The cold, hard stone wall pressed against Kelson's back, the chill seeping through his thin clothes to his very bones, causing him to shiver uncontrollably from the cold and exhaustion. Every breath carried the scent of dust and decay, stinging his parched throat and triggering fits of violent coughing. He huddled in the shadow of a massive stone pillar, trying to preserve what little body heat he had left. The light streaming in from the opening above had grown faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to go out at any moment and plunge these silent ruins into eternal darkness.
Hunger gripped his stomach like an invisible hand, causing spasmodic, cramping pains. Thirst swelled his tongue, and a rusty, metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. He licked his parched lips, tasting only the roughness of sand. Pain raged throughout his body; the scrapes and bruises from his fall felt all the more acute in the cold. He had no idea how long he had been here; time seemed to have frozen in this deathly silence.
Blurred black spots began to appear at the edges of his vision, and his consciousness sank slowly like a sinking ship. He forced his eyes open, and his gaze fell once more upon the massive circular pattern that emitted a faint, eerie glow. The twisted runes and intricate lines seemed to writhe faintly as if alive in the dim light, exuding an ancient and unsettling aura. They appeared to be calling to him, yet also warning him to stay away.
I can't fall asleep. Kelson warned himself with his remaining willpower. In these unknown ruins, losing consciousness likely meant death. He clenched his teeth and braced himself against the ground with fingers nearly numb from the cold, trying to stand. His legs were as weak as noodles; he staggered and fell forward uncontrollably.
"Thud!"
He crashed heavily to the ground, his palm instinctively landing on the edge of the glowing pattern.
The moment his palm touched the ground—
Buzz!
The deathly silent ruins shook violently, as if a pebble had been thrown into a still pond! The entire ground trembled, and the stone pillars groaned under the strain. The massive pattern beneath Kelson suddenly erupted with a blinding, deep-purple light! The light surged upward like a living creature, instantly forming a gigantic cage of light that completely enveloped him!
Kelson's eyes widened in terror. He tried to struggle, only to find his body pinned to the spot by an invisible force—he couldn't even move a single finger! The deep purple light, like a viscous liquid, surged madly into his mouth, nose, ear canals, and even every pore! A torrent of energy—cold, violent, and carrying the scent of endless destruction—brutally surged into his body!
"Ugh—!"
He let out a silent scream, feeling as though his soul were being torn apart, frozen solid, and cast into a furnace! Everything before his eyes vanished, replaced by a boundless, churning, boiling purple abyss! Countless twisted, malevolent whispers exploded in his mind, as if billions of insects were gnawing at his very brain!
"You insignificant ant… how dare you touch the forbidden seal…"
A voice—grand, majestic, yet steeped in endless age and savagery—exploded like thunder deep within his consciousness! It carried an otherworldly aura of authority that made Kelson's very soul tremble, nearly shattering it in an instant!
"Who… who is it?!" Kelson struggled to gather a shred of awareness amidst the mental tempest, uttering a desperate cry.
"My name… is Astaros." The voice carried an indifference that seemed to look down upon all living beings. "The Watcher of the Abyss, the… Demon Dragon within the Eternal Prison."
As the name was spoken, two enormous vertical pupils, burning with dark golden flames, suddenly flared to life within the churning purple abyss! Those pupils were like two icy suns, piercing through the barriers of time and space to lock onto Kelson's insignificant soul! An unimaginable dragon's might, like a tangible sledgehammer, crashed down upon his mind!
Kelson felt as though he were an insect trapped in amber; under the gaze of those dragon eyes, even thinking became an agonizing struggle. His memories, his emotions, and the deepest corners of his heart—all lay bare under this terrifying gaze!
"Hah… how pitiful…" The dragon's voice carried a hint of mockery, as if flipping through a tedious book. "A cast-off, abandoned by his own blood kin… a wretch blinded by lies…"
Kelson's consciousness surged violently. Scenes from the court trial, the Emperor's icy command, Leo's hand on the hilt of his sword, the contemptuous glances of the guards… all the fragments of humiliation and resentment surged and flashed uncontrollably within the storm of his mind.
"Do you think… you are truly a 'magic insulator'?" The dragon's voice suddenly turned icy, sharp enough to pierce through all truth. "Foolish! That is a shackle imposed upon your bloodline by the false gods! It is a colossal lie they wove to completely erase the existence of the 'Magic Devourers'!"
Magic Devourers?!
This unfamiliar term struck like a thunderclap, exploding within Kelson's chaotic mind. He instinctively resisted the information, but the Dragon's voice carried an undeniable force, forcibly shoving a fragment of a long-buried memory—one that did not belong to him—into his mind!
He saw a sky ablaze, countless mighty figures falling amidst divine light. He saw a group of beings, their auras terrifying and clad in black robes, joining forces to unleash a torrent of energy capable of shattering the heavens and obliterating the earth, their target fixed squarely on a group of… warriors capable of tearing magic apart with their bare hands and devouring energy! The leader of those warriors—a blurry figure radiating an indomitable will—roared in fury as he fell amidst the onslaught. The aura of his bloodline… resonated powerfully with Kelson's own!
"Do you see?" The Demon Dragon's voice pierced Kelson's soul like icy steel needles. "A hundred years ago, the False Gods feared the power of the 'Magic Devourers,' terrified that they would eventually shatter the lies of divine authority! They launched the 'Holy War of Blood Purification,' slaughtering your ancestors to the last, and sealed the remaining bloodline with a curse! And you, Kelson Arista, are the last spark of that cursed bloodline! Your royal lineage is nothing more than a cage meticulously designed by the False Gods to monitor and control you! Your exile, your 'insulation physique'—all are part of their conspiracy to eliminate potential threats!"
The truth pierced Kelson's numb defenses like the sharpest dagger. The immense shock nearly shattered his mind. He was not a failure, not a disgrace… he was a being feared by the False Gods, erased by history! All his suffering stemmed from a conspiracy spanning centuries!
"Why… tell me this…" Kelson gasped laboriously amidst the mental storm, his consciousness already beginning to blur, his body pushed to its limits by the dual onslaught of reality and the mind. He could feel that icy power of the Demon Dragon frantically eroding the very source of his life; the scent of death had never been so distinct.
"Because… your body is the only key to breaking my seal. " The Demon Dragon's voice carried a hint of urgency, and a strange gleam flashed in its massive, dark-gold dragon eyes. "My power has been bound by this damned magical array for far too long… and the dormant 'Law-Devourer' bloodline within you can temporarily neutralize the power of the seal! But the price…"
The Demon Dragon's voice paused, tinged with a cruel allure: "It is to fully ignite your bloodline and unleash that cursed power! You will no longer be a mortal, but you may also… be consumed by your own instincts and turned into a monster that knows only destruction! Or… under the onslaught of my power, your soul may be instantly obliterated!"
Kelson's consciousness struggled violently on the edge of life and death. In reality, his body's skin had already begun to crack, oozing dark red droplets of blood, while a deep purple glow, like flesh-eating maggots, was frantically devouring his life force. The icy tentacles of death had already clamped around his throat.
Give up? Die silently and without a trace in this forgotten corner, like a worthless piece of trash? Just as the false god and those who abandoned him had hoped?
No!
A surge of anger and defiance, unprecedented and rising from the deepest recesses of his bloodline, erupted like a volcano within his soul, which was on the verge of extinguishing! Those blue eyes, tightly shut in agony, snapped open, and deep within his pupils, a speck of dark golden flame suddenly ignited!
"Then… devour me!" Kelson mustered his last ounce of strength to let out a silent roar within the spiritual realm—a roar filled with desperate madness and defiance against fate. "Use my body! Break your seal! Give me your power…! I will tear those lies to shreds! I will make every traitor… pay the price!"
"Roar—! "
A soul-shaking dragon's roar exploded deep within Kelson's consciousness! The sound carried a hint of surprise, a touch of approval, but above all, the ecstasy of breaking free from confinement!
"As you wish! Mortal! Remember this pact! My power, your vessel! We shall rise and fall together, until… the false god falls, and the truth is revealed!"
BOOM—!!!
In the real-world Ruins Space, the deep purple light cage suddenly collapsed inward! All the light, all the runes, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, surged madly into Kelson's body! His entire being was completely engulfed by the blinding purple light!
An indescribable, colossal power—as if from the dawn of time—surged through him like a burst dam, instantly shattering every constraint within his body! Cold and heat intertwined; destruction and rebirth coexisted! He felt his bones groaning as they重组ed, his blood boiling and burning, every cell screaming in agony as it underwent metamorphosis!
The purple light gradually receded, eventually vanishing entirely. The ruins returned to their deathly, dim gloom.
Kelson lay motionless on the cold stone floor. The wounds on his body had mysteriously healed, with a faint, dark purple glow flowing beneath his skin. At the base of his neck, near his spine, a pattern of tiny, dragon-scale-like markings quietly emerged.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Those blue eyes, once as calm as a lake, now seemed to burn with two eternal, dark-gold flames deep within—cold, majestic, and tinged with an inhuman detachment. He raised his hand, gazing at his pale fingers that seemed to contain infinite power, feeling the terrifying, surging force within him—a force powerful enough to devour everything.
A deep, echoing voice resounded directly within his mind, like a whisper from the abyss:
"The contract is sealed, Devourer of Magic. Remember, with every devouring, our union grows deeper… until… you are no longer yourself."