Chapter 55: DaddyOfDeath and QueenOfIce
Beneath the Aetherium
The observation chamber beneath the Aetherium hummed with mana and tension. Dozens of floating crystal screens shimmered in the air, each showing a different student somewhere on the examination island. Instructors filled the seats in lazy clusters, sipping coffee, scribbling notes, or placing very illegal bets.
One particular screen drew the most attention.
Candidate #108: Sebastian Nekros.
The feed zoomed in on him standing in a clearing, surrounded by dozens of hulking, chittering F-rank ant monsters.
Instructor Vale let out a bark of laughter. "That’s the prince-breaker, right? Ten thousand thalgar says the ants eat him before the feed can buffer."
"I’ll take that," said Lira, leaning back with a grin. "He’s got the look of a troublemaker. Either he’ll die or do something stupidly flashy."
A younger instructor squinted at the screen. "Wait... he’s not even drawing a weapon?"
They watched as Sebastian rolled his shoulders lazily, not a hint of fear on his face. Then, like mist pouring from a dream, a blue haze burst from his sword and condensed into shape—four paws, a sweeping tail, ice-silver fur.
Sacha.
When the tiger fully formed beside him, the room fell utterly silent.
Mana sensors wailed before stabilizing, the readings spiking far beyond what a first-year should produce.
Lira blinked. "That’s... a spirit manifestation. At that density? That’s impossible."
Vale whistled low. "And it’s not even a projection. That thing’s alive."
On the screen, Sacha’s eyes burned with cold, regal light. Frost spilled out from under her paws, racing across the ground, devouring the grass and the charging monsters alike. The ants froze mid-motion, turned to glassy sculptures—then shattered in a single, echoing wave of blue explosion.
The chamber filled with stunned murmurs.
"Was that ice affinity?"
"Was that will imposition? That’s not even supposed to be usable at this rank!"
"Did she just execute them without moving?"
Before the noise could settle, black mist began to coil at Sebastian’s feet. He stepped forward through the glittering frost, eyes calm, coat fluttering.
"Die."
The word carried weight real, suffocating weight.
Every remaining monster convulsed and collapsed like puppets with their strings cut, their souls snuffed out before they could even scream.
Dead silence.
Someone dropped a clipboard.
Lira’s mouth hung open. "What the actual hell."
Vale muttered, "That wasn’t a spell... that was pure authority."
"He looks so cool," a female instructor blurted out before realizing she’d said it aloud.
And then, from the back of the room, came a voice soft enough to slice through steel.
"As expected."
Heads turned instantly.
Belle stood with her hands clasped neatly behind her back, black hair cascading down like a curtain of night. Her blindfold smooth, obsidian cloth hid her eyes, but the faint glimmer beneath it made every instructor straighten in their seats. She didn’t need sight to command attention.
The principal, an older man with graying hair and eyes sharp as razors, turned toward her."Vice-Principal Belle," he said, his tone equal parts curiosity and respect. "As expected...? Care to elaborate?"
Belle tilted her head slightly, expression unreadable. "Surely you didn’t think my disciple would embarrass me on his first day being watched, did you?"
The word disciple hit the room like a thunderclap.
Lira coughed on her drink. "Wait, your disciple? You’re joking."
Leonardo blinked in surprise. "So he was actually your disciple? I thought he was your brother-in-law or something."
Vale rubbed his temples. "That explains everything. I thought he fought like a psychopath, turns out he’s just trained by one."
Belle’s lips twitched. "Careful, Vale. I still remember your practical scores."
The man immediately shut up.
The principal chuckled quietly. "I should have guessed. Still, that level of control over both death and life affinities... remarkable."
Belle inclined her head slightly. "He’s only begun. What you saw was him restraining himself."
That earned her a few incredulous stares.
"Restraining?!" Lira gestured at the frozen forest on-screen. "He turned an entire colony into corpses!"
Belle shrugged, voice calm, detached. "And yet, he’s barely using a fraction of his mana output. He’s learning... moderation."
The principal raised an eyebrow. "Moderation, huh? Looks like your idea of restraint still involves small-scale genocide."
That almost earned him a smile. Almost.
Belle tilted her head toward the nearest screen again, her blindfold catching the light. "You’ll see soon enough. He’s much more interesting when he stops pretending to be civilized."
A few instructors exchanged uneasy looks.
Vale muttered under his breath, "Remind me never to piss off her students."
Lira nodded, eyes still glued to the screen. "Or her."
Belle didn’t respond. Her hands tightened faintly around the miniature hourglass he had given her. Though her face remained expressionless, there was the faintest whisper in her tone when she finally spoke again.
"He’s growing faster than I expected."
The principal regarded her quietly. "You sound proud."
She gave a small shrug. "I’m not foolish enough to take credit for him."
Then her lips curved into something that might have been a smile or a warning.
"But I am proud to have unleashed him."
And on the screen, Sebastian Nekros smiled through the drifting frost, his eyes gleaming with the same quiet arrogance as his master.
---
The roar of thousands shook the stadium.
Every seat was packed, students, nobles, merchants, reporters, even the occasional cloaked figure from the underworld, all glued to the massive holographic screen floating above the arena. It broadcasted the live feed straight from the examination island, crystal clear and larger than life.
And on that screen... stood Sebastian Nekros, wreathed in shadows and frost.
The crowd went absolutely feral.
"He just, did he just tell them to die?!"
"Bro, they didn’t even move! They just collapsed!"
"That’s Death Affinity! That’s Belle Ardent’s signature power!"
"Wait, wait, wait, rewind that! Did you see the tiger? That ice tiger? It looked like a frost queen!"
"The way he just stood there chills, man! Actual chills!"
All around the stadium, screens replayed the same sequence: Sacha freezing dozens of monsters into glittering sculptures before shattering them, then Sebastian’s calm voice echoing cold and final. "Die."
The crowd went silent again.
And then came the explosion of cheers.
"He’s so cool!"
"Is it just me or does he even talk like Vice-Principal Belle?"
"Nah, that ’Die’ line? That’s definitely her thing!"
"Wait, he’s her disciple, isn’t he? It has to be! Look at that control!"
Up in the VIP stands, noble students and instructors whispered amongst themselves.
"The Death Affinity... and the Life Affinity too. No wonder Belle Ardent herself took him as a student."
"If he’s starting like this, what happens when he reaches A-rank?"
Meanwhile, the common crowd was far less composed.
"He gained, like, ten years’ worth of aura in one scene!"
"Someone check if the system servers are lagging, my feed crashed from the sheer coolness!"
"Belle Ardent’s words, Belle Ardent’s student. He’s literally mini-Belle!"
"Forget mini—he’s hotter!"
In one corner, a group of girls clutched each other dramatically.
"Oh my gods, did you see how calm he looked while everything died around him?!"
"That smirk? That’s not a boy, that’s a walking era."
"Replay it again! Replay it again!"
The chant started somewhere in the upper tiers, then spread like wildfire.
"SE-BA-STIAN! SE-BA-STIAN!"
It grew louder and louder until the entire stadium was vibrating with it, the name thundering across the skies.
And somewhere in the control room of Ashtagram, a technician groaned, "We’re trending number one on Ashtagram already. Hashtag DaddyOfDeath just overtook QueenOfIce’s fanbase."
"Daddy of what?"
"Don’t ask."
Back on the screen, the feed zoomed in on Sebastian’s face, half-shadowed, eyes glowing golden, frost drifting through the air around him.
He looked straight at the camera for a brief second.
And smiled.
The crowd lost its collective mind.
"HE LOOKED AT US!"
"HE KNOWS!"
"THAT’S A PROTAG SMILE IF I’VE EVER SEEN ONE!"
Even nobles who would’ve normally sneered at the chaos couldn’t help but look impressed. The sheer presence he radiated was unmistakable the calm, lethal elegance of someone who belonged on the battlefield.
From every corner of the stadium, one sentiment began to form, whispered, screamed, and shouted in equal parts awe and excitement.
"Sebastian Nekros isn’t just another student..."
"He’s a monster in human skin."
"He’s the next legend."
And as the screen faded to the next feed, the crowd was still chanting his name, a single voice rising above all else.
"SE-BA-STIAN! SE-BA-STIAN! SE-BA-STIAN!"