Chapter 29 – Lune Starpiercer (Part 1)
"This will be my weapon for a while, I guess. Doesn't seem like I'll be upgrading it anytime soon," Zane muttered under his breath as he slowly swung the newly acquired blade through the air.
He moved carefully, deliberately—his grip unsure, his stance unbalanced. Zane had never held a real sword before, much less tried swinging one around. Every movement felt foreign. His arms tensed awkwardly with each arc, and the weight—though minimal—still threw him off. He was more afraid of slicing a hole into his wall or lopping off a chunk of furniture than anything else.
Eventually, after a few more clumsy swipes, he sighed and lowered the weapon.
"Alright… That's enough for now."
He gently set the Core Blade down, the weapon humming faintly as it dimmed and returned to its dormant, cylindrical form. Then he turned back to the artifact box. There were still a few items left inside, and curiosity tugged at him more with every passing second.
His eyes landed next on a small vial filled with a swirling green liquid. The color shimmered faintly in the dim lighting of his room, almost glowing with an unnatural vitality.
"Hm, now what are you?" Zane said, picking it up and turning it over in his hand. The liquid was thicker than water, but not quite as viscous as gel. "It looks a bit like the awakening injection I took…"
He gave it a little shake before calling out, "System, what is this?"
A moment later, a familiar chime echoed in his mind.
[Name: Health Injection
Item Type: Injection
Item Rank: F
Item Attributes: Healing
Item Description: An injection that soothes the aches of the body. Heals minor to normal injuries.]
"A healing injection… Makes sense," Zane nodded, inspecting the device more closely. A press of the thumb revealed a small contraption built into the vial—pressurized, likely—to launch the needle out with a subtle hiss.
He whistled quietly. "Huh. So even medicine gets futuristic. I'll save it for emergencies, then."
Gently placing it aside, Zane reached for the next item. It was another vial—this one containing a much lighter purple liquid. Its hue was soft, delicate, and oddly calming.
[Name: Core Energy Injection
Item Type: Injection
Item Rank: F
Item Attributes: Core Energy/ Rejuvenation
Item Description: An injection that feeds one's core. Restores a small amount of energy.]
"One for the body, and one for the Core," Zane murmured, pocketing the second vial. "Guess that confirms it. They're preparing me for something serious."
That thought lingered in his mind. They weren't just giving him these for no reason. These weren't welcome gifts or souvenirs—they were tools, essentials. He remembered hearing about the infamous admission test the Dimensional Knights held. He didn't know any of the details, but its reputation was clear—brutal, relentless, and with an obscenely low success rate.
'I haven't even started and I already feel like I'm in over my head,' Zane thought grimly.
He exhaled, calming the tension in his shoulders, and reached for the final item in the box.
The moment his fingers brushed against it, a sharp chill traveled up his spine. It wasn't cold in the physical sense—it was something else entirely. A spiritual pressure. A presence.
Zane slowly lifted the object out of the foam. It was a pendant—a crescent moon forged in crystalline silver, almost translucent in the light. The moon-shaped charm shimmered like diamond dust under sunlight, suspended from a sleek black string. It didn't just look beautiful—it felt sacred.
"Whoa…" he breathed. "This is… something else."
The system chimed again, unprompted this time—as if the artifact itself demanded recognition.
[Name: Lunar Sigil
Item Type: Necklace
Item Rank: A
Item Attributes: Fate / Protection / Retainer
Item Description: The fate seals that which is certain, and changes that which is imminent. Those who break their seal with fate shall only be torn by its claws. Only those who carry the Lunar Queen's blessing shall see the end of the tunnel.]
Zane blinked, rereading the entry a few times. "What… does any of that even mean?"
The words felt weighty. Cryptic. They didn't explain what the necklace did, only that it held immense significance—and some sort of divine blessing?
"Lunar Queen? Who the hell is that? And what does fate have to do with this?" he muttered.
He stared at the pendant again. It didn't feel dangerous. But there was no denying it had power—serious power. He could feel it just by holding it. This was an A-rank item, leagues above the rest of what he'd received.
'I need to ask Fiora,' he thought immediately. 'She surely knows what it is.'
Opening his system storage, he found a sleek grid of ten open slots and one more greyed out with a faint lock icon. He carefully pushed the Lunar Sigil into the interface, watching it vanish with a soft shimmer, its icon appearing neatly in the first slot. He then stored the vials and the Core Blade, organizing everything with a strange sense of satisfaction.
"Alright," he sighed, closing the interface. "That's all done…"
He stood up and stretched, heading over to the bed. Just as he collapsed onto it, his phone vibrated on the nightstand.
He picked it up casually, only for his brows to shoot upward as he read the message.
[Breaking News: The Legendary S-Rank Talent is about to deliver a live speech to the public.]
"Huh? What?" Zane sat upright immediately. "They're revealing them? I thought they'd keep that secret for a while… What's changed?"
He fumbled for the TV remote, turned it on, and quickly switched to the news channel. The screen flickered to life, and Zane was greeted by a sweeping aerial shot of a massive crowd—hundreds of thousands, maybe millions—packed tightly into a colossal plaza.
The sound was deafening. Cheers, chants, excitement that felt almost religious.
"…What the hell?" he whispered, stunned. "There's an entire city's worth of people out there…"
He sat in awe, watching the crowd wave banners and raise their hands as the news anchors commented on the event's scale.
It was surreal. Zane had grown up in a world where Dimensional Knights were the ultimate symbol of strength—hope incarnate. But this… this was on another level.
"They treat this person like a god," he whispered. "And I used to do the same. Back then… it all felt like magic. They were our saviors, our protectors. Untouchable."
He gave a small, almost embarrassed chuckle. He could still remember how innocent he'd once been. Back when the world seemed so bright. He had believed, like these people, that Knights were invincible, that they never lost against evil. But... Life had taught him that in many cases... Evil can prevail over good.
"And now," a voice boomed from the TV, drawing his attention back, "for the moment you've all been waiting for…"
The camera panned toward a grand castle balcony, its ornate doors still closed.
"Our destined hero, our savior, and the pinnacle of our world—Lune Starpiercer."
The name echoed across the plaza, and the crowd exploded in cheers. A tidal wave of voices rose into the sky. But for Zane, the name hit like a drum inside his skull.
"Lune… Starpiercer?" he echoed under his breath. His mind latched onto it instinctively, like it was something he was meant to remember.
Then, the very next second, silence. Not a hushed murmur—true silence. As if the world held its breath.
And then—footsteps.
Soft, deliberate, and yet impossibly loud. Every step echoed with unnatural weight, like the sound traveled directly into the hearts of the listeners. The doors slowly parted, and a single figure emerged onto the balcony.
She stepped into the light.
Hair as black as a moonless sky fluttered behind her in waves. Eyes—deep, bottomless voids—stared down at the masses with quiet intensity. Her face… her face was perfection, an image sculpted by the hands of divinity.
She didn't wave. She didn't smile. She just stood there—and it was enough.
Zane's heart thudded in his chest.
"..."
He couldn't take his eyes off her. Neither could anyone else.
In that moment, Lune Starpiercer wasn't just a name.
She was a presence.
She was a force of nature.
And unbeknownst to him, in that single moment, that his world, and all worlds... will never be the same.