Chapter 1
Vabos Plain
Dax awoke to the stench of blood.
The world around him was a canvas of ripped flesh, broken earth, and smeared gore. A warm breeze prickled his skin. He raised a trembling hand and touched his forehead. It came away wet—thick, red, fresh.
"…Blood?"
His eyelids fluttered.
_Ugh._
Then the storm came.
A flood of memories—violent, chaotic, and not his—crashed into his mind:
A group of hooded figures sprinting through a night-drenched forest.
A young man wearing _his face_ gasping for breath.
Guards struggling to keep up.
And behind them—
A tidal wave of monstrous beasts tearing through the trees.
When the horde caught them, everything dissolved into carnage.
As the foreign memories embedded themselves into him, the original owner's emotions intertwined with his own—rage, longing, humiliation, yearning, despair… and ambition.
But one feeling swallowed all others:
**Hatred.**
Hot. Molten. Expansive.
A hatred heavy enough to crush mountains.
Hatred for the world that had taken everything from him.
Hatred for the injustice he lived with from birth.
Hatred for the helplessness of his final moments.
Dax's breath shuddered.
"What… is this?" His fingers dug into the dirt. "How is this possible?"
Then clarity dawned.
"I died."
He exhaled.
"I've been… reborn."
But there was no joy. Only disgust. Only fury.
"This is ridiculous."
He slammed his fist into the ground—and pain ripped through his arm.
"Dammit—!"
As if mocking him, the truth hit even harder.
All his strength—everything he had built over **four centuries**—
gone.
"Ha… hahaha…"
He laughed, hollow and bitter.
"I really am the greatest joke in the universe."
Then a familiar voice echoed in his mind.
**Welcome to Epoch.**
He froze.
"…Inerous?"
A faint smile tugged at the edge of his lips.
"So I didn't lose _everything_."
---
### **Epoch System Booting…**
```
1%… 10%… 30%… 70%… 99%… 100%
```
**Name:** Dax Godfall
**Race:** Human
**Bloodline:** None
**Realm:** Trait Emperor
**Rank:** 0
**Title:** The Mad Scientist
**Traits:** Synthesis, Insatiable Hunger
**Attributes:** None
**Skills:** Telekinesis
**Strength:** 30
**Agility:** 6
**Physique:** 3
**Mana:** 0
**Aura:** 0
**Luck:** -1
Dax stared at the numbers, speechless.
"So these pitiful stats… are because they stole this boy's talent? They even robbed his luck?"
A voice answered.
"Yes."
Dax spun around.
An identical version of himself approached—calm, composed, almost ethereal.
"You…" Dax whispered.
"My talent was stolen at birth," the soul-double said gently. "You did not inherit all of my memories. Not yet. In time, you will."
Dax studied him carefully.
A soul should not have shape.
It should not stand or speak.
Yet he felt drawn to it—
as if his body instinctively recognized it.
The double smiled.
"I am a gentle flame. My soul was that flame. This body was the wood that fed it… and I let that wood burn away. Do not fear me."
Dax exhaled.
"So you're the original owner."
He paused.
"How did you end up in this state?"
"I don't know." The soul's voice dimmed. "I have been like this since the moment of my death."
This world…
It was far stranger than he'd expected.
The soul flickered—then collapsed into a small orb that drifted toward his chest.
Before Dax could speak, a new image materialized in his mind:
A beautiful black-haired woman smiling tenderly.
His throat tightened.
"…Mother."
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
"She's still… so beautiful. Even here."
Then another memory surfaced: red-and-black robed cultists surrounding the woman and her newborn child.
Dax's entire body trembled.
"So _that's_ how you lost your talent."
His voice was cold as frost.
"A crime committed before you could even breathe. A world that never cared for fairness."
He etched the cultists' faces into his mind like carvings in stone.
"We are one now," he whispered. "Your rage, your sorrow, your desire… all of it burns in me."
A weight lifted. His body settled into itself—
familiar, natural, complete.
---
### **System Restoring…**
```
10%… 30%… 70%… 100%
```
**Gene Palace: Restored**
**Mutant Soul: Acquired**
**Personal World: Gene Palace (Sealed)**
**Epoch Storage: Restored**
+1 Cil
+1 Annihilation Horn
**Star Farm: Restored (Sealed)**
A slow grin stretched across his face.
"So tell me… what exactly did I lose?"
He spread his arms.
"I still have my traits. My realm. My artifacts."
A low laugh escaped him.
"Hahaha… hahahahaha! How maddening. Wonderful!"
Even powerless, he felt alive.
"Predecessor…" he murmured, looking toward the sky. "Your dream is not far."
Rustling cut through the air.
Dax's eyes sharpened.
"Danger."
A sword sliced toward his throat—faster than sound.
---
### **Killing Series: Second Form — Blood Flow.**
His muscles loosened.
His killing intent seeped from his pores like black mist.
He spread his legs, pivoting sharply—
**Cough! Boom! Stab!**
The swordsman missed by inches, slamming his blade into the ground to stop his momentum.
A priest in red robes appeared behind Dax, expression twisted, blocking every escape path.
"This brat…" the swordsman growled. "He dodged a Rank Two strike?"
"Kikikiki!"
The priest's back arched unnaturally. "Vos! Vos! Vos!"
Dax's gaze remained cool, unshaken.
One insane.
One impulsive.
Meaning—
"There's a third one."
He sighed.
"Come out."
A handsome, long-haired man dressed in red robes stepped forward, smiling pleasantly.
"Interesting," he said, eyes narrowing. "The apple truly does not fall far from the tree. How did you counter that attack?"
"Who are you?" Dax asked.
"How rude of me."
The man bowed slightly.
"I am Vabon, of the Blood River.
The swordsman is Mike.
The priest howling behind you is Kakarai."
His smile widened.
"We have come to kill you. Don't worry… it won't hurt long. Unless pain is what you enjoy."
Blood River.
Dax's eyes darkened.
"So… you finally show yourselves."
"This boy's broken," Vabon laughed. "How adorable."
Dax's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Kneel."
Power rippled.
Mike and Kakarai collapsed instantly—their knees cracking and bursting with blood.
"What—what is this humiliation?!" Mike screamed.
"Vos! Vos! Vos!"
Kakarai trembled violently, face twisted between agony and ecstasy.
Vabon's expression hardened.
_This is bad._
He tried to hide it, but his instinct took over.
Without hesitation, he sank into the ground, fleeing like a rat—
vanishing completely.
"You were abandoned," Dax murmured.
He raised a hand.
Telekinesis launched Mike skyward.
Then—
**Boom!**
He smashed into the ground, creating a crater but still breathing.
Dax grabbed him by the leg and dragged him toward the priest.
"Vos!"
Kakarai lunged—
but he was different.
Eyes feral.
Muscles swollen like mutated iron.
**Crack! Boom! Cough!**
Dax slammed into a boulder, blood spraying from his mouth.