Retired for A Hundred Years: Re-Employment for the Apocalypse Bigshot! - Chapter 406 - 401: Preliminary Round (Part 9)

Sebastian’s life was defined by loss. Orphaned, abandoned, and beaten down by a world that seemed determined to crush him, he met his end alone on the streets, broken by poverty, sickness, and heartbreak. Yet death was not the end.He awakens in a void between worlds, confronted by a strange, otherworldly presence and a mysterious statue that hints at power beyond mortal comprehension. There, Sebastian burns and is reforged as Sebastian Nekros, an extra in the world of “The Celestial Arena.”Thrown back into the living world, Sebastian must navigate a realm where morality is relative and every choice carries weight. As he experiments with his abilities, he encounters allies, rivals, and enemies who test not only his strength but his understanding of what it means to wield life and death. With the line between salvation and annihilation growing thinner by the day, Sebastian faces a choice that will determine the fate of the world itself: embrace his powers fully and reshape existence in his image, or sacrifice everything to restore balance and prove that even the most broken soul can leave a mark on eternity.discord invite--- https://discord.gg/RYm8kCzKyh

Welcome! If you want to jump in without any spoilers, feel free. Otherwise, here's a story primer, with a list of more specifics on what to expect from my work further below.Our story follows a fallen knight haunted by his past, in a world afflicted by war and supernatural wounds. Alken is the Headsman of Seydis, an executioner tasked by the divine powers of his homeland to hunt dark sorcerers, warlords, and traitors of all varieties, lest they drag the world into calamity.Once a paladin, this role ill suits him. Forced to cross lines that shake his beliefs, tempted by dark forces, and seen as an ill omen wherever he wanders, his path is often a bloody one. The longer he spends in the shadows of his world, the more he comes to realize just how many have been disenfranchised by the existent order. During his lonely battles through a land haunted by the restless dead and ancient magics, his journey becomes increasingly strange and personal.Enter a realm where the dead stir in every shadow and brooding demigods wage a millennia long war for a ruined heaven, where blessed knights wield gilded flames and sorcerers battle with weapons forged of their own souls. Enter a world of faustian alchemists, of saintly demons, and of time-weary elves.From Oathbreaker you can expect— A setting heavily inspired by Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Fromsoft games, and authors such as Michael Moorcock and Kentauro Miura. — A first person POV from an older protagonist who already knows a lot about his world’s history and cultures, who shares this information with the reader as it becomes relevant.— A mix of action adventure and quieter moments where the focus is on character development. Lore is shared piecemeal, usually only as it relates to a particular arc or character beat.— A heavy focus on mystery, both with the setting and the protagonist. The main character’s backstory isn’t shared up front, and a lot of the narrative involves learning about him a bit at a time, either from his own narration or other characters interacting with him.— A semi-soft magic system where many mages manifest unique powers tied to their own soul, or gain unique powers through eldritch pacts.— Romantic elements. These don’t crop up much until later in the story.— A variety of supernatural beings, such as elves, vampires, gargoyles, chimera, and trolls. Many are familiar, some are not, and most of the familiar ones have my own twists put on them.—Nobledark fantasy. This means that the world is often themed around tragedy and horror, but it’s not dedicated to being gritty. There are elements of high fantasy intermixed with the scarier stuff.—Episodic arcs. Each story arc usually has a specific locale and antagonist or set of antagonists, but certain overarching plots tie them together.— A long running narrative. I don’t have a specific projection of how long or how many arcs or books, but you should expect this to be equivalent to a long running serialized work.This is my first web serial! I hope everyone enjoys it. For trigger warnings, readers should beware that there are some heavy topics in here. When I think something might upset certain readers, I’ll put a warning in the author notes above a chapter. If I miss or overlook anything, feel free to let me know in the comments! I am currently publishing the same story on my wordpress, which is linked below and in my profile. I release three chapters a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Thanks for reading!(I originally had a link to a wordpress, but I'm in the process of overhauling that space. It's not a priority since my readership is all here, but just in case anyone noticed and was wondering)

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

She is the legend of the Heavenly Soul Alliance, the king of mercenaries with a perverse personality, the world’s number one head reward, she closed her eyes unwillingly in a conspiracy, but opened her eyes in the mountain of corpses in another world, when he met her , he knew at a glance that she was the love disaster of his life, he was unwilling to resolve it, and held her in the palm of his hand, and accidentally spoiled her to the sky, shocking the three worlds.

“Your Majesty, it’s too bad. Your Majesty led tens of thousands of soldiers to level the Shuize Empire and smashed the dragon’s Nilin one by one!”

Without raising his head, a certain person said two words softly, “Follow her!”

“Your Majesty, it’s not good again. The empress is too handsome in a golden armored uniform, and she was thrown down by the goddess of Luoshui as a man!”

A certain person with a face full of black lines, gritted his teeth, flew out, grabbed the goddess and threw it back, half-fading the golden armor, hugged the lazy and handsome boy tightly in his arms, and said with a gloomy face, “See clearly before rushing, She’s a woman!”

The Goddess spoke weakly, “I don’t mind her gender, I love her for who she is!”

Someone was murderous, “I don’t mind, she is my woman!”

- Description from novelbuddy