Reincarnated With An SSS-Rank Talent In An Apocalyptic World
Chapter 57: Lord Ravus, Maria & The Dead World

Chapter 57: Lord Ravus, Maria & The Dead World

Entry 38

This castle is far too quiet. Built atop the southern mountains of Velenhorst, it was meant to be a sanctuary—a stronghold to keep the darkness at bay. And yet, it feels more like a prison. No one comes here unless it’s for the yearly offering. A jar of blood from every citizen, drawn and preserved by magic, then hauled up the mountain and left at the gates like some ritual to appease a god.

They never knock.

They never linger.

They just return to the capital and throw a loud, colorful festival.

From the walls, I can see their fires. I hear the echoes of music.

They celebrate life while I sit in silence, reminding myself—I am no longer human.

---

Entry 39

Three decades of defending Velenhorst, and nothing has changed. The darkness never sleeps, never stops. And yet, I’ve kept it at bay alone. I’m not celebrated. I’m not remembered. I simply am.

Still, I never asked for more. I never wanted applause.

I was content.

Until Maria came.

She didn’t come with the others. She climbed the mountain on her own—alone. She didn’t bring blood. She brought wine.

She called out my name, softly, as though unsure if I’d even hear her. She didn’t knock. She just waited beneath the full moon.

I didn’t answer.

But I watched her all night.

---

Entry 40

She returned. Not once. Not twice.

Twenty times.

Climbing that mountain each time with a jar of wine in hand and a story on her lips.

There’s a paved path, yes—but the climb is still brutal.

I don’t know why I finally opened the gates.

Boredom?

Loneliness?

Something... older?

She entered.

She sat in my halls like it was the most normal thing. And she smiled at me like I wasn’t a monster.

Maria told me she had a terminal illness. That her days were numbered.

She said she came not to plead for her life, but to thank the one who made her children’s future possible.

She had lost her husband to the darkness.

And yet, she smiled.

She said it was enough that her sons would live in a world I protected.

---

Entry 41

I never saw her again.

Her condition was already near its end the last time we met. She had coughed blood into her handkerchief but smiled through it like it meant nothing.

And now she’s gone.

I felt... hollow.

Then something burned inside me.

For the first time in centuries, I felt passion—purpose.

Not just to protect Velenhorst... but to end the darkness entirely.

To carve out a world that Maria could have seen.

I descended the mountain. Alone.

I hadn’t walked among mortals in ages.

I followed the trail of the darkness to the ends of the world.

And there, beyond the wastelands, I found it.

A bottomless pit.

A chasm without end.

And without hesitation, I jumped in.

---

Entry 42

I have never seen such darkness.

It had weight. It had voice. It had hunger.

I cut through them—waves upon waves of dark beings unlike anything I’d encountered above.

But they never stopped.

They tore at me. Broke through my guard.

And then I found it.

Two things:

The Vanguard’s Curse—a blade forged to fight the unknown. It called to me like it remembered me.

And beside it, a mass of pulsating crystals.

Aether. Corrupted. Twisted black by the pit.

It sang with power—and I listened.

---

Entry 43

With the Vanguard’s Curse in my hand, I pushed deeper than ever into the belly of the abyss. I don’t know what drove me—rage, or that fragile sliver of hope—but I struck with everything I had.

And the darkness retreated.

Not far, but far enough to show me something I had never seen before.

A rift.

It was surrounded by a river of blood, wide and endless, churning with screams I could not hear but felt in my bones. On the other side... was a world made of nothing but decay and ash.

A Dead Realm.

The first I had ever seen.

That place wasn’t just conquered by darkness—it was made of it. It was death given form. I knew then that I could not defeat it. Not yet. Not with what I had.

So I fled.

The corrupted aether crystals I found in that world pulsed like dying stars—black, bottomless, endless. They were the source of the darkness’ rebirth, their immortality. Each crystal was an infinite power well, birthing more of them, replacing every one I destroyed.

I left them behind.

Even I am not arrogant enough to believe I could carry death itself in my hands and not be consumed.

But I brought back the Vanguard’s Curse.

A blade cursed to resist extinction.

---

Entry 44

When I returned to Velenhorst, the air had changed.

There was no music. No laughter. Only silence and ash.

The stench of death lay heavy in the streets.

I broke my most sacred rule that day.

I stepped beyond the castle gates.

Under the wide eyes of hundreds of thousands, I walked through the heart of the empire. No one spoke. No one moved.

Not even the guards dared raise a blade.

I walked straight to her door.

She opened it like she had been waiting forever.

She smiled. Sickly. Beautiful.

She said she could die happy now, just by seeing me come for her. She thanked me with tears in her eyes.

And I said something I never imagined I would say:

"Then don’t die.

Come with me.

Bring your sons.

Be my family.

Let me give you the eternity you tried to leave behind."

She hesitated. A long silence.

Then she smiled again. And said yes.

---

Entry 45

And so, for the first time in over three hundred years...

I was no longer alone.

Maria. Her sons. Myself.

A family built not by blood, but by choice.

We feasted. We lived. We grew.

The mountain castle became a home.

And for the next century, we stood together—against the dark, against the years, against the curse of immortality.

Until everything changed.

---

And that was it.

Lord Ravus stopped recording his life after this entry.

"Did he enjoy having a family so much, he stopped writing about it?" I muttered with knitted eyebrows. "That cannot be the case." I shook my head.

Currently, I was in the castle library, which had only one reading table with a blood-colored chandelier and torches that illuminated the entire place.

The library was filled with towering shelves that reached the ceilings, each stacked with books Lord Ravus had either written or collected over the span of his long life.

While I suspected I could find more information about this world by reading through these books, I was more interested in finding out why Lord Ravus stopped recording.

Ding!

> [Congratulations on defeating all invaders and securing your territory.]

[+1000exp & 11 Universal Fragments]

"Adin and Katrina are dead?" I raised a brow. "They died sooner than expected."

It had only been twenty minutes since I came to the library. The Boneward Guardians had just finished unpacking the stolen books when this happened.

"Do I have enough experience points to level up?" I asked the system.

> [Yes! 800exp needed]

[Do you wish to level up?]

"Yes," I nodded.

Ding!

> [Level up!]

[Level 3 → 4]

[+3 Stat Points Gained]

"Put two points to Speed and one point to Vitality," I ordered. "And purchase Angel skill."

> [Angel] — Active (All-rounder)

Cost: 7 Limitless Fragments

Description: You can summon angelic wings that are as light as a feather but as sturdy as steel.

[Name:] Adam Black

[Level:] 4

[Race:] Human

[Talent:] Gatekeeper

[Talent Tier:] SSS-Tier

[Stats]

Strength: 10 + 3

Speed: 10 + 3

Vitality: 11 + 3

Intelligence: 10

Health Points: 110/110 + 20

Energy Points: 20/20

Experience Points: 250

Universal Fragments: 6

Blood Fragments: 0

Limitless Fragments: 0

[Skills]

Name: Door

Status: Upgradeable

Tier: C

Cost: 1

Proficiency: 20%

Technique: Door Post

Name: Blood Pact

Status: Upgradeable

Tier: A

Cost: 10 HP

Proficiency: 0%

Name: Might of Man

Status: Upgradeable

Tier: C

Cost: Nil

Proficiency: 100%

Name: Berserk Mode

Status: Fixed

Tier: C

Cost: Nil

Proficiency: 100%

Name: Blood Ignition

Status: Upgradeable

Tier: B

Cost: 10% HP

Proficiency: 0%

Name: Crimson Threads

Status: Upgradeable

Tier: B

Cost: 1 HP per thread

Proficiency: 0%

Name: Angel

Status: Upgradeable

Tier: B

Cost: 3 EP

Proficiency: 0%

[Territory]

Nightfall Dominion [Dying Realm]

Perks: +3 to all stats & +20 Health Points

If I was going to explore a new world and defend this territory, I needed as much power as I could accumulate. After purchasing the Angel skill, I had six Universal Fragments left, which could have been used to purchase a low-ranking blood or orc skill—but I decided to save those points for now.

"I’ll focus on leveling up and increasing my Vitality and Intel stats." I leaned back on the comfy reading chair. "I can only wield Vanguard’s Curse when I have 25 points on those stats."

I still couldn’t get the image of that weapon out of my mind.