Within a Hollow Heart - Chapter 40: Volume 1, : "Faint Echoes of Power"

As a princess that could not wield magic, Princess Daphne’s only value to her kingdom was her arranged marriage. The task was simple, but when Daphne gets kidnapped and brought to the cold mountains of Vramid, she realizes that she’s in over her head.

She had heard of these cursed mountains before― rocky terrain, freezing temperatures, and the land was ruled by a man feared by many within the continent.

King Atticus Heinvres, the blood-thirsty ruler of the North.

Even though she had never met him before, tales were spread of King Atticus’s ruthlessness. Some said he was a monster, others claimed he was the devil himself, but whatever the story was, everyone knew of the man who had powers beyond anyone’s imagination. He could topple armies and crumble nations with just one wave of his hand, aided by what others rumored to be a cursed obsidian ring.

No one outside of Vramid had ever met the fearsome king before. Not until Daphne.

However, upon meeting the formidable man, Daphne found out that the king might not really be the monster others had claimed him to be.

In fact, what was hidden under that obsidian shield could just be a diamond in the rough.

―

[Excerpt]

“Now… where should I put you both?” he asked casually, not expecting a reply. “It’s regretful that I only have one chandelier.”

“Underneath my bed? No, no, too dirty. My dust bunnies don’t deserve this,” Atticus mused to himself. “The mantlepiece? How about the vanity table? I suppose if I lop off one of your heads I could mount it over… Wife, which head do you want to stare at while you do your hair?”

“Atticus!” Daphne screamed. “I don’t want any heads! Let them go.”

“Fair enough.” Atticus shrugged, and flicked his fingers.

There were two identical cracks as both necks snapped at once.

Daphne gasped, horrified. This man, her husband, had just killed two men with a flick of his finger, as though he was snuffing out candles.

“I told you to let them go!” Daphne cried out.

“Yes, I let them go,” Atticus said. Then, his eyes darkened. “To receive divine judgment from the heavens.”

―

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Saying 5000 year-old-dragon has an impressive ring to it, yet that dragon was an extremely harmless, herbivorous being. However, because of his uselessly giant figure and scary appearance, he was mistaken for the Demon King’s executive and provided by the nearby village with a sacrificial maiden.

Fundamentally cowardly and timid dragon tried to send her away, but the extremely enthusiastic sacrifice didn’t want to give up. Inevitably, he lied: “Okay, I just ate a small portion of your soul, so you can go back already”, but the maiden with outrageous assumptions has misunderstood that she became the dragon’s kin.

Then, out of all things, she began to manifest strange power on the basis of her wrong assumptions – in turn, the helpless dragon, by some mistake started a rebellion against the Demon King.

Rebellion or whatnot, he wasn’t even his subordinate in the first place.

Luo Wencheng made a deal with a certain existence and went back in time to ten years ago, when he had just been released from prison, still young and healthy, not yet pushed to the breaking point by Luo Wenjun and not yet used by him as a prop to test drugs for profit until his tragic death.

This time he was going to trample Luo Wenjun underfoot.

The first priority was to steal Luo Wenjun’s future backer from him.

- Description from Novelupdates

The people of Earth have been summoned once again

Scientists document six extinction events in Earth's history, but none of them were as natural as they claimed.

Sylas and his family have been called back to the Browns, a family of billionaire elites with assets reaching into the trillions. He isn't sure what to expect until he touches a floating bronze cube that changes his life.

[Bronze City Stele]

[Status: Dormant]

[Time to Activation: 04:13:38]

Unfortunately, there's only one Stele and the Browns have already decided upon their candidates. If Sylas wants to control his own fate, he'll have to enter the Trial.

Now, woefully unprepared, and stuck in a world filled with the extinct creatures of Earth, he'll have to carve out his own opportunity... whether the Browns like it or not.