Zenon held Darius’ gaze, letting the silence stretch between them for a moment before he finally spoke.
“It wasn’t sudden,” he said calmly. “It was inevitable.”
Darius’ brow furrowed. “That’s not an answer.”
Zenon exhaled through his nose. “Fine. You want details? I fought. I survived. And the System rewarded me.”
Darius crossed his arms, unconvinced. “You’re telling me that within days of being a nobody, you suddenly gained enough power to be classified as an S-Rank? That doesn’t happen. Even prodigies take years to reach that level.”
Zenon shrugged. “I never said I was normal.”
Darius studied him for a few seconds before speaking again. “And the Gate? The one that had an unstable ranking… You were inside, weren’t you?”
Zenon nodded. “That’s where it happened.”
Darius’ fingers tap
