frantically swinging at the man. He didn't understand why no incarnation of the sun came to defeat this villain. He didn't understand why, even though he did nothing wrong, his mother had to be killed.
"You killed your mother, brat," the officer's venomous laughter rang in the boy's ear.
But the boy remembered Helis's experiences. Once, a villain had done almost the exact same thing. But Helis had seen through the villain's sophistry.
"No, you killed my mama!" The boy wept, staring fixedly at the man, as if to etch every inch of the man's flesh and blood into his soul.
"Eh?" The officer tilted his head, looking at the boy's eyes. He felt only disgust.
"Wait! My Lord! He's just a child, he doesn't understand anything! I'll pay, I'll pay right now!" The father crawled over from the floor, struggling and humble, wanting to beg for mercy, wanting his child to live.
"You killed my mama, and you're forcing everyone to pay for you, a murderer!!"
Facing the boy's rebuke and the father's pleading, the officer silently raised the handgun and pressed it into the boy's mouth.
"No, you are the murderer. You killed your mother. Say it! Otherwise, I'll use a bullet to blow out your throat."
The smell of gunpowder and the heat of the barrel stimulated his nerves. He knew he was going to die, but he didn't want to bow his head. Because Helis had said that bowing only makes villains worse. Even if he was going to die, he wanted to die standing, like the incarnation of the sun.
"The person who killed my mama was you!! It was you!!"
The roaring boy watched as the finger on the trigger began to squeeze. His heart was filled with endless sorrow. He wasn't afraid to die.
But he was so weak. He couldn't even beat a single bad guy. He couldn't protect his mother, and he couldn't wait for Helis to descend with sunlight.
At the final moment of his life, he simply prayed instinctively for a hero to come here and punish the villain.
Perhaps it was the threat of death that turned his will into a pure prayer. An entity responded to his prayer—an inconspicuous Light Seed fell from the void.
And then—
Endless, brilliant light erupted from the boy's body. A body as red as flame, carrying a will as hot as the sun, descended upon this dark and cramped world!
===
Note: This story is currently available up to chapter 75 on my Patreon, go check it out.
exclusive 18+ character images, and early chapters, please visit my Patreon. Thanks for your support!
https://p4treon.com/roaverse
if you want more updates == supports with power stones
Every 20 Power Stones==Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter
Please support my friend's fanfic, it's just as good as, or even better than, this one. It's called Starting as a Herrscher: Unrivaled Hack and Slash