Zero no Tsukaima - Volume 21 illustrations

Hello, my name is Bologue Lazarus, a debtor.The wound on Bologue's face is healing at an observable speed. The blood remaining on his face flows back, and the skin is reattached, as if time is reversing.Faced with the terrified dying demon, he whispered.This is my “blessing”, the “debt” I owe.Sixty-six years ago, with the end of the Scorched Earth Fury, Opus of Oath City rose from the ruins of the Holy City.Sixty-six years later, the Kagader Empire and Rhine Alliance, two colossal entities spanning the continent, are plotting another all-consuming war.Order Bureau, King's Secret Sword, Order of Truth, Corrupted Sect, All Secrets Order... existences hidden in the shadows of history, trying to join this grand celebration.Under the curtain, the devils enjoy the agony of mortals, taste the values offered, manipulate fate, and bestow curses and blessings.Gazing at the mortals who were originally kindred spirits, they loathe and slaughter each other...

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”. However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of dungeons, the “World’s Weakest”. Having no skills whatsoever to display, I barely earned the required money by fighting in low-leveled dungeons… at least until I found a hidden dungeon with the hardest difficulty within the D-rank dungeons! In the end, as I was accepting death, I suddenly received a strange power, a quest log that only I could see, a secret to leveling up that only I know about! If I trained in accordance with my quests and hunted monsters, my level would rise. Changing from the weakest Hunter to the strongest S-rank Hunter!

Drowned, betrayed, and humiliated—Brandon’s life ended in the most pathetic way possible. But when he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Brandon.Reborn as Noah Weaverheart—in a novel he had read—the spoiled yet talentless son of a duchess, he quickly realizes a cruel truth: he’s nothing more than a stepping stone, fated to die in the first 30 chapters of this world’s story.But fate isn’t set in stone.Because he now has the Sovereign Bond System, a power that allows him to share everything from the women he bonds with—but at 10,000 times the quality.—[Ding! You have bonded with Neko Neko.][Ding! You have shared the affinity and talent of Neko Neko.][Ding! You have obtained the affinity: Ice (SSS rank) and the talent: Sovereign of Ice (SSS rank).]Noah’s lips curled into a knowing smirk.If this world wanted him to be a stepping stone, then he’d crush the so-called protagonist, steal his harem, and rewrite destiny itself.

I belong to a good sect that has never turned its back on me for my poor potential, has never forced me to study martial arts, and even helped arrange a betrothal for me when I was young.