🏠 Home

Chapter 157: Gregory's Dark Childhood

The air in the legendary castle felt different now.

Safari and Angeleva stood side by side, hearts pounding—yet no longer trembling.

No more fear.
No more hesitation.

They were ready.

Safari pulled Angeleva closer, his grip steady.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “I won’t have any regrets now. No matter what happens.”

Angeleva tightened her hold on him.
“I’m grateful too,” she whispered, her wings shimmering with resolve.

They locked eyes.

For the first time, it wasn’t about vengeance.

It wasn’t about proving strength.

It was about fighting—together.

Zack, Jen, and Olive grinned at them.

Ian sniffled behind his camera.
“This is gold. Pure gold.”

Patrick and Grace exchanged a glance, still flustered from earlier.

Patrick smirked.
“See? Anything is possible.”

Grace elbowed him playfully.
“Don’t get any ideas.”

The freed prisoners looked on in awe.
They weren’t just witnessing warriors.
They were witnessing legends.

Safari and Angeleva halted at the castle gates as Legend raised a hand.

“Wait.”

His voice was heavier than usual.

Confusion swept the group.

“You cannot fight them yet,” he said. “There is something you must know.”

Safari clenched his fists.
“What else is there? Gregory killed my sister. He betrayed my planet.”

Angeleva’s wings flared.
“And Patricia killed my mother. That’s all I need to know.”

Legend shook his head slowly.

“When I first saw them, I scanned their memories. I needed to understand what path led them here. What I found… you must see before you face them.”

Silence.

Safari and Angeleva hesitated, but they knew Legend would not speak without reason.

“Fine,” Safari growled. “Show us.”

Legend lifted his hand.

The God Sphere at the chamber’s center flared to life, spilling golden light across the room.

Images surfaced—memories long buried.

The glow intensified, dragging them into Gregory’s childhood.

A dark, bloodstained house materialized.

A young Gregory—no more than six—stood trembling in the corner, clutching his tiny hands to his chest, eyes wide with horror.

Screams echoed through the walls.

In the center, his parents loomed over a Sappy civilian sprawled across the floor, body carved with brutal cuts.

“This is the price of weakness,” his father sneered, driving a blade into the man’s chest.

His mother laughed coldly, kicking the lifeless body aside.
“These people have forgotten what it means to be true Sappy warriors. We will remind them.”

Day after day, Gregory watched.

People dragged in. Tortured. Slaughtered.

At night, his parents whispered in his ear:

“We are the true Sappy. The strong rule, the weak die. Remember that, Gregory.”

He never spoke.
He never cried.

But deep inside… he felt wrong.

Then, everything ended.

The former ruler of Sappy arrived with his army.

The truth had come to light.

“Monsters!” a warrior shouted. “You disgrace our honor!”

Gregory’s parents only laughed.

“Honor?” his mother spat. “Pathetic weakness. We are the true warriors—and we’ll prove it.”

The battle was brutal.

From the shadows, Gregory watched as his parents fought savagely, cutting down many.

But then the ruler himself stepped forward.

With a single merciless swing, he beheaded Gregory’s mother.

Gregory’s father roared in grief and rage, charging forward—only to be impaled through the chest.

He collapsed.

Gregory froze.
His terrifying parents—dead before his eyes.

The Sappy warriors stormed the house.

“Erase the bloodline!” one cried.

Panicked, Gregory grabbed a mace.

For the first time, he fought.

Wild, untrained, furious—he struck down five warriors.

But the tide overwhelmed him.

The ruler raised his blade… then stopped.

“He is just a child,” the ruler declared. “Born into this. Innocent.”

The army hesitated.

Then… they left him alive.

Gregory fell to his knees, staring at his parents’ corpses.

For the first time, he sobbed.

Then—his father stirred one final time.

“Gregory…” he rasped. “Do not let them erase us. Survive. Conquer. Rebuild Sappy’s pride… make them fear you.”

With that, he died.

The boy wiped his tears.

He picked up the mace.

And walked forward.

From that day, he swore one oath:

“I will restore Sappy’s fear—no matter the cost.”

The God Sphere twisted, pulling them deeper.

Gregory tore through his ruined home, searching.

His parents had spoken of a legacy. A true history.

And then he found it.

A hidden chamber beneath the floorboards.

Scrolls and carvings revealed the truth—Sappy’s ancestors were not mere warriors.

They were conquerors. Devils feared across worlds.

Ruthless. Unstoppable.

Until their descendants abandoned conquest and grew weak.

Gregory’s eyes burned with clarity.

“This is what my father meant…”

If his people rejected their true legacy, they were weaklings.

And the weak deserved to suffer.

He sought out the ruler of Sappy once more.

“Let me restore our empire! Let me make the universe fear us again!”

The ruler’s gaze hardened.

“You are a shame, Gregory. That age is over.”

Something inside him snapped.

“No. That age is only beginning.”

Years passed.

Gregory survived alone.

He hunted. He fought.

By thirteen, he was no longer a trembling child.

He had become a warrior.

He returned to the people with the truth of their ancestors.

“This is our destiny!” he cried.

But the people shook their heads.
“That is not who we are anymore.”

Gregory seethed.

“Weaklings.”

If they would not rise… he would rise alone.

But not all rejected him.

In the shadows, he found others who longed for the old ways.

Together, they hunted—not for survival, but for sport.

Torture became ritual.

Every scream, every broken cry proved his strength.

He reveled in it.

His power grew. His thirst deepened.

Soon, he trained Sappy youths—though what he truly taught them was suffering.

Weakness was his enemy.

Then came the boy.

Safari.

A spark of potential.

Gregory took him in.

“This one could be like me.”

But Safari never measured up.

Bored, Gregory turned him into something else—

A punching bag.

A living lesson in pain.

“If you want to survive, you must endure!” he mocked, beating him without end.

He knew the reason for Safari’s weakness—

His sister.

Her “peaceful” influence poisoned him.

Gregory sent his men to kill her.

When Safari returned, broken and raging, Gregory laughed.

Now, he truly controlled him.

Years passed.

Gregory’s strength eclipsed all limits.

But still—it wasn’t enough.

Sappy was too small.

He craved more.

Conquest. Domination. Fear.

Leaving the planet was forbidden.

But Gregory no longer cared.

“Sappy has grown weak. I don’t need this place.”

He abandoned his home.

World by world, he conquered. Tortured. Shattered.

The universe began to whisper his name.

But whispers were not enough.

Then—he heard of Raven.

A being more feared than any other.

Gregory sought him out.

He proved his worth.

And Raven accepted him.

Not as a servant.

But as his right hand.

At last, Gregory had achieved what he desired.

The universe feared him.

He had surpassed everyone.