Thick dust slowly settled, drifting down alongside drifting wisps of ash across the midnight air. The roaring thunder of magical storms and clashing combat that had recently torn through the capital's sky had entirely vanished, replaced by an absolute, suffocating stillness blanketed over the ruined complex of Astrea Academy.

The kingdom's most prestigious seat of magical education was now little more than an expanse of shattered white marble, fractured gothic pillars, and massive craters carved by high-tier spell detonations. Yet, beneath the structural ruin, one absolute triumph had been secured: the capital districts outside the academy walls remained entirely intact, and thousands of civilians and students sheltering underground were saved from extinction thanks to the apex clash Rian had successfully deflected.

At the center of the main courtyard, now a sprawling bed of fine ash, Rian stood tall. The obsidian energy wings at his back gradually dimmed, melting back into the shadows of his frame as the mana circulation from the forbidden grimoire stabilized.

Rian drew a deep breath. At barely eleven years old, his small frame carried an immense burden of physical exhaustion, yet his expression remained ice-cold, composed, and unshakeable. He rested his hand upon the crystal core left behind by Professor Vane tucked inside his coat pocket, feeling its faint, lingering warmth—a silent witness to his total victory over the corrupt conspiracies of the kingdom's elite.

Across the debris, survivors began crawling out from their hiding places. Wounded academy knights, trembling wardens, and students—including Garon and Lyra, supporting one another—walked slowly toward the main courtyard.

They stared about them with wide, disbelieving eyes. Lord Sterling had been erased to dust, the dark sect's invading forces had been slaughtered without exception, and the threat of kingdom-wide annihilation had vanished into thin air.

When their gazes shifted toward Rian, the atmosphere fell into a hush. Gone were the sneers and condescending glances from his first day passing through the academy gates as a looked-down-upon commoner scholar.

Now, the eyes fixed upon Rian held a volatile mix of profound awe and deep-seated terror. They understood that the dark-haired boy standing before them was no longer merely a scholarship student, but an absolute force capable of dictating the life and death of the entire realm.

Garon swallowed hard, while Lyra stared at Rian with glassy, tear-filled eyes, realizing that the grim reaper who had pulled them from the jaws of the labyrinth and the dark sect's invasion was none other than their own classmate.

Rian paid no mind to the stares of awe or fear ringing the perimeter. He turned, preparing to walk away from the ruins and check on Elia's resting place.

Before he could take another step, however, the sharp clatter of armored horse hooves rang out crisply across the cobblestone roads just beyond the academy gates.

Clack... clack... clack...

Dozens of elite knights clad in shimmering silver plate armor, bearing the emblem of the golden-crowned lion—the Royal Special Guard—pushed past the shattered main archway. They moved with disciplined precision, forming a rigid cordon along the edges of the courtyard.

At the center of the royal escort, a heavy white charger paced forward slowly. Astride the beast sat a middle-aged man draped in regal kingdom robes embroidered with pure silver thread, wearing a modest coronet upon his brow. It was Duke Robert, personal envoy and trusted right-hand confidant to the King.

Duke Robert pulled back his horse's reins, dismounting in a hurried motion. The moment his boots touched the dusty ruins, he swept his gaze across the cratered campus, absorbing the terrifying scale of the battle that had just transpired here.

His focus finally locked onto the small, composed figure of Rian standing at the center of the field.

Without hesitation, discarding all pretense of his exalted noble status, Duke Robert strode quickly toward Rian.

And before hundreds of stunned survivor eyes across the academy, the royal special envoy dropped to one knee upon the dusty earth directly before the eleven-year-old boy.

"In the name of His Majesty the King and the entire populace of the Astrea Kingdom," Duke Robert declared, his voice ringing loud and trembling with deep reverence as he delivered a royal decree straight to Rian, "we hereby declare that the threat of the dark sect has been utterly obliterated through the monumental service of Your Excellency Rian. To honor this kingdom-saving deed, the crown offers an absolute bestowal: elevation to the rank of Grand Duke, granting sovereign jurisdiction over the northern territories, alongside unlimited, supreme privileges within the royal court."

Absolute silence blanketed the academy ruins once more. Offering a title of such staggering magnitude to an eleven-year-old child was an unprecedented event in the annals of the realm.

Rian looked down at the royal envoy kneeling before him. His gaze remained glacial, entirely untempted by the boundless power and wealth casually laid at his feet.

What path will Rian choose? Will he accept the title of Grand Duke to expand his political influence from within the royal court, or will he reject the crown's offer to forge an independent, unseen power from the shadows?