From Zero Blood, I Became the Untouchable Solar Overlord!

Chapter 3

The freezing wind screamed across the snowy plains, whipping hard against Ethan's back. In his arms, his mother's body grew colder by the second, her face pale and still under the falling gray frost.

Five long years of misery flashed before his eyes like sharp blades. He had eaten garbage, knelt in the dirt, and let Cynthia drain his soul every night just to buy his mother warmth and safety.

"I gave them everything," Ethan whispered, his voice trembling as hot tears froze against his cheeks. "And they paid me back with your blood."

Beside him, little Toby shivered violently in the snow, his tiny hands clutching Ethan's torn pants. The boy’s face was white, his teeth clicking together so hard they sounded ready to snap.

Ethan gently laid his mother down on the frozen ground. With his bare, newly healed hands, he began to claw at the rock-hard ice, tearing chunks of frozen earth away until his knuckles cracked.

He did not feel the pain in his fingers. The burning agony in his chest was a thousand times worse than the biting cold of the Outer Wastes.

He dug until the hole was deep enough to protect her from the wind and the wild beasts. Slowly, carefully, he lifted his mother and lowered her into the frozen earth.

He piled heavy stones over her grave one by one, building a cairn against the storm. When the last stone was placed, Ethan rested his bloody forehead against the cold rock.

"Rest now, Mother," Ethan swore in a dark, quiet voice. "I will never let Toby close his eyes. And every single person who laughed at our misery will pay with their lives."

A harsh, wet cough shattered the silence behind him. Ethan spun around, his heart leaping straight into his throat.

Toby had collapsed sideways into the snow, his tiny body curling up into a tight ball. A thick wave of black blood spilled from the boy's mouth, staining the white ground with dark, foul-smelling liquid.

"Ethan..." Toby gasped out, his eyes rolling back as his lips turned a bruised, dark purple. "It burns... inside my chest... it hurts so much..."

"Toby! Hold on!" Ethan yelled, lunging forward to scoop the small boy into his arms. Toby’s skin was ice-cold, but his chest felt like boiling water trapped under bone.

Every breath the boy took sounded like dry leaves scraping over glass. Ethan held him tight, feeling the boy's fragile life-force slipping away like water through fingers.

Right at that moment, a clear, crisp chime rang out inside Ethan's skull.

[Absolute Zero Environment Absorbed: +500 Eclipse Points.]

[Lethal Malice Harvested from Slain Enemies: +1,500 Eclipse Points.]

[Total Balance: 2,000 Eclipse Points.]

[System Mall Unlocked: Basic Tier Accessible.]

Ethan didn't hesitate for a single second. "Open the mall!" he ordered inside his mind, his vision flooding with glowing golden text.

Countless pills, divine elixirs, and ancient artifacts flashed across his thoughts, but the full healing medicines were grayed out, locked behind high levels he could not yet touch.

"There must be something," Ethan gritted his teeth, scanning through the basic list with frantic eyes. "Give me something to save my brother!"

A single golden item flared brightly near the top of the shelf.

[Item: Stasis Frost-Needle.]

[Cost: 1,000 Eclipse Points.]

[Effect: Halts all biological decay and freezes internal illness for seven days.]

"Buy it! Right now!" Ethan shouted in his mind.

[1,000 Eclipse Points Deducted. Remaining Balance: 1,000 EP.]

A bright golden light gathered in Ethan's right palm, solidifying into a thin, shining needle that glowed with warm solar energy. Without a moment of doubt, Ethan pressed the needle straight into the center of Toby's chest.

A soft pulse of golden light washed over the boy's ribs. The terrible rattling in Toby's throat instantly quieted down, and his frantic shaking began to slow.

A golden barrier formed around the boy's heart, locking his condition in place. Toby breathed out a soft sigh, slipping into a deep, painless sleep in Ethan's arms.

Ethan let out a long, ragged breath, resting his cheek against Toby's forehead. "You're safe for now, little brother. I've got you."

Before he could pull his hand back, the system chimed once more, flashing a deep crimson warning across his sight.

[Diagnostic Scan Complete.]

[Target Condition: Nine-Suns Parasitic Seal (Stage 4).]

[Diagnosis: The target is not suffering from natural frost-rot. A living soul-parasite was placed inside the target's lungs five years ago, siphoning life-force into the city's central heating grid.]

Ethan froze completely in the snow, his entire body going numb with shock. The blood in his veins ran colder than the blizzard howling around them.

"A parasite?" Ethan whispered, his hands trembling as he stared down at his brother's sleeping face. "Five years ago... that was the day Cynthia broke her core."

[Additional Note: The blackthorn tonic fed to the target was never medicine. It was a chemical feed designed to keep the parasite alive until the target was completely drained.]

The horrifying truth crashed into Ethan's mind like a falling mountain. Toby had never been sick by chance; Cynthia's family and the Garrick Syndicate had deliberately turned an innocent slum child into a living battery.

They had poisoned his little brother on purpose just to keep Ethan bound to them like a slave. They had made him bleed his star core every night, pretending they were being merciful by handing him diluted poison.

A sound tore from Ethan's throat, half a sob and half a roar of pure, blackened hatred. His fists clenched until his palms bled, dark solar fire flickering along his skin.

"They used my brother's life to fuel their warmth," Ethan growled through clenched teeth, his golden eyes blazing with lethal fury. "They laughed at my face while they slowly murdered my family."

He wanted to run straight up to the golden gates of Aethelgard and tear Garrick and Cynthia apart with his bare hands. He wanted to burn their grand palace to ashes and make them choke on their own blood.

[Warning: The Nine-Suns Parasitic Seal possesses a remote detonation trigger. Hostile action against the syndicate head may cause immediate core collapse in the target.]

The system's warning stopped Ethan cold. If he charged into the city right now, Garrick could trigger the parasite and kill Toby before Ethan even reached the inner courtyard.

To save his brother, he couldn't just fight; he had to strip Garrick of everything, break the syndicate's hold on the city, and take the master release seal with his own hands.

"They think I'm dead," Ethan muttered, his voice turning as hard and cold as iron. "They think they can rule the city in peace."

He wrapped his thick, tattered coat tightly around Toby, holding the small boy firmly against his chest. The golden needle hidden under the boy's shirt pulsed with steady, quiet warmth.

Ethan turned away from his mother's stone cairn, looking toward the dark silhouette of the city walls in the distance. The towers of the Upper District glowed like warm jewels in the night sky.

He walked past the frozen wasteland until he reached the rusted iron grates of the city's main drainage runoffs. Mud and freezing sludge pooled at the entrance, ignored by the guards above.

Ethan pulled his hood low over his face, hiding his glowing golden eyes beneath the shadows. With steady, silent steps, he stepped into the dark tunnels, heading straight into the freezing belly of the Aethelgard slums.

"Enjoy your wedding feast while you can, Cynthia," Ethan whispered into the cold darkness of the tunnel. "Because when I come for you, there will be nowhere left to hide."