It was an exceptionally unlucky day.
“The Sodran family really isn’t much, is it?”
“That’s true. All they do is cast defensive techniques on others, nothing else.”
“They’re practically parasites feeding off the Pentanium.”
“Ha! The Sodran patriarch would cry his eyes out if he heard this.”
“Honestly, it’s infuriating how they pretend to be nobles when all they do is cast defensive techniques.”
As he walked through the corridor, he overheard the soldiers of the Cheongrim Corps mocking him from outside the window.
“The support allocated to Sodran is likely to be reduced in the future. Please understand; it’s a decision made by the leadership of the great Pentanium.”
Then, an envoy from the Cheongrodan arrived and slashed the budget.
Such incidents, worse than usual, kept happening repeatedly.
Sodran Uldren.
He was the head of a minor family under the great Pentanium clan, renowned for its mastery of swordsmanship, the strongest in the world.
Sodran was once a family of great stature.
Together with another minor family, Hachefel, they were called the two iron walls of Pentanium, wielding a secret technique for forging the ultimate physique:
Golden Strength, Lunar Radiance (Geumgang Janwol).
But that was all in the past.
Their ancestor Sodran had been cursed while fighting to fend off world erosion.
From that moment, members of the Sodran family could no longer use their family’s secret technique.
“Sure, back then, they probably thought others would step up to help after their sacrifice.”
But reality wasn’t so kind.
Sympathy only lasted for a while.
As time passed, the descendants of the family began to notice the changing attitudes of those around them.
To sustain their lineage, the Sodran family developed another secret technique:
Golden Strength, Protective Qi (Geumgang Hogi).
Unlike the original technique that created the ultimate physique, the new one merely granted a diluted version of the enhancement to others.
This led to further mockery and disdain.
Now, the once-proud family was mocked as parasites clinging to the great Pentanium.
Even the patriarch, Uldren, was often ignored by mere foot soldiers and had his budget cut.
“This is the result of defending our land against world erosion?”
He thought bitterly about the sacrifices of their ancestors.
“They were fools. They should have stayed out of it.”
“Damn it all.”
Today, standing before the outer wall to combat world erosion, Uldren let out a long sigh.
It had been ten years since he became the head of the family.
Even in hindsight, he couldn’t recall a day as powerless as today.
Running his hand through his blue hair, he looked up at the sky.
Above, the family star of Sodran shone brightly.
This star, left by ancestors who ascended after death, was meant to imbue strength into their descendants.
“But to me, it’s just a star.”
The more ancestors who ascended, the stronger the star’s power grew.
This natural order strengthened families over generations.
“But I’ve gained nothing from it.”
Looking at the star with forlorn eyes, Uldren pressed his hand against his neck.
“Let’s move out.”
A voice signaled their departure.
Reports said the world erosion from the Endless Lantern was particularly severe today.
Even direct reinforcements from Pentanium were expected.
“Well, all I’ll be doing is casting Protective Qi on the soldiers again.”
Resigned to his reality, Uldren began his march toward the world erosion.
But as mentioned earlier, today was an exceptionally unlucky day.
The world erosion—what is it?
It’s simple: fail to stop it, and humanity loses its land.
Fail to stop it, and humanity is doomed.
That alone is reason enough to fight against it.
“Ha, this is hell.”
Today, for once, Uldren cursed aloud.
There was no one around to hear him anyway.
He knew it was an unlucky day.
But he hadn’t imagined it would be this bad.
The Endless Lantern was one of the five deadliest world erosions that Pentanium fought to contain.
A forest glowing like green lanterns, teeming with creatures never seen before.
But today, it wasn’t something the Sodran family alone could handle.
The Great Malice Dragon (Taeakryong), the most dangerous entity of all, had appeared at the wall.
The soldiers accompanying him were annihilated.
Even the magic cast on the wall by the Archmage of Dawn’s Tower was destroyed by the dragon.
Under a broken tree, Uldren blankly stared upward.
A piece of the collapsing wall struck his head.
If the wall fell, the world erosion would immediately engulf his family’s land.
“They said reinforcements from Pentanium were coming.
Until then, I must hold out.”
Dragging his broken leg, he climbed the trembling wall.
As the Great Malice Dragon paused briefly, Uldren threw himself atop the wall.
What he saw next took his breath away.
A blinding white sun emanated from the dragon’s mouth, massive enough to engulf the entire wall and the world beyond.
Its light seared his skin, even at a distance.
He knew the moment it hit the wall, everything would vanish.
“Damn it.”
His torn robe flapped in the wind, bearing the Sodran family crest.
“I am Sodran Uldren.”
Though despised and mocked, he was a hero who had defended the world against erosion.
Boom!
The sun hurtled toward the wall.
If only for a second, he prayed.
To the ancestors of Sodran, who had never once helped him:
“Today, please be different.”
As if responding to his desperate plea, the star-shaped tattoo on his neck began to glow fiercely.
The family star, brighter than ever, illuminated the heavens.
Perhaps even brighter than the dragon’s sun.
With his right hand pushing against the heavens and his left pressing against the earth,
Uldren denied all existence.
Golden Strength, Lunar Radiance: Five Elements’ Supremacy
As the dragon’s sun collided with the wall, his family’s secret technique erased it from existence.
A breeze carried the remnants of the attack away.
Blinded by rage, the Great Malice Dragon roared.
Though unfamiliar with the technique, Uldren’s body began to disintegrate, consumed by the sun.
“It doesn’t matter.
I was already a dead man the moment I used the ultimate secret technique.”
The curse placed on the family star meant Uldren had been born with a body incapable of containing its power.
Shattering like glass, his body began to crumble.
Yet, because of this, he had no hesitation in using the ultimate technique.
A faint smile spread across his face.
“I’ve never been a noble or selfless man.
But at least once, I should face the world head-on.”
As his vision faded, he saw reinforcements arriving beyond the wall.
Bearing the Pentanium crest and wielding a shadowed sword, a direct descendant charged toward the dragon without hesitation.
“Ha… maybe it wasn’t such an unlucky day after all.”
With that, Uldren met his end.
But the world, as always, never unfolds according to one’s wishes.
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