Aurelius Shin Zenith Novarion

Shin stared at the city lights from the balcony of his apartment.

The night was quiet.

Too quiet.

A cold breeze brushed against his white hair as he rested his arms on the railing.

Normally, he would have appreciated the peace.

Tonight, however, he couldn't shake the strange feeling in his chest.

As if something long forgotten had begun moving again.

His purple eyes narrowed.

For immortals, instincts were rarely wrong.

Especially instincts forged over centuries.

"...Something's coming."

The words escaped his lips almost unconsciously.

The city below continued its usual rhythm.

Cars moved through the streets.

Buildings glowed with life.

People laughed, argued, worked, and dreamed.

Completely unaware.

Shin closed his eyes.

For a brief moment, memories surfaced.

A field of flowers.

A crimson sunset.

A girl laughing.

Then darkness.

A war.

A promise.

And finally—

Emerald eyes.

His eyes snapped open.

Silence.

The memory vanished before he could grasp it.

"...Corazelle."

The name felt unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.

Like an old wound that had never truly healed.

Shin frowned.

He had not spoken that name in a very long time.

A thousand years.

Perhaps longer.

Immortality had a cruel habit of blurring time.

Yet tonight, he remembered.

Not clearly.

Just enough to know that her return would change everything.

A faint ripple spreads through the air.

The Authority of Eternity reacted on its own.

Golden runes briefly appeared around his wrist before disappearing again.

A warning.

Something capable of shaking the world had awakened.

Shin let out a long sigh.

"Troublesome."

He turned away from the balcony.

If Corazelle had truly returned...

Then the peace of the last thousand years was about to end.

And knowing her—

She was probably smiling right now.

That thought alone gave him a headache.

_____

Aurelius Shin Zenith Novarion.

The name carried weight.

Throughout the modern world, countless people knew him by a simpler title.

The Hero of Light.

A protector.

A symbol of hope.

The immortal hero who had stood against countless threats throughout history.

Yet very few knew the truth.

Aurelius Shin Zenith Novarion was not merely immortal.

He was reborn.

Just like Corazelle.

Two years before her reincarnation, Shin had awakened memories of his previous life.

His memories.

His powers.

His regrets.

Everything had returned.

Even after a thousand years, the Authority of Eternity still flowed through his veins.

The same immortal power.

The same burden.

The same loneliness.

Yet among all the memories he had recovered, one person remained clearer than the rest.

Corazelle.

The woman who had once been called a villainess.

The woman's history had misunderstood.

The woman he had never truly forgotten.

Their relationship had always been complicated.

In every era, they stood on opposite sides.

Hero and villain.

Light and shadow.

Order and chaos.

The world saw them as enemies.

The world always saw them as enemies.

But Shin knew better.

Because he alone had witnessed what lay beneath her actions.

While heroes fought to save people before them, Corazelle fought for outcomes decades away.

While heroes protected the present, she sacrificed the present for the future.

Her methods were cruel.

Her decisions are ruthless.

Her hands stained with choices others could never make.

Many hated her.

Many feared her.

Many cursed her name.

And yet...

Time had proven her right.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Every disaster she caused had prevented something worse.

Every law she broke had stopped a greater tragedy.

Every enemy she eliminated had been a threat hidden from the world's eyes.

She committed wrongdoings.

But always for the right reasons.

And often for the right results.

Unfortunately, people realized that it was far too late.

By the time they understood the truth...

Corazelle was already gone.

The records left behind.

The secrets uncovered.

The sacrifices revealed.

One by one, the world learned what she had done.

And with every truth revealed, public opinion changed.

The villainess became a martyr.

The monster became a protector.

The enemy became a hero.

Eventually, history granted her a new title.

A title that replaced every insult once thrown at her.

The Scarlet Savior.

A woman willing to bear hatred if it meant protecting others.

A woman willing to become history's villain if it meant securing peace.

A woman who accepted being misunderstood.

Because someone had to.

Shin remembered the day that title was officially recognized.

The celebrations.

The monuments.

The speeches.

The tears.

The regrets.

Entire nations mourned someone they had once condemned.

And Shin...

Shin could only laugh bitterly.

Because it was exactly what Corazelle would have expected.

She had known from the beginning.

She had always known.

People would only understand after she was gone.

That was the cruelest part.

Not that she was hated.

But she never tried to defend herself.

She simply carried the burden alone.

Even now, after all this time, Shin still couldn't understand how someone could endure that.

His fingers tightened slightly.

Outside the window, the city lights shimmered beneath the night sky.

Somewhere out there, Corazelle had returned.

Alive.

Breathing.

Walking beneath the same sky as him once more.

A thousand years.

A thousand years of waiting.

A thousand years of wondering.

A thousand years of carrying memories no one else shared.

And now...

She was back.

A faint smile appeared on Shin's face.

For the first time in centuries, the immortal hero felt something he thought he had lost long ago.

Hope.

Not because the world was safe.

Not because peace was guaranteed.

But because after a thousand years...

The person he had been searching for had finally returned.

Shin rubbed his forehead.

The headache wasn't from danger.

It was from memories.

Danger, he could handle.

Ancient monsters, world-ending threats, forgotten gods—he had faced them all.

Corazelle, however, was different.

She was the kind of person who could start an argument, win the argument, lose the argument, and somehow convince everyone else it was their fault.

The fact that she had returned after a thousand years was not comforting.

Not in the slightest.

A knock suddenly came from his apartment door.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Three precise knocks.

Shin immediately recognized the pattern.

"...Come in."

The door opened.

A young woman entered carrying a stack of documents.

Her black hair was tied neatly behind her head, and her glasses gave her the appearance of a strict secretary.

"Lord Shin."

"I told you not to call me that."

"Noted, Lord Shin."

"..."

She didn't even try.

The woman walked forward and placed the documents on the table.

"There have been unusual reports throughout the city."

Shin raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of reports?"

She opened the folder.

"Disappearing vampire clans."

"...Disappearing?"

"Yes."

"No battles?"

"No."

"No witnesses?"

"None."

"No remains?"

"Nothing."

Shin's expression became serious.

That wasn't normal.

Even powerful organizations left traces behind.

Yet these reports suggested entire groups had simply vanished.

The woman adjusted her glasses.

"There is more."

Of course there was.

There was always more.

"Go on."

"A witness reported seeing five masked individuals shortly before one of the disappearances."

Shin froze.

Five.

His instincts immediately screamed.

The same instincts that had kept him alive for over a thousand years.

"Describe them."

The woman flipped to another page.

"Orange. Yellow. Indigo. Violet. Green."

Silence.

A long silence.

"...You're joking."

"I'm not."

Shin slowly sank into his chair.

Five masked followers.

Corazelle's return.

Missing vampire clans.

The pieces fit together far too well.

He suddenly felt very tired.

The woman frowned.

"Should I be concerned?"

"Very."

"How concerned?"

Shin stared at the ceiling.

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"Yes."

"Twenty."

The woman immediately stiffened.

"Twenty!?"

"Possibly thirty."

"THIRTY!?"

Shin nodded calmly.

The woman had worked for him for years.

She had seen him face dragons without blinking.

She had watched him challenge powerful beings with a smile.

Never had she seen him react like this.

"Who exactly is Corazelle?"

Shin fell silent.

For a moment, he looked toward the city beyond the window.

The lights glittered beneath the night sky.

Far away, somewhere in that endless sea of buildings, a woman with white hair was undoubtedly causing problems.

Again.

Finally, he answered.

"An old friend."

The woman waited.

"And?"

"That's it."

"...That's it?"

"That's it."

The woman narrowed her eyes.

She knew he was hiding something.

Unfortunately, she also knew he wouldn't elaborate.

Shin stood up and grabbed his coat.

The movement caught her by surprise.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

He walked toward the door.

"To stop a war before it starts."

The woman sighed.

That sounded exactly like something a legendary immortal hero would say.

Then Shin added,

"And to make sure Corazelle doesn't accidentally blow up half the city."

The heroic atmosphere immediately disappeared.

The woman blinked.

"Accidentally?"

"Trust me."

Shin opened the door.

"That's the part I'm worried about."

And with those ominous words, the immortal hero stepped into the night.

The elevator doors opened.

Shin stepped into the underground parking area, his hands tucked into his coat pockets.

The concrete structure was quiet.

Too quiet.

A faint dark-purple glow briefly flickered around his wrist before fading away.

His Authority of Eternity had reacted.

Someone was nearby.

"..."

Shin sighed.

The presence didn't feel hostile.

If anything, it felt familiar.

Very familiar.

Then a voice echoed throughout the parking area.

"Found you."

Shin immediately groaned.

"No."

A crackling sound filled the air.

Yellow lightning danced across one of the support pillars before gathering into a human shape.

The electricity dispersed.

Revealing a young man with bright yellow hair and blue eyes.

Noemi Celeste Everleigh.

Shin's childhood friend.

Unfortunately.

"Why do you sound disappointed?" Noemi asked.

"Because you're here."

"Wow."

Noemi placed a hand over his chest.

"I'm hurt."

"Good."

"I'm telling everyone you bullied me."

"You are twenty-six years old."

"And emotionally fragile."

"You're a disaster."

Noemi grinned.

"Yet you still keep me around."

"I've tried not to."

The grin somehow widened.

The crackling yellow electricity around Noemi's fingertips brightened.

Unlike Shin's calm and controlled presence, Noemi's energy was constantly active.

Like a storm refusing to settle.

His bright personality didn't help.

"Anyway."

Noemi folded his arms.

"I heard something interesting."

Shin immediately knew where this was going.

"No."

"I haven't even said anything yet."

"You don't need to."

"You always ruin my dramatic entrances."

"You don't have dramatic entrances."

"I literally arrived as lightning."

"Like you always do."

Noemi clicked his tongue.

No one appreciated his art.

No one.

Then his expression became serious.

A rare sight.

"There are rumors."

Shin stopped walking.

"What kind of rumors?"

"Missing vampire clans."

The atmosphere changed.

Noemi continued.

"Entire groups disappear overnight."

"No bodies."

"No evidence."

"No survivors."

Shin remained silent.

Those reports matched the information he had received earlier.

"The strange part," Noemi continued, "is the witness reports."

Shin narrowed his eyes.

"Witnesses?"

"A few."

"What did they see?"

Noemi's usual smile disappeared.

"Five masked figures."

Silence.

Yellow lightning crackled around his arm.

"Orange."

"Yellow."

"Indigo."

"Violet."

"Green."

The names hung heavily in the air.

Shin's dark-purple eyes narrowed.

His instincts immediately reacted.

The Authority of Eternity stirred.

Dark-purple runes briefly appeared around him before vanishing.

Noemi noticed.

That alone was enough to make him concerned.

Shin rarely reacted to anything.

"Do those colors mean something?"

Noemi asked.

Shin looked toward the city skyline visible beyond the parking exit.

Thousands of lights stretched into the distance.

Somewhere out there.

Something had begun moving.

Something old.

Something dangerous.

And for some reason, his instincts kept warning him that this was only the beginning.

"...I don't know."

It wasn't entirely a lie.

The colors themselves meant nothing to him.

But the feeling they left behind...

That feeling was familiar.

Uncomfortably familiar.

Noemi frowned.

"You're hiding something."

"I always hide something."

"Fair."

The two stood in silence.

Far away, thunder echoed across the night sky.

Neither of them knew it yet.

But at that very moment, on the top floor of GlobalTech Agencies, a white-haired woman named Corazelle was already setting pieces into motion.

And the game she intended to play would soon pull the entire world into its grasp.

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