One Step Immortal

A Legend in the Making

The turning of fate often happens in a single instant.

Just like this moment.

The God-Level Choice System?

Hearing the voice echo inside his mind, Jones stood there for a brief second, stunned.

But Catherine’s cold and venomous voice quickly dragged him back to reality.

“Someone get him out of the academy! I don’t want to see this loser for another second!”

To ensure that the two million stayed firmly in her hands, Catherine began urging the simps gathered around her to drive Jones away by force, intending to swallow the money that had originally belonged to him.

Hearing this, Jones slowly raised his head.

In that moment, he understood everything.

Seeing Catherine’s true nature today might not be such a bad thing after all.

The warmth that once filled Jones’s blue eyes vanished completely. In its place was something far more oppressive—an intense, almost feral brutality.

Catherine instinctively stepped back.

She saw Jones lower his body slightly, then rush forward in the blink of an eye. His strong arm swung through the air—

Smack!

The slap landed squarely across her face.

Catherine fell to the ground in a miserable heap, her hair disheveled.

“You—you actually hit me!” she cried, clutching her swollen cheek in disbelief. She had never imagined that Jones, who had always treated her with tenderness and devotion, would dare to strike back.

Jones pulled the necklace from her neck and said coldly,

“Bitch. Whatever we had between us is over. Completely over.”

Then he turned and prepared to leave.

“You’re not going anywhere!” One of Catherine’s simps stepped forward, reaching out to block his path.

But Jones merely glanced at them.

That cold, domineering gaze alone forced everyone who had stepped forward to retreat.

At the same time, the Hellfire Demon floating above Jones opened its eyes, staring down at them with a sinister grin.

Immediately, their legs began trembling uncontrollably. No one dared move again.

Even if Jones couldn’t control his Titan, the former genius of Norman Academy was still someone they could not afford to provoke.

Jones turned and walked away.

At the same time, the familiar voice appeared in his mind once more.

“The Chosen One, you have completed Option Two. Your reward will now be issued.”

In the next instant, a completely black card appeared in Jones’s pocket. Across its surface ran a line of fine golden lettering—his name.

But what captured Jones’s attention most was the method for controlling the Hellfire Demon, which echoed clearly in his mind.

“Offer one hundred Titan Cores as sacrifices. Grind the mithril necklace into powder and carve the ritual markings. Finally, place Ice Crystal Jade from the far north at the center of the ritual and form a contract with the Hellfire Demon. Only then can you fully control it.”

So that was the secret.

No wonder so many heroes who awakened the Hellfire Demon had died.

Awakening it was merely the beginning. The true key was forming a contract, without which no one could control such a violent and powerful Titan.

Jones examined the necklace in his hand, which appeared ordinary at first glance.

Mithril?

The necklace was actually made of mithril.

The global annual production of mithril was less than a thousand pounds, and it was an essential material for crafting magical artifacts. Because of that, it had always been one of the most coveted resources among heroes.

The necklace in Jones’s hand alone could easily sell for ten million at auction.

But that raised a troubling question.

Why would Catherine possess two mithril necklaces?

Why had she given one—worth ten million—to him during that freezing winter five years ago, yet now betray him over merely two million?

Still lost in these thoughts, Jones reached the edge of the plaza.

“Jones!” the principal shouted sternly. “Remember this—within one month, you must repay the five million! If you dare disappear, your family will suffer the consequences!”

“And another thing. Ten days from now is the graduation exam. You’ll have to find a team yourself. The academy’s main squad will be competing for first place. Trash like you has no place among them.”

Jones suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned around and looked at the principal.

There was no shouting.

No argument.

Even his expression remained calm.

Yet that strange calmness sent an inexplicable chill down the principal’s spine.

It was unbelievable.

The principal had served in the military in his younger years. He had seen terrifying monsters and arrogant powerhouses alike. Aside from the first three months of his service, he had never again experienced such a feeling.

And yet now, he felt it again—from a student who had not even graduated.

Jones withdrew his gaze.

He tightened his grip on the black card in his pocket as the method for controlling the Hellfire Demon replayed in his mind.

Silently, he made a vow.

Ten days from now…

I will climb back to the top.

I will reclaim the title of genius.

Jones turned and walked away without another word.

Night was slowly falling. The fading glow of dusk stretched across his solitary figure, making his tall silhouette appear even more proud, cold, and untouchable.

For a moment, everyone in the plaza stood frozen.

They exchanged uncertain glances, suddenly beginning to question what the records had always claimed.

The Hellfire Demon was said to be uncontrollable.

But what if—

What if Jones actually managed to control it?

Catherine stared at Jones’s departing figure, her face twisted with rage.

“He actually dared to hit me! Does he still think he’s that genius from before? He’s nothing but a poor slum brat now!”

“And he’s such an idiot—he only took one worthless necklace!”

“Catherine, don’t you think you went too far?”

The one who spoke was a woman wearing a fitted white evening dress. Her figure was striking, and her beauty far surpassed Catherine’s.

She looked at Jones’s proud and lonely figure with obvious concern.

Catherine’s face darkened instantly with jealousy.

“Karina, this is between me and my boyfriend. You have no right to interfere!”

“And don’t forget—you’re just an orphan my family took in!”

“Giving me that worthless thing your mother left behind—that cheap necklace—doesn’t repay the debt you owe our family for raising you!”

“That kind of trash… only fools like you and Jones would treat it as treasure.”

“Oh right—you only awakened an F-rank Titan. The two of you really are a perfect pair of losers.”

Hearing her mother’s keepsake insulted like that, Karina’s face filled with anger.

“That was my mother’s relic! It’s not some worthless necklace!”

Smack!

Catherine raised her hand and slapped Karina across the face.

“You dare talk back? Fine—then get out of our house tonight!”

…

Meanwhile, the mayor watched Jones’s departing figure with a complicated expression.

“What a pity,” he murmured. “A rare SS-rank Titan, yet it happens to be the Hellfire Demon—an uncontrollable anomaly.”

“But for an eighteen-year-old to possess such composure… that is truly rare.”

He turned to his secretary.

“Send someone to follow him. I have a feeling—if he doesn’t die, he may one day become a legend.”

The secretary hesitated for a moment before asking,

“Mayor Lorne, heroes who awaken the Hellfire Demon rarely survive more than three months. Is it really necessary to spend resources on someone who’s destined to die?”

A mysterious smile appeared on the mayor’s face.

“Well,” he said slowly, “who can say?”

“After all, back then no one believed that a poor boy from the slums like me could one day become the Mayor of Dusk City