Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 131 - Rena
For normal organizations, power corrupted. Influence warped intentions. Over time ideals eroded under the pressure of reality. Even institutions founded on the most sincere principles eventually drifted.
History had proven that repeatedly. Give any group authority. Give them resources. Give them influence over enough people, and eventually they start to look after their own interests rather than that of the people.
It might start with individuals starting to make small compromises. What they called justified decisions or necessary evils. Sometimes it merely took a few years, sometimes decades, and rarely centuries, but eventually an organization that had once stood for something good slowly turned into something else.
In contrast, the Aria Knights had existed for centuries, and yet they were still clean.
They weren’t perfect. No group was. Individuals still made mistakes and there were still disagreements about how best to pursue justice.
What was important was that the core principle had never been corrupted. They stood for justice, and they meant it. Not in the abstract sense that many organizations claimed while quietly pursuing their own interests behind the scenes. The Aria Knights actually lived by it. They were moral without becoming naive, and yet still logical without becoming cold.
Their decisions were guided by principles, but those principles were applied through careful reasoning rather than emotional impulse.
Justice wasn’t a slogan, it was the operating framework. Somehow, across centuries of existence, that framework had remained intact.
There was not a single organization on Earth that could make that claim. Not one.
He sat with that thought, and then, quietly, he began to feel ashamed. Despite how amazing Valeria was, despite all the respect she deserved, there was something running through his head.
He didn’t want to be here.
It was a simple and ugly truth. His time in Masteria every day was limited. Eight hours, no exceptions. Every minute he spent sitting in this chair, watching someone who couldn’t hear him and couldn’t be helped by his presence, was a minute he wasn’t doing anything.
He was here because leaving without visiting would have looked heartless. He was posturing. Performing concern for an audience so that no one could accuse him of not caring about people.
Did that make him a bad person?
Lumi silently shook his head.
No. It made him someone with priorities. Someone who understood that sentiment without action accomplished nothing real. Valeria herself, if she were awake and aware, would almost certainly tell him to leave and do what needed to be done. She wasn’t the type to want someone sitting at her bedside doing nothing on her behalf.
But understanding that didn’t make the feeling go away entirely.
"Her soul damage was horrible." Susie said, breaking the silence. Her voice was careful. "Same with Marcus. After the fight, they practically had no soul left. The fragments were barely holding together by the time the collection team got there." She paused. "Whether they heal, even with everything Herene can bring, that’s not a guarantee."
Lumi looked at Valeria. "I know." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
"Aria Knights..." Susie mused quietly. "How amazing..."
"They are." Lumi agreed.
There wasn’t more to say than that. Valeria and Marcus were in bed, and their recovery was entirely up to their souls. Nothing they could do would actually affect the results.
"I still can’t believe Rena..." Susie had started talking, but trailed off into silence. After a while, Susie looked at him. "What will you do now?"
"I need to return to Elenora." Lumi answered. "I need to see Merath for my Rank advancement."
Susie considered that. Then she let out a quiet sigh. There wasn’t anything to say to that either. He had things to do. The world did not stop because people were hurt. She understood that, even if neither of them said it.
She stood, looked at Valeria and then at Marcus for a long moment each, and left without further words.
Lumi remained a moment longer.
He looked at Valeria’s face. It felt so calm. She had served for years, and she could now have some rest. He couldn’t help but feel a small pang of longing. It was strange to say, but he too wanted a moment to rest.
Every day since he was reborn, every day required his full focus and attention. He couldn’t even do something as simple as laying back and listening to music.
"Hmm..." He began to internally muse about Lena. Perhaps this was part of the reason he grew to like her so quickly. She brought him a smile, joy, all while not compromising his mission.
With his thought finished, he stood, pushed the chair back, and walked out.
He made his way toward the sky port. He needed to find what Azir had prepared for him and set out.
He was nearly at the ships when it happened.
There was absolutely no warning. He didn’t sense the slightest approach nor magic signature. There were no footsteps, no sound, not even the displacement of air.
It came entirely out of nowhere. One moment the path ahead of him was empty. The next, she was standing directly in front of him.
Lumi stopped.
There was a woman in front of him. She was tall with bronze skin. Her muscles bulged out, and she held a giant axe whose head was bigger than her own. Her posture was casual, she tilted her head slightly as a small grin formed at the corner of her mouth.
It was Rena.
He instantly ran an analysis on her.
[???]
He hadn’t expected anything different. Scanning a demigod was an absolutely worthless endeavor. It didn’t even give her name. It wasn’t a mere matter of his level being too low to see hers. Even if he reached level 199, it would not present her level.
The moment his scan reached her, her head tilted slightly further, curiosity lighting up her expression. She had felt it.
"I should thank you," she said, ignoring the scan for now. Her voice was light and conversational. "If it wasn’t for you, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be free right now."
