CHAPTER 312: RANK MEANS NOTHING

Zain stood still, arms crossed, eyes on the battlefield.

He spoke without looking back.

"Savra. Velra. Call Zelia here. I want to talk to all three of you about something."

Savra tilted her head. "A meeting?"

"Yes," Zain said. "It’s important."

Velra gave a playful salute. "Alright, Master."

The two turned around and began returning to their temporary camp to find Zelia.

Zain stayed where he was, watching the distant power clash between the Hero Association and the Beastkin Brood.

His eyes narrowed.

"They’re still holding back," he muttered.

Then, with a small gesture of his fingers, the Hero Hack System lit up in his eyes.

He scanned the battlefield, then focused on one figure, the hero’s leader.

Lines of data appeared in front of him.

---

[Name: Averak Kyros]

[Class: Apex Guardian]

[Rank: Supreme]

[Passive Traits]

[Sanctified Will: Enemies who try to attack feel slow, unsure, or off-target. The longer they stay, the harder it is to fight.]

[Truthweight: Anyone who lies or deceives near Averak feels pain and pressure, even without being hit.]

[Untouchable March: His pressure builds if he walks without attacking. Enemies either submit or run.]

[Active Abilities:]

[Celestial Sovereign Field: He creates a huge holy zone around himself. Inside, enemies lose their desire to fight, and anger and violence slowly disappear.]

[Apex Judgment: Averak points, and a giant light beam crashes down on the target. The more evil or violent the target, the heavier the hit.]

[Guardian’s Thronewalk: As long as Averak walks forward, nothing can stop him. Attacks miss or bend away, and the ground opens a path for him.]

---

Zain hissed through his teeth. "That’s really troublesome..."

He crossed his arms tighter and tilted his head.

"So he’s not just strong. He’s built to punish evil. Every part of him is made to stop chaos and violence."

Zain looked down at his own hand, then clenched it slowly.

"I’m the Heavenly Demon. But in this world... I haven’t done real evil."

He paused, his voice low now.

"I’ve killed some heroes. But only the corrupt ones. Only those who deserved it."

He remembered their faces.

The ones who had tortured, stolen, or abused their power.

None of them had been clean.

"So then... would his skills work fully on me?" Zain said to himself.

He glanced back at Averak on the battlefield again.

"If he thinks I’m evil... I’ll feel it. I’ll feel that pressure. But if not..."

Zain smirked a little.

"Then maybe I can walk through that throne path of his too."

His eyes glowed red for a moment as his aura pulsed faintly.

"I’ll just have to try it to find out."

But then, he just realized something now.

His mind returned to everything he had seen since arriving on this Supreme Island.

"There’s no stats here," he muttered to himself. "Only ranks."

He remembered using his system scan on many people.

However, the usual stat screens no longer appeared; instead, only a simple rank line showed up.

He looked at the data again in his memory.

"Most people I’ve scanned were listed as ’Royal Rank’... but the details differed."

Zain narrowed his eyes and focused.

"When I looked at the ones fighting now," he muttered, "every single one of them had the rank [True Royal]."

He glanced back toward the battlefield, watching the clash between the elites.

Then his expression shifted slightly.

"But the civilians in Ether Haven... all of them were labeled [Fake Royal]."

He frowned and crossed his arms.

"And the stronger heroes I saw in the Hero Forge District..."

"They had [Half Royal]. Not fake anymore, but not fully real either."

He thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"So this world uses ’Royal’ as a base class now. It’s like everyone starts near AA-rank strength. Even normal people are close, but their foundation is fake."

He continued speaking to himself.

"Then they grow stronger and reach Half Royal... which means they’ve started to solidify that rank. But not complete."

He tapped his fingers together.

"And only those who’ve fully completed the path reach [True Royal]. Like those elite heroes."

He then raised his head and looked back at the battlefield in the distance.

"But that guy... Averak... he was different."

When Zain scanned him, it didn’t say Royal.

It said: [Supreme]

Zain frowned. "So... Supreme. Is that above Royal?"

He crossed his arms and stared at the sky.

"Is it like the old Hero System? Maybe Supreme is the new version of S-Rank?"

He thought back to his battle against Vorthar.

That man had pushed him hard.

Vorthar was listed as [True Royal] in his scan.

Zain had used all his skills, and even with stats close to peak AA-rank, almost touching the S-rank level, he still struggled.

"Vorthar was already very powerful," Zain said. "But still not Supreme."

He looked at his hand and clenched it tightly.

"If I had almost S-rank stats... and Vorthar crushed me... then what about someone who is Supreme?"

Zain took a deep breath.

"That means maybe Supreme isn’t just S-rank."

He glanced to the side, thinking hard.

"Let’s say Fake Royal is like AA-rank... Half Royal is S... True Royal is SS..."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Then Supreme must be SSS."

Zain paused, then frowned deeply.

"If that’s true... this could be a problem."

He looked at his hand, clenching it slowly.

"After fighting Vorthar and using my hacks... I only reached [True Royal] rank."

He let out a quiet sigh.

"If I or any of us fought Averak now... we’d lose."

His eyes darkened with the thought.

"Why am I only realizing this now?"

He looked across the battlefield again, this time toward Krovath.

"That guy... Krovath... he might be Supreme too."

Zain clicked his tongue as he knew without seeing his status.

"Tch. Two monsters at that level walking freely... and the rest of us pretending we’re close."

He turned around, his coat shifting with the movement.

"Let’s go back for now," he said. "There’s nothing more to gain here."

He started walking, eyes sharp and mind already planning.