Watching Gwen reveal the white shirt beneath his outerwear and solemnly issue his invitation, everyone fell silent. A few people's breathing grew heavier.
Perhaps to the older elders, Gwen's words made perfect sense and had even spared everyone's dignity.
But to the younger generation, this was an outright provocation.
They were all used to taking on several opponents at once with ease. How could he brag so shamelessly?
Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Gwen simply did not wait for them to make the first move. He stepped forward instead, seeming to expose himself full of openings.
Facing Gwen, who appeared utterly defenseless, Andrew exchanged a glance with the brothers beside him and nodded hard. As Gwen approached, they suddenly attacked, Andrew's casserole-sized fist swinging straight at him.
At the same time, Andrew's two cousins also moved. One threw a front kick, while the other swept out with a low kick, both attacking Gwen together.
Yet the attacks of the three brothers, which would have been enough to send someone to the hospital outside, landed on Gwen with dull thuds.
It was as though they were not striking someone clad only in a thin shirt, but attacking the earth itself.
Regardless of the trio's reactions, their actions seemed to have pressed a start button. The other restless young people no longer wanted to stay idle either, charging toward Gwen, who stood there without moving an inch, amid loud shouts.
Watching the young people quickly descend into a brawl, the elders, powerless to intervene, could only sigh and silently step back—
From what Gwen had said earlier, he seemed like someone sensible and measured.
In that case, let the children learn how uneven the world could be.
And so, the hall that had been relatively quiet moments ago instantly turned into a battlefield for a group brawl among young people...
Recognition and Respect
"I think I've already proven that I'm qualified."
Gwen lightly shook his right hand, casually smoothing out the additional wrinkles in his shirt. He looked toward the elders who had retreated to the rear as soon as the brawl began and asked calmly.
Gwen had not sensed any malice from the elders. He could even feel faint goodwill and appreciation from them now.
So he did not suspect that these young people had been incited by them.
Or rather, even if they had been, it no longer mattered—
At this point, aside from the few elders, everyone else lay scattered across the floor. They did not even have the strength to stand, while Gwen, not even breathing hard, stood leisurely among the crowd, standing out like a crane among chickens.
"You're an extraordinary young man..."
Looking at Gwen's face, which inexplicably gave him a sense of familiarity, an old man sighed. His gaze swept over the younger generation sprawled across the ground, desperately holding back their cries of pain, before he lightly shook his head and looked toward another elder beside him.
"Third, you and the others stay behind and take care of the children.
"I'll take this child to the back and explain a few things..."
"Alright!"
At that, the old man ranked third among this generation nodded and called the other elders over to inspect the injuries of the family members who could not get up.
As for the vigorous old man, he led Gwen into a small room behind the hall.
"Ah..."
After studying Gwen for quite a while, the elder still only felt that he looked familiar. Yet he could not remember which brat in the family he resembled. With a sigh, he spoke.
"Young man..."
The elder briefly introduced himself. It turned out that he belonged to the same generation as the Caslana family head from two generations ago. He was the eldest, while that former family head had been his cousin, ranked second.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the elder got straight to the point and began telling Gwen things that a family head ought to know—
As a knightly family of Schicksal, the Caslana family had always suffered an extremely high casualty rate among its heads.
Thus, many secrets that should originally have been known only to the family head had to be entrusted to other family members who did not go to the battlefield, ensuring that those secrets would be passed down.
Although Gwen's actions today had carried more than a hint of seizing power by force, the elder acknowledged what Gwen had said—
The young people in the hall alone could not uphold the Caslana family's name.
Only a genius like Gwen... or rather, a powerhouse like him, could support the stature and glory of this knightly family, once one of Schicksal's three great pillars.
Moreover, while he was not as capable in combat as his cousin, the elder had accumulated wisdom over his long life. He was also one of the few who could see that the person pushing Gwen to come here was most likely the current Archbishop of Schicksal, someone the Caslana family absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Since they had already tacitly accepted Gwen's position in the Caslana family, the elder saw no point in hiding these so-called secrets.
Listening to the elder's unhurried account, Gwen, who had not been especially invested at first and had merely listened attentively out of respect for the elder, gained something from it. He could not help becoming even more serious.
More than an hour later, when the two returned to the hall, the young people and vigorous middle-aged men whom Gwen had beaten until they could not stand had all risen again. Their gazes toward Gwen had also become considerably more complicated.
Yet before anyone could speak, Gwen took the lead.
"Sorry, everyone. To make things as simple as possible, I used some rather rough methods. Please forgive me.
"Of course, if you are unwilling to accept it, you can simply treat me as though I don't exist.
"After all, the Earth keeps turning without anyone, and life will not become impossible just because someone who is not around has been added to it."
"..."
Faced with Gwen's sudden apology, everyone found the many words in their stomachs completely blocked. They fell silent.
Suddenly, a scoff came from the crowd. Gwen looked over and saw a middle-aged man smiling at him. Compared to the others of his age nearby, the man looked sharper and more capable, with his chin cleanly shaved.
"You're not bad. You have more responsibility than that brat Siegfried!"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man smiled and gave Gwen a thumbs-up before turning and leaving.
The middle-aged man's words seemed to open the floodgates. The other Caslana family members either stepped forward openly to pat Gwen on the shoulder or nodded with complicated expressions, then left the hall.
In the end, once the elder beside him had also left, Gwen was the only person remaining in the hall.
According to what the elder had told Gwen earlier, this hall and the estate had originally belonged to the family head's branch. They were also where the family held gatherings.
After the previous family head's defection several years ago, only the latter function remained.
Now that Gwen had taken on the family head's responsibilities, the estate had automatically been transferred into his name.
"..."
Watching the elder's figure disappear into the distance, Gwen returned to the hall. Looking at the grand building beneath the brilliant sunlight, he gave a soft laugh.
Without question, getting along with these more straightforward people was far more pleasant than dealing with a group of schemers.
"..."
In the Sea of Quantum, Kevin, who had watched everything unfold, remained silent for a moment. But upon hearing Gwen laugh, he finally spoke.
"You may have earned their respect through your strength, but you have not truly convinced them..."
"That's for the best."
Gwen shook his head dismissively.
"Although Otto values me highly right now, no one can say whether I'll become Schicksal's first S-rank knight or the next Siegfried.
"If they get too close to me, they may end up being implicated."
Gwen had never deliberately hidden the possibility of falling out with Otto from Kevin.
After all, before Finality descended, Kevin would make a decent choice of boss.
At the very least, Kevin could still let Gwen grind stats after he gained a few more levels.
"..."
Hearing Gwen's words, Kevin said nothing more and returned to silence.
Although World Serpent could still contact Kevin after he fell into the Sea of Quantum, it was exceedingly difficult. As a result, Kevin's understanding of Schicksal—or Otto—was very limited and remained superficial, based only on written accounts.
In the few days since he had established contact with Gwen, however, Kevin had come to know another side of Otto through Gwen's words.
Gwen had long grown accustomed to Kevin's silence except when he was guiding him, so he did not mind. He casually took off his coat and pulled out the key Amber had sent him a few days ago from his pocket.
"If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the key to that so-called secret vault..."
Recalling the secrets the elder had just told him, Gwen muttered to himself and headed toward the location the elder had described.
Crystal Flower?
Although Gwen did not have especially high expectations for the so-called secret vault, he was quite interested in opening a mystery box... in seeing what foundations the Caslana family possessed.
After all, while the world of Honkai Impact 3rd was not some leisurely fantasy setting, it did have the Previous Civilization before it. Even Schicksal could be considered an organization that had risen through archaeology.
Furthermore, there was the precedent from five hundred years ago, when the Apocalypse family had possessed Void Archives and guarded the Black Box without being able to use them. Gwen held at least a tiny bit of hope that he might find something valuable in the Caslana family's secret vault...
Though since the key had ended up in Otto's hands, it was practically certain that anything valuable inside had probably been taken by Otto already. Still... what if?
Holding expectations he perhaps should not have had, Gwen found the secret vault and used the key in his hand to unlock the door. It then took him considerable effort to push open the two heavy doors, which even two strong adults might not have been able to move.
After opening the doors, Gwen was surprised that the secret chamber, which theoretically had not been opened in more than a decade, did not feel damp at all—
During his conversation with the elder, Gwen had learned that the key to the secret vault had been lost by the elder's cousin, the previous family head. It had not been opened for over a decade, confirming his earlier guess.
Still, although it was called a secret vault, it had clearly been built only a few decades ago and even had electric lights.
As the switch was pressed, the previously pitch-black vault instantly lit up. It lost some of the feeling of exploration, but Gwen could now clearly see the items arranged neatly upon shelves after shelves.
Gwen strolled through the room, curiously inspecting the things on the shelves. As expected, most of them held little value to him.
However, a few items did catch Gwen's attention—
Several broken swords lay together. Judging from their hilts, they were clearly mass-produced industrial products, yet they carried the historical air of having endured countless years.
Beside those broken swords, Gwen even discovered a flawless greatsword inside a sword case. It glimmered gold, as though it had been forged from solid gold.
Looking at the golden sword, which gave him an intense sense of familiarity, a thought suddenly surfaced in Gwen's mind and left him stunned—
Could this be...
"This is the Tenth Divine Key, the Key of Domination. Although it is somewhat weaker than the other Divine Keys, it will be enough for you right now...
"If you can activate it."
Kevin's voice came from within his mind, confirming Gwen's guess.
However, considering that he had received the key from Otto, then... this intact Key of Domination most likely had not originally been part of the Caslana family's secret vault. It had probably been prepared for him by a certain Archbishop of Schicksal who wished to remain unnamed.
At that thought, Gwen's expression could not help becoming complicated.
So far, Otto had truly treated him well. He could even say Otto had treated him very well.
If Gwen had not seen the story and known that, in the Archbishop's heart, everyone other than Kallen was merely a chess piece to be exploited and sacrificed—and that he himself was already one such piece, soon to carry out a certain plan—then he might have already been left dazed by everything Otto had given him. All of it was merely part of the principle that one must first give before taking.
As for where this Key of Domination had come from, Gwen had a guess as well—
Otto had most likely dug it up from somewhere while excavating the treasures within Fu Hua's memories.
While wondering where Otto had acquired this Key of Domination, Gwen did not rush to take it down—
He had neither activated the Hyper-Mutation Factor nor cultivated Tai Xu Sword Qi. Even if he took it now, he would not be able to use it for a while. He could simply bring it away when he left later.
Gwen's gaze shifted from the intact Key of Domination to the broken swords beside it—
"Since you recognize this as the Key of Domination, Kevin... were all these damaged Keys of Domination placed here by you?"
Kevin had not revealed his identity as a pioneer of the Previous Civilization to Gwen, and Gwen had no intention of exposing that he already knew. He acted as though Kevin were simply an ordinary Caslana ancestor.
"...
"Yes..."
After a moment of silence, Kevin used Gwen's eyes to look over the broken swords and answered quietly.
"If you need them, just take them..."
Although Kevin said that, Gwen, who had rarely heard emotional fluctuations in his cold voice, naturally did not take him entirely at his word—
Could these be some of the Keys of Domination that Chrono wore out, which Kevin retrieved from the lunar battlefield back then?
As he pondered the source of Kevin's emotional shift, Gwen continued walking through the Caslana family's secret vault, wanting to see whether there was anything else worth noticing.
However, aside from the Key of Domination Otto had deliberately left behind, there seemed to be nothing else in the vault worth Gwen "picking up." That was until he discovered a box in a corner, not placed on a shelf but simply sitting quietly on the floor.
Before you continue