Solomon stood completely still in the center of the ruined chamber. He stared at the spot where the glowing ashes had vanished into the shadows, the phantom weight of the past fifteen years pressing heavily against his chest.

Footsteps crunched over the broken cobblestones. Lune walked up beside him, her eyes wide as she looked from the pile of empty, shattered armor back to his face.

"You actually did it," she breathed, her voice filled with absolute awe. "You defeated an S-Rank calamity by yourself. That was... incredible."

The owl hovered closer, and the stream interface practically exploded with a blinding wall of text. The audience was in complete disbelief over what they had just witnessed.

[GamerGuy: HE ACTUALLY KILLED IT!! I WAS HERE! I WITNESSED HISTORY!]

[LazyCat: solo man is literally the undisputed goat of the academy.]

[BloodKnight: Flawless execution. Perfect footwork. No wasted movements. Absolutely breathtaking swordsmanship.]

[NewbHunter: I am literally shaking right now. How did a first-year student just solo a corrupted boss?!]

[User12: someone clip that entire sequence right now!]

Lune stepped slightly closer and tilted her head, her smile fading as she studied his expression. "You just achieved the impossible... but you do not look happy at all. Why do you look so sad?"

Solomon quickly blinked away the lingering moisture in his eyes and let out a long, shaky exhale. He carefully masked the profound grief of losing his mentor behind a half-truth.

"I am just tired," he replied, his voice raspy. "I haven’t slept for a single second since we entered this labyrinth almost three days ago. Honestly, I haven’t gotten a proper moment of rest since long before I even enrolled into the academy. It is all finally catching up to me."

Lune’s expression softened into deep understanding. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have pushed your body far beyond its limits to keep us alive. You fought brilliantly. You have every right to be exhausted."

As she praised him, the stream interface suddenly chimed with a deafening sequence of high-tier alert sounds. The massive fortune pledged during what the viewers thought was a suicide mission finally came to collect.

[Stream Rewards & Bounties Fulfilled][System: BloodKnight has gifted 2 Diamond Crowns! (10,000 Points)] * Message: "You escorted the princess to the exit. Good job.."

[System: BloodKnight has gifted 10 Diamond Crowns! (50,000 Points)] * Message: "The official live challenge is complete. A masterpiece of a battle. You earned every single point."

[System: LazyCat has gifted 10 Platinum Shields! (10,000 Points)] * Message: "FOR THE LORE! Best stream of the century!"

[System: ThrillSeeker has gifted 3 Diamond Crowns! (15,000 Points)] * Message: "I pledged to witness a historic battle, and you delivered. Worth every point."

[System: User12 has gifted 5 Silver Swords! (2500 Points)] * Message: "This is literally my entire point balance. Take it all, king!"

Solomon stared at the cascading wall of wealth flashing across his screen. The sheer volume of points practically guaranteed he could buy any high-tier weapon or artifact he wanted. Not to mention, he had already achieved far more than the monthly goal. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He was completely stunned by the overwhelming wave of riches. It was incredibly ironic that his viewers were willing to throw a massive fortune at him just because they believed he was walking into a certain death trap.

However, as he scanned the completed pledges, he noticed a glaring omission.

Solomon narrowed his eyes at the floating chat. "Hold on. Didn’t someone pledge a massive reward if we both survived the encounter? Hey, GoonLord. Where are my Golden Thrones? Are you trying to scam me after I just fought a demigod for your entertainment?"

The chat instantly erupted with laughing emojis at Solomon’s blatant extortion. A few seconds later, the biggest simp in the stream finally responded.

[GoonLord: ALRIGHT, KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON! Oh wait, you don’t have one! I am getting my wallet, you absolute menace!]

[GoonLord: I am still incredibly mad that you yelled at Her Highness earlier! You better apologize to her off-stream!]

[GoonLord: But... you also saved her life and got her out of that blast radius safely. So I guess you are alright.]

[System: GoonLord has gifted 10 Golden Thrones!] * Message: "I originally pledged five, but take ten. Buy yourself a decent shirt and keep the Princess safe! Learn some manners on how to talk and treat girls!"

Lune stared at the pile of ashes for a few more seconds before turning back to him. "I am incredibly glad that you defeated him, but I am still in complete shock. How did you actually pull that off? That wasn’t just surviving... you completely dismantled him."

The stream chat immediately echoed her disbelief.

[LazyCat: seriously, how did he predict every single swing?]

[BloodKnight: His reaction time was inhuman. It was like he was reading the boss’s mind.]

[User12: spill the secrets, Solo Man!]

[OldTimer: Did you lie to us about not knowing how to use your talent?]

Solomon smoothly slipped back into his practiced excuse. "I already told you," he said, picking up his borrowed academy uniform from the rubble. "I fought him up close during our first clash in this chamber. I memorized his attack patterns, measured his strike radius, and figured out his blind spots. Once I knew his rhythm, it was just a matter of baiting his swings."

Lune slowly nodded, seeming to buy the logical explanation, but a deep curiosity still lingered in her eyes. "Did you feel anything different while you were fighting?"

"No," Solomon replied, shaking out his shirt. "Just the normal adrenaline."

Lune took a step closer, her gaze dropping to the silver rapier in his hand. "It was only for a short while, but right at the end... it looked as though you were using aura. When you went head-on with the knight in that final phase, I swear I saw your body and the rapier completely covered in a thin layer of white mist."

Solomon paused. He remembered pushing his physical muscles to their absolute breaking point to execute the heavy Eden Imperial Sword Arts with a lightweight Mythril blade.

’I was just mourning,’ Solomon thought to himself, the heavy weight of grief still sitting bitterly in his stomach. ’I was too busy trying not to cry while killing my mentor. I wasn’t feeling anything magical, and I definitely didn’t notice any glowing smoke.’

"I haven’t awakened my aura yet," Solomon stated aloud, pulling the uniform shirt over his head to finally cover his bruised torso. "Even if I did, I have absolutely no idea how to actively use it. I was way too focused on surviving the fight to notice anything glowing around me."

He adjusted his collar and looked at her. "How would I even confirm if I actually awakened an aura?"

Lune hesitated. She looked away for a brief second, a faint, unexpected blush suddenly dusting her cheeks. She shifted her weight nervously before looking back at him.

"I can... check your internal circuits and confirm it," Lune offered softly, her usual royal authority dipping into a slightly shy murmur. "If you want me to."