The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 174 - Keyman’s Explosive Death (1/2)

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.

He is the heir of Di Hao Group; decisive, cold-blooded yet dotes on his wife a little too much.

What’s worse than finding out you’re that Louis XIV when you’re a baby?

Of course there is, for example, it’s still a magic version.

- Description from novelbuddy

Octavius, misled by friends, embarks on a quest to clear his father's name, ultimately facing a tragic end with his sister.Their journey results in devastating loss, leaving him powerless and yearning for revenge against those who harmed his family. Spirits offer him a chance to reincarnate, but he refuses, saying;“What’s the point of a new life if I keep running from my problems”The entities are taken aback by his unwavering decision, having never encountered a spirit who refuses to escape their troubled past. They warn him about the evil being that now resides in his old body, but that only motivates him. He believed In the saying - to defeat a monster, you have to be twice as monstrous.Embracing his fate as The Phantom's Gambit, they traverse the shadowy path of retribution, their identities blur, secrets unravel, and the line between savior and monster fades.This is a tale of darkness and redemption, where justice is a blade, and revenge is the only way forward.